MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — In downtown Milledgeville, you can hear the roar of new students, but to businesses there, it also sounds like money.
“We are stocking up! I think the other day we got like five boxes of things jam-packed, like full boxes,” Zoe Furh, an associate at Firefly Boutique, said.
But, when college students leave town for the summer, so does a lot of the business.
She says that, when students go on their summer vacations, the customer numbers at their store get cut in half.
“Not having the students here makes the days go by slower,” Furh explains.
The town grows sleepy and quiet.
“So, graduation is nuts — it's all hands on deck, “ John Green, a server at Metropolis Cafe, said. "Then the next weekend, nobody is here.”
But with schools like Georgia College gearing up to bring in a new freshman class, businesses are hoping to see more customers in seats.
Green says they just had their first busy lunch service since summer started. But during those summer months, they focus on a different clientele.
“So, we have more locals coming in," Green said. "It kind of keeps it steady during the summer, but it's definitely still a noticeable difference.”
But making things even more tricky, many of Metropolis Cafe's staff are students too.
“I'm one of two employees who’s not a student — out of 15,” Green said.
Miso Hawngry owner, Amy McDade, says a regular day during the school year looks pretty different.
“We get a lunch rush and then we get a dinner crowd,” she said.
That's 50-70 people coming through their doors each day.
“Summer — 25 is good,” she said. “It gets really, really slow.”
McDade says when the students go, so do parts of the business.
“We have to cut labor and hours are cut also just because there's nothing going on in the afternoons," McDade said. "So, we close from 3 to 5.”
McDade preps extra food for the students saying the college's business is as important as hers.
“We have that little party when we know they're coming back," McDade said. "We've been ready for it all summer, like, middle of August here we come!"
Businesses welcome the noise as freshmen are set to move into their dorms Thursday morning.
Georgia College says they are the largest employer in the county.
They put $65 million toward payroll, according to a state study, and those staff and students contribute to the economy by spending at local shops and restaurants.
A closer look at financial impacts of other Central Georgia colleges– an annual report from the University System of Georgia shows that Fort Valley State University provides $164 million dollars to Peach County's economy.
Middle Georgia State University brings in $288 million.
The report says the three colleges create more than 75,000 jobs, both on and off campus.
However, larger state institutions like UGA and Georgia Tech generate a combined $7.5 billion.