Is Coweta

County going to be the next Silicon Valley?

After a

glowing report delivered to the Coweta County Commission

from 21st Century Coweta director Scott Frederick, it

appears the county is poised to capitalize on the area's

growing reputation for its Internet connection.

Frederick

told the commissioners Tuesday night that several

high-tech companies are looking at locating facilities in

the county.

Among the

prospects:

- A financial company looking at

building a 100,000-sq. ft. facility and employing 300

college graduates.

- A major national company looking at

placing a 700,000-sq. ft. warehouse and distribution

center in the county and investing $20 million in the

county in facilities and personnel.

- An Israeli high-tech company that

wants to locate near Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport.

- A project dubbed "Project

Falcon" that could employ 5,000 people in its eighth

year in the county and provide an investment of $250

million into the county.

The number

of prospects visiting the county has exploded in the last

year, Frederick said. One of the reasons is the

county-wide effort to be at the head of the Internet

curve.

"It's

now said that Newnan has the fastest Internet connection

in the state," he said.

Newnan

Utilities has laid fiber-optic lines throughout the city

to provide Internet service to customers. On the eastern

side of the county, Pathway Communities is launching one

of the state's first Intranet services to help residents

in its new SummerGrove community connect with each other

and find babysitters or set up common interest clubs.

Frederick's

report to the commissioners comes on the heels of a rough

few months for the county's industrial recruitment

organization.

The

commissioners have questioned the organization's budget

and Commissioner Jim McGuffey even suggested the entire

organization needed to be folded in under the authority

of the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce.

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