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 presentation (Troop Logistics, Pro Holdings, Summit Realty). He also provided a detailed update on the Remington site, saying the new owners had completed a facility but were not yet hiring, and that the company expects to hire about 600 people when operations are ready.

Scott presented a planned technology campus on the former Jindal site that he characterized as the largest economic development project the authority has handled, with a cited value of roughly $8 billion. He said the campus is intended as a private, technology-focused site with existing substation and water infrastructure. "We have the right partner," Scott said, and the authority has been working under nondisclosure agreements with developers and prospective end users. He told the board that over 20 years the campus could generate "between $80 to $100 million a year" in property tax revenue on average, while acknowledging it could take three to four years to reach full capacity.

On environmental concerns, Scott said the authority has met with Chattahoochee Riverkeepers and described efforts the developer would take to treat and return water; he noted the city of LaGrange has a cited permanent support capacity (presented at the meeting as 22 million gallons a day) and emphasized the developer’s stated aim to return more water than it uses over time. He also addressed typical community concerns about noise and backup power systems, saying newer projects use natural gas and battery backup rather than older diesel generators.

Housing and workforce needs were a consistent theme. Scott reported that the authority and partners have met with more than 150 housing developers since 2017 and that about 3,000 housing units were built in the prior 24 months, with roughly 80% occupancy. He described an ongoing project the authority called an "attainable housing" initiative targeted at households at or below 60% of area median income (the presentation cited a 240-unit goal under low-income housing tax credit financing).

Airport development was discussed separately by Troy Anderson (Speaker 8), LaGrange Callaway Airport director, who briefed the board on a proposed maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and industrial aviation complex led by a family-owned group referred to in the presentation as Aerotron/Airtron (the transcript uses related spellings). Anderson said the developer revised plans to include apron and taxiway access so the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration would view part of the site as aeronautical use; that revised package has moved through DOT and is with the FAA, and a title search for the 15.5-acre parcel was under way. Anderson said FAA review could take about 45 days after the title work and warned the authority about workforce and training challenges for specialized MRO jobs.

Scott and tax/assessor staff (Speaker 4) also answered questions about property taxes and the digest. Speaker 4 reported a digest figure presented in the meeting as about $10.8 billion, with residential at 39.29% and commercial/industrial about 53.14% of that digest; the staffer said the county had 597 appeals filed for 2025 and plans outreach and aerial photography to help citizens check homestead and exemption eligibility.

Throughout the meeting, board members asked about how rising market values translate to homeowner tax bills despite occasional millage reductions. Scott and staff explained that while they have reduced the millage rate in recent years, increasing market values can keep tax bills higher absent further policy changes.

Scott and staff said the authority will continue to focus on attracting projects that complement the existing industrial base, expanding workforce training and supporting housing to retain and attract workers. "The health of your community is determined by your existing industry," Scott said.

The presentation closed with an invitation for questions and a commitment to share updates in future meetings; specifics on announced end users for the technology campus were withheld under nondisclosure arrangements and expected to be disclosed later if agreements permit.