By Mike Chason Running a business with a budget of $64 million a year would consume every waking moment of most individuals.  Dr. David Bridges, president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, is no exception. “The big difference between running a business and being the president of ABAC is our return on investment is very complicated,” Bridges, the longest serving president of the 26 institutions in the University System of Georgia (USG), said.  “Our return would have to be calculated over the lives and careers of our graduates.” Dr. David Bridges just began his 14th year as the ABAC President. Since Bridges became the 10th president in the history of ABAC on July 1, 2006, over 7,000 graduates have received their ABAC diplomas.   Unlike a company that makes only one product and that product eventually rusts away or in the case of food, gets eaten, Bridges hopes that ABAC graduates continue to thrive and build more businesses. “Students are our business, and our graduates start businesses of their own,” Bridges said.  “During their lives, our graduates generate economic impact in their communities so the ABAC investment continues to grow.” The latest statewide economic impact study commissioned by the USG showed that ABAC’s economic impact on South Georgia skyrocketed to a record $529,838,507 in fiscal year 2017.  The multiplier effect turned 444 jobs at ABAC into 1,382 jobs off campus for a total impact of 1,826 jobs in South Georgia. “More jobs at ABAC means more jobs in South Georgia,” Dr. Renata Elad, Dean of the Stafford School of Business at ABAC, said.  “ABAC had a much bigger employment impact plus the cost of housing went up, and the average rent in Tifton went up that year.  Personal expenses for entertainment, apparel, and services were also up.” Elad analyzed the USG numbers for ABAC and found the ABAC economic impact a monumental 31 per cent higher than the $369,874,664 impact in the 2016 fiscal year. “ABAC needs South Georgia, and South Georgia needs ABAC,” Elad said in her analysis.  “With total employment of over 1,800 jobs directly from student spending activities and an overall labor impact of almost $66 million, ABAC is definitely a strong partner in regional growth.” Bridges pointed out that those numbers reflect only South Georgia and the college has changed quite a bit since the study was conducted in 2017.  Bainbridge State College merged with ABAC in 2018, leading to a record enrollment of 4,291 students during the 2018 fall semester. ABAC attracted students from 30 countries, 18 states, and 155 of Georgia’s 159 counties during the 2018 fall term.  Because of the consolidation, ABAC offered classes in Bainbridge, Blakely, and Donalsonville besides its classes in Tifton and Moultrie. Many of those students choose to stay at ABAC to complete one of 12 four-year degree programs.   ABAC offered only two-year degrees from 1933 to 2008.  Instead of staying two or three years at ABAC for an associate degree, students remain at ABAC four or five years to complete their bachelor’s degree.  With a bachelor’s degree in hand, graduates have more to offer the world of work.  That expands the ABAC economic impact even further because graduates find higher paying jobs. ABAC President David Bridges (r) with ABAC Director of Facilities and Land Resources Tim Carpenter (l) look over plans for the Fine Arts building with Jody Buchan from Allstate Construction. Besides the $64 million annual budget, there’s also the matter of capital investment at ABAC.  Since Bridges’ presidency began, over $84 million in capital projects have been completed or are in the construction phase at ABAC.  Those projects include the Health Sciences building at $7.2 million, ABAC Lakeside at $17 million, Historic Front of Campus at $15.5 million, King Hall at $2.7 million, Donaldson Dining Hall at $4 million, Thrash Wellness Center at $4.5 million, the Laboratory Sciences building at $7.2 million, and the ongoing Carlton Center/Fine Arts Building project at $24 million.  Road improvement adds another $2 million. “Each of these projects has made this campus better,” Bridges said.  “That plays a part in recruitment of students as well.   When students visit ABAC, they like what they see here.” Bridges takes advantage of every waking moment to promote ABAC.  His stamina is legendary as is his ability to get things done.  Since his first day on the job, he has been on the move with a wide variety of activities, many of them in the first time ever category. Bridges’ presidential inauguration at ABAC in 2006 was the first time that ABAC has had an inauguration ceremony.  He kicked a soccer ball into the net to announce the first ever women’s soccer program.  He also pushed a plunger to set off a small charge of dynamite to open the construction on the ABAC Lakeside student housing complex. ABAC President David Bridges at his inauguration ceremony on Aug. 25, 2006.  It was the first inauguration ceremony for a president in the history of ABAC. Bridges assisted 103-year-old ABAC alumnus Ethel Arnold Talley when she rang the original ABAC bell at the opening of the Historic Front of Campus project, honored the memory of ABAC alumnus and Medal of Honor recipient Harold Bascom Durham, Jr., at the opening of the Freedom Gallery, and used a cross-cut saw on a log to announce the beginning of ABAC bachelor’s degrees in forestry and wildlife. With a great sense of pride in his alma mater, Bridges watched fireworks explode over the campus at the conclusion of ABAC’s 100th birthday celebration.  He guided the process when the former Georgia Agrirama became a part of the ABAC campus as the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village, headed up the consolidation with Bainbridge State College, and served as Interim Director of Georgia’s first ever Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation. “Rural communities have very tangible benefits to offer society as a whole,” Bridges said of Georgia’s Rural Center.   “The Center has a statewide mission and one of the tenets to that mission is to find a path to prosperity for rural communities.” All these projects took mammoth amounts of time for the ABAC President whose day often begins in the pre-dawn stillness with breakfast at the Northside Café in Tifton. During the past 13 years, Bridges has enlisted the support of legislators under the Golden Dome for ABAC projects, spoken to civic clubs and community groups far and wide, accepted the award as the Arts Citizen of the Year for Tift County, and received the USG Gold Outstanding Customer Service Leadership Award. Bridges, who turned 61 in June, points to the establishment of ABAC as a State College as the proudest accomplishment of his tenure. “That changed everything,” Bridges said.  “Otherwise we would be floundering.  The ability to offer bachelor’s degrees changed ABAC forever.” Most chief operating officers develop their own management style or try to duplicate the style of other successful leaders of organizations.  Bridges believes his style hasn’t changed much since 2006. “In some ways, I am a little more patient now than I was when I first became president,” Bridges said.  “In other ways, I think I’m less patient.  General George Patton said, ‘lead, follow, or get out of the way.’  I like that. “My role is to get people to have a vision of where ABAC needs to go.  Ultimately, most people know the right thing to do.  It’s just a matter of getting them to do it.  Sometimes they need to be nudged a little bit.” Dealing with the many complexities of the job is often the most difficult part of being the head of a major corporation or in Bridges’ case, a college. “The biggest challenge is meeting the expectations of people,” Bridges said.  “In our case, that means students, parents of students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, friends of the college, and the public.  Sometimes people come to the table with totally unrealistic expectations. “Take students for example.  Some students expect to breeze through college just the way they breezed through high school.  College is different than high school.  Students and parents come to understand that.  Sometimes it takes a while.” When asked what provides him with the most satisfaction as the ABAC President, Bridges points to two days every year. “Fall graduation and spring graduation,” Bridges said.  “The graduates have cleared that hurdle.   They have diplomas.  Our expectation is that they will go out and do something with those degrees.” When he left the tiny town of Parrott in Terrell County in 1976 to attend ABAC, Bridges had no idea he would meet his wife, Kim, in Rosalyn Donaldson’s English class and that one day he would become the only ABAC President who was once a student at the college.  ABAC President David Bridges spends countless hours speaking on his favorite topic, ABAC. “It was never my dream to become president of ABAC,” Bridges said.  “In fact, I never really thought about it.  Even when I was 40 years old, I hadn’t thought about it. “I have had opportunities to leave but I always asked myself, ‘is that a better fit for me than ABAC?’” Bridges said.   “ABAC has been a pretty good fit for me.” Bridges has far surpassed the average tenure of seven years for a college president.  In fact, he is now the second longest serving president in the history of ABAC.  George P. Donaldson was the ABAC president for 14 years from 1947-61.  Bridges has 13 under his belt and is steaming full speed ahead into his 14th year. “Lucky 13 is over, and now we’ll see what happens in 14,” Bridges said. Is being president of ABAC in 2019 harder than being president of ABAC was in 2006? “Oh yes, a lot harder,” Bridges said.  “Now, everybody wants to tell you how to do your business. In 2006, we didn’t have to worry about cyber-security threats.  I didn’t have so many people looking over my shoulder.  “People in our society today tend to be less self-reliant, more contentious, and more self-absorbed.  There seems to be tension about everything, particularly when it comes to political correctness.  People are hyper-sensitive about being offended.  It becomes more pervasive every day. “It keeps us from focusing on our central mission because we’re dealing with all this other stuff.  My goal is to get something done and make ABAC a better place.” But one day, there will be a life for Bridges after his ABAC career is completed. “Sure, that day will come,” Bridges said.  “When it does, I want to continue to be active in the public service sector but in a less prominent way.  I’ll go back to the farm and be a part of something that’s not seven days a week, 24 hours a day.” Bridges owns the family farm in Terrell County and retreats there as often as possible.  But wherever he goes, ABAC is always on his mind. “I don’t worry about the day-to-day operation because we have great people to carry on,” Bridges said.  “But it’s always something.  It’s usually an external factor that can cause the wheels to come off fairly quickly.” Until that retirement day comes, Bridges finds it easy to motivate himself to stay true to the ABAC mission every day. “We have made great progress,” Bridges said.  “But there’s still a lot to be done.” ###

When Tifton ophthalmologist Larry Moorman and his wife, Debra, donated the Forest Lakes Golf Course to the ABAC Foundation in 2002, they had no idea of the long-range implications of their $1,000,000 gift to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. "It's a perfect fit," Moorman said at the time. "A golf course used for educational purposes is great for the students. It will provide valuable hands-on experience, putting students in real life situations. Being on a golf course will give students a totally different perspective than what they learn from textbooks. I am a big supporter of ABAC, and for me, this donation is all about ABAC." Since that time three other Tift County landmarks are now owned or operated by ABAC. Georgia legislators decided in 2010 that ABAC should take over the operation of the Georgia Agrirama, and it became a part of the ABAC campus as the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village. In 2018, City of Tifton officials contracted with ABAC to take over the management of the historic Tift Theatre, a Tifton landmark since 1937.  In 2019, the Council of Garden Clubs of Tifton, Inc., donated the Fulwood Garden Center to the ABAC Foundation so that it could be operated by ABAC. When Tifton founder Henry Harding Tift made a quite generous donation which helped Tifton win the bidding from Pelham for the location of the Second District Agricultural and Mechanical School on Nov. 23, 1906, he planted a seed which continues to grow. The area high school became South Georgia A&M College which became the Georgia State College for Men which became ABAC in 1933. “Of all the investments I have ever made, this school has brought me the biggest dividends,” Tift said at a commencement ceremony years later. ABAC President David Bridges could add a hearty amen to that sentiment. “I’ve always said that businesses in a community come and go,” Bridges, a 1978 ABAC graduate, said.  “Colleges in a community come and grow. “Making the lives of young people better was the mission when the Second District A&M School opened in 1908, and we’re still doing that today,” Bridges said.  “We offer only one product, but it is a very valuable product.  We offer the opportunity for a life-changing educational experience to every student who walks on our campus.  The value of the ABAC experience is absolutely priceless.” “Priceless” is an impossible number to come up with but a recent study sanctioned by the University System of Georgia determined that the economic impact of ABAC on South Georgia skyrocketed to a record $529,838,507 in fiscal year 2017.  That’s a 31 percent increase over FY 2016. “ABAC needs South Georgia, and South Georgia needs ABAC,” Dr. Renata Elad, Dean of the Stafford School of Business at ABAC, said.   “With total employment of over 1,800 jobs directly from student spending activities and an overall labor impact of almost $66 million, ABAC is a strong partner in regional growth.” With a record enrollment of 4,291 students and instructional sites in Tifton, Moultrie, Bainbridge, Blakely, and Donalsonville, ABAC is growing.  But how about those four Tifton landmarks?  Has their association with ABAC made them better? “This past fiscal year we had a record year of revenue for the golf course,” Forest Lakes Superintendent Austin Lawton, an ABAC graduate, said.  “There is more public play, and we have doubled our membership.” As Moorman intended, the course is also a teaching tool, not just for golf course management majors but for the entire college. “We have natural resource classes come out here to look at different species of plants and trees,” Lawton said.   “We had some wildlife classes that trapped our beavers that were wreaking havoc on our ponds.  Some classes look at the different soil types. “That’s besides the golf classes, the turfgrass students, and the golf team which is now practicing out here on a regular basis.” Forest Lakes, constructed in 1987, still opens to the public every day of the year except for Christmas and “uncooperating weather days,” according to Lawton. Museum Director Garrett Boone projects 35,000 elementary school students will visit the Museum in 2021 through the Destination Ag program, which has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception almost three years ago. “It is vitally important to engage students with the importance of agriculture and natural resources at an early age,” Boone said. “We, along with our partners, are working hard to provide opportunities to increase the awareness on the critical role that agriculture and natural resources play in our everyday lives – from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to the house we live in.” Those Destination Ag numbers are on top of the 12,000 or so visitors who attend historical workshops and tours.  Add the 34,070 people who attended the 377 events the Museum attracted to its conference facilities last year, and the number buzzes like a South Georgia beehive. Boone maintains that the original mission of the Museum from its opening on July 4, 1976 is still intact. “I don’t want the historic side to get lost here,” Boone, who assumed his duties in 2014, said.  “We are still focused on historic preservation of life in Wiregrass Georgia from the 1870s through 1910.  ABAC students have been a tremendous asset for that historic preservation mission. “All of our visitors have exposure to ABAC because they are on the ABAC campus.  The Museum is a perfect living laboratory for ABAC students for internships.  We are a voice for ABAC and for outreach into the community.” There’s that community angle again.  Forest Lakes, the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village, the Tift Theatre, and the Fulwood Garden Center continue to be open to the public “Under ABAC’s management, the Tift Theatre has exploded with activity over the past seven months,” ABAC Arts Connection Director Wayne Jones said.  “The increase in activity in the Tift has begun to create momentum among outside renters of the facility.  McAlpin Entertainment continues to bring high quality country music concerts as it has for the past several years.” Tifton residents who watched classic movies on the Tift Theatre big screen during its heyday may not agree but Jones believes the best days of the Tift may be ahead of it. “While only seven months into the management contract, both the City of Tifton and ABAC have seen tremendous growth in capacity for producing and presenting live arts events because of this agreement, both on campus and at the Tift,” Jones said.  “The future looks very bright and full of potential for even greater growth in the coming years.” The ABAC Concert Band presented its fall concert at the Tift in November and will do the same with its spring concert on April 11.  Dr. Susan Roe, head of the ABAC Department of Fine Arts, produced and directed “A Christmas to Treasure” at the Tift in December before a packed house. Dr. Brian Ray, who directs ABAC’s Baldwin Players, also serves as Artistic Director for the Tift.  In that role, he has revived the Tift Community Players who will present six or seven live performances at the Tift this year.  A summer drama camp for children is also in the works for the Tift stage. Museum Curator Polly Huff had the widest smile in the room when the Council of Garden Clubs of Tifton, Inc., presented the keys to the Fulwood Garden Center to the ABAC Foundation on Jan. 31. “I love the fact that ABAC students will be able to intern at the property in several different areas,” Huff said.  “Those internships will range from curatorial tasks to guided tours of the home and the gardens. “The second area of possible engagement for the students is in the area of event rentals and marketing.  We’re also hoping to work with the ABAC horticulture professors and the Horticulture Club to identify and label some of the unique trees and plants in the gardens and create a self-guided tour booklet for visitors.” Constructed in 1914 as a home for Paul D. and Ruth Vickers Fulwood, the interior of the structure became a part of history almost immediately.  The beautiful flooring installed at the Fulwood home was originally intended for the home of Henry and Bessie Tift.  The mill sent the flooring to the Fulwood home by mistake. “Mr. Fulwood always said that the floors were the finest element of the home,” Huff said of the original flooring which is still in place today. ABAC has already put the Fulwood Garden Center to work when it served as the site for a meal on Feb. 7 for the 30-person staff of Georgia Organics, who were in town for the Georgia Organics Conference. “The group toured the home, heard a little bit about its history, and enjoyed a cozy meal,” Huff said. Bridges called the ABAC experience “priceless.”  South Georgians who engage ABAC and its many components, which may include grinding cane at the Museum, laughing at a Tift Theatre comedy, launching a golf ball into a blue sky at Forest Lakes or enjoying a “high tea” at the Fulwood Garden Center, would probably agree.   ###

In its 111th year of existence, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College awards more student scholarships than at any time in its history.  ABAC students are quick to tell you that these are life-changing dollars. “My scholarship allows me to focus on my success in college, rather than focus on the financial requirements,” Kaycee Aultman, a writing and communication major from Tifton, said.  “My scholarship also allows me to take part in extracurricular activities.  “I am president of the ABAC Ambassadors this year, serve as a student representative on multiple committees, and work as an orientation leader.  There’s no way I could be that involved without the scholarship.” A recipient of the Allstate Construction ABAC Foundation Scholarship, Aultman has a perfect 4.0 grade point average.  So not only does she put a lot of effort into extracurricular activities, she focuses on her main task of success in the classroom. ABAC Foundation Chief Operating Officer Jodie Snow, a 2000 ABAC alumnus, said the Foundation provided ABAC students with 515 scholarships worth $715,000 this year.  She said the Foundation utilizes An Evening for ABAC as an annual scholarship fundraising event, raising more than $100,000 for student scholarships each of the past three years. “Our goal is to raise enough funds for at least 40 scholarships,” Wayne Jones, the director of the ABAC Arts Connection who helps to coordinate An Evening for ABAC, said.  “That means we have to net $100,000.  We have been very fortunate that we have done that three years in a row.” “An Evening for ABAC is an awesome event,” Aultman said. “I get to help during the event, and I love meeting the donors and the visitors.  It’s just another way I am able to take full advantage of every opportunity I have been given at ABAC.” An Evening for ABAC is just one of the ways that the Foundation raises the funds to meet the scholarship needs of students who are anxious to take part in the ABAC experience.  Neel Patel, a biology major from Tifton, makes no bones about how important his scholarship is to him. “It is an honor for me to receive the Tift Regional Health System ABAC Foundation scholarship,” Patel said.  “It reminds me that hard work is always rewarded in one way or another.  It also reminds me to stay focused and work toward my goals. “As a college student, I know that I will struggle at times, however, receiving this scholarship will help me to keep pushing toward my goals.” Each year the ABAC Alumni Association holds a Milk and Cookies event in August where the scholarship recipients visit the Alumni House and pen a personal thank you note to their scholarship donors.  Alumni board members then serve fresh baked cookies and milk to the students.  Response has been phenomenal, both from the students and their donors. Raines Evans, a biology major from Fitzgerald, is thankful for the scholarship support. “It is an honor to be a part of the ABAC Family,” Evans said.  “When Sodexo offered me this scholarship through the ABAC Foundation, I was able to live at home and explore a little more of college with an easy mind because I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to pay for school. “This has been a great year for me at ABAC.  Because of the scholarship, I can study more and worry about work less.” ABAC Advancement Director Deidre Martin believes scholarships are a win-win situation, both for the donor and the individual or company which provides the financial support. “We have our solid base of supporters, largely from the business community, who see the value of ABAC and want to support it,” Martin said.  “Every year we have new donors join the effort once they have heard about the success we have had and decide they want to be a part of it.  “Everyone likes supporting student scholarships.  It’s a great way for them to give back and make an investment in the next generation.” Martin is all about connecting donors to the students who benefit from their generosity. “We make an effort throughout the year for donors to meet their scholarship recipient and take a photo with them,” Martin said.  “That’s just one of the ways that we try to put a face to the scholarship donation.”                                                              ###