North Ga. Business Park near completion
It will bring jobs, manufacturing, shops, restaurants
In January 2019, Catoosa County commissioners approved the purchase of just under 50 acres of land near the intersection of U.S Highway 41 and Bandy Road.
The $1.75 million purchase using SPLOST funds was made with a view to building a business park that can accommodate two medium-sized manufacturing or industrial-related facilities.
The project is a joint partnership with the Catoosa County Board of Commissioners and the Catoosa County Economic Development Authority (EDA).
“The project is about 98% complete,” says commission chairman Steven Henry. “We’ve reached the marketing stage where we’re looking for businesses to locate at the site.”
Henry says he wants the county to be very selective about the businesses approved for the two-pad site. “We want good jobs and the potential for more growth in that area,” he says.
The new business park is located at 11681 U.S. 41. It sits about 100 yards from I-75 exit 345.
The location, says Henry, is ideal in many ways. “It’s close to the interstate. It’s also close to the Murray County inland port, which could be a real draw.”
“Businesses wanting to ship goods to Savannah, the fourth busiest seaport in the U.S.,” says EDA Director Keith Barclift, “can truck product to the Appalachian Regional Port in Murray County in 30 minutes, where it can then be transported by train to Savannah, rather than send it on an eight-hour trip by truck to the southern seaport.”
Henry says that once businesses are located at the Catoosa site, other businesses will be drawn to the area. “If you have 200 people working in an area, restaurants and other businesses will want to locate close by. This area is kind of desolate right now, but it has the potential to thrive.”
Preparation of the site has taken two years. Land studies had to be conducted to determine how construction would proceed. Everything from perk tests to studies on wetland status, the existence of protected or endangered animals and flora and other environmental issues took place. Cultural and historical studies were required. A natural gas line had to be moved. Land had to be leveled and filled in spots.
The move of the gas line at $1.1 million, says Barclift, was a big part of the project. “It’s a feeder line from the Gulf of Mexico — a 12-inch, high-pressure interstate transmission line, not like the little ¾-inch lines that go into homes.”
Finally, the land had to be graded, a large project approved by commissioners at the end of 2020 and finished in December 2021.
The cost of grading ran just under $1,500,000 and came from SPLOST funds. (SPLOST refers to a 1% special purpose, local option sales tax.)
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