Chamber President Hunter Hall gave the Covington City Council a quarterly update Monday night, and he said that manufacturer SKC has more than met the performance promises it made upon arrival in 1996.

Though the value of SKC has been debated by the community, Hall said the polyurethane film manufacturer has hired 250 workers and helped create 374 indirect jobs since 1996, totaling $410 million in total salaries and resulting in $73 million in retail spending. According to its signed agreement with the city, the company had agreed to hire 250 workers and make a nearly $400 million investment.

The results came from a combined study by the Covington/Newton County Chamber of Commerce and Snapping Shoals EMC. Hall said the numbers show the effect that a single industry can have on a community.

In addition, Hall said that DeKalb Technical College built its Bobby Williams Parkway campus almost exclusively to be the Georgia Quick Start provider for SKC. Georgia Quick Start is a workforce training program.

SKC broke ground last year on a $100 million facility that will produce an ethylene vinyl acetate film to coat solar power cells and employ 120 additional workers.

The council also voted unanimously to give 5 acres at the airport to the Covington Municipal Airport Authority. The authority approved a lease agreement on Friday for the land with Standridge Color Corporation, which will build a hangar and tarmac for a third plane the company will base in Covington.

The council also approved a $29,630 bid by Jackson Metal Roofing and Supply to replace the damaged roof and gutters at Conyers Street Gym.