Economic development turnaround this year?

“I’m really upbeat about what I see down the road,” said Shane Short, president of the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce, who works closely with the IDA. “We’re starting to see a lot of manufacturing interest.”

IDA member John Buchanan had his own reason for a little optimism.

“We’ve had more calls on real estate this week than I’ve seen in the last two and a half years,” he said last Friday. “One of our commercial realtors signed three contracts this week. ... I think it’s breaking wide open.”

The chamber, said Short, is not just waiting for prospects to come forward. Its new group, the Economic Development Alliance, is not only putting money into the effort, but will also introduce a number of activities aimed at bringing jobs to the county.

The group plans to reinstitute the Developers Days tours, hold a Jackson County Economic Development Summit and meet regularly with industrial development project managers from all of the major players in Georgia.

Short called that “building the right relationships with the right people.”

He told the chamber that the Economic Development Alliance intends to spend more time in Atlanta building rapport with economic development professionals.

“We’ve done a lot of work in repairing broken relationships and in making new relationships,” Short told the chamber of commerce board of directors Friday morning.

“When projects come across their desk, we want them to think of Jackson County,” he told the IDA later that same morning.

Short said others are taking note of Jackson County’s can-do attitude.

“We’re seen as being unified and a community that works together,” Short told the IDA. “That sends a loud and clear message to the economic development community.”

While only Aldi selected the county in 2009, 20 projects remain active. In addition, one new project has come along in January, a distribution center, Short said.