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Governor Perdue Announces over $7 million in OneGeorgia Awards

Wednesday, June 11, 2008  Contact: Office of Communications 404-651-7774

STATESBORO, Ga – Governor Perdue and members of the OneGeorgia Authority Board met today at Ogeechee Technical College in Statesboro where they approved the grants and loans from the OneGeorgia Authority’s portfolio of financing programs including Equity, EDGE, BRIDGE and E 9-1-1. These projects, along with their respective local leadership representatives, were recognized at the OneGeorgia board meeting.

"The investments we are making today will assist with a variety of economic developments and pay dividends by retaining and creating jobs, stimulating private investment and enhancing regional competitiveness," said Governor Sonny Perdue. "The OneGeorgia Authority is a valuable resource for rural Georgia."

The Equity Fund is designed to assist communities and regions in building the necessary infrastructure to support economic development. The program’s flexibility also provides financial assistance to enhance publicly-owned tourism initiatives, workforce development opportunities and downtown revitalization projects. In addition, loan funds are available through the Equity Revolving Loan Fund to assist small business owners with business growth and expansion opportunities.

Ten Equity awards totaling over $5.2 million were made today. These awards include:

Dooly County – Infrastructure/Capacity Building

  • Road and rail construction to assist Dooly County in the location of an asphalt plant facility

  • Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $5,248,245

  • Create 50 new jobs in two years

Southeast Georgia Joint Development Authority – Rail Infrastructure Improvement

  • Construction of 12,600 linear foot railroad passing siding alongside the 182-mile Norfolk Southern (NS) Macon to Brunswick line.

  • Equity Loan Award: $1,000,000 / Total Project Cost: $4,198,634

Warren County, Warren County Development Authority - Facilitating Business Development / Water and Rail Infrastructure

  • Water infrastructure improvements and rail construction to serve Plastic Tubing Industries

  • Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $4,897,193

  • Create 24 new jobs in two years

Greensboro Downtown Development Authority - Regional Tourism / Building Improvements

  • Building renovation of the Greensboro Gymnasium into a Cultural Center for the community and regional known as "Festival Hall."

  • Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $3,126,939

Evans County Industrial Development Authority – Building/ Land Acquisition

  • Acquisition of a 41,800 square foot packing facility, office building and 17 acres of farm land in Claxton/Evans County for the expansion of BFG Produce, LLC.

  • Equity Loan Award: $300,000 / Total Project Cost: $1,050,000

  • Create 20 new jobs in two years

Berrien County Development Authority – Land Acquisition / Industrial Park

  • Acquisition of 174 acres for a new industrial park in Berrien County

  • Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $3,178,714

  • Create fifteen new jobs

Development Authority of Jones County – Road Infrastructure

  • Construction of a 4-lane divided median entrance road that will extend 5,000 linear feet into the new Georgia Regional Industrial Park – a 962-acre industrial park in the southern tip of Jones County.

  • Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $3,970,458

City of Dalton and Murray County – Enhancing Regional Competiveness / Aircraft Hangars

  • Construction of two ten-unit aircraft t-hangars at the Dalton Municipal Airport in Whitfield County in order to comply with FAA safety regulations.

  • Equity Loan Award: $472,010 / Total Project Cost: $1,155,860

McIntosh County Industrial Development Authority – Water, Sewer, Road Infrastructure

  • Street, water and sewer improvements to serve a 400-acre addition to the McIntosh County Industrial Park located along Interstate Highway 95 near Darien.

  • Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $2,299,000

Thomaston-Upson County Industrial Development Authority - Water and Rail Infrastructure

  • Construction of a rail spur off the Norfolk Southern rail line to Central Georgia Business and Technology Park to serve an existing company, Innoware Plastics, Inc.

  • Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $11,106,913

  • Retain 134 jobs; Create 45 new jobs in two years

Company officials and local leaders associated with the most recent EDGE awards were recognized at today’s meeting. The five EDGE awards, totaling $1,350,000, are leveraged against more than $88 million in total project costs and are projected to create over 445 jobs within the next three years.

The EDGE recipients include:

Douglas-Coffee County Industrial Authority / Premium Waters, Inc.

  • Building acquisition for the location of Premium Waters, Inc. (PWI), a bottled water production facility. PWI will locate on a 56-acre site in the Perimeter West Industrial Park in Douglas.

  • EDGE Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $40,500,000

  • Create 100 new jobs in three years

Development Authority of LaGrange / DaeLim USA

  • Site preparation costs in support of the location of a 90,000 square foot injection molding facility for DaeLim USA (DLU) to LaGrange.

  • EDGE Award: $250,000 / Total Project Cost: $11,629,081

  • Create 75 new jobs in two years

Rockmart Development Authority / Engineered Fabrics Corporation

  • Building construction in support of the expansion of Engineered Fabrics Corporation (EFC), an aircraft equipment manufacturer with 514 existing jobs.

  • EDGE Award: $200,000 / Total Project Cost: $6,200,000

  • Create 200 jobs in two years

Griffin-Spalding County Development Authority / Sumika Polymer Compounds America, Inc.

  • Land acquisition of 30 acres in the Hudson Industrial Park in Griffin for the location of Sumika Polymer Compounds America, Inc.

  • EDGE Award: $200,000 / Total Project Cost: $30,049,000

 

Quitman County Development Authority / D&J Plastics, Inc.

  • Construction a 70x100x30 foot metal building with a 70x100 foot mezzanine for 14,000 square feet of usable space to accommodate the expansion of D & J Plastics (DJP), a manufacturer of fishing lures.

  • EDGE Award: $200,000 / Total Project Cost: $601,098

The Regional E-911 Fund has provided grants over the last five years for costs associated with the start-up of E-911 emergency services in Georgia’s most economically challenged counties. Today the Authority congratulated the local leadership of two counties on the expansion of the Miller E-911 Center to also serve Baker county.

Details of the award include:

Miller and Baker Counties

  • Expansion of Miller County’s E-911 system with a mapping system for wireless uses in order to accommodate Baker County.

  • E 9-1-1 Award: $399,790 / Total Project Cost: $471,385

Governor Perdue and the board recognized the most recent recipients of technology grants from the BRIDGE (Broadband Rural Initiative to Develop Georgia’s Economy) Fund. The two BRIDGE awards totaling $71,440 will provide funding to support technology assessments.

The award recipients included:

City of Dublin

  • Feasibility study for the design and engineer of a high speed wireless broadband network between the City of Dublin and the Treutlen County Industrial Park.

  • BRIDGE Award: $39,440 / Total Project Cost: $49,300

Polk County

  • Georgia Institute of Technology TechSmart study by Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute to facilitate a planning process to create an information infrastructure "technology roadmap" for each of the four northwest Georgia counties of Polk, Chattooga, Floyd and Walker.

  • BRIDGE Award: $32,000 / Total Project Cost: $40,000

The board also received an update from Ken Stewart, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development on the department’s community-based Entrepreneur Friendly program. Colquitt, Chatham, Gilmer, Bulloch, Lee, Mitchell, Putnam, Banks, Richmond, Charlton, Early, Heard and Macon counties were recognized as the most recent communities to earn the Entrepreneurial Friendly designation. To date, 109 communities have earned this designation, and more are working toward this important certification. Once a community has earned the Entrepreneur Friendly designation, they have the opportunity to apply for entrepreneur and small business implementation grants of up to $25,000. The grant program is funded by the OneGeorgia Authority and is only available to communities who have successfully earned the designation "Entrepreneur Friendly."

Governor Perdue and the board also recognized the recipients of research grants provided under the Centers of Innovation program. The Centers of Innovation program, funded by the OneGeorgia Authority, connects world-class researchers at Georgia’s educational institutions with entrepreneurs and existing businesses and entrepreneurs to foster growth within targeted business sectors. Research grants are available to fuel applied research and development to assist companies in bringing new products and services on-line with the ultimate goal of diversifying rural Georgia’s economy through new jobs and capital investment.

The most recent research grants awarded include:

Recipient: Georgia Tech – Industry partner: Impact Technologies, LLC – $14,419

Project Description: Development of a Proof of Concept Condition Based Maintenance System for a Machining Center

Recipient: Georgia Tech – industry partner: nGimat – $30,000

Project Description: Development of Tunable Filters for Weather Monitoring Radars

Recipient: GA Electronic Design Center/Georgia Tech–industry partner: ID Technologies –$30,000

Project Description: Multi-hopping Antennas for Improved Logistics Communication

Recipient: Georgia Tech – industry partner: Federal Highway Administration – $100,000

Project Description: Seaport Simulation Model and Technology Test Bed

Recipient: Enterprise Innovation Institute/Georgia Tech – industry partner: AgriO3 and Ozomax –$50,000

Project Description: Water Recycling Prototype for Processing Plants

The OneGeorgia Authority was created utilizing one-third of the state’s tobacco settlement to assist the state’s most economically challenged areas. The OneGeorgia Authority is expected to receive about $1.6 billion over the 25-year term of the settlement.

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