UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government

06/11/2026

Congratulations to the newest graduates of the Georgia Certified Economic Developer (GCED) program:

• Jason Powell, Vice President, Carroll Tomorrow
• Tom Choi, Consultant for East Asian Businesses to Georgia
• Karaey Davis, Program Manager, Economic Development, City of Mableton - Government
• Melissa Roberts, Director of Tourism Development, Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce
• Jeremy Spradlin, Area Manager Northeast, Georgia Power
• Brittni Nix, City Administrator, City of Dacula, Georgia - Government

The GCED program offers economic development professionals Georgia-specific training that is directly applicable to their communities’ economic success.

Read more below⬇

06/09/2026

Registration is open for the 2026 Disaster Resilience Across the Chattahoochee Valley Conference, July 21-22, in Columbus. The registration link is below!

The second annual conference is designed to help the Chattahoochee Valley prepare for gaps in key infrastructure services before, during and after a disaster, including loss of power, water, utilities and other energy shortages.

Hosted by the Georgia Alabama Partnership for Sustainability, in partnership with:
• Columbus Consolidated Government and Emergency Management & Homeland Security
• UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government
• U.S. Army Garrison Fort Benning
• Marion County Emergency Management
• Stewart County
• Chattahoochee County
• Talbot County
• Russell County, Ala. Emergency Management Agency & Homeland Security
• Lee County, Ala. Emergency Management Agency

06/08/2026

Congratulations to our 2026 Public Finance Leadership Academy graduates!

PFLA is a partnership between the UGA Institute of Government and GGFOA. Applications are open now for the 2026-2027 academy.

Read more about this elite program and its newest graduates below!

06/04/2026

We are proud to celebrate our graduate and undergraduate students who took home top honors at the 2026 UGA Student Employees of the Year awards.

Dharma Janga was named Graduate Student Employee of the Year, and Callie Salter received third place.

Faith Fowler, Ashley Kim, Rebecca Kenirey and Avanish Thota were recognized as the Student Employee Team of the Year!

Join us in celebrating their achievements and read more below Read the full story below. 🔗

UGA graduate students and team members win university-wide awards

06/01/2026

UGA's Savannah Hembree took home the gold at our inaugural Data Analytics Olympics with a project that cut workers' compensation costs by nearly 50%.

Savannah works with both UGA Office of Finance & Administration and UGA Office of Emergency Preparedness. See how she and our other winners are driving operational efficiency with creativity and data skills.

Feeling inspired? The UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government's Georgia Data Innovation Hub can help you level up your skills, too!

Read the full story below. 🔗

05/28/2026

You should be in the next Public Finance Leadership Academy graduation photo!

We're recruiting financial leaders for our next cohort. Applications are now open for the 2026-2027 Public Finance Leadership Academy!

Learn more and download the application below.

05/22/2026

At the Institute of Government, we inform, innovate and inspire so that governments, large and small, can be more efficient and responsive to citizens, address current and emerging challenges, and serve the public with excellence.

Learn more about us: https://cviog.uga.edu/about/index.html

05/21/2026

We're excited to partner with Elbert, Murray and Wayne Counties through PROPEL, University of Georgia's nationally recognized rural development program!

Read more below.

05/21/2026

Save the date for Georgia's Workforce Conference, November 10-11 at University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel! 📆

Make plans now to join us at the conference where Georgia's economic and workforce development comes to life!

Early-bird registration opens June 30.

05/14/2026

And that's a wrap!

Our Talent Insights team has spent weeks working onsite with more than 60 state troopers from across the country as part of our partnership with the Georgia State Patrol to assess candidates for future leadership positions.

Since January, more than 300 candidates have been evaluated for four different ranks using this process.