Douglas County | Douglasville: Hitting Its Stride

Welcoming Businesses: Douglasville Mayor Rochelle Robinson at Jessie Davis Park, which was renovated in 2025. Photo Credit: Daemon Baizan

Douglas County began as a little-known Atlanta suburb that was more of a sleepy bedroom community, but it has since morphed into an economic dynamo.

“I was here and I remember when Douglas County didn’t even show up on a map,” says Breezy Straton, interim president of Elevate Douglas, a public-private economic development partnership tasked with developing the county’s economy.

A big turning point occurred in 2023 when Santa Monica-based Lionsgate Studios confirmed it was leasing production space in the county. After that, more investment started, and retailers came calling. More people arrived too. According to recent U.S. Census numbers, Douglas County now has a population of approximately 150,000 residents.

“We want to ensure that we have jobs for all individuals in our community that want a job,” Straton says. “We want to recruit companies that have jobs for individuals who have a GED all the way to a Ph.D.”

As the county prospers, some Georgia residents have come to know it as an entertainment venue, particularly Douglasville, the county seat.

“Every year we have a Stranger Things festival. That show was filmed in downtown Douglasville. We have a path that people walk, and they dress up in Stranger Things clothes and go to restaurants and eat certain foods and visit the [fictional] sheriff’s office, which was in one of our buildings,” says Douglasville Mayor Rochelle Robinson.

Classical Revival: The Douglas County courthouse opened in 1998, replacing the one built in 1958, which was turned into a museum. Photo credit: Contributed

The GreyStone Amphitheater at the Douglasville Town Green has hosted musical luminaries such as Gladys Knight, LeAnn Rimes, Robin Thicke and Gavin DeGraw.

City Manager Marcia Frazier says the city benefits as it’s only 25 miles from Atlanta and is about the same distance from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“We are not [as] overly populated and congested as other areas,” Frazier says. “Yes, we have traffic, but we have places within the county that are eligible for development.”

Hyper-scale Investment

“Probably the hottest topic in Douglas County over the past 15 months has been data centers,” says Jeff Noles, commercial/industrial marketing and economic development manager at the Hiram-based GreyStone Power Corp., an electric co-op that services the area. “It was a hot topic in 2024, but then it was just starting to be a hot topic. Now it is probably the top of mind for everyone involved.”

In fact, Amazon recently announced it plans to invest $11 billion to develop data centers in Butts and Douglas counties.

“This next expansion from AWS [Amazon Web Services] will bring the most resilient and advanced cloud computing technology with hundreds of high-paying jobs. It is a game changer for our county,” says County Commission Chair Romona Jackson Jones. “The proceeds related to economic development for Douglas County are $5 billion.”

Data Center Investment: Jeff Noles, manager of commercial and industrial marketing and economic development for GreyStone Power Corp., at the company’s newest substation. Photo credit: Daemon Baizan

Straton says AWS has committed to creating 252 jobs in the county once it’s complete. “Data centers pay very well, about $75,000 as an average annual wage, which is significantly more than our county average wage,” she says.

According to the U.S Census, the county’s per capita income in 2023 was $35,070.

And Noles says around 1,000 workers are needed for the construction phase, a period of one to five years. After a heavy investment of fiber in Douglas County, in 2007 Google built its first data center in the county.

“It was a major hyper-scale investment. After that, it was stagnant for a while, and then it has been non-stop ever since,” says Noles. “Data centers are showing up all over the state, and the largest concentration of them is in Douglas County.”

Google completed a $300 million expansion of a data center in 2016, and Microsoft paid nearly $14 million in 2021 to buy 93 acres as part of its data center region.

Data centers obviously need land, “the one thing no one is making any more of,” says Noles. They also need electricity and water, as well as transmission upgrades and their own substation.

Noles says the county built two substations during the past 20 years, is in the process of building another one and will probably build three in the next two years.

But others say data centers deplete natural resources and harm the environment. County resident Ronnie Chestnut has spoken out against data centers for more than two years. He spoke up when TC Atlanta Development asked Douglas County to rezone the old Waldrop Farms property to construct two buildings and a substation.

Tremendous Opportunity: Marcia Frazier, Douglasville city manager. Photo credit: Eric Sun

“I am not totally against data centers. I am just against where they are building them, and usually it is in an area where people are looking to make money,” Chestnut says, adding data centers create noise and electronic waste. “At this particular point in time in our nation we are run by greed, and people worry about how much money they can make. It’s about me, me, me and not ‘we the people.’ Who is running the county? Big business or the people?”

Noles, though, says data centers pay “every penny required” for substation costs and transmission upgrades. “Our directive from our board of directors is to ensure that our membership has no risks,” he says.

Frazier says city officials changed no laws or zoning ordinances to accommodate the data centers. At the county level, however, commissioners have rezoned property to allow for two buildings and a substation. The county says these decisions, such as the request from Waldrop Farm, are taken on a case-by-case basis.

In December, Douglas County officials rejected plans for a data center campus along Interstate 20 near Villa Rica, saying the county would not be able to provide adequate public safety and services to the community if the campus were built. The denial reflected concerns that such a development might burden public facilities and services, as well as questions about its compatibility with surrounding properties, aligning with criteria for evaluating rezoning requests.

More Jobs, More People

While data centers garner attention, the county is also attracting employers that bring jobs for highly skilled workers, including the expansion of a factory that makes vaccines for animals. New Jersey-based Zoetis is investing around $600 million to revamp its plant that produces monoclonal antibodies, which are proteins produced in a lab designed to boost the immune system. It is expected to create 100 jobs by its completion in 2029.

Straton says the county is also expecting to land a new pharmaceutical supply chain company sometime this year. She says she cannot name the company, nor can she discuss other details due to a non-disclosure agreement, but did say it’s a $177 million project, approved by city officials, as part of a 10-year incentive plan.

Douglas County Administrator David Corbin calls the area “a value proposition” for businesses looking to invest.

“The jobs are coming here,” he says. “They are not factory jobs. They are high-tech jobs.”

Robust Development: Romona Jackson Jones, chair of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. Photo credit: Daemon Baizan

And such jobs require skilled workers, something that is a priority for Tekmekia Gilchrist, the executive director of the Douglas County School System’s Career Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE). The program prepares students for their next step after high school, whether it is higher education, beginning a career, registered apprenticeships or the military. “More than 20 years ago the expectation was that students would go to high school, graduate and then go to college,” Gilchrist says.

Now, thanks to CTAE, she says students know they can start their careers immediately after high school. The program, which has a 99% graduation rate, offers students more than 35 career pathways, so they can earn industry certifications. “Four new programs will be certified in March. We want to continue to add certifications every year,” Gilchrist says, adding that the program also helps retain workers in the county.

“People from industry come in and go through all of our labs and courses and talk to students to make sure we are up to par. A lot of our students are more likely to stay in the area to earn a livable wage.”

Straton says the county has outpaced the state and the region in a 10-year period in wage growth. “We found that a lot of our companies didn’t realize they were paying what was maybe not a competitive wage. By increasing their wages just a little they are able to retain their employees,” she says. “This also creates less stress to recruit and train new employees, and there is always a learning curve that creates a reduction in productivity.”

Straton also says a marketing campaign was created to attract people to work in the county by educating them about job opportunities. It appears to be working.

In a Good Space: Douglas County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sara Ray. Photo credit: Contributed

“[It] used to be 85% of our working population who left Douglas to go to work,” says Douglas County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sara Ray. She says by 2023 that number was down 2%, meaning more people are finding jobs closer to home and that they are staying here. “But perhaps more daunting is that the number of individuals who are commuting to Douglas to work has increased 133% in that same time frame. We have nearly 10,000 more people coming into Douglas to work, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission,” says Ray.

She says since COVID-19, the whole dynamic has changed in terms of driving patterns.

Those who are unable to drive or prefer not to have several options through Connect Douglas, the transit, public transportation and mobility services division of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. Services include fixed route bus service, ADA paratransit service, mobility assistance for senior adults and disabled individuals, travel training and Xpress bus service to Atlanta.

Transportation options like this are necessary because Douglas County has grown pretty steadily in recent years, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission. Its population is up about 15% since 2010. By comparison, Metro Atlanta has seen a slightly higher increase of around a 19%.

“It’s nothing crazy drastic like we see in some of the other communities,” says Ray. “But the good news is that we plan for managed growth, and we are not in a space where we have to be reactive to it.”

Corbin says it’s important to be prepared for further growth. “Our biggest challenge is from an execution standpoint. If this population growth continues then how do we keep up the infrastructure, and how is that paid for going forward?”

In Douglasville, City Manager Frazier says the city has little remaining vacant land, but “we have tremendous amounts of opportunity available for redevelopment within the city.”

Straton says Elevate Douglas is trying to balance economic growth on the county’s eastern side, while preserving the rural beauty of the western side.

“Our reservoir is on the western side of the county. Protecting that at all costs is the top priority for all of us. Part of protecting the reservoir is not allowing sewer infrastructure,” Straton says. “Industrial development can’t go to the western side because it would need sewer infrastructure.”

She says there was a “significant increase” in multi-family developments the past 10 years but adds the county can accommodate more housing.

Ray says city officials are producing a housing study that examines what’s in store for the next 30 years. The recommendations will provide proposed zoning changes based on the study. “As far as people entering the workforce or retiring, what kind of housing are they looking for, and how are we planning best for that?”

Noles has another perspective. “The data center growth has driven up real estate costs and maybe caused others to look elsewhere,” he says.

Future Planning

In her 2025 State of the City address, Robinson marked Douglasville’s 150th anniversary and touted the fact that in the past few years, the city welcomed at least 138 new businesses, representing everything from downtown shops and restaurants like High Noon Brunchery to large scale projects like Chicago-based Home Chef, which produces oven-ready meal kits.

“This is a nice place to come and visit. And if you want to move here then we can make room for you. We’re not full yet,” she says.

She says planning for the future considers a multitude of voices from around Douglasville.

“Smart projects are long-term so that roads won’t be overcrowded. We will have a great mixture of commercial, residential, hospitals and schools. We will have farmers markets and more trees,” Robinson says. “We want our community to be sustainable and livable and walkable.”

The county added a new, more spacious coroner’s building in 2025 and Wellstar Douglas Medical Center recently opened new urgent care, primary care and pediatric locations in Douglasville and Villa Rica.

Looking Ahead: Rendering of Douglasville’s new City Hall. Photo credit: Goodwyn Mills Cawood LLC

Robinson says a new City Hall is on the way, and a conference center across from City Hall is being renovated. It should be finished in by March. The next step would be to have a hotel connected to the conference center.

Straton, meanwhile, says the county hopes to recruit automotive, aerospace and medical device manufacturers.

Recruiting Companies: Breezy Straton, interim president of Elevate Douglas. Photo credit: Joann Vitelli

And Ray says as city and county officials plan for the future, they must do so with the understanding that the only constant is change. Shifts in technology, workforce expectations, and industry demand mean that economic strategies should be forward-looking and resilient. She says Elevate Douglas is centered on attracting and supporting diverse, growth-oriented industries that align with Douglas County’s strengths and future potential.

“We’ve seen what happens when technology and society evolve – business needs shift, and communities that adapt are the ones that thrive,” Ray says. “That’s why Elevate Douglas is focused not just on immediate opportunities, but on long-term value for Douglasville and Douglas County. They are working to recruit and retain companies in advanced manufacturing, life sciences and healthcare, technology and professional services, and media and entertainment – sectors that bring sustainable jobs, innovation, and economic diversity to our region.”

By prioritizing these target industries, local leaders aim to ensure that development benefits the workforce, strengthens the tax base, and enhances quality of life. Ray says this strategy also supports a skilled workforce pipeline and encourages local upskilling and training – so that the county is not only a destination for business investment, but also a place where residents can build rewarding careers.

Commission Chair Jones echoes that sentiment.“We have earned a seat at the table in terms of robust economic development, and I will pit us against anyone in the state. However, workforce development is equally important to us,” says Jones. “Certainly, when it comes to economic development, you have to have a trained staff and the right type of acumen at the table in order for our county to be successful.”

Frazier refers to the area as “a true suburban urban.”

“It’s close to the things you would love to have in an urban setting, but at the same time we are truly a place where you still know your neighbor and the folks you go to church with,” she says. “It’s a community feel that people enjoy, and we are extremely supportive of one another from the standpoint of businesses.”

Big Draw: GreyStone Amphitheater at the Douglasville Town Green has hosted musicians like Gladys Knight, LeAnn Rimes, Robin Thicke and Gavin DeGraw. Photo credit: Contributed

Local Flavor

Future Arts Mecca?

Advocates for Douglas County’s local arts scene have plans to transform their corner of the state into a cultural hub with a new Arts and Culture Campus. The goal is to bring art, music, food, theater, learning and fun together in one place in Downtown Douglasville.

“For everything east of Birmingham and west of Atlanta, there is a huge gap that we are missing in the arts and entertainment field going all the way north to Tennessee and south to Florida,” says Douglasville and Douglas County Cultural Arts Council Executive Director Emily Lightner. “But we are involved in planning a new project that would be a huge economic driver [to address this gap]. The state of Georgia knows of this and is interested.”

She says the Arts and Culture Campus was proposed after the council surveyed local residents and elected officials about their needs and wants. The staff at the CAC is planning a four-story building on a 94,000-square-foot campus that will include a theater that seats 340 people. But that’s only the beginning. Designers plan to make the first floor an interactive exhibit with a food hall and a gift shop, according to Lightner.

“One of the things that came back as important to citizens was culinary arts. That surprised us, especially considering that the West Georgia Technical College already has a culinary arts program,” Lightner says. “But it turns out the program is completely filled and has to turn away students every semester, forcing them to delay their graduation date.”

The second floor, meanwhile, will provide multiuse spaces to independent filmmakers and recording artists, Lightner says, adding campus personnel will train artists in entrepreneurial skills.

“Artists use the creative side of their brains but not necessarily the business side of their brain,” Lightner says. “So many people sell their art, but they don’t know how to manage the sales tax process. We will teach them that as well as marketing skills so that they can cultivate their talents and still build a sustainable career.”

The fourth floor is a planned reception space.

“We have just started our capital campaign for the campus,” she says. “We are pitching for state and federal dollars [and] have many corporations and foundations behind it as well as individual donors.”

In November, the council received a Vibrant Communities Grant for fiscal year 2026 from Georgia Council for the Arts, the Georgia Department of Economic Development team specialized in empowering arts and culture.

Lighter says she anticipates an opening date of 2030.