Who would have thought a small rural town in south Georgia with only vestiges of its former agricultural strength remaining would become a home for world-class storytelling? Well, that’s exactly what Colquitt, Georgia did! In the late 1980s, this city was in “survival mode” as the agricultural industry declined. Colquitt’s leaders knew they had to reboot. In this case, the proverb that necessity is the mother of invention was applicable. 

Creating an art industry began as an idea of how to re-create and rebrand the community, City Manager Cory Thomas once told the ICMA. Individuals from the community “gathered stories of their heritage, history, and community to put on the stage,”¹ and the result was Swamp Gravy, named after a local stew. The play’s mission is to “involve as many people as possible in a theatrical experience that empowers the individual, bonds the community and strengthens the local economy while crossing the boundaries of, race, economy, and social class.” As discussed in Rebooting Local Economies: How to Build Prosperous Communities, this is the very essence of community and economic development.