1975 - Assisted Liberty County Commission in acquiring a federal criminal justice grant for the Nation’s first regional rural detention center (in Liberty County) and subsequently received an Innovation Award for this project from the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC).

1976 - Established the Nation’s first and largest rural non-profit revolving loan fund for small business development under a grant from the Economic Development Administration, United States Department of Commerce.

1979 - Awarded a major grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the creation of the Nation’s first regional comprehensive storm preparedness program.

1986 - Presented with the Meritorious Achievement Award by the Georgia Chapter of the American Planning Association for a position paper proposing a coordinated local-regional-state planning program. This paper was later credited as the origin of Georgia’s Growth Strategies initiative that led to the Georgia Planning Act of 1989.

1989 - Recognized as the Best Regional Planning Agency in the Nation (for a region in its population range) by the National Association of Regional Councils.

1990 - Received a major grant from the Rural Development Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, to prepare the Nation’s first Rural Solid Waste Management Demonstration program, including a Model Regional Plan and Rural Solid Waste Users Guide.

1993 - Granted an Innovation Award for the Coastal Georgia Regional Solid Waste Management Program by the National Association of Development Organizations. Shortly thereafter, the CGRDC received a second award for this innovative program from the National Association of Regional Councils.

1994 - Received a Meritorious Achievement Award for the Coastal Georgia Regional River Corridor Protection Plan from the National Association of Regional Councils.

1995 - Presented an Innovative Program Award by the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) in recognition of the Coastal Georgia Olympics Tourism Development Program.

1995 - Recognized with a Distinguished Service Award by the National Hurricane Conference for the Coastal Georgia Storm Preparedness Program.

1995 - Received a Meritorious Achievement Award for “Excellence in Regionalism” in the medium metropolitan category from the National Association of Regional Councils.

1996 - Selected as one of three regions in nation to participate in economic development and tourism exchange with sister region in Germany through a program sponsored by German Marshall Fund of the U.S.

1998 - Signed Friendship Agreement between the District Uckermark in the Uckermark-Barnim Region in the State of Brandenburg in the Federal Republic of Germany and their Associations for Economic Promotion with the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center.

1998 - Selected to participate with Georgia DOT and Georgia Tech in the development of a rural transportation planning/model tool for statewide application.

1998 - Selected as the first regional planning agency in United States to coordinate FEMA PROJECT IMPACT activities for a multi-county area.

2001 - Selected as the first regional planning agency in the United States to participate with FEMA to develop a Rural FloodPlain Mapping Prototype

2001 - Received the NADO Innovations Award in recognition of the Coastal Georgia Travel Game and the King’s Coastal Corridor Initiative.

2001 - Received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2000

2002 - Received the NADO Innovations Award for the Highway 17 Design Guidelines Manual.

2003 - Received the NADO Innovations Award in recognition of the Elder Friendly Business Certification Program

2003 - Received the NADO Innovations Award in recognition of the Emergency Preparedness Guides for distribution to Aging service providers and pertinent Emergency Management Agencies

2003 - Received a Meritorious Achievement Award from National Mature Media Awards for our 30 second television public service announcement on Coastal AAA services.

2003 - Received national attention and recognition for our Southern Passages: The Atlantic Heritage Coast rural corridor development project during a satellite telecast, as part of First Lady Laura Bush’s “Preserve America” initiative.

2004 - CGRDC Executive Director received the Walter Scheiber Leadership Award from the NARC for his support to the Association and for his outstanding leadership and innovation as a regional council executive director.

2005 - Selected by the Georgia DOT to develop the State's first Regional Plan for Rural and Coordinated Public Transportation.