This city of 62,000, halfway between Charlotte and Atlanta, took a huge hit when the textile manufacturing industry left. Greenville’s visionary leaders were not going to let that shut down their town. It took decades of hard work, passionate people and generous financial support from companies and individuals to take Greenville from a dying city to a vibrant community that attracts 5.3 million visitors a year and is home to global employers like BMW and Michelin. 

Nearly a decade after their first visit, the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce took 141 business and community leaders from Columbus, Harris County, Phenix City, Albany and Macon back to Greenville. A town that has emerged as one the hottest place to live, work and play. 

In the last two years alone Greenville has been featured in the Atlantic, Travel + Leisure, The Boston Globe, The New York Times and Outside Magazine, along with being named the ‘Seventh Best in the U.S. to Visit’ by Lonely Planet, ‘Top Six Hottest New Vacations Destinations’ by Peter Greenberg of CBS News, ‘Fourth Coolest Small Town’ by Budget Travel and ranking 35th in the U.S. News and World Report’s list of the ‘Best Places to Live in the United States.’ 

“Feedback from attendees validated our decision to visit Greenville on this year’s ICLC,” said Brian Anderson, President and CEO of the Greater Columbus, GA Chamber of Commerce. “We have heard from multiple people that this was the most relevant trip they have been due to the scale of Greenville.” 

Based on that positive feedback the Chamber has decided to alternate going to bigger cities like Nashville and Austin and smaller ones like Greenville.

“Greenville’s achievements are along our trajectory and not so much dependent on sheer size of the city. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t aspire to the likes of Austin and Nashville but seeing Greenville has dealt with the issues we are facing or will face was inspiring,” said 2016 ICLC attendee, Andy Hidle, General Manager of Starrett-Bytewise Measurement Systems.

ICLC participants heard a recurring refrain from Greenville’s leaders – have a plan, work that plan and cultivate partnerships between the public and private sectors. The latter being something Columbus prides itself on and the former being something Columbus is already working on as the Regional Prosperity Initiative moves out the planning phase and into the implementation phase, which will be called Columbus 2025.

“We have Columbus 2025, a deliberate and intentional plan to move our community forward over the next decade. We won’t see results overnight but if we work together as a community and stay focused on the plan we will see better results, faster.” said Anderson. “When a community comes together with a common cause anything is possible.”

Greenville and Columbus’ stories converge at times. Both are mill towns that weathered the shuttering of the textile industry. Both pride themselves on a strong tradition of public/private partnerships. Both rediscovered their river as an attraction after years of industrial use. What makes Greenville and Columbus different today? Greenville is one of the hottest destinations in the country with a strong workforce and thriving industries. While Columbus is making huge strides in these areas it did not have a strategic and long-term plan and Greenville did.  

“What could be better than to be a change agent for our community. By attending the conference, the Chamber looks to the participants to take part in implementing new programs and re-developing old programs in Columbus,” said Amy Bryan, Executive Vice President of Leadership & Community Development for the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce.