By Olivia Hammill, on May 28, 2015

Hello, and welcome to my blog! I’m excited to share my summer adventures with you!

Over the next 10 weeks, I’ll give you an inside look at my experience interning with Granville County, a relatively large county about 40 miles north of Chapel Hill. My main project is to create the county’s first-annual public service information booklet, designed to provide readers with information from both economic development and service-oriented perspectives. I will also assist with the county’s website revamp and first foray into the world of social media.

I spent my first week getting acquainted with Granville. I took two tours of the county—one from a tourism perspective and one from an economic development perspective—each providing a unique view of life in Granville. The county, home to nearly 60,000 people, is brimming with history (it was founded in 1746), recreation (including five lakes), cultural events (like the North Carolina Hot Sauce Contest and Butner Chicken Pickin’), and manufacturing (home to Revlon, the largest cosmetics manufacturing facility in North America). But beyond all of that, it’s the people who live in Granville that stood out the most. When you drive down the street, everyone waves to you. When you walk into a store, everyone says hi to you. Little things you don’t encounter elsewhere are the norm in Granville County, and I’m looking forward to spending more time in the community as the summer continues.

I will dive more into my specific projects later this week, so stay tuned! In the meantime, if you have any feedback, questions, or just want to say hi, leave a comment!

Local Gov Love,

Olivia