James March-April 2024 online - Flipbook - Page 47
game that Lisa Goodwin, chair of the Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic, calls “the granddaddy of all classics.”
Forsyth County The Forsyth County Commission has
Camden County Woodbine, the county seat in southeast Georgia, is officially at the forefront of the green
energy revolution. Plug Power has started production
of liquid electrolytic hydrogen used to power heavy
machinery. It operates eight 5-megawatt PEM (Proton
exchange membrane electrolysis) electrolyzers, which
separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. The plant
produces 15 tons per day, enough to power 15,000
forklifts. Liquid electrolytic hydrogen has become
sought after as a green energy source as companies
around the country look to decrease their carbon
footprints and move beyond fossil fuels. Plug says it
hopes to open as many as six new hydrogen plants in
the coming years.
Columbia County The Columbia County Sheriff’s
Office has a new headquarters located beside the
detention center on County Camp Road in Appling.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrated the nearly $6
million, sales-tax funded project being completed
after 14 years. It allows all the sheriff’s office departments to be consolidated under one roof. “It makes
the job much more streamlined, much more efficient
everyday now, and I think it’ll only get better from
here,” said longtime Sheriff Clay Whittle. New technology in the building is also helping the office run
more efficiently, reducing the need for added manpower. Whittle added that this helps solve crimes
faster and makes it easier for different departments
and county agencies to work together.
Columbus In 1936 local alumni created the Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic, featuring a football game
between the historically black schools in Columbus.
The game was played in Columbus for 84 years before
being moved to Birmingham in 2020. Four years later
and that mistake is being corrected, as school officials
announced that the game will return to Columbus’ A.J.
McClung Memorial Stadium this October. The Tigers
and the Tigers will renew their historic rivalry in a
voted to enter a non-binding deal with the group behind a proposed development in the county to provide
close to $400 million in subsidies to build a new hockey
arena. The only problem: That money only becomes
available if the team funding The Gathering at South
Forsyth, led by car dealership magnate Vernon Krause,
can secure an NHL team. Krause and his partners are
planning the massive $2 billion development that will
include an 18,000-seat arena. If they can manage to
win a bid for an NHL expansion franchise, (which the
league is pondering but not committed to) or possibly
purchase an existing team and move it, he already has
the support of county officials. Pro sports in Forsyth? It
would have sounded like a pipe dream a decade ago, but
county officials and monied interests are making moves
that could bring a third NHL franchise to Georgia.
Okefenokee Swamp A new study commissioned by The
Conservation Fund paints a rosy picture of what a
UNESCO World Heritage Site designation might look
like for the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia.
The report says that being designated a World Heritage
Site would double visitation to the park, creating more
than 750 full time jobs and delivering some $60 million in annual economic impact. Park improvements
including an art-nature center in Waycross, a cultural
history center in Folkston, and an observatory in Fargo
would produce another $46 million in annual economic impact and nearly 50 additional jobs.
Metter Georgia scored another manufacturing win
with the announcement that South Korean auto parts
manufacturer Doowoon Climate Control America,
Inc. will be investing $30 million and creating 200
new jobs with a new facility in Metter in Candler
County. The facility will produce climate control systems for use in traditional and electric vehicles and
will be a critical supplier to Kia and Hyundai. Metter
is on Interstate 16, connecting Macon and Savannah,
making it very I-95 adjacent as well as just a couple
hours from Atlanta and Interstates 75, 85 and 20. This
marks another major victory for economic development in rural Georgia, which has embraced the latest
auto manufacturing boom— particularly coming
from electric vehicle production.
If you’ve got news from your local community and want
to share it with our readers, please email:
phickey@insideradvantage.com
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