Georgia Southern University welcomes over 4,000 students to the Statesboro and Savannah Campus on Friday, August 9, 2024. These students will be moving into on-campus housing during the annual Operation Move-In.
Every hotel room in Statesboro is taken this weekend as excited students and their parents prepare to make Statesboro their new home. Community members will be showing up in force to welcome the students and their parents as they arrive on campus Friday and helping them move in.
Statesboro will come back to life after a very quite summer with little traffic, stocked grocery store shelves and no wait at local restaurants.
If you have made a trip to the grocery store, you know they are back.
Now is the time to roll out the welcome mat and help give them and their families a great first impression.
We at Grice Connect in downtown Statesboro are doing everything we can to welcome them to our community. We have our GS flags flying and welcome back students signs in place. All of our Grice Connect sponsors and supporters are sharing our hospitality by placing Welcome Back signs in front of their businesses.
The Grice Connect team invites you all to join us in welcoming our students back home.
Use your marquee or put out signs and flags to place Welcome Back messages for our newest residents.
Random Acts of Kindness Needed
If you can't volunteer to help in some way, everyone can perform a small random act of kindness this week and weekend.
If you have ever sent a child away to college, you completely understand how emotional this weekend will be for parents and students.
Many of them are leaving home for the first time. Choosing Statesboro was a big decision for them. A simple act of generosity, may be just the sign they need to reassure them that they have chosen wisely.
Traffic Increased, Restaurants and Grocery stores busy
Expect traffic to continue to pick up over the weekend, grocery stores will be stressed to keep up inventory, and restaurants will be packed. Locals need to plan accordingly.
When classes start Wednesday, August 14, Georgia Southern will be welcoming another very strong freshman class. They are expecting more than 27,000 total students.
From the number of U-haul trucks and increased traffic, we see many of them have returned already.
Operation Move-In for many of the students and their parents, will be their first opportunity to experience Statesboro.
GS Over $1 Billion Economic impact
With all the challenges and inconveniences locals will experience this weekend, we must remember the huge economic impact all students bring to Statesboro and Bulloch County.
According to the latest economic impact released by the University System of Georgia, Georgia Southern's economic impact for Statesboro, Savannah, and our region exceeded $1 Billion. They employ more than 3,000 on their three campuses and impact another 6,363 off-campus jobs and serve over 27,000 students.
We have much to be grateful for in the Boro. University students definitely TOP that list.