Georgia County Government - July 2008 - (Page 15)

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT continued from page 13 and a state senator from 1953 to 1955 and from 1963 to 2005. Gillis and his brother Hugh continued the business and public service legacies of their grandfather, Neal Gillis, and father, Jim L. Gillis, Sr. Neal Gillis founded Soperton Naval Stores in the late 1800s, a turpentine business later run by Jim Jr. that evolved into Gillis AG and Timber. Neal was the state senator for Emanuel County at the time Treutlen County was founded in 1917. Jim L. Gillis, Sr., father of Hugh Gillis and Jim Gillis, Jr., was in the state House representing Montgomery County at the time, and later moved into the Senate. to Wray, the purchase of broadband service through service providers in Atlanta, where rates are better, helps the region remain unconstrained by higher prices of local private broadband service providers. The Southern Pines Complex is a more recent economic development project being undertaken by the joint development authorities. Slated for a “strategic location” off I-16’s exit 51 that will appeal to travelers going to Georgia’s coast, or to Florida, the recreation complex is being built with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds and Laurens County general funds. The project will put in place a major arena for special exhibits, live agricultural shows and other similar outdoor venues, in the manner of the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry. Slated to feature the largest covered building in the region, it will seat 600 spectators under a 200-foot-by-300-foot covered arena, with a 11 ⁄2-acre unpaved exhibition floor. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT continued on page 16 Economic Development Partnerships Go Back for Years in the Region The advent of Range Fuels’ ethanol facility and Laurens County’s progressive thrust to attract new industries to the region are exceptional developments. However, these aren’t the only things happening in this up-and-coming region. A unique regional development came together in 1995 with the formation of the Laurens-Treutlen County Joint Development Authority, to leverage competition for the New Holland Tractor Assembly Plant, an industry the region wanted. “Treutlen graciously joined our development authority to help Laurens County qualify as a Tier 1 community to offer additional tax credits, which attracted the industry’s locating here,” Paulk explains. The formation of a joint authority between the two counties offered a substantially higher tax incentive to New Holland. Commissioners Mullis of Laurens County and Treutlen County’s Gerald Hooks agree more can be accomplished working together in any rural region. Perhaps most importantly, Laurens fi led a joint application with Treutlen County to extend Laurens County’s fiber optic ring to Range Fuels in Soperton, under the auspices of the combined development authority. The fiber optic, or broadband, “ring” installed jointly by Laurens County and the City of Dublin now offers technological capability needed for any incoming industry, and to important new industries in Treutlen County. “Dublin is all wireless,” Rogers says. According Celebrating 100 Years! Cadwell, a caring community with continuous growth for a better tomorrow! Town of Cadwell 1006 Coleman Street Cadwell, Georgia 31009 478-689-4175 Treutlen County Board of Commissioners 1830 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Soperton, GA 30457 Phone: (912) 529-3664 Fax: (912) 529-6062 treutlenboc@planttel.net Home of the Million Pines Arts & Crafts Festival JULY 2008 www.accg.org 15 http://www.treutlencounty.georgia.gov http://www.accg.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - June 2008

Georgia County Government - June 2008 Contents President’s Message County Matters Laurens, Treutlen and Wheeler Counties Work Together to Leverage Economic Development 2008 Hurricane Season Forecast to be Active GDEcD: Georgia Is Bolstering International Marketing Efforts U.S. Communities Announces Auto Parts Service Contract Energy Innovation Center Opens in Warner Robins Coweta County Uses Innovative Road Construction Techniques Counties & The Law: An Analysis of Ten Commandments Displays in Georgia Courthouses Georgia’s Grand Old Courthouses: Talbot County Extension News: Youth Summit Teaches Civic Engagement Research Corner: Train Me! NACo News: NACo Seeks Obesity Prevention Programs County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - June 2008

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