BRCG is proud to have the expertise of Dr. Van G. Whaler as an advisor to our firm. Dr. Whaler has provided invaluable assistance to our company with his 40 years of experience in the public sector. His particular area of expertise is local government management, public administration, urban planning, financial management and grant writing/administration. This particular talent has seen him awarded over $40 million dollars in grants for the various city and county governments he has served and he brings this service to Blue Ridge Consulting Group. His most recent achievements were the awarding of a $500,000.00 Community Development Block Grant and a $200,000.00 OneGeorgia grant, both of which were applied to the building of a Griffin Technical College campus in Butts County which opened in 2007. Because of his grant writing abilities, he became an adjunct faculty member of the college where he designed and teaches a course in professional grant writing.
Since 2004 he has been under contract with the Butts County Board of Commissioners as County Administrator. Prior to that, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Van G. Whaler and Associates, located in Adel, Georgia where, over the course of several decades, he provided management consultancy services to over forty different governments in Georgia. These services ranged from developing financial and budgeting plans, personnel policies, troubleshooting and fixing serious management issues, drafting capital improvement and SPLOST programs, serving as Interim County Manager for numerous counties, providing executive search for local governments, working on land use issues and much more. His reputation throughout the state of Georgia is considerable and he has established, nurtured and developed excellent working relationships with numerous local, state and federal officials at all levels.
Dr. Whaler is veteran of the Vietnam War where received the Bronze Star for Gallantry under enemy fire. He also received a battlefield commission to the rank of Second Lieutenant, United States Army. An avid Georgia Tech fan, Dr. Whaler and his wife Kathy live in Jackson, Georgia. They have one adult daughter who resides in Atlanta. Most recently, he authored his first book, "Memoirs of a Government Amnesia Victim", which was accepted for publication and will be available from noted booksellers such as Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million and other major resellers in May of 2008.
Advisor
GRIFFIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE
Adjunct Faculty Member
BUTTS COUNTY HOSPITAL AUTHORITY
Board Member
BUTTS COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Past Board Member
Shining Light Award Recipient
BUTTS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Ex-Officio Board Member
BUTTS COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD
Board Member
PARTNERS FOR SMART GROWTH
Tourism and Historical Committee Member
EDUCATION
University of Miami, Miami Florida
Akron University, Akron Ohio
Kent State University, Kent Ohio
PARTIAL LIST OF MAJOR PROJECTS
BUTTS COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Development of Capital Improvement Program
Signature Community Project (Butts County Awarded in 2007)
Development of numerous grants (CDBG, EIP, OneGeorgia)
BUILDING PROJECT INVOLVEMENT
Butts County E-911 Center, Design and Implementation Team
Butts County Administration Facility, $3.5m retrofit, Project Manager
Griffin Technical College, Jackson Campus, $1.5m building, Project Management Team
Butts County Jail Expansion Project, $8.5m wing, Project Management Team
Butts County Library Expansion, $1.5m wing, Project Management Team
Butts County Clerk of Court Expansion, $800k wing retrofit, Project Management Team
These are listed as Dr. Whaler's most recent accomplishments. An exhaustive list of projects is available upon request, which span many years and several different governments.
