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Area primed for growth in economy
Stanton Springs
Stanton Springs' entrance is shown as it appeared in 2018. - photo by Jackie Gutknecht

MADISON, Ga. — Four area counties are poised to see good economic news over the next few months.

Representatives of the four counties that make up the Joint Development Authority that owns Stanton Springs all had good news to share at their monthly meeting Tuesday.

“We’ve seen quite a lot of interest recently,” Serra Hall, senior project manager of the Newton County Industrial Development Authority, said.

“We’ve also been pleased and continue to work with our friends in Walton (County).”

Hall said she expected to announce new businesses on the U.S. 278 corridor in Covington by the week’s end.

Likewise, Executive Director Shane Short of the Development Authority of Walton County said activity has been good in his area.

Short said a small company that’s new to Walton is purchasing land in Social Circle.

“We’ve got a couple in Monroe that have said they’ll be moving forward with property purchases,” he said.

David Dyer, the executive authority of the Development Authority of Jasper County, said one local business has really taken off.

“Our light industrial market continues to be strong, but one of the more unusual things – a company went public in the hemp business and within weeks raised $75 million,” Dyer said.

Agrify Corp. had its initial public offering on Feb. 16. The Massachusetts company, which specializes in “highly advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace,” has a plant on Ross Road in Shady Dale.

And in Morgan County, JDA board member and county Commissioner Andy Ainslie said unemployment continues to fall and he sees more and more advertisements from companies looking for workers.

“We’ve got a number of signs,” he said.

The recruiters made their reports before the authority board voted to stoke the economy even more, with a $42 billion bond issuance that could bring a large employer to the Stanton Springs development the JDA owns.