Henry County Development Authority Hosts “High-Octane” Developer Day

Event Featuring AMS Revealed How Henry County is Driving Laps Around the Competition

[Henry County, GA]  On April 19, the Henry County Development Authority, together with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, treated key state economic developers and Atlanta commercial real estate brokers to a virtual tour of the county industrial sites, and an actual tour of the airport, culminating with a luncheon in the elegant Club One at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  During the event, the Development Authority gave state economic developers a peek “under the hood,” and went all out to showcase the community’s many selling points that make Henry County an ideal location for business and industry.

“The purpose of having an event such as we did at Atlanta Motor Speedway is to draw attention to the assets that we have here in Henry County by showing both the commercial brokers in the state as well as the State Department of Economic Development all of the resources we have, and try to woo them to Henry County to show prospective new businesses and encourage them to relocate here,” explained Vickie Loper, Chairman of the Henry County Development Authority.

 Nearly two dozen economic developers and commercial brokers joined their local hosts for the event, where they learned about Henry County’s plans to expand the Atlanta South Regional Airport, the County’s new Economic Development Incentives Policy, and how the Henry County Water & Sewerage Authority is supporting the County’s economic development initiatives.

“I think that they were especially interested to learn that Henry County – unlike many counties in the Atlanta Metro – has abundant water supplies and a Water and Sewerage Authority that is willing to work with them on economic development projects,” explained Bob White, Executive Director of the Henry County Development Authority.
 
Perhaps most importantly, these key economic developers and commercial real estate brokers learned the results of the Development Authority’s recently completed Target Industries Study, which identified six target industries for the community.  Conducted by the consultants Market Street Services, the Study showed that Logistics and Healthcare Services continue to be Henry County’s leading industries, and remain extremely robust, with great potential for growth, especially with the prospect of a deepened Port of Savannah and Piedmont Healthcare’s acquisition of the hospital, now Piedmont Henry Hospital.  However, the study also brought to light several emerging targets that present enormous opportunities for diversification and local job creation.  These include Professional Services such as Information Technology and Customer Care; a well as Advanced Manufacturing in Plastics, Chemicals, Medical, and now Transportation and Aviation, thanks to the acquisition of the Atlanta South Regional Airport. 

Though this was the first year a Developer Day was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway, it was not the first year the Development Authority has hosted such an event.  For more than a dozen years, the Development Authority hosted a Developers Day event in the county – The Dogwood Hunt – that included a continental pheasant hunt at Dogwood Plantation Hunting Preserve in McDonough.  That and other similar events are funded entirely by the Development Authority through bond fees generated from its development bonds – no tax dollars were spent to put on these events.

For more information about the Henry County Development Authority, please visit www.hcda.org

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