2001 Walter Barnard Hill Awards for Distinguished Achievement in University Public Service & Outreach

William P. Russell

William P. Russell was initially assigned as a rural economic development consultant for five rural counties in Southwest Georgia and immediately distinguished himself by creating regional networks of local leadership teams and linking them with funding resources. From 1994 to the present, he has had the primary responsibility of creating development programs for 112 rural counties in Middle and South Georgia. His special expertise has been in revitalizing the deteriorating downtown districts of rural Georgia.

An early example of his work was helping the Clay County Commission and the Clay County Volunteer Fire Department obtain a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Facilities loan for a desperately needed fire truck. He also facilitated the formation of four joint development authorities in the region, thereby coordinating their efforts in economic development. Russell has assisted in the creation of more than 30 development corporations with 501(c) status. These communities have established more than 35 local façade grant program totaling $500,000 in local funds, have established more than 30 low-interested loan program for fixed-asset improvements to buildings totaling more than $20 million in local dollars, and have helped recruit well over 100 new businesses in the retail sector.

The economic development program Russell has helped define for the Business Outreach Services/Small Business Development Center (BOS/SBDC) was designed to bring the resources of The University of Georgia to rural communities lacking the financial resources to hire their own economic development staffs. Doris Flythe, mayor of Springfield, Georgia, said in her letter of support, “…I had heard The University of Georgia could assist in community revitalization . . . . and quite frankly, no one anticipated just how much this move would impact our town. . . . [T]he most incredible result of these revitalization efforts was the opening if 17 new businesses in our downtown area in the first half of 1999. . . . He has positioned us, through the training of our local leadership, to survive and prosper well into the 21st Century.”

The rural economic development program Russell has helped to develop at BOS/SBDC serves as a model for other Small Business Development Centers around the nation. He has held seminars for groups in Alabama and Arkansas, and most recently, he held a well-received seminar on a program he developed, “5 Steps to Downtown Revitalization,” at the national conference of the Association of Small Business Development Centers.

Perhaps the most dramatic success story of using the “5 Steps” program occurred in Parrott, Georgia, a community with no businesses that developed a revitalized downtown with 18 new businesses. Parrot has been so successful that in 2000, Governor Roy Barnes picked it as “The best example of what rural Georgia can do in economic revitalization!” Parrott has received more than $1 million dollars of private-sector funding invested in the revitalization. The 18 retail establishments that have opened have opened have provided more than 50 jobs.

In 1997, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), along with the Georgia Power Company, made the decision to offer a greatly needed self-help community revitalization program to rural towns in Georgia with populations between 1,000 and 5,000. Russell offered his services to that program and is now identified as the primary economic restructuring resource for the program, according to Jim Higdon, commissioner of the Georgia DCA.

When The University of Georgia created the position of economic development consultant, the vision was minimal compared to what Russell has achieved in the last 10 years. He has worked in many capacities, none small, in more than 60 communities around the state. He maintains a regular presence in more than 40 of those cities. Whitin his own organization, Russell was the second person to arn the “Business Outreach Services Consultant of the Year Award.”