Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver urged listeners Wednesday to use major events to leverage the local economy.
Copenhaver spoke at the Savannah Downtown Business Authority’s monthly luncheon, held at the Charles H. Morris Center at Trustee’s Garden.
Every year, he said, Augusta has the opportunity to invest in the community with the Masters golf tournament held at Augusta National Golf Club.
In 2010, the mayor received interview requests from both national and international media after Tiger Woods announced his return to golf at the Masters and used Woods’ sex scandal as an opportunity to showcase downtown Augusta.
“We started doing interviews from downtown,” said Copenhaver. “Most reporters didn’t even know there was a downtown, and that really helped promote our downtown area.”
Hosting an event such as the Masters gives Augusta a level of expertise that it can spread to other communities, said Copenhaver.
For Savannah, this means taking advantage of its arts and culture, as well as its photogenic riverfront, to promote economic development.
Augusta has more than 40 acres of undeveloped river front, said Copenhaver, but has used investments by organizations such as Augusta National to revitalize and redevelop other areas of the city.
The mayor said regionalism is a key factor in economic development, as continuity can bring business and jobs that can affect the entire region.
“Fight hard for regionalism,” said Copenhaver, “because it brings jobs to everyone.”
He said it is also necessary to overcome the “Two Georgias” issue, with Georgia being divided into Atlanta and the rest of the state.
For Copenhaver, cities such as Augusta and Savannah need to emphasize their own brands, to prevent comparison to towns like Charleston.
“It’s all about creating a sense of place,” said Copenhaver. “That’s what helps business.”
