The Jackson County Industrial Development Authority voted Friday morning to issue bonds to finance two industrial projects expected to bring upwards of 900 new jobs into the county.
Gov. Nathan Deal made the official announcement Friday afternoon that Bed Bath & Beyond will open an “e-fulfillment center” in the 810,000-square-foot former Spectrum Brands building in Walnut Fork Industrial Park in Pendergrass.
“If you order something online, this is the place the goods would be distributed from,” advised Daniel Haygood, the IDA’s attorney.
The $46.5 million project is expected to create up to 900 jobs over a four-year period. The company’s property taxes will be abated in a phased-in schedule over six years, according to Scott Martin, chairman of the IDA.
“The building was relatively low (in value on the tax digest) as an empty building,” Martin commented. “With the addition of equipment and improvements to the building, that will be much higher… Even doing some of the abatement process, we will come out way ahead — and have something like 900 jobs.”
The company expects to begin operations next summer.
“We are proud to welcome Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. to Jackson County. What a tremendous boost for Jackson County, the surrounding region and the State of Georgia,” said Hunter Bicknell, chairman of the Jackson County Commission. “Even during these trying economic times, it is projects like this and job creation of this magnitude that we are reminded of the economic strength of our community and the State of Georgia.”
“Georgia’s ability to attract industry-leading businesses is affirmed when we can successfully help a thriving company like Bed Bath & Beyond carry out its plans for business expansion right here in our state,” Deal said. “Bed Bath & Beyond will certainly benefit not only from our competitive business climate and workforce, but also our widely recognized logistics infrastructure that will help the company efficiently meet the distribution needs of its growing e-commerce business.”
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s Jackson County e-commerce fulfillment center will service the company’s expanding online sales operations. The company currently operates 29 retail stores in Georgia and has more than 1,150 stores total. Bed Bath & Beyond also plans to make considerable use of Georgia’s world-class container port facilities in Savannah.
“This will be the largest job creation in the State of Georgia this year,” said Courtney Bernardi, director of economic development for the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce.
There will be a formal announcement ceremony, presumably attended by the governor, sometime next summer.
Also on Friday, the IDA agreed to issue bonds on behalf of Toyota Automotive Compressor Georgia, also located in Pendergrass, in an amount to be determined later, “somewhere just south of $60 million,” Martin said.
Toyota Automotive Compressor has already invested $250 million in its Jackson County operation, Martin noted. The company makes automotive air conditioner compressors for Toyota and other vehicles.
“This is in their plan of expansion,” Haygood told the authority. “This is not a one-shot deal.”
The expansion is expected to create around 25 additional jobs initially, a figure that could increase to 60 or 70 over time. Another similar expansion is expected in four or five years.
Haygood commended Bernardi for the work she put in on both projects.
“This time a week ago we weren’t 100 percent sure these would happen, either of them,” he said.
“That’s wonderful news,” observed IDA member John Buchanan.
