On this episode of Coffee with Cool People, Chip sits down with George Jebaily, attorney, long-time Florence city councilman, Mayor Pro Temp, and the guy whose family now has written proof that he is, in fact, still cool. George introduces himself first through the lenses that matter most to him: husband, father, son, and faith-filled member of St. Anthony Catholic Church. Professionally, he wears two big hats, managing partner at Jebaily Law Firm and public servant for the City of Florence, and he’s spent decades blending those roles into a life centered on family, community, and service.
George walks Chip through the origin and growth of the South Carolina Pecan Festival, which he’s chaired since its launch in 2003. What began as a hopeful experiment spearheaded by the Florence Downtown Development Corporation quickly turned into a regional institution. The first year drew about 2,500 people; now, it’s more than 52,000 attendees, nine stages of music, hundreds of vendors, and a classic car show, big enough for Southern Living to dub it “the world’s largest Pecan Festival.” George emphasizes how the festival and downtown Florence have grown up together: as the city invested in revitalization, the festival drew people onto the streets, into shops and restaurants, and back into a pedestrian relationship with the heart of town.
From there, the conversation zooms out to the less glamorous but absolutely critical side of city leadership: infrastructure. As an at-large council member, George represents all of Florence, not just downtown, and he’s been a key driver behind comprehensive master plans for stormwater, water distribution, water collection, and wastewater. Instead of lurching from one crisis to another, burst pipes here, localized flooding there, Florence now has a roadmap. That planning allowed the city to use a modest 50-cent stormwater fee increase to support a $7 million bond, which then helped unlock an additional $14 million in state grant money. For George, it’s a textbook example of “plan your work and work your plan,” and a quieter but essential part of moving Florence forward.
George also talks about his “day job” at Jebaily Law Firm, founded by his brother in 1969 and now serving clients across the nine-county Pee Dee and Grand Strand region from offices in Florence, North Myrtle Beach, and Market Common. The firm focuses on representing individuals, not corporations or insurance companies, in injury, workers’ compensation, and Social Security disability cases. That work naturally led him into advocacy around distracted driving; he’s spent time in schools sharing the real consequences of texting and driving, helped push for “End Distracted Driving” awareness in April, and supported South Carolina’s hands-free law. It’s a bit ironic for an injury lawyer to work so hard to prevent accidents, but for George, that’s exactly the point.
At the end of the episode, Chip asked for his favorite fictional character, and George turned it into a family focus group. His crew vetoed the obvious superhero choices and instead offered a hilarious spread: Leslie Knope (for his civic obsession), George Bailey (for his community-first heart), Don Quixote, Inigo Montoya, and even Vincent Gambini from My Cousin Vinny. In the end, George settles on being some mix of all of them: earnest, relentless, community-minded, occasionally tilting at windmills, and always willing to fight for his hometown.
