August/September Business View Magazine

198 199 BARROWCOUNTY, GEORGIA ment in the County and building a 500,000-square- foot campus,where they hope to create 1,000 jobs over the next five years. BarrowCounty also boasts a healthy tourist indus- try that includes one of the top three visited state parks in the State of Georgia-Fort Yargo State Park. “Because of the enormous amount of growth we are experiencing,”Renshaw says,“particularly in the last 18 months,we are needing to invest in a new water reclamation wastewater treatment plant.We have a $13 million plant under design and engi- neering,which we hope to go to construction on, in mid-2019.We hope to have that facility online the latter part of 2020, and this will add another million gallons of wastewater treatment capacity in the County.We currently have two wastewater treat- ment plants, one of which is at about 85-90 per- cent capacity.The two existing plants each provide 500,000 gallons per day treatment capacity, so this is going to double our capacity and position Barrow County to address the growth, not only in the res- idential area, but in the commercial and industrial sectors as well.” The County just wrapped up an energy conserva- tion services agreement with a local energy provid- er, Georgia Power,which supplies 75 percent of the County’s commercial and residential energy needs. Within the scope of this agreement, there was an assessment of 13 of the highest energy-cost County buildings,which included recreational buildings and gymnasiums.One of the main recommenda- tions was to change the fluorescent light systems to more efficient LED lighting.According to Renshaw, these changes will save the County $800,000 over the next seven years.There were also significant improvements made in the County jail. In addition to the lighting improvements, they also did some water conservation work and installed low-usage residential growth. Single-family home permits have increased. Just in one year,we have a 155 percent in- crease in permits being pulled.There were 450 new permits in 2017.” “There is also a tremendous amount of growth in the commercial sector here in BarrowCounty,”Ren- shaw continues.“There are several companies that have made significant investments.One of the larg- est is an internationally acclaimed winery and resort, Château Élan.This resort boasts 850,000 visitors a year. It is privately-owned and last year, invested $27 million in facility improvements,which they hope will lead to a significant increase in visits.This benefits not only the winery but the hotel and golf course, as well.There is also an impact on the local economy.” Then there is Green4U Technologies.Motorsport entrepreneur,Don Panoz,who just happens to be the founder of Château Élan, has teamed up withWall Street executive and entrepreneur, Jack Perkowski, to create this company which will manufacture bat- tery-powered cars, sport utility vehicles, buses, and pickup trucks.They are making a $100 million invest- There is also a tremendous amount of growth in the commercial sector here in Barrow County. There are several companies that have made significant investments. MIKE RENSHAW COUNTY MANAGER