Four Counties, One Region: How Augusta's Economic Leaders Actually Work Together

What's really driving economic growth across the Augusta, Georgia and CSRA region? In this episode of Voices of Real Estate, host Jamie Jorge sits down with four of the region's top economic development leaders: Cal Wray (Development Authority of Augusta, Richmond County), Cheney Eldridge (Columbia County Development Authority), Austin Stacey (Burke County Development Authority), and Will Williams (Western South Carolina Economic Development Partnership).

Together they break down how Richmond, Columbia, Burke, and Aiken counties work as one region instead of competing against each other, why economic development matters for everyday residents, and how growth directly impacts property taxes. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hey there, it's Jamie George, the marketing director here at Blanchard and Calhoun with another episode of The Voices of Real Estate. Today we've got a real treat for you. I've got four very, very important people that we're going to be interviewing today. So I've got Cal, Cheney, Austin, and Will. And we're going to talk all about the development authority, things that we've got going on, and just answer some of those hard questions. So how are you guys doing today?

SPEAKER_04 0:33

Doing great.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Awesome. You ready to talk a little bit about what you guys do?

SPEAKER_04 0:39

Absolutely. Yeah, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

All right, Cal, since you're close to me, why don't you introduce yourself, talk a little bit about your role and what you do, and we'll just kind of go down the line.

SPEAKER_04 0:48

All right, I'm Cal Ray. I'm president of the Development Authority of Augusta, Georgia. Been here eight years. We are everything to do with economic development for Richmond County except residential development. So any type of development within Richmond County, we probably play some role.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Okay. Cheney Eldridge, I run the Development Authority in Columbia County. We are very similar in that we try to work all types of economic development projects outside of single-family residential.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Austin Stacy, Executive Director for Burke County Development Authority. I've been there a little over two and a half years and we touch on almost everything from industrial, commercial, real estate to, you know, even small business and housing.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

So I'm Will Williams. I'm with the Western South Carolina Economic Development Partnership. We are not a development authority. South Carolina doesn't have that. That's a totally different show. But like my three colleagues here, we kind of focus on the same things: industrial, um, some retail, and like everybody's job description has other duties as assigned.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Okay. Well, I'm sure you guys all work together a lot, right? Probably some joint efforts and projects.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Yes, we do.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

And lots of um marketing together, whether it's something like this or um going to a conference together. Our region is very strong and that's unique in economic development, especially having another state. And so because of the relationship that we have professionally and really on a personal level, we do really well getting together and and marketing the region as a whole, as well as our individual counties and jurisdictions.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Which I mean makes sense, right? Because kind of what helps one kind of helps everybody, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Yeah, we I mean most of the most of the companies we wind up um dealing with geographical preference um isn't always important. They're just looking for a 45-mile draw of employees. And so you either side of the river and you encompass this entire region.

SPEAKER_04 3:01

Yeah, Will and I recruit the jobs so Chinese people have somewhere to work and Austin has some party to power.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

I mean, okay, y'all get along really well. Have you guys always gotten along this well, or has this just been from years of working together?

SPEAKER_04 3:16

I'll see. Will and I have known each other 10 plus years. Yeah. Cheney worked for me for five. Right. And then Austin kind of the outlier family pet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

And we just adopted Austin and he showed up. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:29

Um I mean, even when I showed up, we kind of hit it in stride and things just as if one must have known these guys for a lifetime.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Yeah, I mean, we're all competites. We're we're very competitive people. We want our region to win, but we know if one of on our side of the river, if one of these other three counties, we're going to get the benefit too, because Georgia people drive to South Carolina to buy things and to eat just like we drive over here to buy things and eat. So, I mean, it it it works well. It's a good balance.

SPEAKER_04 3:58

We all want the entire region to be successful, and us working together does a lot more for the communities involved than us working against one another.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Plus, when you're in Germany on a marketing trip and you say you're from Aiken, South Carolina, everybody says, Where is that? But if I say I'm in the Augusta, Georgia region, well, everybody's heard of Augusta, Georgia that's a golf fan anyway.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

So Absolutely, that's definitely true. So, what do you think is a common misconception, or what makes you guys differ from local governments or chambers?

SPEAKER_04 4:35

So the quick piece is we are not local government. Right. So, for example, my office gets almost no funding from the government. We all privately raise dollars, so our economic development efforts are done outside of the general tax fund. Wow. Most people would think we're government employees or we're city employees. We are not. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Yep. Even in our case, we're on 501c6. We do get a good bit of funding from the government, but we have some speed that we can use that government can't necessarily use in developing things.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

And I would say like I kind of different from Cal. Um, our operational budget is government funded. And so on an operational level, we do um all most of our day-to-day expenses are from tax dollars. However, we do have a separate account, um, which we you know call our contingency fund, in which we're able to use as free dollars to recruit industries.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

We were set up very similarly to Austin, um, but starting tomorrow, actually, for the new fiscal year, we will be completely self-funded like Cal is.

SPEAKER_02 5:41

Okay. Are you how do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_00 5:44

I mean, I think there's there's positives, there's positives and and negatives to any situation, right? Um, I think we all try to operate under the idea that we're using public funds even if we're not. Um, that was something that Cal always talked about when I worked for him was hey, these may be, we may be self-funded, but we've got to operate like we're not. Um and so just continuing to carry business like we always have, um, but now we've just got to pay more attention to interest rates to get interest income.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Yeah, that totally makes sense. So let's jump a little bit to just like why economic development should matter to residents, right? It seems like it would be kind of an obvious answer, but you know, I love your take on how you would answer that.

SPEAKER_04 6:37

Well, for me, the quick answer is how do you get quality jobs to the community so we don't lose people, we don't have that brain drain on the community. But then how do people have jobs that are career jobs and not just jumping from a stopping uh a resting point to a resting point and actually can create careers with quality companies that treat their people well and can raise their family in Augusta where we all live in the region? Our families are here and we want to see what's best for all the people who call this home.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

From the Columbia County perspective, our focus really is on how do we take a lot of the tax burden off of the residents. Um, it's common information that what houses use, their tax dollars do not cover when it comes to services and the cost of those services. And so by bringing in um industrial users, you can reduce that on the household um for taxes. And so uh that's really what our strategy is is what can we bring in that's gonna continue to reduce the tax burden on our residents. I'm trying.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Yeah, I would say for for us in Burke County, it's you know, these jobs are, you know, we got to provide opportunities. I mean, we do have a little bit higher unemployment rate than the state average. Um, we do have a higher usage of you know subsidies within our community. And so trying to find the the right jobs that you know do have a quality of life wage associated with them that with a little bit of retraining, reskilling, that you know, our our local constituents can go right into.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

And I'm the way I look at it, it's kind of similar to what these three folks have said, but I'd like for the children that have grown up in the community to stay there and have something to do, make a great wage, be able to have a career and have some growth. But also the tax revenue helps offset many things. Um, you know, as Cheney mentioned, housing doesn't pay for itself. Um, and also the spinoffs that occur. I mean, statistics will say there are two to two and a half jobs created elsewhere in the economy for every one manufacturing job that we help create. So um, you know, we all want things, and we have a lot of places we can visit. Not not every community in the U.S. has the kind of things we do that can that quality of life issues.

SPEAKER_04 9:07

As you say, we poke fun at each other, but the different markets are you poking fun at all of them?

SPEAKER_02 9:13

That's never been a true or fact said.

SPEAKER_04 9:15

He's just he's I thought I trained, I thought I trained her better to push back.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Uh I've been media trained.

SPEAKER_04 9:23

We do because of the the different markets, Aiken, Edgefield, Columbia County, Richmond County, Burke County, we each offer different pluses for the either the businesses or the residents. And I think we're a good complement to each other. That's why you have so many people moving back and forth between counties every day.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Right. And I mean, obviously with growth, right, there come some challenges. What are some of those challenges you guys feel like are biggest to our area?

SPEAKER_04 9:50

Work for workforce is that biggest challenge. How do you get the skill sets in the market so that as jobs are created, the people are ready to take them? Typically they're higher wage rate jobs. So there's typically we're seeing fewer jobs per location, but they're higher skill sets, so higher wages. How do you get Augusta University or uh USC ACEN or AICENTEC or Augustatech to have the training program so that these employees are plug and play ready to go right into the jobs and demand that higher salary? That's probably the biggest challenge is probably the biggest driver for companies looking to locate.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Well, the challenge that I see is kind of on that same vein, except on the other side. How do we get young people to think that manufacturing is a worthwhile career and not becoming an influencer or something like that? I mean, there there is some staying power in terms of having a career in manufacturing and growth opportunity.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

I've seen your account, you could be an influencer.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 10:50

I like Will. I mean, one thing for us is retaining our youth. Uh, obviously, we have great technical schools here in the region and showing them what the opportunity is. I mean, there's, I would say, a good half of the high school students don't drive past the industrial park if they live on the north side of the county. They don't even, even if you drive past it, you don't you can't tell me what Ritz does, you can't tell me what TMC does, you can't tell me what Samson does. Nobody knows. You drive past it, it's just a sign that you see. So really showing them, getting them in these facilities and saying, hey, here's the opportunities that you have at home. You don't have to leave home to find a good quality, high-paying job. Second thing for us is infrastructure on a water sewer level. The city of Waynesboro is the only utility provider in the county. The county as a whole doesn't have a utility system. And so trying to coordinate with them and you know make sure that we don't overload the system or put too much on at the same time while still trying to plan and accommodate the growth is a large challenge because a lot of our sites that we have aren't even water sewer fed. So when we located RITS, I mean we had to pay for that extension out of pocket. And so, you know, there's just different challenges like that that, you know, if we can get ahead on the planning side, we can mitigate. Um, but at some point there's gonna be an issue where we have no more capacity, and so it's gonna, you know, put a halt on the development.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

You know, at the same time as kind of this workforce conversation that we're talking about, also trying to protect the industries that we do have that have that current workforce, you know, we bring these new jobs into the region, and so often what we hear is that they left their current existing role to go to this higher-paying job, which obviously is the goal, right? We want everyone to be at their best potential. Um, but so not just creating the workforce pipeline for the new jobs, but also if that means backfilling in old positions or existing positions, um, sometimes that means helping our existing industries understand that what they're paying is not competitive any longer. And that's often a hard conversation for them to hear. Um, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's, hey, if this is what's gonna help us retain our workforce, then it is cheaper for us to pay a little bit more to retain these folks than to bring new people on to train them. So, I mean, it's certainly an important balance, and um, we never want to recruit a company that's gonna be a direct competitor of something that we have within our own county, but at the same time, we're trying to create as many quality jobs as we possibly can.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Well, I sit on a couple of boards where that actually came up where um one of our large employers in the area basically had to go and renegotiate contracts with all of their current, I want to say like electrical folks or whatever, and and really just give them a big jump in their pay because they were threatening to leave to go to a different project that was going on. So, I mean, I I think they're obviously hearing you guys. But going back to what you were saying about the workforce and younger folks who should kind of stay in the area. Do you feel like the younger folks aren't doing it because they're not aware of the amount of money that they can make? Or do you think it's just the industry in general that they're not aware of what those positions are? Or maybe both?

SPEAKER_04 14:31

I think it's a mix of both, but it's also something since probably the 90s, we said you have to go get a four-year degree, you have to go off to university. That's not the case. You can't, and that's definitely a pathway. There are other pathways, certificates, technical programs, apprenticeships, uh, internships to learn these industries. These are not the unsafe, hot, unclean industries of the past. These are technically high-level jobs that are in clean environments, that you can have a career where we in many times in industrial over the years have said that's not where I want my child to work. And we have to change that mentality. We have to change that mentality for the students, the parents, the teachers, the administrators, and show them possibilities. It's not for everyone, but it's a pathway for many, just like university is a pathway for many. Give them all of those different pathways and let them choose the one that they think best fits for them.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Yeah, and and that model that uh Cal was discussing where you had to go to university to be successful. Well, now with all the different uh platforms, the way you do it, I mean you don't have to necessarily um cramp four years into five and be $125,000 in debt. You can get, you can have enough um credits when you graduate high school that basically you have your associates. You can get a job with a company. Most of our companies have tuition reimbursement programs. And so if you want to get your four-year, finish up your four-year degree, where you can do it and maybe be ten or fifteen thousand dollars in debt instead of a hundred thousand plus.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

So there, I mean, clearly it sounds like they're just pathways, various pathways that our younger folks can take. What are, off the top of your head, what are some of those positions in the salary ranges looking like?

SPEAKER_04 16:22

They're really across the board. I mean, you've got industries now, you're walking in off the street with minimal skill sets and you're gonna be at $25 to $28 an hour. That's not the $15 wage you hear everyone talk about. Right. Some of these industries you're walking in at almost double that. And that's with truly minimal skill sets. They'll train you, they'll teach you the position, and then you can rise from there.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

And if you know how to fix something, if you know about um electrical um systems, things like that, you can make sixty to seventy dollars an hour because those jobs have been in short supply, uh, or the people for those jobs have been in short supply for a long time.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Yeah, I think we have a lot of people nowadays that know how to write something really nicely on paper. Um, but we don't have a lot of people that are plumbers or um electricians. And anybody that's tried to build a house recently has seen how these prices have just soared. Part of that is the materials, but the other part is the labor. I mean, there are only a few people and they're dictating the price. Um, so we need to be pushing people more into the trades so that that comes under control. Um, because AI is not going to be able to, you know, do all the plumbing in your house or or fix your air conditioning and um forget influencers. I mean, even just people going to college, you know. What can we do to change the mentality from what we all thought we needed to go do and really the the change that needs to happen so that we've got that pipeline um for the next 20, 30 years.

SPEAKER_04 18:09

And it's not ending that pipeline. There still needs to be university, doctors, lawyers. There's many jobs you need a four-year degree, but there are other pathways out there. It's not everyone needs a four-year degree and then figure out what to do with it after that.

SPEAKER_03 18:21

Right. And and I will touch on that. I mean, we just kind of cemented a healthcare pathway with our high school program, our Augusta Tech campus in Waynesboro, and then Burke Health, um, where they were really in need of some nurse techs, and to the point where Burke Health was paying scholarships for the students in the pathway in the high school to go to Augusta Tech and then go work for them once they got their certification. And so, really, in high school, they were doing shadowing at the hospital. They graduated. Now they do about a year long of certification of classes that they need to finish up on, and then they got a job making $30 an hour. Like it's and they're right there at home.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Which is just crazy. Um, because I think back to when I was in high school and then when I toured a couple of the high schools when I went through the leadership program, uh, it's a completely different environment. You know, they had stuff for broadcasting, you know, uh to fix cars, and I mean it was just robotics, just all kinds of stuff. So what do you feel like employers now are really wor looking for when it comes to the future workforce?

SPEAKER_04 19:34

I think it's aptitude. Can you learn to do something? They have their programs to teach you. Do you have the aptitude and the patience to learn it? I think that's it.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Oh yeah, I think a lot of our manufacturers say they just want somebody with a good attitude that'll show up when they're supposed to and on time. And they can with a good aptitude and they can take care of the rest. I mean, they can train them to do anything.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

And I I love to hear that, right? Because I think there's probably a misconception that people aren't willing or companies aren't willing to invest and train you up. Um, and I feel like that's a completely different from the statement you just said, right? That they they want you to come in and they're gonna provide you with the tools, the knowledge, whatever you need. You just gotta be be willing to meet them halfway and do it.

SPEAKER_04 20:17

Well, they've got time and cost into everybody to hire. Sure. They're willing to train, they want long-term employees. A lot of the companies take very good care of their employees, so they're willing to spend the money because it's true, they see it as an investment.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

I mean, I feel a lot of I see a lot of companies now um taking into account how much money they spend on an employee onboarding them and training them, and when they walk out of the door, that's money that that's a lost cost. And um, so they're focusing on that, whereas now they understand they need to pay more. If they pay more, then they don't have i i it's a good balance. It's good to see the manufacturers full focusing on that.

SPEAKER_04 20:54

And we've seen that, we've seen the wage rates in Augusta rise.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

And how do you feel like our wage range compares to similar communities?

SPEAKER_04 21:03

Or from a from a national average, we're still lower on the pay scale, uh, eight to ten percent, but we're 40% lower in the cost of living. So there is a balance there. How much does it cost to live here? How much how much can you earn here? And we're seeing both of those increase.

SPEAKER_07 21:19

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

One thing we do as a as a group, um, we do a regional uh wage and benefit survey, um, and the output is returned to the folks that participate, and there's no attribution to a specific company, but basically by job description, you can see what in the region people are making from an entry mid and and high point in that salary in that job category. And and I think that's helped a lot too because now everybody understands kind of what the game is.

SPEAKER_04 21:51

And now you don't have I mean, we used to do one just for Richmond County. Now you're seeing it, these employers are getting wage data from six, seven, eight counties, and then we have. National data and a couple of state data that they can compare to as well to see what they're trying to get to or how they're trying to stay competitive.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

And do local employees here like reach out to you guys for some of that data so that they can make sure they're competitive?

SPEAKER_04 22:13

They companies? Yeah, the companies reach out and participate. Now, one of our rules is to get the data you have to participate. Got it. We want their data as well to give us stronger data and better comparison points.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

That's fair. But do you think that throws off the numbers a bit if they are on the lower scale?

SPEAKER_04 22:30

Well, what we're trying to do is get an accurate picture.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Right.

SPEAKER_04 22:32

So if they're lower, we want to see that too. We don't just want the highest wage earners. We want to see what the whole market dictates. So we want from the the lowest to the top, then maybe the lower gets influenced, and here's what we really need to pay to be competitive.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

And then really just kind of minimizing that gap a little bit. So what do you think local high schools or our community can what can we do better to help attract and retain better talent?

SPEAKER_04 23:01

Well, what we're doing from our office is we're getting the educators talking to the industry. Because for the longest, education said, Here's what I have to teach you. Industry said, Well, here are the jobs I have. And there was no coordination between those. So we have groups now that are truly industry and educators together talking, how can we work together? What do we need to teach our students? What do you need in making those? The other thing, and I think Cheney, you were still with us when we did B Pro, Be Proud. So program started in Arkansas. The master license for Georgia is now in Cherokee County, but they come in for a week. They typically go one day to a school, they set up this mobile training unit, show the kids some data, let them play with the trainers. We just set it up here for a week. So last year we had 83% of the eighth graders in Richmond County go through that. They can sign up with an email, see what jobs are available, see what the wage rates are, see what skill sets they need. Do I need a two-year degree? Do I need a certificate? Do I need a four-year degree? Here's what the job's paying. Oh, here's what those training programs cost. Is this something I want to pursue? Here's what I can make, and here's what it's going to cost me. And then with uh with hope, some some or all of that may already be paid, so it's very minimal out of pocket. So you may graduate with no debt.

SPEAKER_07 24:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yeah, we've actually been focusing with our educators in the uh upper end of the elementary school range because a lot of the graduation uh plans in South Carolina are put into place in middle school. And so if we can get them interested in understanding a career sooner, then that can get them in their curriculum track to be prepared to go into that career.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

Absolutely. Do you all have anything you want to add to that?

SPEAKER_00 24:43

I mean, I think the Columbia County School System does such a great job of getting students in front of these types of careers. The CTAU program is very strong. Um, and you know, I I really think it's just on parents to be open to the idea of a different track. Um, that's the biggest thing I think Columbia County folks could do.

SPEAKER_03 25:05

Let's say in our community, you know, we have a strong relationship with our CTAE director at Burke County High School. And, you know, for the first time this past year, I actually was able to take our industry leaders and meet with them and say, hey, here's what we need and you need to change your curriculum. Yes, you don't need that course. Yes, you need that course, we need to see something more like this. And then also having you know Augusta Tech at the table to kind of fill that gap and say, okay, well, if the high school can't do it because of whatever reasons, can you pick up, you know, the difference? And so we've had so far had, you know, good success with that and just those conversations, getting that curriculum implemented and really starting in August, we'll see hopefully, you know, some good response from that.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

And I'm sure like our general public has no idea the amount of influence you guys have with the schools and vice versa, that you guys are all working together to make you know this more successful for the future kids coming through um and the future possible leaders of our community. So I mean that's great to hear you guys work so closely like with our school system and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Yeah, sometimes I think we're like a connective tissue um just because the this group might not know about this group and but we do um I guess we're kind of like an inch deep and a mile wide.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

Makes sense. So let's talk a little bit about development success stories. Um what is kind of one of your favorite projects that you guys have worked on?

SPEAKER_00 26:37

I really don't have any success stories yet. Um not true.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

We have You got Club Car, you got Amazon, you've got Robbie did those. Oh, I've expanded. You got uh what's the brochure score?

SPEAKER_00 26:52

I would I wouldn't say that's a success. I would I would say that we had some good conversations when I started um about what the county was looking for and what the community would be looking for. That was really what guided what we were going after. And um, you know, Trader Joe's has been flying around the community, right? And I really think that the community is gonna be happy about how that all turns out. I can't say that we have anything that I can publicly talk about when it comes to Trader Joe's outside of what Trader Joe's has disclosed, which is uh the Evans market is one that they are seriously looking into. Um I really enjoy reading uh the local news of people um saying this is where it's gonna go or that's where it's gonna go, or now it's not gonna go there, or it should go over here. And um that is very entertaining for me. Uh I don't know where some people get their information, but certainly they have to sell, you know, subscriptions, and so they want to have information.

SPEAKER_03 28:05

But um cheesecake factory. What's that like?

SPEAKER_00 28:08

You know, we don't we have not uh gotten on a good page with Cheesecake Factory.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

So I thought that people would never let that go. I I really I I was on a bus with Robbie once, and he said, if anybody says Cheesecake Factory, I'm going to lose my mind.

SPEAKER_04 28:26

From a retail standpoint, it is the number one you hear it the most.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

Why?

SPEAKER_00 28:32

I think it's because it's a scratch kitchen.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

I mean, it's just not I mean it's it's delicious. I love cheesecake, but that definitely wouldn't be the thing. I'm like, let's get it here.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

On our side of the river, I thought the world would be set once we got Olive Garden in Aiken. Nope. Then then they wanted Trader Joe's, and then I started telling them some of the demographics that Trader Joe's likes, and the Aiken community was like, okay, we're good.

SPEAKER_04 28:58

What about Bucky?

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Um Bucky's has looked in the I-20 corridor um in South Carolina. Um just didn't find a site suitable.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

I think you're right. I think I'm the instigator.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

Yeah. But it's fine. I mean, keep going. That's what this is for.

SPEAKER_07 29:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

Um, Bucky's looked on our section of the I-20 corridor, and and we also just couldn't find something that really worked.

SPEAKER_04 29:26

It's hard to find a site. There's that specific requirements on interstate visibility, access to an interstate visit.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

Yeah, because they're looking for a basically an undeveloped interchange. Um, and that's probably gonna be a rural interchange. And they're looking for 60 to 70 acres on a hard corner of an interchange.

SPEAKER_04 29:46

And so if you need water and sewer, and natural gas, they need a lot of infrastructure.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

They're gonna, you know, put in to build a whole new interchange, and that's $120 million, and who pays for that? And I mean, trust me though, prop the sales tax revenue, everything that the salaries are fantastic. Um, but they don't want to be everywhere and they don't fit everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

Sure, that makes sense. So are there any other like success stories that you guys kind of just when you think back on your time, just jump out? Gives you the one.

SPEAKER_04 30:22

My favorites are Rubis. Huge search area went, you know, at the end of the day, once the search was all done, Augusta was first after every round of elimination. They over-delivered, underpromised, very involved in the community, pay their people to go out and volunteer in the community with their hourly rates, announce 300 million, invest 900 million. I mean, just a great project, great for the employees that are there, and it's gonna be one that's paying back to the community for the next hundred years.

SPEAKER_07 30:53

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

Yeah, I think I I would probably say two for us. Kimberly Clark, that is their largest North American uh manufacturing facility in the world, um, but they were landlocked until we were able to help them identify a piece of property next door. We were able to have some discussions with the ownership group of it. They saw the the um the need to sell it to Kimberly Clark, and now there's a million and a half square foot regional distribution center, which will free up some existing footprint for additional manufacturing capacity, and then obviously um Meta and and the two smaller data centers that that we have um that have improved uh by paying for their own um needs in terms of electricity, in terms of water and sewer, those kind of things. So um those are and Meta has a huge community commitment component to them, and that's already paying um off for our community.

SPEAKER_04 31:53

That's great. Austin, you moved your office. Is that yours?

SPEAKER_03 31:57

Yeah, yeah. So um, no. Um no for us, uh it probably rich instrument transformers. Um it was my first project I ever worked. Um, it was my first project win. Uh, we just did the ribbon cutting for that facility last week. It was originally uh about a $28 million capital investment on a new facility that obviously has gone upwards into 40 million. Um they've increased their job creation numbers and they're already ahead of schedule on that. I mean, that's the the newest industrial building in our community in over 25 years. And so, you know, there was some challenges, you know, initially on the permitting side because nobody had ever permitted an industrial building in, you know, that was in that office. Um, and so it was kind of a first for for everybody in the community. Um, you know, had to knock the dust off and kind of figure it all out. But we eventually got it all done. They're, you know, producing transformers right now from that facility. And like I said, they are ahead of schedule and you know, they're already discussing possible expansion and you know, looking at being debt-free within the year of the whole project.

SPEAKER_07 33:08

So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 33:09

You know, we do kind of give each other a hard time, but I will say these are three of the best economic developers I know across the board. So it's fun working with them and fun having a good time at each other's expense.

SPEAKER_02 33:19

Oh, yeah, definitely. Because it would be awful if you guys hated each other.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

Yeah, it would be it would be tough, especially, you know, economic development isn't always the easiest job to be in. And so having people that you can call for professional advice um is extremely helpful. Of what have you seen before in this situation or um just people that have your back? I mean, these guys certainly give me a lot of um jokes, but at the same time, they have my back when it comes to stuff that we're doing professionally. And, you know, I'm really proud of the data center project that we've done. It um it has been such a tremendous, um, a tremendous effort to handle it. Um, never thought that it would end up being what it is and the size that it is. Um, and I know that it has certainly created a lot of tension in my county and these guys probably have very similar to ask. Very welcome. Actually, y'all's, I think, was in the works way before ours was. You just got it rushed under the rug.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Um Well, we hit well, we got all of ours done before everybody realized they were supposed to be afraid of data centers while they're using data centers.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

So, um Well, that's what I was gonna ask you. Like, did you get a lot of heat with that? Because I mean, I know, Cheney, I know you're getting a lot of heat, you know.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

So I our process was taking place in 20, so our engagement with Meta was three years, and um so our the tax incentive was um approved in 2023 and they announced in 2024. And for the most part, everybody seemed to be excited, but it was like late mid-25 with all the Chinese propaganda that's been coming out, um, that everybody decided they didn't need data centers while they're watching their Netflix um and ordering Grubhub.

SPEAKER_04 35:18

I mean, we did our first data center when I was in Tennessee in 2012. Right. It was celebrated by the community, they've been a great community partner, great project. They give back to the community, and most I can't say most, there are very good data center projects. And people don't think about that. You hear about the bad example or the bad apple, and people want to attribute it to every one of them. It's just not the case. Right. I mean, I've said this recently. There were good data centers and there were bad data centers. We turned down at least a dozen before the one that located. But in our case, that property was rezoned by the private landowner. All the entitlements were done by the private landowner. Our office did none of that. And there was a data center that located on that site previously that had a big sign-up for three years. We had nothing to do with that project. That was all done by the private landowner who got his site sold or was able to sell his site to that data center project, and then this that one fell apart. This much better one comes along. Same thing. Private landowner sold his site to the private data center developer. It'll be a great project for the community. I know the adjacent residential have fears of it. They're asking good questions and they're getting good answers, and the company has to follow law and regulation. As long as they follow law and regulation, it'll be minimal to no problems. But it's hard until something is built for the adjacent landowners to see that and understand what this company really is about versus all of the horror stories you see across the country. Sure. Because there can be bad ones. We don't believe this was one of those, but that was the first part of that was done in 2022, 2023, again before everyone hated data centers.

unknown 37:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

And and the technology um has changed over time. Yes, they did use a significant amount of water, but they have certainly worked on that and and cognizant of that. Power is still an issue, uh, but power certainly bolsters everybody else's um power around them. And they are if they can't get power, they're not gonna be built. I mean, you just nobody's gonna spend two three hundred million or plus dollars and have it just sit there not running. I mean, it's just not gonna happen. So um I think uh having some skepticism is good. Um but there are other industries that we're all familiar with um that use more water and as much electricity. Like if you like almonds, go look how much water it takes to make almonds grow. Food, whether it be beef or poultry, takes a lot of water. And how much water do we all throw on the ground um during the summertime?

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Sure. I mean, do you guys feel like a lot of it is really just the fear from the misinformation? Why there's so many people who are just you know, you've got the people who are like, okay, let me research it, let me find information, and then you've got the people that are just like, I don't care what you say, this is bad, we're not doing it.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

I think both, and I think there are some bad actors in the industry. Um, I know crypto mines um certainly can be noisy noisier. Um, they can be here today and gone tomorrow. But a true data center, whether it be for Meta and its platforms or um your medical records, things like that, they're gonna be around a while. And I mean, the people that work in those data centers, they have to live somewhere too.

SPEAKER_05 38:56

For sure.

SPEAKER_04 38:57

Well, and every time you take out your phone, everything you do on your phone, I don't care what app you're using, just using your phone, it's gotta go through something. And do do we want to push all these to China and have all our data go through China? No, they've got to be in the US. You've got to find the right places for them. Unfortunately, sometimes the right places is an inconvenience for others.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

I think in a way, the economic development in our communities are victims of our success. Um because you've had a lot of growth into our region and people you you you've developed a strong case of Dimbyism, but also um cave people as well, um, citizens against virtually everything. I think with the populist political movement that's out there, um it people and the information, whether it's right or wrong, is available for you. Um and it's easier for people to speak out against things.

SPEAKER_07 40:00

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

Yeah, and I think it goes a step further than just you know pulling your phone out and logging in, you know. But like every time you start your car, I mean, we can all pull our phones out and look at, you know, if our car is locked, if we can start it from an app, we can see how much fuel we have in it. But it also, you know, even goes a step further. You know, we got farm equipment that is autonomous that operates completely and solely on GPS technology. Burr County number one industry is ag and has been since its inception. And so, you know, there's farmers out there that can irrigate their corn at 500 plus acres through an app on their phone. Wow. And so it's there's it's not just you know, Facebook, Google, you know, all those quote bad people. You know, it's it's really a way of life that we're gonna have to adapt to. I mean, it's no different than cell towers, you know, back in the this the 80s and 90s. I mean, they went up everywhere just to get coverage, and yeah, people are like, those look ugly. I can see them from 20 miles away. You won't be able to see a data center from 20 miles away, but the functionality is is almost very, you know, relevant on principle.

SPEAKER_01 41:12

This is just another um evolution in the technology improvements that we've gone through. I mean, we went from horse and buggy to automobile. We went from, you know, we we've we've had airplanes, I mean, we've had um electricity introduced. This is just that uh um many people thought that automation was going to kill manufacturing jobs, and and really it hasn't. It has caused the jobs to become more um more educated, better trained than they were before. Um and and the birth rate in the United States continues to decline. Um, so we've there there are ways to make these things happen. AI is eventually gonna um help us all be better. I know many of us are using it in some form or fashion, um, but you know, w we all have to have a healthy dose of skepticism.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 42:13

There are good questions being asked. Are they loud? Are they gonna use all our water? Are they polluting? I mean, all very valid questions that need to be asked.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

Well, and I know Cheney, I think I saw maybe on Facebook or something, you you visited a data center, and one of the things you were looking for was like noise. And you said inside you could hear it, but outside you really couldn't, right?

SPEAKER_00 42:36

Yes, that's so true. We visited two, um, one in social circle and one in Atlanta. And the one in Atlanta, we got to go inside. And so standing on the outside, as well as when we stood on the outside of the social circle data center, there was no sound whatsoever outside. Um, to the point where we didn't even know if there was any equipment inside this Atlanta data center. And so um the further that we got inside the building within the shells that it had, we finally got into the server room and it it did have a noise. Um, like hairdryers were running that that level. Um, but knowing that that was going on, and then when you're outside, there's no sound. I mean, there's so much effort from the good companies being put in to reduce that noise and reduce the use of water and all of these things, because that's only going to help them, right? When they have pushback from a community to get something rezoned, well, time is money for them. And so that's costing them a lot. Whatever they can do to make communities like them more so that they can get business done quicker is gonna save them money. And so they're constantly trying to figure out how can we be more efficient with water? How can we be more efficient with our energy? Um, it's gonna save them money. And and often the market takes um. Takes care of a lot of the issues that we see in the economy if we let it. And so this is one of those situations where we can certainly, and we have in Columbia County, put a lot of requirements on the company that is going to be in our community. Um, but probably even without those requirements, they would be trying to find ways to reduce their usage of things as well.

SPEAKER_02 44:24

And the end user hasn't been announced, correct?

SPEAKER_00 44:27

That's correct.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

Okay. Do you feel like people will be more comfortable once they find out who the end user is going to be?

SPEAKER_00 44:35

I think the folks that have um a logical view of the situation will feel more comfortable. I do think that there are folks out there that it doesn't matter who it is and what the answers to the questions are, they're just unhappy. And I'm not sure that that will change their mind.

SPEAKER_04 44:54

Um whoever's photo they made, I would agree with you.

SPEAKER_00 44:57

Whoever it is. But when when we when it was disclosed to us who the end user was, I couldn't have been happier. I mean, it would it was who I would have dreamed would have been there. Right.

SPEAKER_04 45:12

You want to tell us to go? No.

SPEAKER_01 45:14

And you know, one of their what one of the um talking points is they don't hire a lot of people. Well, you have to define a lot of people. Meta's gonna hire a hundred people, which is not a huge amount, but it's sustainable for the workforce that we have in the area. And the way I look at it, with what we see in data center growth here over the time, we know that 62% of separating um servicemen and women from Fort Gordon, if they there was a job in the region, they would stay. A lot of military bases have uh jobs that are applicable to what goes on on post. Here, we're now getting things that will be applicable to what goes on at Fort Gordon.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

Yeah, and to touch on that, I mean, you know, there's however many different metrics out there of, you know, X amount of jobs per building for data centers, you know, even if it's 100, 150, 200, however large uh, you know, the campus is, in my community, that would be almost the largest employer in the industrial sector. And so even that 150 would put it within the the top three. And so for some people to be like, oh, they don't have a lot of jobs. Well, okay, do you think Samsung has a lot of jobs? I mean, they have like 120, you know. Angebity, they have like 160. So it's like, and you look at it on a relative scale to everybody else, you're like, oh, they're they're pretty much even. Now that can be different, you know, in other communities uh in Georgia and across the U.S., but in mine it's pretty much even kilter.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

And uh Meta will wind up when they um start operating and begin paying uh property tax, they will be the fourth largest property taxpayer in Aiken County.

unknown 47:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 47:02

That's yeah, they're also very little strain from a from a road standpoint, from a school standpoint, very little strain on the systems, yet they're still going to be one of the top taxpayers in the community helping to build out that infrastructure and sustain the operations of the school system in government.

SPEAKER_00 47:18

And I think you also have to look at not just the the full-time employees, but also the groundskeepers, the all of the folks that have to maintain those buildings. I mean, for us specifically, just the scale of our project, it's there will be full-time people that are just cutting the grass, you know. Um, that's an opportunity for somebody that gets that's also gonna have the opportunity um for someone to come in and do electrical work on all of those buildings. And so the number that gets reported is never the full picture. And it'll take us a couple years to be able to look back to really understand the impact that this has. But um the wages of even just their full-time people is very high. And so we can't throw out a project because there's only a few jobs. Um, we have to pay attention to what's the quality of that job as well.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

I just think it's a continued diversification of employment opportunities in our region. Um, we, the collective, we not just the four of us, but the communities that we serve have done a good job of getting some balance and not being um like in Granitville, it used to be textile, so if one thing happens, it it all goes awry. We've got a very good mix of manufacturing here, so if something unfortunate happens with one industry, it doesn't um become a domino effect.

SPEAKER_02 48:46

Right, which is super important. Well, so let's kind of end on this. Um outside of unless you know anybody else wants to speak more about data centers that we uh talked about avoiding, but not um, you know, what's a project you would love to see come to our area that you think would be very successful and good for our community?

SPEAKER_03 49:06

Vogel five and six.

SPEAKER_04 49:09

What?

SPEAKER_03 49:09

Vogel five and six?

SPEAKER_04 49:12

Uh we we have a mega site, one of only two in the state. So you think about projects like uh Hyundai or Kia or a major automotive supplier, we now have a site that could potentially in the future sustain that. And you're bringing two, three, four, five thousand Hyundai, I think their total count now is up to 10 or 12,000 jobs coming. Wow. Those are community changers. Now you got to build the infrastructure and you have to make it work. But in our Splash project, we got the money for a sewer that not only helped that site, but it'll help the surrounding area build retail, commercial, and residential. So it's not just about the industrial piece, it's all the other items the city can build up based on the jobs or the investments that are being made to make the community a better place and give more options on all of the other things. Residential, commercial, retail, and then the suppliers that come with that could help both, could help all of our counties when you're all within 25 miles of that site. So you could have economic development spur out of that project that helps all of our counties and even the counties not represented by the four of us.

SPEAKER_06 50:14

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 50:15

I'm moving to see a lot of quality of life projects. Um, some more restaurants and retail that a lot of folks have been asking for. Um, I'd like to see the downtown Evans area continue to be built out and flourish. Um just like Evans. You know, the downtown core where um where the county's really been working hard. Um a lot of folks have been working hard trying to make that a destination, and it is now when you go there on a Saturday with the market. I mean, it is flourishing, and so um continuing to see that reach its full potential.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

Well, and I have some friends who drive from North Augusta just to go to the market.

unknown 50:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:59

I would say for us, I mean, you know, the past two years we've taken a strong stance on retail recruitment. Um, you know, we've had a lot of great conversations, and hopefully within the you know next year or two, we'll actually see some physical results and start landing some more retail industry.

SPEAKER_01 51:17

Yeah, I mean we've got a 1900-acre um industrial site under development now, um, getting infrastructure to it. It's um on the other side of the county in an underdeveloped section. Aiken County is extremely large. Um and it will benefit not only Aiken County, but it'll benefit a smaller town in another county. So again, it's gonna be that ripple effect that we have. And it and it's also good I want to see our region continue to support one another. Um, you know, I I was sitting uh yesterday at my rotary meeting with a lady who um you have a very outstanding orthopedic hospital in Burke. So there's a lot of people from Aiken County that go to Burke County to have knees and hips and shoulders replaced. I mean, those are the kind of things that the average person really doesn't think about, but makes us stronger as a whole.

SPEAKER_02 52:11

Absolutely. Well, I mean, we really I know we really appreciate, you know, your time. We know how busy you guys are trying to just make our communities prosperously.

SPEAKER_04 52:23

At least two of us are busy.

SPEAKER_02 52:26

But um, you know, we we are so appreciative of everything that you guys do and we hope that you'll come back on our podcast, especially if you guys have some exciting news that you want the community to know. We definitely want to help you guys get that message out.

SPEAKER_01 52:40

Well, what y'all do really helps us because y'all have product in the market for people that may most manufacturers bring about 10% of their workforce from somewhere else. They gotta have somewhere to live. And without good real estate teams, we don't have that.

SPEAKER_02 52:58

Well, we are trying. We are definitely trying. We did we definitely have some products coming on the market that I can't exactly speak to at this moment, but that will be coming out the next couple of uh years, some in your area as well. Um, but yeah, we're we're excited about it.