Hemphill & Son Trucking Spotlight

This week in the Toccoa Record SCDA is spotlighting Hemphill & Son Trucking!



Hemphill & Son Trucking, Inc located on 2004 Clary Connector in Eastanollee.

They are a privately-owned trucking company moving full truck loads to and from the Toccoa area. The current facility was built in 1995. The company has operated in Toccoa since 1984. Hemphill employs some 16 to 20 drivers from the area, depending on their business volumes.

They use their garage for maintenance on their tractors and trailers. They strive to provide a quality means of shipping for area companies. Hemphill is a valued business in the Toccoa area and provides local companies with quality shipping options, according to the Stephens County Development Authority.

Patterson Pump Spotlighted

This week in the Toccoa Record SCDA is spotlighting Patterson Pump!



Patterson Pump is located on some 32 acres at 2129 Ayersville Road in Toccoa. They are a subsidiary of Gorman Rupp with headquarters located in Mansfield, OH. Their employees manufacture pumps and pumping equipment. Patterson Pump specializes in a wide variety of usages including industries, municipals, sewage, irrigation, fire protection, agriculture, and OEM markets. They have a wide variety of customers with many of them being exported to the far eastern countries.

Patterson PUmp continues to be a leading producer of quality pumps. They currently employ some 350 workers, making it the largest private employer in Stephens County. Patterson and their employees support many local organizations in the county and participate in various charity events throughout the year.

SCDA continues to work hard to support a good working relationship with existing businesses and search for growth opportunities for Toccoa/Stephens County.

Stephens County has joined with three neighboring counties to apply for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of grant money designed for workforce development. Along with community partners in Habersham, Franklin, and Hart counties, the Stephens County Development Authority applied for a total of $358,000 in grant funds.

Improvements continue at Hayestone-Brady Business Park

Work continues on improvements to Hayestone-Brady Business Park, current home to Caterpillar and North Georgia Technical College, in Stephens County.

A couple of months into the work, Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin said they are pleased with the progress they are seeing. “We are about 55 to 56 percent complete on the water and wastewater installation and better than 50 percent complete on the road construction,” said Martin. “Doing those two things allows us grade some sites, so it allows us to work on that as well.”

The project consists of building a road that will pass through the park and connect the current Georgia Highway 17 to the future, four-lane Highway 17 as it is designed now, adding in water and sewer, and doing some site work to ready the park for business. It is expected to be complete by the end of the calendar year.

“Within the last 30 days, we have had some visitors in town and on each occasion, we have driven by the site and let them see that work is being done,” he said. “That is obviously better than just a promise we will do something. When you see work being done, it is better than a promise.”
--WNEG
Read article: WNEG News

Currahee Composite Squadron 1st Anniversary

The unit charter, SER-GA 506, was issued by National Headquarters on July 24, thereby officially recognizing the Currahee Composite Squadron as a unique community resource for Northeast Georgia. Lt. Col. David D. Roberts Sr. was appointed as the first Commander as of that date.

A marketing campaign was implemented utilizing local media sources, the Toccoa Record, WNEG Radio, and Northland Cable, each played a major role by informing the public about the CAP. By January of 2010, the membership had grown beyond the capacity of the meeting location. Throughout this six-month period, the squadron members had contributed up to 1,000-man hours of community service and responded to the flood disaster of 2009.

Currently 40 members strong, 14 of which are Officers, the unit meets on Doyle Street in downtown Toccoa at the First Franklin Financial Training Center. The members want to express a very special thank you, to Second Lt. Johnny Coxx and the Leadership of First Franklin, for allowing the unit to temporarily meet there. The Currahee Composite Squadron is in search of a permanent home that will meet the needs of a growing community organization.
-- Anderson Independent

Triple Crown Watercross: August 13-15

Thousands of personal water craft and boating enthusiasts are expected to attend this weekend's Triple Crown Water Cross on Lake Hartwell. Sponsored by the Lake Hartwell Marketing Alliance, spokesman Larry Torrence says they've already had a lot of interest in the event. This national tour event combines the electricity and appeal of traditional beach events with the thrills of competitive motor sports. Featuring the highly explosive and exciting sport of watercraft racing, all the top USA riders and race teams will be there! The events will take place at the Big Oaks Recreation Area in Hartwell, GA and the action is free for spectators!

Weekend of August 6-7!

Join us for a busy weekend in Toccoa!
The final "Cinema on Sage" event for the summer will take place this evening. Tonight's movie is "The Blind Side". The movie will start at 9PM on Sage Street, with activities starting at 7PM. Meanwhile, the "Back to School Bash" will take place from 10AM to 4PM on Saturday on Doyle Street from Sage to Alexander Streets in Downtown Toccoa.