Local government leaders from across the state studied effective leadership and administration during educational presentations by Carl Vinson Institute of Government faculty and others at the Georgia City-County Management Association’s 2018 Spring Conference.

Managers and other key officials with more than 100 Georgia cities and counties attended professional development sessions during the conference, held March 26–28 at Jekyll Island. GCCMA members attended courses designed to strengthen their understanding of a number of topics, including a panel presentation on the 2020 Census that Institute faculty member Mathew Hauer led.

Hauer, head of the Institute’s applied demography program, highlighted the political and economic benefits of helping the U.S. Census Bureau secure an accurate count of Georgia residents.

Government managers attending the three-day conference also had the opportunity to attend sessions on topics such as successfully recruiting business and industry, building staff leadership capacity and engaging citizens more effectively.

At the conference awards banquet, former GCCMA president David Hankerson was presented with the association’s Pillars of Excellence in Management award. Hankerson, former Cobb County manager, now serves as director of civic and intergovernmental affairs with ACCG—Advancing Georgia’s Counties.

GCCMA is a professional association for city and county managers and administrators and top staff, as well as representatives of ACCG and the Georgia Municipal Association. It is an affiliate of ICMA, the International City/County Management Association. The Institute coordinates and provides educational classes for GCCMA that are aligned with the 18 core competencies for ICMA-credentialed managers.