Business of ABAC never far from president’s mind

TIFTON — Running a business with a budget of $64 million a year would consume every waking moment of most individuals. David Bridges, the 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, said. “Our return would have to be calculated over the lives and careers of our graduates.”

Since Bridges became the 10th president in the history of ABAC on July 1, 2006, more than 7,000 graduates have received ABAC diplomas.

“Students are our business, and our graduates start businesses of their own,” the ABAC president 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,” 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 percent higher than the $369,874,664 impact in Fiscal Year 2016.

“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 in addition to 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’s 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. That expands the ABAC economic impact even further because graduates find higher-paying jobs.

Besides the $64 million annual budget, there’s also the matter of capital investment at ABAC. Since Bridges’ presidency began, more than $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 improvements add 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 the college 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.

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 crosscut 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 is serving as interim director of Georgia’s first 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 of 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,” he said. “Otherwise we would be floundering. The ability to offer bachelor’s degrees changed ABAC forever.”

Asked what provides him with the most satisfaction as the ABAC president, Bridges points to two days every year.

“Fall graduation and spring graduation,” he said. “The graduates have cleared that hurdle. They have diplomas. Our expectation is that they will go out and do something with those degrees.”

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,” he said. “We have made great progress. But there’s still a lot to be done.”

Special Photo: ABAC