For his commitment to Georgia agriculture and his efforts to promote the industry and its economic contributions, Gary Black is GeorgiaTrend’s 2017 Georgian of the Year. Now in his second term as the state’s elected Agriculture Commissioner, his department oversees agriculture and is responsible for food safety, animal health, regulating grocery stores and food processing plants, protecting gasoline quality and licensing pest control companies.

Since 2011, Black and his staff have added a strong business dimension through the Georgia Grown program. In its reincarnation, it is uniting producers, processors, retailers and consumers. "I firmly believe that if agriculture in Georgia is healthy, then Georgia is healthy – from an economic standpoint," he says. Read the GeorgiaTrend article in its entirety here.