The Stephens County Development Authority assists in the retention, expansion and creation of employment opportunities that raise the per capita income of area citizens by assisting both existing and new business and industry to locate and/or expand in Stephens County.
The SCDA works with the Downtown Development Authority and the Chamber of Commerce to promote the local business-friendly community.
SCDA also has the potential to offer both tax-exempt and taxable industrial development revenue bond financing to qualifying firms desiring to lease or to own.
Stephens County’s new 420-acre industrial park, Hayestone/Brady Park, is located six miles from Interstate 85 and boasts Caterpillar as its first tenant as well as the completion of the North Georgia Technical College’s 50-acre Currahee campus.
“Haystone?Brady represents a successful collaboration of both public and private sector organizations working to increase employment opportuninites for all citizens of Stephens County,” said former SCDA director Mitch Griggs. ”By continuing this spirit of cooperation, the Toccoa-Stephens County community will continue to grow and prosper in the future.
Stephens County Development Authority
31 W. Doyle St. Suite 302
(706)886-4242
886-952-7232
Economic Outlook
Early settlers of Georgia’s Upper Piedmont in what was to become Stephens County tilled the red clay soil before and after the Civil War. When Stephens became a county in 1905, its economy was tied to growing cotton. In the following 70 years, the county’s economic direction changed dramatically. What was once a 95 percent agriculture-based economy has become a services and manufacturing-based economy.
In the 1870′s when the railroad came through town, it brought with it remarkable change. The City of Toccoa, chartered in 1874 and later made the county seat, became a terminal along the main line of the Southern Railway System. Toccoa was a key link in the rail system connecting Atlanta with Charlotte, N.C. and later Washington, DC and New York City. Today, Toccoa is one of only three AMTRAK passenger stops in Georgia.
Visionaries of the era foresaw Toccoa’s future as a manufacturing center. Because cotton was already being grown, textile mills from New England moved in to take advantage of the agriculture and transportation resources. The area’s waterways were perfect for powering machinery and soon the construction of dams and hydroelectric plants, combined with a quality labor force, added to the growth of industry. Abundant timber resources provided for furniture factories; newaby quarries provided stone for construction and building industries. In an upwardly economic progression, each new industry that came supported those already in existence. Metal fabrication industries emerged, providing machine tools and equipment used by construction and tooling industies. Service industries soon flourished as well.
Today Stephens County is principally a service and manufacturing community and its manufacturing base continues to expand. Over 30 percent of the county’s workforce, which is almost twice the state average for manufacturing employment, is engaged in a diversified manufacturing sector that includes metal fabrication, plastics, logistics, aerospace, furniture and other wood products, textiles, and chemicals.
In the last 30 years, over 60 new industries have chosen Stephens County as an ideal community in which to live, work and prosper. These industries created more than 5,000 new manufacturing jobs in the community. Today Stephens County continues to attract quality industrial development with favorable business climate, strong local leadership, a superior workforce, outstanding road, rail and air transportation facilities and excellent public utilities. Last year, seven new industries located in Stephens County, creating 400 new manufacturing jobs and adding over $35 million in new private investments in the community.
Existing industries in Stephens County serve as the bedrock of the local economy, creating over 1,500 new jobs since 1996, including more than 150 new jobs and five facilities expansions last year. In addition to their importance to the local economy and corporate citizenship, local industries continue to be a source of pride in the community, with TEAM Metal Finishing, Inc. earning in 2001 Small Manufactuer of the Year award for Georgia and Patterson Pump earning the Georgia Exporter of the Year distinction in 2000.
The community has benefited from local leadership and cooperation between its local governments and organizations. A combined effort from the City of Toccoa, Stephens County and the Stephens County Development Authority has resulted in the establishment of the community’s third industrial park, the Hayestone-Brady Industrial Park. Situated on 420 acres six miles from Interstate 85, the park is fully served with municipal water and watewater utilities, fiber optic telecommunications and duel feed power utlities from two electric service providers. Rail service from the Hartwell Railroad with connection to the main line of Norfolk Southern in Toccoa is available in the park, which will soon have four-lane divided highway access to Interstate 85 along Highway 17, which is currently under construction. Hayestone-Brady Park boasts a Fortune 100 tenant in Caterpillar and a new technical college, North Georgia Tech’s Currahee Campus. Offering more than 25 degree and certificate programs, the Currahee Campus also includes a state-of-the-art QuickStart training lab and a premiere conference center.
As a result of continued industrial growth, non-manufacturing jobs have increased significantly in recent years. Apporximately 50 percent of Stephens County’s workforce is now engaged in the service sector of the economy. Long a center of commerce in Northeast Georgia, Stephens County boasts a strong financial, medical, retail and educational community that continues to thrive. The new Wal-Mart super center commercial development complex and the adjacent new Home Depot development at the Toccoa bypass represents a significant increase in the community’s service employment and retail sales as well as the County’s tax digest.
In addition to new commercial activity, new residential developments are under-way including the Currahee Club and a new 300-400 home community at Toccoa Falls College. The Currahee Club is a exclusive 800-home planned development on over 1,300 acres that includes six miles of shoreline on Lake Hartwell, a championship Jim Fazio golf course, a marina, clubhouse, restaurants, retail shops, tennis center and other exceptional amenities.
Stephens County has exceptional medical and educational facilities as well. The Stephens County Hospital continues to expand its facilities, adding a new women’s center last year while continuously updating its patient care rooms and adding new state-of-the-art diagnostic and surgical equipment while attracting superior physicians. With a ratio of 12.02 persons per physician, Stephens County is a center for medical facilities that includes the hospital, a cancer center, a dialysis center, a nursing home, a personal care home and the Toccoa Clinic, which is a private medical center with more than 26 physicians and numerous specialties.
Stephens County is also proud of its educational facilities that include Toccoa Falls College, a four-year university in Toccoa, Currahee Campus of North Georgia Technical College, four elementary schools, a new middle school and a high school, which will be replaced with a new high school within four years. In addition to the educational facilities within the community, Stephens County is within 40 miles of several post-secondary colleges and universities, including University of Georgia, Clemson University, Emmanuel College, Piedmont College, Truett McConnell College, Brenau College and North Georgia College.
The cities of Toccoa, Avalon, and Martin, Stephens County and the Stephens County Development Authority are proud of the community and believe that strong leadership and sucessful collaborations of public and private sector organizations working together will create new opportunities for Stephens County citizens. By continuing this spirit of cooperation, the Stephens County community will grow and prosper in the future.
Source: Living Here 2008 Your guide to living,working and playing in Toccoa-Stephens County
New Industry with-in the Last Few Years:
-Scrap Masters
-Axis Products
-Concept Plastics
-Trachte
-CD Controls
-Art Glass House
-Gem Southeast, Inc. and Global Partitions
-Georgia Mountain BioFuel
-Applegate Construction
-CMC of Georgia
-The Home Depot
-G-M Wood Products
-Crown Resources
