| Sen. Drew Echols, a Republican, was elected to the
Georgia State Senate in 2024. He represents Senate
District 49, which includes most of Hall County. Sen. Echols serves as Secretary of the Senate Committees
on Retirement and Science and Technology. He is also a
member of the Senate Committees on Economic
Development and Tourism, and Natural Resources and
the Environment, as well as an Ex-Officio member of the
Senate Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. Drew Echols has been farming since he can remember. A graduate of East Hall High School, Drew worked for
the Georgia Power Company for 2 1/2 years before returning to Jaemor Farms to help bring a 21st century
vision to his family's 105-year-old farming operation. For the last 22 years, Sen. Echols has helped expand his family's peach and apple orchard to include
strawberries, pumpkins and other small produce items that are popular at the market. In 2006, Sen. Echols,
along with his father and uncle, opened a corn maze at the farm, which is now an annual fall attraction for
consumers in northeast Georgia. Jaemor Farms has become a tourist destination for nearly one million visitors
annually. Outside of his work on the farm, Sen. Echols has served his community and state in several capacities. He has
been involved with Leadership Hall and Hall County Farm Bureau, where he also served as president from
2009-2014. In 2010, Sen. Echols was named to the state Department of Agriculture's steering committee. He also
served on the Georgia Farm Bureau Young Farmer Committee, was president of the Georgia Fruit and
Vegetable Grower's Association from 2021-2022, and currently serves on the Executive Committee.
Additionally, Sen. Echols serves on UGA's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Advisory Council
and Georgia's Soil and Water Commission board. Sen. Echols was a part of the 2015 Leadership Georgia class, a
program chair in 2017, and served on the Board of Trustees from 2019-2022. He currently serves as a member
of the Georgia Agribusiness Council board of directors, as well as the Georgia Peach Foundation for Public Education. In 2014, Sen. Echols and his wife won the Georgia Farm Bureau Young Farmer Achievement Award and placed
in the top ten nationally. Sen. Echols was named a Master Entrepreneur by The Featherbone Communiversity
in 2015 and Gainesville Jaycees Young Man of the Year in 2017. He was also awarded the Riverside Military
Academy Sandy Beaver Entrepreneurial Leadership Award in 2019 and received the Junior Achievement of
Northeast Georgia Rising Star award in 2023. Sen. Echols lives in Alto, Georgia, with his wife Shelly (married 24 years), daughter Chloe (20), and son Cohen
(16). The Echolses are active members of Level Grove Baptist Church. |