Goodwill emphasizes training, placement

(The following is the second installment of a series highlighting industries in Toccoa-Stephens County)
North Georgia Headquarters for Goodwill is located on 1044 Clary Connector in Eastanollee. They fall under the world-wide Goodwill umbrella. Goodwill has 2 other North Georgia locations, one in Athens and Gainesville. They employ some 11-15 employees with full and part time jobs. They focus on training those with various disabilities. Emphasis is on training their students and enabling them to move into the mainstream work place. Several companies in this area support and depend on Goodwill but many more participants are needed to help with placement of their students.

Goodwill of North Georgia is a non-profit operation with a large portion of their thrift store sales used to support their training centers. Goodwill of North Georgia was ranked 43rd overall and 10th among those with more than 250 employees as one of the Best Places to Work by the Non-Profit Times.

Most people only know about the Goodwill retail stores but few know how the money is used to help those with disabilities.


The Toccoa Record

Stephens target blight

Stephens County Commissioners last week adopted a resolution establishing industrial redevelopment areas for the county. The resolution declares the existence in Stephens County of areas in which the deteriorated structures "endanger life and property" and can lead to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, high unemployment, juvenile delinquency and crime.

The blighted areas can be detrimental to the public "health, safety, morals, and welfare," according to the resolution.

The resolution, through the designation of the urban redevelopment area, "allows the Stephens County Board of Commissioners to request the preparation of a workable urban redevelopment plan in accordance with Official Code of Georgia...to address the presence of factors within the area."

Tim Martin, SCDA director, identified the former WABCO property on Highway 123 North, Milliken-Humphrey site on Highway 123 South, and four or more sites within the Meadowbrook Industrial Park as areas designated for the project.

"This is the first step in a process that will result in the opportunity zone designation," Martin said. "First steps are vital, you don't move forward without those first steps."

The Toccoa Record -- Jessica Waters
Click here to read the article: Stephens targets blight

Georgia Trend:Toccoa/Stephens County: Working Together

Toccoa/Stephens County featured in Georgia Trend Magazine.

A couple of years ago, when Toccoa-Stephens County sent a delegation to Washington D.C., they asked to meet with U.S. Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. The congressman listened to their concerns, then he asked about the Tugaloo River. He told them he had never forgotten the canoe trip he had taken at the invitation of community leaders 20 years ago when he was a member of the Georgia legislature.

“You don’t know what’s going to impress someone,” says Tim Martin, executive director of the Toccoa-Stephens County Development Authority. “But if the community’s citizens have bought into who you are and what you’re trying to show, then prospects are going to feel welcome. And people always remember an experience.”

When prospects come to Stephens County, they are shown around by any number of community leaders who have gone through the development authority’s “Chauffer Academy.” These tour guides have learned to point out the area’s attributes and distinctions, whether it’s a visit to a school, a manufacturer or a stop at one of Stephens’s unique homegrown restaurants.

The Chauffer Academy is just one of the ways people are involved with the development authority. More than 40 people serve on six committees within the authority, tasked with some 100 responsibilities along the lines of recruitment and attraction of new industry, retention and expansion of existing businesses, development of the work force, infrastructure and the “product” the county has to offer.

In the last couple of slow years, Toccoa-Stephens County has worked on enhancing its product. The county’s third industrial park, 420-acre Hayestone-Brady Business Park, will have roads, sewer and water extended to it by late summer this year. Fiber-optic telecommunications and natural gas are available, and the county has an abundant supply of water. Power is provided by both Georgia Power and Hart EMC. Rail is planned, and an 80,000-square-foot spec building is ready for a new owner. Additional sites are being graded, and plans are ready for the next building to be constructed.


Click here to read the article: Toccoa/Stephens County: Working Together

Dewtex experiences rapid growth

(NOTE: The following is the first in a series of pieces highlighting industries in Toccoa-Stephens County.)

The Stephens County Development Authority (SCDA) is assisting existing industries by creating an atmosphere for development within the community. Dewtex Inc. is a developer and manufacturer of a broad range of industrial reinforcement laid scrim solutions providing extremely flexible reinforcement systems.

Dewtex Inc. was established in July 2004 in Toccoa to serve Dewtex's North America market. This company is a subsidiary of the European technical fabrics market leader James Dewhurst. The company has experienced market penetration and rapid growth by expansion of 200 million yards in the five ears it has been active.

The Toccoa plant is located on Clary Connector. Its headquarters are located in the united Kingdom. The plant is owned by the company IRB via the SCDA. The plant started with 38 jobs, it currently has 80 employees.

'The Record' wins 7 GPA Awards

The Toccoa Record won seven awards in the Georgia Press Association (GPA) Better Newspaper Contest including one of three given for general excellence. The Toccoa Record won first place for best sports section and third place in general excellence. The winner in the general excellence category is determined by the number of points totaled in first through third places in the 25 individual categories that make up the contest. The prestigious J.W. Williams Trophy for first place in best editorial page was given to The Record. They won second place in the Page One category which judges the newsworthiness of the publication's front page; along with second place in the layout and design category which deals with the overall design and attractiveness of the newspaper.

Two Record staffers were honored for individual work. Jessica Water's photograph of a Stephens County High School tennis player won third place for best sports photo and publisher Tom Law's column about being marooned on the roof of his house took second place honors for best humorous column.

Stephens County Hospital is recognized by the Georgia Hospital Association

WNEG 630 announced that Stephens County Hospital has been named to the Georgia Hospital Association's Partnership for Health and Accountability Quality Honor Roll. Stephens County is one of just 16 hospitals to be acknowledged in the Chairman's category, the highest on the list.

The honor roll is based on clinical data provided by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The data was collected from January 2009-December 2009 and demonstrates how well a hospital’s caregivers adhere to the clinical processes of care to patients who have suffered heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia.

Georgia Hospital Association President Joseph Parker said this is a great accomplishment for Stephens County Hospital.

Groundbreaking for Hayestone Brady

The Stephens County Development Authority broke ground Tuesday June 8 for improvements to the Hayestone-Brady Business Park. The Hayestone-Brady Business Park is on Highway 17, between Toccoa and Martin, and currently is home to Caterpillar and the Currahee campus of North Georgia Technical College.

The project consists of building a road that will pass through the park and connect the current Georgia Highway 17 to the future route of four-lane Highway 17. The project will consist of some site work and the implantation of water and sewer facilities to ready the park for business.

Several city and county leaders were on hand to celebrate the occasion. Officials from local industries were present, as were state Sen. Jim Butterworth and state Rep. Michael Harden.

The Development Authority is receiving $7 million through SPLOST V (special purpose local option sales tax), approved by voters, to complete the infrastructure improvements that will make Hayestone-Brady ready for development.

Work has already begun on the project and is expected to be completed by late fall.

Click here for more photos from the ceremony: Groundbreaking photos

Click here to view video clips from the ceremony: Groundbreaking Videos