Up to three significant companies are on the verge of announcing their moves to Peachtree City, the city council was told Thursday night.
The largest company is in final site negotiations for a three-phase project that will include some production and a significant training component that will bring its employees to Peachtree City for short periods of time, said Matt Forshee, president and CEO of the Fayette County Development Authority.
“We look forward to announcing this very soon,” Forshee said. “This will be one that will literally put Peachtree City in the spotlight nationally. This is a very big project and one that we are very, very excited about.”
The unnamed company is planning to invest $50 million on the site that will stretch out over three phases, Forshee said. Once the final phase is complete, there will be about 400 people employed by the company, he added.
Another unnamed project deep into the process is a consumer goods manufacturer which will bring about 125 jobs here as it moves from elsewhere in metro Atlanta to expand its operations, Forshee said. That company has put an offer on an existing facility and plans call for an investment of between $4-8 million, Forshee said.
The owner of that company lives in Fayette County and the leadership is convinced that Peachtree City is the right place to relocate, Forshee added.
The third anonymous project Forshee referenced involves an international manufacturer of animal pharmaceutical and biological products which has also made an offer on a site in Peachtree City. The company is in the due diligence phase of its property assessment and would involve more than 50 jobs and an investment of $15 million, Forshee said.
The company’s production process does not have any pollution issues.
Not all the good news was limited to new businesses coming here. It was also noted that Panasonic Automotive Systems of America is preparing to hire some 60 engineers to add to its workforce here.
Forshee spoke about the promising projects in an accountability report to council in exchange for the city funding a business retention and expansion manager who has been working with existing industry and business owners in an effort to keep existing companies and attract new ones.
That manager, Chris Daniel, has lived in Fayette County for 15 years and has been helping businesses with a variety of problems such as the one recently experienced by the growing NAECO company due to a street name change that caused mail delivery trouble, Forshee said.
Councilman Eric Imker asked Daniel if he had been able to work with smaller struggling businesses at the city’s retail centers. Daniel said the main focus so far has been working with manufacturing and industrial employers so far.
Imker said the small business issues would be great to take up when Daniel has more free time at a later date.
