Martin To Head To Germany

Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin will head overseas later this year on an economic development trip.

Both Stephens County and the city of Toccoa have agreed to give up to $5,000 each to send Martin to Germany in December.

Martin said Stephens County was invited to take part in the trip by the European American Investment Council, which is organizing it.

According to Martin, this is a small trip with just a small group of individuals who will be going.

“They are just talking about a handful of people,” said Martin. “The leadership of the European American Investment Council are members of the recruitment team that helped us land the Nifco KTW project and they have other companies, German companies, European companies, that are looking for sites in the United States and the theme of this is automotive, so there will be automotive companies that we will be calling on.”

Martin went on to say that such trips are important in order to build relationships and put Stephens County on the forefront of companies’ minds.

“More and more and more, Georgia is seeing companies from Europe, and particular from Germany, looking at us for investment purposes,” said Martin. “They see the economy here. They see the skill of the workforce here. They see the vibrant communities that are here and they want to make their investment in the United States, but particularly in Georgia. This is an opportunity for Georgia to go and extend the relationships, the partnerships it has already established over the decades and continue that on into the future.”

Stephens County Commission Chair Dennis Bell said that helping to fund the trip is something he highly recommends the county does.

“It is like anything, it is a gamble, but it could be a very positive move for the county and the city,” said Bell, who called it “a great opportunity.”

The trip is scheduled for December 12 through December 16.