The Development Authority of Burke County (DABC) is one of three organizations in the CSRA that will receive funds through the Georgia OneGeorgia Authority’s Rural Site Development Initiative. The program gives rural counties financial support to identify and establish ready-for-development industrial sites.
“Georgia offers the workforce, connectivity, and business-friendly environment for companies to be successful in every corner of the state, which is why we’ve been named the top state for business for over a decade,” said Governor Brian Kemp in the news release announcing the grants. “The Rural Site Development Initiative helps us maintain that competitive edge over other states by empowering communities to build on that success and turn fields of dreams into sources of good-paying jobs for rural Georgians.”
Austin Stacy, Executive Director of DABC, told ABD the grant will allow the county to be certified in the Georgia Ready Accelerated Development (GRAD) program.
“In order to be certified for that, you have to meet certain criteria from the state, various due diligence materials, such as wetland delineation, geotechnical studies, cultural and endangered species,” he explained. “Then, when companies are coming in, looking at Georgia, we can say, ‘Hey, we have these sites,’ and all of the due diligence is already done, and these are high-quality sites.”
“The Rural Site Development Initiative empowers communities to proactively shape economic growth that aligns with their long-term goals,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson in the news release. “GRAD-certified sites offer speed-to-market advantages for companies and strengthen Georgia’s competitive site portfolio.”
GRAD is a program the Augusta Economic Development Authority (AEDA) has used successfully in the Augusta Corporate Park on Mike Padgett Highway.
“Our corporate park, where Aurubis, GF Castings, and Starbucks are, is GRAD certified. It’s the exact certification that Austin will get from the grant he just got,” said Cal Wray, President of AEDA. “Then our mega site will have everything ready to go and GRAD certification, once we have full ownership of it.”
Stacy said the grant will allow DABC to update due diligence materials already available but are outdated. An engineering firm will be hired to survey the site and update its compliance with GRAD requirements.
The update will be for a section of the Waynesboro/Burke County Industrial Park. Just last year, Ritz Instrument Transformers of Germany announced plans for a $28 million facility that will be joined by a $15 million plant for TCM Transformers USA, Inc.
“It’s actually that back portion of the industrial park. Ritz actually took about 20 acres of that. And we got funding for 150 acres. But really, there will only be about 120 to 125 acres that will utilize the funds,” said Stacy, who added it will also mean the Burke County Park will be listed on the state’s website. “And that’s a critical component, which I will say we have been blessed recently with the state bringing the two projects that we announced last year.”
To date, $18 million in grants have been distributed for rural site development projects. The latest round totals $8 million, and DABC will receive $35,278. Stacy said this is an example of a relatively small amount of money that could lead to a multi-million-dollar project coming to the Burke County Park.
The other two CSRA counties receiving grants are $75,000 to the Development Authority of Jefferson County to assist with the costs of seeking GRAD certification for the 230-acre Louisville Airport Industrial Park and $142,450 to the Washington-Wilkes Payroll Development Authority. It will be used to assist with the costs of seeking GRAD certification for the 455-acre Washington-Wilkes Industrial Park Expansion.
