The Panasonic facility in Peachtree City has added 100 jobs in the past year and currently has 50 openings for software engineers in high-paying jobs, the city council was told Thursday night.
The company is expected to hire another 150 people in the future as well, according to Emily Poole of the Fayette County Development Authority.
In a nod to Panasonic’s job creation efforts, the Peachtree City Council has approved a grant of up to $50,000, with several caveats including that the new jobs be full-time and pay upwards of $51,000.
FCDA President Matt Forshee said Panasonic looked at several different options for locating the new positions, including its other locations near Detroit, Michigan and also in Texas. But the company decided its best bet was to expand here, and that has meant turning a location once focused heavily on manufacturing into office space, officials said.
Instead of shutting down, as some worried a few years, ago, Panasonic’s local operation is now “growing and bursting at the seams,” Forshee said.
Poole also gave council a report on business retention and expansion activities which are her main focus at FCDA through the funding provided by the city.
Some four companies are undertaking expansion projects now, with an investment between $15-$20 million and an additional 50 to 100 jobs, Poole said. There are also two new companies looking to locate in Peachtree City who are expected to invest $20-$30 million and add 150 jobs.
None of these projects are at the stage yet where a full announcement can be made publicly, Poole added.
Poole also reported that an existing industry council has been formed to help bring the city’s industrial leaders together to network, find their common needs and allow them to communicate with each other. There is also interest in having a separate aviation industry council, she added.
The city has also improved the authority’s presence on the city website, with a spot on the home screen to provide potential new businesses with Poole’s contact information, which she noted was a suggestion that came from the city council.
