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Key highlights from MBCIA’s April meeting included details on prospect activity, the election of officers, strategic plan adoption, a Phase I Properties Improvement Plan approval, existing industry, property management, and marketing activities, as well as annual policy governance reviews.

 

Macon April Authority Report 2021

Key highlights from MBCIA’s April meeting included details on prospect activity, the election of officers, strategic plan adoption, a Phase I Properties Improvement Plan approval, existing industry, property management, and marketing activities, as well as annual policy governance reviews.

The Executive Director’s Report showed that prospect activity is steady. There are currently 26 open projects with a potential investment of more than $500 million and more than 3,600 potential jobs. There have been multiple queries for industrial building space in the 100k to 300k sq ft range.  

MBCIA Executive Director Stephen Adams also revealed an effort to target developers with pre-identified tax-incentivized properties.  Adams also mentioned a proactive approach to identifying improvements to MBCIA-held properties that could be eligible for federal funding if dollars were to come available through the newly proposed Infrastructure Bill up for consideration in Congress.   

The board approved funding and approval for Phase I of a Properties Improvement Plan.  This plan is focused on developing airport and I-75 properties that would attract developers and industry. As a result of this approval, MBCIA will post Requests for Proposals to the website in the coming weeks.

The current slate of officers on the Board of Directors was voted to continue in their positions, securing Robby Fountain as Chairman and Dwight Jones as vice chairman for another year. 

“It is my honor to continue my service as board chairman,” said Robby Fountain. “MBCIA is a world-class economic development entity, and I am proud to be a part of it.”

Board members also voted to formally adopt the strategic plan presented at last month’s board meeting.  MBCIA is currently working on a tailored marketing and outreach plan as a result of the adoption of the strategic plan. 

MBCIA engaged with more than 100 Industry partners last month and determined the top concerns for them currently are: COVID-19 testing and vaccines, Public Works (solid waste and beautification), and hiring.  In collaboration with the #maconopportunities campaign, a monthly industry video will be produced featuring Existing Industry Manager Eleyce Coleman addressing the concerns of the industries and sharing relevant information to all Industry partners.


Jobs

The following Macon-Bibb Industries have open positions.

Specific Positions:

  • Elliott Machine Shop – CNC & Machinist 
  •  L&G Technology – Mechanic & Admin

Hiring Multiple Positions:

  • Embraer
  • Irving Tissue
  • Kumho Tire
  • Pactiv
  • Geico
  • Mr. Chips
  • Amazon
  • Tractor Supply
  • Middle Georgia Freightliner
  • L.H. Thomson
  • Tyson Foods
  • Dean Baldwin Painting
  • H&E Equipment Services

MBCIA continued discussions with the Bibb County CTAE and Coca-Cola on core curriculum development, creating a pathway/pipeline to funnel students to their facility. They had meetings with numerous other industry partners on the top-three issues mentioned earlier.

The Existing Industry Report also detailed the following work with community partners: 

  • The Bibb County School System with its mock interview program. 
  • Collaboration with the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce on their Greater Macon Works platform.

MBCIA is proud to continue its efforts on coordinating donation and volunteer efforts for the Brookdale Warming Center. MBCIA facilitated a large donation from industry partner, L.H. Thomson on March 2.


Project Manager’s Report

The Project Manager’s Report highlighted the following site beatification activity:

Airport Industrial East 

  • Cleaned up drainage ditch along 247, including tree pruning 
  • Removal of fallen structure on farmland

Airport Industrial South

  • Wildflower seeding of road front footage on Sardis Church Rd. 
  • Relandscaping and overall improvements on park entrance signs
  • Small cleanup projects of overgrown areas around the park

I-75 Business Park 

  • Cleanup of retention pond area Landscape improvement at Tractor Supply

Marketing & Public Relations

The marketing and public relations activities highlighted their new #MACONOPPORTUNITIES campaign, which can be found at www.mbcia.com/maconopportunities, and on social media. 

All social media platforms saw an increase in reach, engagement, impressions, new followers, and page clicks than in previous months. 

Advertisements are currently running in Georgia Trend, The Black Pages, and 41NBC’s virtual job fair. 

Upcoming events include volunteering for the Macon-Bibb County Clean Streets initiative on April 9, and an existing Industry expansion announcement that will be released on April 12.  MBCIA team attended the virtual Georgia Logistics Summit on March 23. Next year’s summit will be held in Macon-Bibb County.  

The meeting closed with an executive session