So, you are the chief executive officer of a large corporation from Pennsylvania or Korea and you are trying to decide where to put your manufacturing plant. You want to consider Georgia but there are 159 counties to choose from and you don't know where to start. Where do you go?

That was the scenario that Catoosa County leaders faced during their visit to the Georgia Resource Center in Atlanta for a first hand look at how Atlanta executives and state leaders court big business from around the world after they have come to Georgia looking for a place to move.

The Catoosa Chamber of Commerce coordinated the trip May 31 that included representatives from county and both city governments, Catoosa County Schools, Economic Development Authority and the Chamber. The Georgia Power Co. hosted the trip and Wilson Funeral Home provided its bus for transportation.

Around 25 Catoosa leaders heard presentations from the people who are actually responsible for marketing Northwest Georgia counties to prospective businesses.

Among the speakers were Kevin Fletcher, Georgia Power vice president of community and economic development; Steve Anglea, Georgia Power local manager; Kerry Campbell of Georgia Power; Deborah Lohnes, Georgia Department of Economic Development state project manager; Sean McMillian, also of GDED; and Em Mosier, a Georgia Power community development representative.

Diverse participation by county and city leadership impressed the speakers, they said.

“If you are going to focus on economic development it takes a lot of people with a variety of abilities,” said Kevin Fletcher. “Nothing attracts (business) more than purpose and partnership.”

According to Campbell, he said the process is long and requires a long-term plan by the county.

Some among the criteria that companies are seeking are labor costs, qualified, skilled and educated labor, highway access, beneficial tax structure and local incentives among others, he said.

He stressed that there is a need throughout Georgia to graduate students that are more skilled.

Suggestions by the various speakers to help make Catoosa competitive statewide include building a manufacturing building at least 50,000 square feet with a minimum 28 foot ceiling with the ability to expand the building.

Former Commissioner Pat Page asked how many counties have spec buildings (buildings built in anticipation of a business moving in) and the answer was about 20.

Representatives said some communities have held those buildings for as much as a decade waiting for someone to move in. Often times, such as in Polk County, the building is simply the bait to get potential companies in the county to look and then the companies choose another site and build there, Campbell said.

Another option suggested is a “real industrial site ready to build.”

Campbell suggested developing a sales team that is ready to meet with company representatives on a local level when an opportunity arises.

Ronnie Evans, Georgia Power Economic Development representative for Northwest Georgia, said it comes down to having a product to sell.

“You’ve got to have a piece of land that’s gradable, that has sewer and water, and maybe a building to compete,” he said.

He said Catoosa recently lost a 1,300,000 square foot manufacturing plant to Calhoun because of not being able to fit it on existing available sites.

“It would have been ya’ll’s project,” he said.

Get prepared

The group urged the leaders to prepare for the coming opportunities that will result when Chattanooga’s Enterprise South eventually lands a big manufacturer resulting in other manufacturers needing to locate nearby.

“It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” Campbell said.

Commissioner Jim Emberson commented that the county could get a lot of the spillover.

Campbell said it generally takes about three years to develop the property needed for an industrial site.

“If you don’t do that, shame on you,” Campbell said. “You will continue to be residential.”

Catoosa School Board member Jane Everett said the county needs “organized intentionality.”

Campbell said counties have to build anticipation in the minds of potential businesses and that Catoosa is not on many people’s lips.

Emberson said unfortunately, there is a segment of population in Catoosa that is not in favor of paying anything to create a new industrial site.

“We are in an awkward position,” he said. “We are talking big bucks. My judgement is that it is needed. We could be run out of town on a rail to raise taxes to do so.”

Campbell said the key is informing the public of the importance of investing in this type of project for the children and grandchildren if they wish to give them opportunities to stay at home rather than seek opportunities outside the county.

Deborah Lohnes shared with the group that there are approximately 1,000 projects each year that 15,000 economic developers are trying to lure into their state or community.

Anglea, Georgia Power local manager, said what happens in many communities where they do not expand the manufacturing opportunities, taxes eventually go up to offset the costs of all the residential needs.