The Dedication Ceremony and Community Business Meet and Greet, otherwise known as the official grand opening of the Interstate Centre, will be April 17 at the original Interstate Centre in North Bryan County.
"This ceremony is twofold," said Executive Director of the Development Authority Jean Bacon. "We’re celebrating the fact that we have met most of our goals with our original 272-acre site of the Interstate Centre. We want to thank the commissioners and all those who have helped us with this project. We also feel like this is a good opportunity to share what we have with our neighbors and those around the state, showing them we have a very good site here and this is a perfect opportunity to relocate their business to Bryan County."
The featured guest of the event will be Governor Sonny Perdue and Sonny Dixon is schedule to emcee the festivities. The event is in the final planning stages, led by Development Authority board members Linda Barker andSteve Croy. Barker gave the committee report update during the Development Authority meeting on Thursday, March 20.
"I think Senator Eric Johnson will also be attending – we have invited every elected official in the state, so it should be a good turnout," Barker said. "This event will highlight the completion of the Industrial Centre and showcase what is available."
The planning committee is estimating roughly 250 local and state attendees, including government, military, brokers, property owners and bankers as well as surrounding development authorities.
Barker said the DA will be giving out brass dedication plaques to everyone who has been instrumental in helping make everything happen.
During the event, there has been discussion of getting a trolley to drive attendees around to all the sites in the park to get a better picture of what it’s all about.
Bacon said their most viable tract, a 33 acre site, is the largest in the original site. She said there are many other smaller sites available. Interstate Center II, which is a joint venture between Bryan County and the Technology Park of Atlanta, is just over 500 acres and Interstate Centre III is almost 300 acres.
"We already have some amazing and prominent companies in the Industrial Centre and they’re happy to be there," Barker said. "We have a very good relationship with these companies and they’ve been helping us to get the word out. Jean has also done a great job of keeping us in contact with prospective companies."
In other business:
- Bryan County is the cover/feature story in the Georgia County Government magazine March issue. The article gives an overview of Bryan County’s efforts to plan for the future and the local government’s involvement in the Coastal Comprehensive Plan, as well as information about the Industrial Centre. The full article can be found on the magazine’s website at www.accg.org.