Economic Developers Tour Stephens County

Stephens County is a community equipped for and supportive of economic development. This was the message of the second fall 2009 “Developer Day” event hosted by the Stephens County Development Authority. Five statewide economic development project managers from Georgia EMC, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Power Company, and the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission toured the community. The trip focused on Stephens County’s development-ready sites, buildings, work force, and leadership so as to help project managers better foster development in the area.

Tim Ash, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and Representative Michael Harden served as the “chauffeurs” for the day. Joe Moore and Bryon Whitworth of American Woodmark took the group on a tour of the facility. The group also viewed several available industrial buildings and sites in the Meadowbrook Industrial Park and Hayestone Brady Business Park, including the 80,000 square feet Rooker spec building. Stephens County High School Principal Felton Stephens gave them a tour of his school, highlighting the improved graduation rate. The project managers also got a glimpse at the natural sights of Toccoa with stops at Toccoa Falls and Paul Anderson Park.

The economic developers joined local leaders from the City and County government, healthcare, education, and real estate sectors for lunch at the Willard Kimsey Environmental Education Center (Straw House). The statewide guests gave an overview of their agencies and projects, and local leaders were able to address their concerns and perspectives on local development projects.

Rope Roberts, Georgia Power Company: “My job is to help communities with all faces of economic development. One of the positive things I can say about Stephens County – and I have always pushed this – is the labor force trained in metal working, which goes back to LeTourneau days. Not everybody can work metal. When we can say we have a metal working company, we can say we have a great work force in this area.”

Chip Wright, Georgia Mountains Regional Commission: “What I do at the Regional Commission is community design. I work with Toccoa and other communities to utilize resources that they already have in hand, which a lot of times are historic downtowns. To make these places gathering spaces again… branches out and helps with the attraction of business and economy building enterprises. Once people who are looking to relocate their businesses in your community see that you have a pride in your community, it makes Toccoa–Stephens County the place they want to be.”

Taube Ponce, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Global Commerce Division: “Companies that export generally have a higher growth rate than companies that don’t export. They generally pay higher wages and are more stable. One of the silver linings of our current economic situation is that the dollar is low, which…for exporters is great because our products are even more competitive now. Exporting is a wonderful tool for economic development, and communities don’t often think about that. We and our offices can help companies find markets for their products.”

David Austin, City of Toccoa: “We are so glad to have you here today. We think a lot of our City and County and we’ve worked a lot with you over the years to make things even better. I welcome you to Toccoa-Stephens County and hope you come back.”

Tim Ash, Toccoa-Stephens Co. Chamber of Commerce: “Stephens County is ready, willing and able to accept new businesses and acclimate our workforce to those businesses. We are doing a lot of things right these days and just need the rest of the world to get the message. We appreciate your being here to see what’s taking place and to contribute what you can to help us along.”

Cam Parker, Stephens Co. Development Authority: “As local economic developers, one of the most important things we can do is try to be good partners with statewide organizations. We want to do our very best to help you help us, and part of that is communicating, just like we are today, what we think are some of our strengths. One of our strengths is our people, who know how to work and have a strong work ethic. They also give us the tools to be a good partner with you, passing SPLOST V – 80% of which was for economic development – with a 72% vote. Our leaders are also pro-business, pro-growth. They get along and they want to progress. We want to be good partners. If you need us to do something just let us know, and we’ll give it our best.”