In recent years, Newton County, Georgia has been flooded with new growth that conflicts with historical patterns of development and places huge demands on local infrastructure and services. Working through the Center for Community Preservation and Planning and the Newton County Leadership Collaborative, the county and its jurisdictions have moved from fragmentation to collaborative action for a smarter approach to growth. Together, they have developed the 2050 Plan, a framework for sustainable growth designed to align local plans, ordinances, land use decisions, and capital investments across the county. The result is a visionary approach to small-town growth and development in the rural South and beyond. The local officials, the center, and community are guided by a framework that has come to be known as the Newton Model, which focuses on a Place, a Process, and a Plan.