The Troup County Board of Commissioners discussed rebranding the county during its work session on Thursday.

The possibility of a new logo has been under discussion on and off for almost a year, and the suggested new logo was presented to the Troup County Board of Commissioners along with a new tag line. Both will need to be approved through a vote by the board of commissioners in order to be officially adopted. The new logo cost $899.

“When I came on board as the assistant manager back in January, I was given some indication that we might need to look at possibly rebranding and coming up with a modern, fresh, new logo for Troup County as a whole,” Assistant County Manager Eric Mosley said. “Over the course of the past five and a half months now, I have been working in conjunction with staff and some folks in the community who have helped lead me in the right direction.”

The county received direction from the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce and a recommendation on logo creation services from Wild Leap Brew Co.

“We utilized their [99 designs’] consulting service to reach out to an unbelievable amount of graphic artists across the country, across the world to come up with a couple of logos,” Mosley said. “A couple ended out being 150, so we had 150 examples that we started off with. I chiseled that down to a couple dozen, and at that point I forwarded those logos out to the staff.”

According to Mosley, county staff was able to vote on which logo they felt represented Troup County as a whole. The new logo has a more modern design than the seal that is currently used to designate county vehicles, business cards, letterhead and other items.

“We feel like it is a modern logo, a logo that represents our community — the blue being the water, the green being our rural atmosphere and then of course you see the line down the middle, and it represents our great transportation here in Troup County or the river as well,” Mosley said. “We just felt like we needed something that really stood out and became the new sense of what our community stood for.”

The county plans to purchase several new vehicles using SPLOST funds in the near future, and if the new logo is approved on Tuesday, those vehicles will have the logo placed on the side.

“It is refreshing to me,” Commissioner Ellis Cadenhead said. “There are several different vehicles that have different logos, and to me, this would be a great new start from the standpoint of having a new outlook in Troup County.”

Other county property — ranging from vehicles to stationary — that currently feature the county seal will move over to the new branding more slowly.

“We’ll go through all our stationary, and we’ll just slowly change it out,” County Manager Tod Tentler said. “We won’t go through the expense of doing everything at one time.”

However, Commissioner Morris Jones questioned if the design was too abstract to be immediately recognizable as the county’s logo.

“Are you going to send a definition with it? Because when you look at it you really have to have a definition to find Troup County,” Jones said.

County Commission Chairman Patrick Crews said he like the logo, and so did Commissioner Lewis Davis. However, he said that he would like to hear community input on the new logo if possible before it is adopted. Mosley said information on the logo would appear on the county’s social media prior to the vote in order to allow citizens to comment.

The new logo will also be accompanied by a tag line that was created with assistance from the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce. The new tag line reads:

“Conveniently located just southwest of Atlanta, less than an hour away from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, you’ll find a welcoming business climate, modern infrastructure and affordable cost of living in Troup County, Georgia. Whether you are looking to relocate your business or your family, Troup County invites you to start here.”

Mosley said that he believes the tagline, which can be shortened to “Start here,” is a good representation the message that Troup County sends to new residents and potential residents.

“I think everyone who comes here, doesn’t want to leave,” Mosley said. “I feel like I’m that person. My wife told me not long ago that we’ve not moving again, and I wish we would have started here in the beginning.”

According to Mosley, the county also plans to update its website to make it more user friendly while incorporating the colors from the proposed logo. The commissioners will vote on the new logo on Tuesday at 9 a.m. at 100 Ridley Avenue.