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Message from the Chairman,
Mr. Ron Thigpen:
The CSRA Alliance for Fort Gordon has undertaken a
reorganization and a shift in focus. But before I address that
specifically, let me share a little history and background on the
Alliance.
The CSRA Alliance was created in March, 2003 by
Charlie Norwood as a non-profit organization w/Larry DeMeyers as
Chairman and an excellent Board of Community and Business leaders. The
original missions were to:
·
Create awareness in the community of the threat of base
closure and the potential economic impact should Ft Gordon be realigned
or closed.
·
To inform political and senior military leaders of the
capability and effectiveness of Ft Gordon to perform its missions and
accept additional missions.
·
To identify and improve area quality of life
characteristics so the CSRA would be viewed by the Department of Defense
as a favorable place for service members and their families.
·
And finally, in the event of closure of Fort Gordon,
position the community for base reuse.
Along the way, in the ensuing two and one-half
years, we accomplished a lot of things:
·
Hired McKenna, Long & Aldridge and Hurt-Norton &
Associates as Washington-based partners and resources to interface with
our congressional and senior military leadership.
·
We did a lot of research on our community and region to
promote the quality of life in the CSRA.
·
We defined the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities at
Fort Gordon related to missions.
·
We created public awareness of the issues by making
presentations to over 100 civic clubs, business organizations, and
government agencies throughout Georgia and South Carolina.
·
We served as the Augusta area representative on the
Governor’s Military Affairs Committee, working to coordinate state level
support and funding for the preservation of Fort Gordon.
·
We coordinated numerous visits for community leaders to
meet with congressional leaders, senior military leaders, and the US
Army Training and Doctrine Command.
·
We helped coordinate numerous high-level visitors to Ft
Gordon to including Gov Perdue, the Commanding General of the Training
and Doctrine Command, and Congressional representatives including the
Speaker of the House and Senators Chambliss and Isakson,
·
And we raised funding from government, business and
private donations to support these activities.
The bottom line of all that effort was that the
CSRA Alliance for Fort Gordon was successful in rallying the entire
Greater Augusta community behind a common cause - supporting Fort Gordon
- and showed that Augusta’s favorable quality of life and strong support
for the military make it a great place for service members and their
families to live and work. And in the end, Fort Gordon was basically
unaffected by BRAC. What a great success story for the CSRA!
So, what’s next?? Well, as we all know,
Fort Gordon continues to be one of the largest economic engines in our
area. We must continue to work to preserve and grow Fort Gordon and
realize the growth potential of a progressive relationship between the
CSRA and Fort Gordon. We can’t just breathe a sigh of relief and sit by
the road.
We have reorganized the Alliance with a new Board
of Directors with a greater focus on economic development and furthering
the relationships between the community and Fort Gordon.
We have established specific goals for the CSRA
Alliance:
·
Serve as the CSRA’s central coordination and resource
center for all community-related Ft Gordon initiatives in other words a
central clearing house.
·
Fully integrate Ft Gordon and the CSRA Community with more
involvement in each other’s events/activities, more joint partnerships,
and quality of life improvements for all.
·
Provide for the long term viability of the CSRA Alliance
and Fort Gordon by ensuring that the community remains supportive of
Fort Gordon and the military. The community needs to express
significant support for Fort Gordon and we need to capitalize on the
many economic development opportunities that exist related to Fort
Gordon.
Briefly in that regard, let me mention a number of
initiatives underway at the present time:
·
Establishment of an IT Business/R&D Center in the vicinity
of Ft Gordon.
·
Follow-on employment opportunities for servicemembers
separating or retiring from the service. Marketing the highly skilled
former-military workforce to new and existing employers. Assisting area
employers with employment needs.
·
Establishment of a joint, combined armory on Ft Gordon to
house area Guard and Reserve units, providing increased security for the
units and redevelopment opportunities for the existing armories and
reserve centers.
·
Implementation of the joint land use study recommendations
to prevent encroachment on Ft Gordon property.
·
Quality of life improvements for service members and their
families to include spousal employment, education, housing, and
recreation.
·
Advocating the needs of Fort Gordon with local, state and
federal government officials through visits to Congress and the
Pentagon, membership in the Governor’s Military Affairs Committee,
coordination with state representatives, and coordination with local
governments.
To be successful we need the community to assist in
our efforts by:
·
Showing support for service members and their families by
offering military discounts, hosting events for service members and
their families, and through corporate membership in military
organizations such as Assn of US Army (AUSA) and Armed Forces
Communications Electronics Assn (AFCEA).
·
Participating in Fort Gordon events and utilizing those
Fort Gordon activities open to the public such as the Gordon Lakes Golf
Course, the Fort Gordon riding stables, bowling center, Gordon Club and
Dinner Theater.
·
Assisting the CSRA Alliance in its mission by
participating in Alliance sponsored events and assisting with the
Alliance’s annual funding requirements.
Even if there were to never be another Base
Realignment and Closure round, the CSRA Alliance still fills an
important void as the primary coordinating agency between Fort Gordon
and the surrounding communities.
Mr. Ron Thigpen
Chairman
CSRA Alliance for Fort Gordon |
