Second round of rural development grants could help communities transform

The money comes through the new Rural Site Development Initiative, which is overseen by the OneGeorgia Authority under the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Communities must also show that they have invested in projects themselves, and “as with every OneGeorgia initiative, communities must meet the terms of their agreement with the state to ensure success and accountability,” Gina Webb, Director of the OneGeorgia Authority, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement.

Grants are targeted toward development sites that need a few improvements to attract businesses and can bolster facilities for advanced manufacturing sectors like automotive, aerospace and food processing. Those sectors “have been key industries for the state, building on Georgia’s existing logistics and agricultural strengths,” Wylly Harrison, who helps oversee site development with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, wrote in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Michael Toma, an economist at Georgia Southern University, previously told the AJC that these financing programs give smaller communities a better chance to land a large project and generate new employment opportunities. It helps companies if much of the preparation work has already been done for a site, he said.

“If there’s infrastructure in place — water, electricity, perhaps a rail line if that’s appropriate for the site — they can look at it and say, ‘OK, I can envision this,’” Toma told the AJC. “It moves that site up the priority list.”

Kemp’s office announced the first round of grants late last year. In the most recent round, four counties will get grants for site development and six counties will get grants to either obtain or maintain certifications for accelerated development.

Mitch Griggs is the president of the Dublin-Laurens County Development Authority, which will receive a grant of $2 million for sewage and drainage improvements at its 250-acre Georgia Highway 257 Rail Site. He said that attracting manufacturing can be important because manufacturing stands out for its strong economic impact.

“Every dollar invested in a manufacturing concern will turn over approximately seven times in your community,” he said. “For instance, that $176 million in economic terms has an impact that is seven times that to our local economy.”

That makes manufacturing investments valuable, Griggs added, and makes manufacturing a “highly efficient use of land.” The Rail site has already seen activity, he said, and an automobile parts supplier called Hwashin, which works with companies like Kia and Hyundai, is already constructing a facility there, he said.

In Worth County, which received $2 million for water, drainage, road and other infrastructure improvements at the 196-acre Worth County Industrial Complex, Worth County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Karen Rackley is excited for the growth grants might help create.

“I’m hoping that not only will this attract a major industry, but it will also let people know that we can do just about anything, any other community can,” she said.