Bainbridge | Decatur County: Working in Synergy

Community leaders in Bainbridge and Decatur County are quick to rattle off news of all the incoming industry and the successes of expanding existing industries. The price tag on projects there continues to rise, with a record $1.2 billion project announced last year. Leaders there will also tell you that the key to their own success is all about the synergy across city and county departments working together to attract new business and industry, creating more jobs that offer higher than average salaries.

Bringing Big Bucks

Big Announcement: Rick McCaskill, executive director of the Development Authority of Bainbridge/Decatur County, with renderings of Safer Human Medicine, which plans to build a primate facility in Bainbridge, photo David Parks.

Rick McCaskill, executive director of the Development Authority of Bainbridge/Decatur County, and his staff conduct the site visits for potential new industry, courting decision-makers on projects referred to by code names until the ink is dry, finessing them through the early stages of making Decatur County their new home. McCaskill seems to always have a new project to announce, and this year was no exception.

Bainbridge’s newest incoming industry, officially announced in January, is Safer Human Medicine, which will construct a primate facility in the Downrange Industrial Park. The $396 million project will create 263 jobs offering an average annual income of over $64,000, says McCaskill. The facility will strictly be an animal husbandry operation, with no research on animals taking place there. Primates raised in the facility will be used in government labs, universities and medical research facilities to develop vaccines and medicines in the United States.

In 2023, Decatur County welcomed newcomer Anovion Technologies, one of the first U.S. suppliers of synthetic graphite anode materials for lithium-ion batteries such as those used in electric vehicles.

Announced by Gov. Brian Kemp last May, the Anovion project will bring 400 jobs to a 1.5 million-square-foot building on a greenfield site in the recently developed Downrange Industrial Park, with production set to begin the first quarter of 2025.

Workforce Development: Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce President Karen Tobin is working to help recruit employees to the new businesses coming to the area, photo David Parks.

“It kind of ties into the electric vehicle manufacturing plant [Rivian] announced that [it’s] going to build,” says McCaskill of a project slated to begin production near Social Circle, Georgia in 2026. “[Anovion] announced it as an $800 million project, but it’s grown since then to $1.2 billion.”

On a smaller scale, North Carolina-based Carport Central invested several million to open a facility in Decatur County in 2023, which is expected to create 25 jobs, says McCaskill. Yet another facility, going up in the county’s Commodore Industrial Park, will house office and warehousing space for Air Care LLC, a heating and air-conditioning contractor.

Under construction in Commodore by Harrell AG is a new 50,000-square-foot facility, the second location in the county for the expanding agricultural implement manufacturer producing plows, box blades and farm implements. The additional facility will bring another 50 jobs to the area, he says.

Job Creation: Rendering for Anovion Technologies, which will employ 400 people when complete, photo contributed.

There’s continued growth at A1 Industries (formerly A1 Roof Truss Company) as it expanded to more than roof trusses, just a year after opening its doors. The company employed about 100 as of late 2023 but was looking to hire another three dozen people, McCaskill adds.

“Over the last couple years, almost every industry in Bainbridge has expanded,” he says, including Southeastern Minerals which expanded [its facility]. “We’ve got a lot of energy in Bainbridge right now.”

Boosting Businesses

With existing and new business holding strong, Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce President Karen Tobin says her recent focus has been on leadership programs and workforce development.

“Because of all of the industries and manufacturing that have come into the area, and even our small businesses, our focus has been in workforce development so that we can help provide a workforce for these companies that are coming in or that have been here for the last few years,” she says, noting some are still feeling the effects of COVID-19 on staffing.

“We’ve had to change. We’ve done a lot of roundtable discussions and talking with our business owners about the different ways that we can help them recruit new employees and then retain those employees because that has just changed so much,” Tobin says.

Historic Restoration: The Willis Park Hotel was vacant for decades until a couple restored it in 2018, photo contributed.

Toward that end, the chamber partners with Southern Regional Technical College and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on youth programs in Decatur County high schools.

“A lot of [students] will do dual enrollment, but they also go into these companies and the companies are willing to sort of foot the bill to get them certified, if they are not looking at a four-year university degree,” she says.

Decatur County native Amanda Glover is no stranger to the growth in Bainbridge and the surrounding county. In fact, she’s been at the heart of much of it, having served nearly 25 years as executive director of the Downtown Development Authority of Bainbridge. While sharing the latest wins, she noted that the success story spans much more than the past 12 to 18 months.

“We’ve had a good year, but it really goes back to the last 10 years of planning and implementation,” says Glover, noting that Rural Zone Tax Incentives, particularly those for rehabilitation and job creation, were a “game changer” for downtown between 2018 and 2022. Growth from 2020 to 2022 alone accounted for 36 new businesses, creation of 151 jobs and an increase in occupancy from 76% to 95%, according to Glover.

She says at the top of the success list is the $6.2 million in private investments between October 2022 and September 2023 to rehab nine buildings downtown. Late last year the city celebrated the opening of the 17,000-square-foot Alderman building and its four second-story apartments and three commercial spaces on the first level. The Alderman had been owned and operated as a department store by the Alderman family since the 1970s, says Glover, and developers honored the family by keeping the name.

Beautifying Downtown: Amanda Glover, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority of Bainbridge, on the upper porch of the Alderman, photo David Parks.

“Since the Alderman opened, it really has become a little retail hub of the east side of the square,” Glover says, noting the building is home to two boutiques and a home furnishings and gift shop. There’s another gift shop in an adjacent building. “So that’s the east side, and then you’ve got the Willis Park Hotel, another huge project that occurred in the last several years,” she says.

The historic Willis Park Hotel, which was built in 1899 and later became an insurance office, sat vacant from the 1950s, until a couple bought and restored it in 2018.

Local furniture and lighting designer Brent Warr is completing another rehab project, an 18,000-square-foot warehouse space on Calhoun Street. It’s now home to a dance studio and a DIY crafts workshop along with several loft apartments and Warr’s studio, workroom and distribution spaces.

“He has a great vision of this warehouse, but also his background has helped him in designing and building out his vision for this project,” says Glover, adding that Warr has done a “jam up” job of marketing The Warehouse at Calhoun.

“Also, that’s on the north end of our downtown, which is something our authority has been focusing on to bridge the gap that historically ends at the African American Historic District,” she says of the unused property that lies between the perimeter of the historic district and downtown. “There are projects that are happening that are slowly filling in that gap and developing it so it’s not such a blighted area anymore.”

Action Along the River

Demand for downtown residential space has been high for quite some time, Glover says, adding that there have been 38 apartments developed downtown over the past five years.

Improved Connectivity: City Manager Chris Hobby at Chason Park, photo David Parks.

But it was the recent $10 million reinvention of a small existing park along the Flint River that spurred additional development. The nine-acre Chason Park now features a splash pad, playground areas and green space. The park’s expansion to the city’s riverwalk stimulated the private development of a 21-unit apartment building on the banks of the river, with beautiful views of the Flint on one side and the park on the other. The expansion also improved connectivity to downtown, bringing even more traffic to the bustling area, Glover says. The city announced plans last summer for a new hotel, Element, a brand owned and operated by Marriott Hotels.

The park is also the beginning of Bainbridge’s walking trail along the river, says City Manager Chris Hobby.

“The riverwalk wanders back along the river and then it circles, so you really do a loop and end up kind of back where you started,” Hobby says of the five-mile trail. The city was awarded a $1.26 million Rural Downtown Development grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for the project.

Chason Park rendering of the park’s expansion to the city’s riverwalk, photo contributed.

In addition, the recreation authority created a new multipurpose building that opened the first of the year. The gymnasium project included basketball courts, pickleball courts and multipurpose rooms and is part of Bill Reynolds Sports Park.

New opportunities for dining have also sprung up in town, including Susie and Sam’s Steakhouse. The restaurant is housed in a historic library building, a project spurred by a low-interest loan program through the Department of Community Affairs, says Glover. And residents and visitors alike celebrated the opening of Southern Philosophy Brewing, the town’s first craft brewery.

Record attendance at annual events hosted by the chamber and the visitors bureau are a boon to all area businesses, says Tobin.

“We had a very successful River Town Days back in March [2023] and we’re putting on another one this March. Especially after COVID, it’s been great to see that come back to life,” says Tobin. “We had close to 10,000 people come through that one-day event, and being so close to the downtown, it really does help elevate the businesses in the area and tourism for the area as well.”

Quality of Life

Increased population in the county has sparked some of the development, says Hobby.

“We are growing,” he says. “In the last census, we grew around 14%, one of the fastest-growing communities in Southwest Georgia, so we kind of went against the trend of folks down here losing population.”

Keeping residents in town for work is a benefit of the added amenities in the area, says Hobby, adding that many for members of the county’s skilled workforce leave Decatur County for work.

Team Player: Bainbridge Mayor Edward Reynolds, photo contributed.

“They may be driving to Tallahassee or Thomasville, or even Dothan or Albany, but they live here. So the workforce is here; we just need to keep them in town for work, and we’re starting to see a lot of that.”

“We’ve made significant investments into quality-of-life areas, but also just day-to-day infrastructure projects,” he says, noting that the city last fall wrapped up a $28 million renovation to its wastewater treatment plant and completed another $30 million in water and sewer upgrades. He says by the time the city’s second Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) allotment is depleted, the city will have completely resurfaced every street in town, repaired existing sidewalks and added new ones.

Secrets to Success

Now in his 14th year as mayor, Edward Reynolds is pleased with all the improvements taking place. Along with the major overhaul and redevelopment of the sewage treatment plant, he notes the addition of infrastructure to an undeveloped section of the Downrange Industrial Park that will be home to Anovion.

“We had to put in a water tower, sewer and all the natural gas services out there,” says Reynolds. “The state is helping us out a lot on some of those projects, and we’ve gotten some good money through the federal government and [U.S. Rep.] Sanford Bishop to help us with not only the sewer treatment plant but with the water tower.”

The city has also added events for locals and visitors to enjoy, Hobby says, such as the recently scheduled Second Saturdays, offering special store hours, live music and other activities downtown. Beyond the quality-of-life and infrastructure improvements, there’s another reason for Bainbridge’s success this past decade, Hobby says.

“I think one of the keys here is a stable political environment. We haven’t had a lot of turnover on our city council or county commission, and we’re all pulling in the same direction,” he says. “We’ve got a good team of people, and everybody’s after the same goal. We’re trying to invest in things that will help us grow while also maintaining the small-town rural atmosphere that makes this area attractive.

“This is a vibrant and exciting community, and I think folks are beginning to see that. And we’re seeing growth and a lot of job creation. So we’re excited about it, and I think the future looks pretty good.”

Reynolds, too, believes the consistency of local leaders and their ability to work well together is the underlying secret to success. “To some, it seems a little bit like overnight success, but we’ve been working on this river connectivity project a long time.

“It takes a lot of people working together, keeping everybody speaking the same language and on the same team. With these long-scale projects, having some longevity not only on the county commission level but on our council to see those long-term projects and the overall vision come together is important.”

Local Flavor

The Bass Capital of Georgia

High-Level Competition: Boats head south on the Flint River toward Lake Seminole for the 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series fishing tournament, photo Craig Lamb/B.A.A.S.

Gracing the banks of the Flint River as it flows through South Georgia, Bainbridge is a logical locale for hosting some of the largest bass-fishing tournaments in the country. Once anglers put their boats in at the Earle May Boat Basin, they can be on Lake Seminole in about 20 minutes, fishing waters ranked by Georgia Department of Natural Resources as the best fishery in the state.

Bainbridge primed itself years ago to be a top choice for tournament organizers by developing exceptional multi-boat lane mega ramps, ample parking and restrooms. The amenities, which also include Wi-Fi, have proven to be a draw for competitors and the thousands of spectators that show up for the action headquartered at the boat basin, says Crystal Hines, community affairs director.

Last February, Bainbridge hosted the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster’s highest level of professional bass-fishing tournaments and part of its championship series, she says. While about 100 anglers qualified for the contest, nearly 7,600 spectators were on hand for the tournament televised by ESPN. “It was their highest attended weigh-in in history,” says Hines.

Another big annual event is a tournament sponsored by Georgia High School Athletics, which four years ago classified fishing as a sport. Hundreds of high school anglers and their boat “captains,” a qualified adult who rides along, arrive in town the last weekend in January to compete.

“They have mom, dad, grandmother – everybody comes out, so that’s one of our biggest tournaments on just sheer numbers,” says Hines.

While the larger tournaments have been hosted in Bainbridge for about 15 years, says Hines, the area’s connection to high-profile bass fishing dates to the 1960s and the late Jack Wingate, original owner of Wingate’s Lunker Lodge on Lake Seminole. His love of fishing drew tens of thousands to the area for a half-century and lent support to fledgling bass tournaments, including the first Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) event. It was no surprise when, in 2013, Wingate was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.

While the county has profited from the events it hosts, fisherman of all ages will tell you that, for them, it’s all about good clean fun and a chance to spend a day on the water. – K.K. Snyder