Project Summer: Announcements Across Georgia

Summertime washes over the South a little earlier than other places. Once the days are a little longer, we welcome July breezes from the front porch, our sweet tea glasses glistening with condensation. We spend time catching up with neighbors over the grill, or toasting marshmallows around a campfire somewhere in the Northern region’s mountains. Some of us are off casting a line on the coastal region, hoping to reel in dinner. No matter where you’re spending your summer days in Georgia, there is no shortage of exciting new business announcements flashing across local papers and global headlines.

This summer’s been a heat wave of exciting new project announcements supported by the team at Georgia Power Community & Economic Development (C&ED). Year round, C&ED collaborates with the state, utility and transportation partners, and local communities to bring new business, or help existing industry, grow across Georgia. Whether we are supporting project management, or utilizing our award-winning research and engineering services, our team has helped create over 206,000 jobs to Georgia in the past ten years. In that time, the availability of clean, safe, affordable, and reliable energy has increasingly become a priority for site selection.

Here’s a round-up of some of the hottest new projects supported by Georgia Power Community & Economic Development since June of 2023. Whether you’re hearing about them for the first time, or already seeing the dirt move in your neighborhood, Georgia’s economic development efforts are giving residents and businesses a lot to talk about at summer gatherings this year!

If you'd like to see a listing of top projects each quarter - View, our Q1 Growth and Q2 Growth Report. We also invite you back to this page as we add new projects each week.

Announcements

• American Building Network - An 80,000 square foot speculative building in Bainbridge, Georgia will become home to American Building Network, a company providing tubular steel buildings and support for a network of US metal building dealers. The facility will bring about $5M of investment and up to 25 new jobs in Bainbridge.
• Blended Solutions - Support for customer service and contact centers is expanding in Smyrna, Georgia. Blended Solutions announced a new project with up to $375K in investment and 75 new jobs.
• Cantaloupe Payments - Cantaloupe is a global leader in self-service payments and transactions. They are continuing their growth plans by opening an office in Atlanta that will create approx. 245 jobs and invest $1M.
• Forester Pontoons - A new $1.7M, 30,000 square foot building is part of the expansion plans for family-owned, Forester, in Quitman County. Forester plans to hire at least 10-12 employees, in its first year, with hopes of growing to 20-30 in later years. As one of the smaller areas in Georgia, the community recognizes the impact this project will have, “This is everything for our county,’ said Danny Blackmon, Chairman of the Quitman County Development Authority, in a recent news story.
• Grudem Grupo Desarrollo Empresarial, D.L.U. - Albany, Georgia will be welcoming Grudem's first U.S. manufacturing facility. Grudem is headquartered in Spain and is a Tier1 and Tier2 OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) supplier specializing in honeycomb material primarily used in the automotive industry. The $5M new facility will create up to 65 jobs focused on the thermoforming and carpet wrapping presses to supply substrate, semi-finished, or fully finished parts.
• Infra-Metals - A metal stamping and forming operation is expanding in the Georgia West Industrial Park in Buchanan. The new facility is under construction and will create 120 jobs and $32M in investment.
• Kia - Kia will invest $250M and create ~193 new jobs to support its expansion at the West Point facility. The expansion will support the company's all-electric 2024 EV9 three-row SUV. To date, Kia has invested more than $1.9B in Georgia.
• Mobis - Mobis is expanding on its sites on the Kia Campus West Point. The company will construct a 260,000 square foot adjoining building to expand its bumper production. The business anticipates this expansion will add 60 jobs and a total investment of $95M.
• Momnt - Sandy Springs, Georgia will be home to a Momnt, a lending solution for low-friction and affordable financing. They are in the process of renovating an 11,000 square foot space with plans to add up to 150 employees locally by the end of 2023, and another 150 remotely next year.
• Palmer Logistics - An existing warehouse in Port Wentworth is getting a new tenant - Palmer Logistics will be taking over 150,000 square feet and investing $8.7M into the facility. Palmer Logistics (3PL) company based out of Texas. The project is anticipated to create up to 21 jobs.
• Palmetto Industries - Headquartered in Grovetown, Georgia, Palmetto is one of the top five industrial polypropylene woven bag manufacturers in the world. With a major production plant in India, a finishing plant in Grovetown, and satellite offices in Australia, South America and the U.K., they provide industrial woven bags to the agriculture, mining, pet food, and industrial products industry. This expansion of approx. $1M will support up 125 new jobs while tripling their U.S. capacity.
• Pratt & Whitney Columbus Facility - Georgia's aerospace cluster is growing by approximately 394 jobs and $206M with the upcoming expansion of Pratt & Whitney's Columbus facility. Opened in 1984, the Pratt & Whitney Columbus facility includes the Columbus Engine Center and Columbus Forge, both of which operate on the same campus (Georgia.org newsroom).

• RBW Logistics - RBW is adding to their well-established warehousing footprint with an eighth location in Augusta, Georgia. Creating 120 jobs and investing $22M, RBW's third party logistics (3PL) will add a 400,000 square foot distribution center.
• ThinkTECH Accelerator - A program of the Independent Community Bankers Association, the accelerator will promote early-stage solutions designed specifically for community banks and the customers they serve. The program will occupy 5,000 square feet in Midtown and create 10 jobs.
• Woory Industrial Co. Ltd. - Woory is locating its first U.S. manufacturing facility to Dublin, Georgia. The company announced that the location will create up to 130 new jobs and $180M capital investment to produce heaters, control units, and actuators for Electric Vehicle and internal combustion carmakers in North America. The operations are expected to begin as early as November 2023 (Georgia.org newsroom). They have started recruiting for new positions too!
• Randex - The Swedish firm, Randek, is opening a sales and tech support center in Gwinnett County, Georgia. The organization's focus is on the prefabricated house manufacturing sector. Their metro center will be an investment of $300K and five new jobs to the area.
• Ryerson - Ryerson is a publicly traded, value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals is expanding in Peachtree Corners, making a $7M investment and adding up to 50 new jobs.
• Yakult - Bartow County is welcoming Japanese beverage manufacturer, Yakult. This will be their second U.S. facility and will be located at the Highland 75 Corporate/Industrial Park. The facility is anticipated to create 90 jobs and $305M in capital investment.

*Total jobs and capital investment estimates from project announcements made in partnership with the State of Georgia Department of Economic Development. These may not include all projects and are subject to change as yearly totals continue to be reported from businesses.