Conyers | Rockdale County: On the Leading Edge

Conyers may not be the first city in Georgia that springs to mind as a tourist mecca. But if you’re skeptical about its appeal, you might want to think twice. Plenty of tourists visit the Rockdale County city – and make a sizeable economic impact. The Georgia Department of Economic Development reports 2024’s total visitor spending in Rockdale County sat at $162.9 million, with more than 1,500 tourism-related jobs across the county. Tourism is just one anchor of the county’s growing prosperity.

The area’s most notable spot is the Georgia International Horse Park, which is much more than just a horse park, and its impact on the area is immense. Jennifer Edwards, director of public relations and tourism for the city of Conyers, attributes most of the area’s tourism money to the various elements of the horse park property. In addition to equestrian events, it hosts mountain bike competitions, trail races, disc golf and more. “It’s all about people coming here, having a great time, but leaving their dollars behind so that we can continue to do good things for the community and for visitors,” she adds.

More Connectivity: Rockdale Board of Commissioners Chair and CEO JaNice Van Ness. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

The Georgia Regional Sports Council – which the Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce established in 2023 – aims to bring even more sports and events to the eastern side of Metro Atlanta. The council serves multiple surrounding counties, but its home is in Rockdale. Executive Director Jason Redmond is adamant that building the right facility will bring big benefits to the region. He’s striving for an all-outdoor facility/park. “People are looking for places to play,” he says. “We’re looking at, projected, $15 million, $25 million annually, direct visitor spending. That’s one of our goals.” And despite its name, the council goes beyond sports; it’s about community and offering resources. “We are a nonprofit, 501(c)(3),” he says. “So I want people to understand that we’re a staple in the community, not just of sports, but of support.”

Notable Spot: Georgia International Horse Park. Photo credit: Contributed

For tourists seeking someplace to calm their spirit, a visit to Conyers’ hand-built Monastery of the Holy Spirit brings relief. The building and grounds are reason enough to visit, but there are also retreats, a Monastic Heritage Center and the Abbey Gift Shop and Café, which sells biscotti and fudge made by the monks themselves.

The city also hopes to further encourage visitors – and more residents – with a few new features and impending changes to Olde Town Conyers, the city’s downtown area, which holds its 1891 train depot.

Happy Place: Celebration Park was renovated using $1.4 million in SPLOST funds. Photo credit: Contributed

One new feature is Celebration Park, the result of a nearly $1.4 million SPLOST-funded renovation of the space formerly known as the Lewis Vaughn Botanical Garden. With the park’s name as a nod to the city of Conyers’ tagline, Celebration of Community, it now includes a lawn with a small amphitheater, a koi pond and a play area for kids. “We want to bring people there and make them feel comfortable and happy and experience community,” Edwards says.

Olde Town Conyers is a hub of construction activity recently, including a new judicial and administrative complex for Rockdale County government, which also features a large green space, parking deck and other improvements. “That will be a great blessing to us and bring more connectivity, more walkability to our community,” says Rockdale Board of Commissioners Chair and CEO JaNice Van Ness, “and we hope [it will] really be a great asset to all the businesses downtown.” The city is also weighing the right mix of retail and businesses to best sustain the downtown area. “It’s a slow build, but it’s an intentional build,” says Conyers Mayor Connie Alsobrook.

Emphasizing Public Safety: Mayor Connie Alsobrook. Photo credit: Contributed

Live-work-play spots also are top of mind for area officials. “Recently, we all kind of agreed that the [city-owned] horse park could be the perfect venue for a large-scale live-work-play destination,” says Kevin Hanna, president and CEO of the Conyers Rockdale Economic Development Council. The idea is to use the horse park property, with a sports-oriented venue as the anchor of the development. Specifically, the venue would host large-scale indoor youth sports. According to a market study done by KB Advisory Group, upon completion of the development its estimated economic impacts include 600 permanent jobs in Rockdale and more than $34.1 million in gross regional product.

The Conyers Rockdale Economic Development Council is considering another live-work-play opportunity in partnership with the Rockdale County Board of Commissioners and the Development Authority of Rockdale County. It is on approximately 40 acres of county-owned property just off Interstate 20 in Rockdale County. “So those two, I mean, they will be game changers from the standpoint of attracting people to Rockdale County,” says Hanna.

Community Well-Being

General well-being of a community certainly affects its economic development, and public safety is a critical piece. “I always say the sheriff’s position might be one of the most important because safety is critical for every community,” says Van Ness. “And so, we make sure that we try and fund appropriately and staff appropriately those divisions: 911, fire department and law enforcement.”

Quality Healthcare: Dr. Monica Hum, CEO of Piedmont Rockdale Hospital. Photo credit: Contributed

Alsobrook echoes the importance of public safety via the city’s police department. She is extra proud of its Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) accreditation, which aims to be “the gold standard in public safety” and is held by around 56 police departments in the state. “So I am proud of us having that,” she says, “and we are careful as to try to continue to maintain that because you can lose it based on the behavior of your police department.”

Recreation opportunities also are an essential part of community well-being. There are paved and hiking trails throughout Rockdale County. And Wheeler Park in Conyers has pickleball courts, a brand-new splash pad and skate park, a small amphitheater, an outdoor fitness court and more. “We do have a tremendous park system here, with a lot of programming from sports,” says Van Ness. “And we know that for the health in our community, it’s really great when you can get people involved in some kind of healthy outlet.”

As recreation assists in improved physical and mental health, so does having easy access to quality healthcare. Piedmont took over Rockdale Medical Center in 2017, and made continual and significant improvements in patient care, and its reputation has grown. “I think the community is learning to trust us,” says Dr. Monica Hum, CEO of Piedmont Rockdale Hospital, noting that many employees are from Rockdale County or live in the area. The hospital has raised its Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, bringing it above average, and patients are recognizing the staff’s efforts. “I’m super proud of a lot of the work that we’ve done,” says Hum.

Taking Care of Business

The county has various programs designed to improve and attract businesses, spur community involvement and help those seeking jobs. One is the Entrepreneurial Academy, a seven-week program through the chamber of commerce that helps people who own small and medium-sized businesses, whether they are still in the planning stages or they already have a business license.

Engaged and Involved: Katy Zahradnik, president of the Conyers Rockdale Chamber of Commerce. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

The county’s leadership program, Leadership Rockdale, selects participants from a cross-section of the county to learn about community development each August to April. Its first cohort graduated in 1986. “We work with our alumni very closely,” says Katy Zahradnik, president of the Conyers Rockdale Chamber of Commerce. “So that keeps them engaged and involved in the process and in the community as we do that. That’s been very successful.”

To spread the word about local job opportunities, the county created a new website, Rockdale Works. “Being able to have people work close to home means they’ll be hopefully more involved in their children’s school, their activities,” says Van Ness. “And it’s just a really good opportunity for quality of life to be improved.”

About five years ago, the economic development council’s Hanna began a multipronged mission for Conyers-Rockdale: to attract companies (mostly in tech) that offer higher-paying jobs; to retain and help existing companies grow; to generally improve quality of life in Conyers and Rockdale County; and to shift the property tax burden from residential property owners toward businesses (targeting closer to 60% corporate and 40% residential versus 30% corporate and 70% residential).

Promoting Enterprise: Entrepreneurial Academy is a seven-week program through the chamber of commerce that helps people who own small and medium-sized businesses. Photo credit: Contributed

One company that fits within this mission is Hillphoenix, a refrigeration equipment manufacturer. “The manufacturing process itself is highly mechanized, and [it’s] run by highly trained individuals,” says Hanna. “Hillphoenix is going to grow that workforce by 300 jobs. … These are all new, advanced manufacturing, $75,000-and-up-paying jobs. Hillphoenix is a perfect example of the grow-what-we-have concept that we’re shooting for.”

Attracting Companies: Kevin Hanna, president and CEO of the Conyers Rockdale Economic Development Council. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

Around 2023, “one of the things we discovered was that data centers served as magnets for tech-related companies,” says Hanna. And around that same time, data center developer DC Blox began looking for a place to build a campus, ultimately choosing Conyers-Rockdale.

The campus will eventually encompass seven buildings. The first building has been completed, with others under construction, says Hanna. Unlike the first-generation data centers that have been under fire, both Hanna and Dr. Stephen Boyle, chair of the Development Authority of Rockdale County, contend that this particular version is almost entirely a positive for the community.

“We took a hard look at them because we had heard some bad things about data centers,” says Boyle. “And there were some bad things. The first generation of data centers were loud. They used millions of gallons of water a day. They were not very sensitive to their communities. What we got with DC Blox is something totally different.”

According to Hanna, the company recycles water from an Olympic-pool-size tank, which only needs refilling every seven or eight years. Boyle says that while data centers do use a lot of electricity, “the difference here is they are completely paying for everything” related to it, including a substation. Boyle also notes that because these were built as buildings within buildings, there’s no noise to be heard on the outside. “I defy you to say there’s any sound at all once you get five feet out of that building,” he says.

Still, the data centers have drawn community opposition. A town hall in May addressing the issue lasted five hours. Some complained data centers would negatively affect property values and others stated that the cons outweighed the pros. The county enacted a moratorium on new applications for data centers and battery energy storage systems in March and in September voted to extend it.

Hands-On Experience: Students receive instruction in EV repair and service at the Electric Vehicle Training Center. Photo credit: Contributed

Hanna says the tax benefit can’t be ignored. “That investment – between buildings and equipment – totals somewhere around approximately $5 billion,” says Hanna. “It is so far, by far, the largest development project in Rockdale County.” Plus, Boyle adds, “When they get finished with these next two buildings and start paying taxes on it, we will switch that tax digest from 70% residential to 45% residential,” in keeping with the economic development mission.

Another technology-related company will soon also bring more tax money to Rockdale County: Treaty Oak Clean Energy’s Panola Grove Battery Energy Storage Project, also known as a battery farm. “We looked at [the battery farm] up and down, inside and out to see if there’s anything dangerous or deleterious in regard to our citizens,” says Boyle. “And there isn’t.” He says it’s essentially 18-wheeler-size batteries, plus a to-be-determined fuel source. The setup will serve as an extra power source for Georgia Power and the area EMCs, when needed. “It’s a very expensive thing to put together and actually will be one of our biggest taxpayers once they get fully in place,” says Boyle. “And they’re not getting any tax abatement [unlike DC Blox], so they’re going to be paying taxes on day one.”

Workforce Development

Learning from the Best: Piedmont Rockdale Hospital has an opportunity for students to shadow professionals like Rick Rodriguez, the director of respiratory care services. Photo credit: Rockdale County Public Schools

In attracting businesses to expand or locate in Rockdale, the county benefits from new workforce training efforts. Restoration Storehouse Center is a collaborative network of independent nonprofits, and the whole framework works to address a single issue: poverty. Workforce development is one avenue. The center’s most recent project, a new Electric Vehicle Training Center, will offer hands-on training programs that lead to certifications in electric vehicles (EVs). It’s a joint partnership with Georgia Piedmont Technical College, the Conyers Rockdale Economic Development Council, Rivian and the Rockdale Career Academy. Certifications are available in three pathways: service-center EV professional, charging station technician and hybrid service professional. “It’s in line with the industry that is growing along our I-20 corridor … but then also supply chain support in other industries that have built up along I-20 in the east metro area,” says center Executive Director Robert Hughes. In all, Restoration Storehouse Center estimates that it will train as many as 140 certified EV technicians over the next five years, which would bring over $14 million in new workforce income to the county.

Less than a quarter mile from Restoration Storehouse Center, the Rockdale Career Academy supports high school students in a variety of career plans, including those in welding, culinary arts, interior design, automotive and healthcare.

Via a new dual enrollment program with Georgia Piedmont Technical College, career academy students can earn the electric vehicle and hybrid professional certification in high school, while getting college credit. They can then opt to earn additional certifications via Restoration Storehouse Center after they graduate. “So, they can continue either working in community, which is what we want to support, and then also have a pathway toward continuous education,” says Hughes. “And literally, they’re an example to their peers because they’re still local. People see them moving from an educational environment to a workforce environment, see them thriving, and that speaks volumes to the peers in their community.”

Supporting Students: The Rockdale Career Academy has classes in a variety of areas, including culinary arts. Photo credit: Contributed

Another partner in the job training is Piedmont Rockdale Hospital, which offers programs in areas such as radiography and cardiovascular technology. Dr. Hum says the hospital also has a volunteer program for students and an opportunity for them to shadow professionals and learn about careers.

With all of its enhancements and big plans, Conyers, the town originally built along a railroad in Rockdale County, is an exciting place to be. “I’ve watched this county grow from a sleepy little rural county to what we are today,” says the development authority’s Boyle. “It’s been fun.” And it seems there’s plenty more excitement and progress to come as Conyers and Rockdale County chug ahead toward the future.