State Sen. Jim Whitehead urged the newly formed Clarks Hill Partnership of Georgia to not think small during a meeting in Lincoln County Tuesday morning.
Representatives of the five counties in the partnership met at Elijah Clark State Park to iron out some details leading up to a formal agreement in the next 30 days.
The counties included in the regional partnership to enhance tourism and economic development are McDuffie, Lincoln, Columbia, Warren and Wilkes. One of the first orders of business was coming up with a name for the new alliance.
Several names were suggested, but the team "partnership" was a main suggestion to denote working together. The Clarks Hill Partnership of Georgia was chosen out of 12 suggestions.
A 10 member board, two from each represented county, will be chosen for the partnership.
Projects already on the agenda for the board include the runway expansion for the Thomson-McDuffie Airport; the proposed Lincoln County Resort, Golf and Conference Center; and the new highway project in Warren County for the frontage road off I-20.
A contract has been under review by the counties and will now be reviewed by attorneys for each county.
Thomson Mayor Bob Knox Jr. suggested a time limit of 30 days for that review before a formal signing event.
Sen. Whitehead told the group that he doesn't think they realize how far they've come in the past four months.
He added that board members will need to be ready to work to be able to raise all of the counties up to a higher level.
