Stephens Co. Waits on “Project Hummingbird” Decision; Could Mean 200 New Jobs

Toccoa and Stephens County officials are putting everything in place in an attempt to attract a significant industrial prospect to the community.

On Tuesday, the Stephens County Development Authority, Toccoa City Commission, and Stephens County Commission all unanimously approved a project agreement for what they are calling “Project Hummingbird.”

The identity of “Project Hummingbird” has not been released yet.

Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin said it is a potential new project to the community that would construct a new building.

“They would be locating on land in the Hayestone-Brady Business Park,” said Martin. “This is a plastic injection molding company. They serve the automotive industry. We are hopeful that they will continue to move forward with us and make this decision in our favor. They are talking about 200 jobs and a $27 million investment.”

According to Martin, those 200 jobs would be phased in over a period of a few years, but he adds that over half of the jobs would be created in the first year, if the project chooses Stephens County.

Martin said the project agreement approved by all of the boards Tuesday lays out exactly what role each governing board will have in terms to the company’s potential location here.

On the county side, officials said that includes property tax relief and working with the company on the building permit process.

Meanwhile, Toccoa City Manager Billy Morse laid out the city’s contributions at the Toccoa City Commission called meeting Tuesday.

“The city’s role is to extend utilities to the facility at no cost to the company,” said Morse. “This is an incentive that we have done many times in the past.”

Morse went on to estimate the city’s cost at $300,000 to do this.

“We do have funds in our renewal and extension accounts to do this work,” said Morse. “However, we will seek a state grant to offset those costs.”

The Toccoa City Commission gave Morse permission to work with the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission on obtaining those grant funds.

Morse said he feels the city’s chances of obtaining grant funds in this case are strong.

As for the company behind “Project Hummingbird,” Martin said a decision and announcement is expected to be forthcoming.