Development Authority of Bulloch County CEO Benjy Thompson will serve as the chair of the Georgia Economic Developers Association Board of Directors.

The Board is a non-profit association of professionals and volunteers who are involved with the economic development in Georgia. The Georgia group is the largest economic development association in the state, with more than 700 member practitioners. The Economic Developers Association is a resource for professional development, public policy and networking for the state’s economic development community.

This is Thompson’s second year serving as GEDA’s Board chair.

“I look forward to continuing to serve in this role with GEDA,” Thompson said. “GEDA is a respected and highly valued resource for professionals, volunteers and organizations such as the Development Authority of Bulloch County.”

Thompson has been a GEDA member since 2010.

Since 1963, the Georgia Economic Developers Association has been a leadership voice on issues affecting economic development policies and regulations such as leading an initiative to establish sales and use tax exemptions on industry machinery and support for the constitutional amendment establishing the Freeport Inventory Tax Exemption.

More recently, the organization supported legislation that expanded the potential uses of Tax Allocation Districts, created the OneGeorgia program, authorized job tax credits, and the reduction in the sales and use tax on energy used during the manufacturing process.