It was a way to provide a look at the way Coweta County might approach future economic growth. Released Jan. 28, the Community Assessment prepared by Herron Consulting for the Coweta County Development Authority and Georgia Power Community and Economic Development recommended that the county retain and target industries providing healthcare services, advanced manufacturing, automotive parts manufacturing, data management and technical consulting services and warehousing and distribution.
The project’s overall assessment showed that Coweta’s local economy is relatively healthy and that local governance has a low tolerance for risk but performs well.
The assessment also noted several suitable target industries that might be pursued. The assessment took into account those industries that reflected Coweta’s best-practices viewpoint along with the industry’s growth trend in the state and across the nation.
Other factors in the assessment included more technology-based companies representing clean industries, ones that would bring higher wage jobs and additional wealth to the community.
Target industry recommendations included healthcare services, advanced manufacturing, automotive and vehicle parts manufacturing, warehouse/distribution centers and data centers, management and technical consulting services.
Among the healthcare services suggested were those providing medical laboratories and diagnostic imaging centers. It should also be noted that the new eight-story Piedmont Newnan Hospital is now under construction and the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Hospital at Ashley Park moving closer to groundbreaking.
Advanced manufacturing industries recommended for targeting included plastics manufacturers, industrial machinery manufacturers and agricultural, construction and mining machinery manufacturers.
Recommendations for the automotive industry included companies that manufacture vehicle parts.
Assessment recommendations relating to data, management and technical consulting suggested targeting the wide range of companies that supply those services in an increasing number of industries.
The assessment recommended that companies targeted in the warehouse and distribution area include durable and non-durable goods wholesalers and warehousing and storage facilities.
Though its unemployment rate, like all of metro Atlanta, has been subject to the effects of the recession, Coweta County during the recession has fared better than many area counties in terms of residential and business development proposals.
As an example, earlier this week the Coweta County Commission gave its approval for a 190,000 square-foot commercial development along Ga. Highway 34 at Hollz Parkway. The development will include a new car dealership and commercial space along with dental and medical offices.
And underway along Hwy. 34 and Fischer Road in east Coweta is the large Fischer Crossings commercial development previously zoned to accommodate approximately 800,000 square feet of business space. The survey by The Citizen just after the recent opening of the 136,000 square-foot Sam’s Club at Fischer Crossing showed that 39 percent of the vehicles were from Coweta County, 40 percent were from Fayette County and the remaining 21 percent of vehicles in the parking lot were registered in 27 other Georgia counties.
The future increase of tax revenues from Fischer Crossings, the only mega-shopping center now under construction in the northern half of Georgia, into Coweta County coffers is expected to eventually provide 9-12 percent of the county’s total sales and property tax revenues, according to the University of West Georgia.
The Community Assessment was prepared by Atlanta-based Herron Consulting as a tool for determining strategies relating to retaining and growing the county’s industrial base, targeting industry, partnering with key stakeholders and developing a business plan for the Coweta County Development Authority.
