“Metro Atlanta’s south side rocks,” according to Fayette Chamber of Commerce President Carlotta Ungaro, one of numerous speakers at the annual South Metro Development Outlook meeting held Feb. 22 in College Park. Ungaro in her presentation shared some of Fayette’s economic development highlights, including some major business expansions that occurred during the past year.
“These companies are choosing to expand with us, instead of moving to other localities,” Ungaro said.
Ungaro also noted the continuing presence of Pinewood Atlanta Studios and the 2,000 people working on productions on the large studio lot that now boasts more than 1 million sq. ft. of space.
Her comments extended to the emerging Pinewood Forest commercial and residential development located across Veterans Parkway and across from the studio lot in Fayetteville.
“We want people to come to Fayette to tell a story,” Ungaro said, noting the county’s current branding efforts.
Ungaro said Fayette faces challenges since there is no abundance of industrial land in the county. She said the Fayette County Development Authority is working to identify additional industrial and commercial properties, given that land countywide is approximately 75 percent residential and with the hope that the percentage of commercial and industrial space could increase to 30 percent.
Also speaking at the event were Henry County Development Authority Executive Director Leonard Sledge, Douglas County Commission Chairman Romona Jackson Jones and Fulton County Commission Chairman Rob Pitts.
Pitts said metro Atlanta has the fifth largest concentration of Fortune 500 and 1,000 companies in the United States.
“The truth is, that we are all in it together,” Pitts said of the outlook for the future of Atlanta and its surrounding counties.
