When Speed to Market Matters, GRAD Certified Sites Fit the Bill

Georgia has a large inventory of properties ready to welcome economic development. Over 2,600 available properties, from existing buildings to graded parcels, are listed on the state’s site selector database. Availability, however, is just one aspect of what prospective businesses consider when they set their sights on Georgia.

In an on-demand world, speed is paramount, and speed to market is among the most important factors in site selection. Georgia economic developers and their community partners need to be able act fast when a prospective business calls and have as much information on hand as possible.

This means getting the work done on the front end.

When economic developers proactively take care of the technical details by conducting topographical surveys, taking aerial photographs, installing utilities, and completing environmental assessments, they are rewarded with a property that is not only more accessible, but also exponentially more attractive to prospects.

To help community planners and landowners give their properties an advantage, the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) offers the “Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development” (GRAD) Certification Program. This offers business and site selectors a portfolio of pre-qualified industrial sites for which due diligence has been completed prior to a prospect visit. Applicants can be property owners, development authorities, or economic development offices.

Through this program, Georgia has more than 68 industrial certified sites that are ready for fast-track industrial projects.

Though an intensive process, having a property GRAD Certified has been proven to work well for players in local economic development. Big names like Amazon, Facebook/Meta, Starbucks, and Qcells are among companies that have benefited from GRAD Certified properties.

Most recently, Aspen Aerogels broke ground on a new facility in Bulloch County’s GRAD-certified Southern Gateway Commerce Park, where the company will create more than 250 advanced manufacturing jobs and invest $325 million. Aspen Aerogels produces aerogel thermal insulating material used in electrical vehicle batteries, and with recent announcements of new electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plants in the state from Rivian and Hyundai Motor Group, Aspen Aerogels will further foster the state’s electric mobility ecosystem.

Benjy Thompson, CEO of the Development Authority of Bulloch County, which facilitated GRAD certification of the 90-acre property, said that the community's big investments like extending city utilities to the site and grading the land – along with getting it GRAD Certified – made a big difference in the company’s ultimate decision about this prime property.

Another benefit of the certification is the marketing opportunities it provides.

"What's been very important over the past handful of years is how the GDEcD has increased their support for marketing sites that are GRAD Certified,” Thompson said. “Once certification happens... they're more marketable than those that aren't, typically."

Other examples of GRAD site successes include the location of Jack Link’s manufacturing facility in Perry, Aurubis recycling and copper smelting facility in Augusta, and Semperit Industrial Products Americas headquarters and manufacturing facility in Newnan.

Owners of GRAD sites see an uptick in interest after completing the certification process and continuing to make improvements to the properties.

The Dublin-Laurens County Development Authority owns a 331-acre site at the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 and Georgia State Route 257 that it purchased in 2015. In April 2020, the site became GRAD Certified and was the first GRAD site to also earn the "Select" status.

Ryan Waldrep, Dublin-Laurens County Development Authority President, said the authority has received 20 Requests for Information about the site since January 2021, compared to nine requests over the previous three years.

Waldrep attributes this to the GRAD certification process and further steps the development authority has taken to prep the site for development. The development authority contracted with an engineering firm to conduct further work on the site, from developing marketing materials to obtaining water connection permits to requesting a permit from the Georgia Department of Transportation to construct a turn lane coming off of SR 257.

Now, they are looking at clearing and grading the site, constructing a 300,000-square-foot pad near the intersection of SR 257 and the U.S. Highway 441 bypass, and connecting to the city sewer system to make the site more attractive to businesses for whom speed to market is critical.

Having the site ready for immediate development is essential for success, Waldrep said.

“We know our competition is not just here in Georgia – it’s across the country, it’s across the globe – and anything we can do to help reduce the time that a company needs to be able to go from acquiring a site or locating on a site to being able to open the doors of a facility, that’s something we feel like we can offer as a tremendous incentive for them,” Waldrep said.

“To meet the project demand we’re experiencing across Georgia, we encourage communities to continue to invest in shovel-ready sites. GRAD certification is a great tool that not only helps communities prepare for economic development projects, but also helps reduce burden and removes variables that can slow down construction goals for companies,” said GDEcD Chief Operating Officer and Acting Deputy Commissioner for Global Commerce Brittany Young. “We’re eager to walk economic developers and land owners through the steps of GRAD certification to help them with the process. Pre-certified sites are simply more attractive for industrial development and ultimately result in the speedier creation of high-quality jobs in our communities."

To qualify for GRAD status, available sites must meet the program’s due diligence standards, be reviewed by a third party and earn the final approval of a board of advisors comprised of public and private sector economic development professionals. A “GRAD Certified Select” status is an indication that a site has met or exceeded more rigorous certification requirements.

Benefits of GRAD Certification:

• Helps communities market their properties as sites that are ready for development.
• Gives communities an edge over competing sites where due diligence hasn’t been completed.
• Allows businesses to move in quickly and start construction sooner – meaning faster employment and a stronger tax base for the community.

Information about the process, as well as a sample application, can be found at www.georgia.org/grad-certified-sites/application.

For aerial views of GRAD certified sites and property details visit: georgia.org/site-selector.

-Posted June 15, 2022