As the University of Georgia strives to carry out its land-grant and sea-grant mission of service to the state, the UGA Archway Partnership plays a crucial role in efforts to improve the economic vitality of communities around Georgia.

UGA received national recognition for its public service and outreach work in 2022 by earning the C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award for Archway Partnership’s mission, model, and impact. Archway, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach, began as a singular idea to connect a community with university resources. Since 2005, it has evolved to launch hundreds of collaborative initiatives, student experiences, and community-based research projects to address the priorities of communities across our state.

In 2023, the UGA Archway Partnership completed more than 120 projects, with the estimated value of student and faculty projects alone totaling nearly $1.6 million. The total return on investment to partner communities in 2023 was more than $12.5 million, fueled by major state and federal grants to implement Archway projects.

“We’re proud to put the UGA Archway Partnership and its award-winning model of community engagement to work for the people of Georgia,” said Jennifer Frum, vice president for Public Service and Outreach. “Every day, Archway faculty and staff work to utilize the resources of the University of Georgia to solve the critical issues identified by communities to improve quality of life.”

The success of the Archway Partnership program led the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost to fund a new initiative, the Connected Resilient Communities (CRC) program, in 2022. CRC utilizes the Archway Partnership’s award-winning model of community engagement to help communities distinguish themselves and be more attractive to economic development opportunities. Communities work with UGA to complete three projects in under two years, achieving silver, gold and platinum levels in the process. So far, UGA has partnered with nine communities through the program, with three having achieved the full CRC designation.

Building connections in Thomaston

The city of Thomaston will soon achieve full CRC designation after completing two projects to earn its silver and gold designations. For Taylor Smith, Thomaston economic development coordinator and chair of the CRC steering committee, working with UGA helped the city turn project ideas into realities.

“The University of Georgia is a wealth of knowledge, a wealth of wisdom, a wealth of insight and a wealth of resources. What we’ve done with UGA is create building blocks to bigger and better things,” said Smith. “I think that we’re on the cusp of doing amazing, amazing things.”

Thomaston worked with the Archway Partnership, the College of Engineering and the College of Environment and Design to make improvements to its downtown, improving both pedestrian safety and façade enhancements.

Thomaston also worked with the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the College of Public Health on previous projects. Smith said the partnership with UGA has just begun.

Economic impact in Hart County

Hart County began utilizing the resources of UGA in 2008 when it became an Archway Partnership community. In 2022, Hart County completed 21 projects and saw a return on investment of nearly $573,000 through its Archway Partnership connection.

“As a community, the UGA Archway Partnership is the best program that we are a part of,” said Jason Ford, Hartwell economic and community development manager.

Among the 2022 projects was the revitalization of Railroad Street Park near downtown. The project transformed a blighted area between Railroad and Depot streets into a space that now houses multiple businesses and serves as a hub for city events. The project also restored the city’s historical connection to the train depot and Railroad Street.

Some business owners along Depot Street painted the back of their building to create a second storefront.

“We’ve been really excited about the Archway Partnership over the years and what it’s done for us, specifically with Railroad Street Park,” said Ford. “This is one of those things where you see wins create more wins. The win of revitalizing that park with the help of UGA has created some energy around everyone working together to make their space look as good as it can.”

Additionally, UGA students worked with Hartwell on a downtown streetscape project by creating a design for the sidewalks and parking that accommodated larger vehicles and also was more attractive. The students’ work was part of the city’s application for a $500,000 grant it received from the Georgia Department of Transportation to apply toward the streetscape project.

The projects are adding up to an economic win for the county.

Data shows that 195,400 visitors made 1 million visits to downtown Hartwell in 2022. And that means more money being spent in Hartwell.

Applied research in Grady County

One of Grady County’s goals for 2022 as a UGA Archway Partnership community focused on education to help build a quality workforce. Grady County Schools embarked on a yearlong process to create its latest state-mandated strategic plan. Not only did the Archway Partnership enhance the process, but it also showed how community decisions benefit from collaboration.

Grady County Schools Superintendent Eric McFee was impressed with how UGA provided guidance rather than telling school leaders and decision-makers what to do. McFee said engaging the community, especially those in government leadership roles, was a crucial step. School staff input obviously is important for a strategic plan, but their concerns often don’t align with external stakeholders, McFee said.

“By involving the community and having them at the table, it made for a more wholesome discussion,” McFee said. “Archway built bridges between government agencies and created a level of collaboration that we hadn’t had before.”

For the strategic plan, the Archway Partnership brought in the UGA Institute of Government, whose faculty members led community surveys, listening sessions, planning meetings, visioning and goal setting for the school district. The data allowed school leaders to focus on implementing plan features that represent the community.

The school board approved the final draft of the strategic plan on April 11 and it went into effect on July 1. The plan will be in place through 2028.

McFee said there’s little doubt where Grady’s strategic plan would be without UGA involvement.

“If Archway hadn’t been here, we’d have put together a program where we asked the teachers what we needed to do and then checked a box rather than using the more effective and inclusive community involvement piece,” McFee said.

Grady has recently graduated as an Archway Partnership community, but continues to partner with UGA through the CRC program.

Student engagement in Spalding County

In Spalding County, student engagement is a significant part of its relationship with the UGA Archway Partnership. In 2022, UGA engineering students worked to create a plan for Yamacraw Road Park, conduct a walkability study for Spalding High School and design an airport terminal.

The Yamacraw Road Park project is helping Spalding County make use of an old landfill site and provide recreation amenities lacking on the east side of the county. The concept plan includes an amphitheater, a disc golf course, athletic practice fields, and a concession stand building. Utilizing UGA for the park design work saved Spalding County about $50,000. The work to implement the first phase of the designs should begin later this year, according to Spalding County Parks, Public Grounds and Public Works Director TJ Imberger.

“The partnership with Archway is indispensable as a cost-effective, reliable resource,” he said. “It affords me and the board of commissioners the ability to provide a service to the citizens at essentially no cost.

“The great thing about the UGA Archway Partnership is it involves everybody. You’re really developing a boots-on-the-ground concept plan that is extremely workable and meets your needs from the beginning.”