Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce noted many achievements in his annual State of the County address both online through the county’s YouTube account and in person to the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 7.
As an overview, he said Cobb has more than 13,000 businesses and, in 2018, $3.1 billion in new economic development.
Among these developments are:
· Floor & Décor will be expanding and relocating its headquarters in the Cumberland Community Improvement District;
· Home Depot will be renovating and equipping two existing offices;
· Brasfield & Gorrie relocated its corporate headquarters in Cobb County;
· Thyssenkrupp will move its North American operations center to Cobb County;
· Empire Distributors moved its headquarters to Cobb County;
· Arylessence modernized with a state-of-the-art technical innovation laboratory and
· the Cobb Chamber has convinced Care Stream Dental to expand into Cobb.
As for SunTrust Park/The Battery, Boyce said, “The developments stimulated by the Braves complex will generate the necessary taxes and, sooner than anticipated, pay for our part of this partnership.”
Funded through the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, projects are the new Acworth Community Center that may open in February, expansion of the North Cobb Senior Center, a new fire station, the Smyrna Public Health Clinic and the Event Center at Jim Miller Park. More than 400 acres of green space have been bought by the county, Boyce noted, and greater than 60 miles of trails - with the associated Zagster bike rentals - connect Kennesaw to the Chattahoochee River.
A new arrangement with Cobb Travel and Tourism will reduce the burden on taxpayers by $600,000 annually as the hotel/motel owners in the Cumberland Special Service District have agreed to use a portion of the Special Service District Fee to pay for public safety, Boyce added. In its 30th year, CobbLinc carries nearly 3.5 million riders annually with 75 percent of the riders using the bus service to get to work.
More information about transportation and upcoming town halls: youtu.be/KOrbDMtI_DQ
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