Development Authority updates board on $11.8 billion in investments, new technology campus and workforce push

The Development Authority of LaGrange and Troup County used its annual meeting to outline recent private investment, workforce programs and several large projects that leaders say will reshape the county economy.

Scott (Speaker 3), who led the presentation, told the board the authority has closed 38 projects since 2016 totaling about $11.79 billion and has turned down roughly $11 billion of proposals in the last 36 months that did not meet local standards. "We can say we're not gonna incentivize you," Scott said, explaining the authority sets a wage floor and evaluates projects by their fit with existing industry.

Scott said the authority has set screening criteria that include a minimum starting wage (described in the meeting as a floor of $18 an hour) and an average manufacturing wage for the county of about $68,000 per job. He used Amazon (referred to in the presentation as "Project Baker") as an example of a project that was declined four years ago for offering lower-paying jobs that officials judged would undercut the local industrial base.

The meeting included status updates on several specific developments. Scott described ongoing expansions and openings at facilities such as Pegasus Industrial (Pegasus 1 and 2), a $38 million building leased by Kia and operated by Globus; a reported $34 million expansion by Gentek; and other investments cited in the…