MADISON, Ga. – In an update to the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties Tuesday afternoon in Madison, Walton County, Serra Hall, senior project manager of Covington/Newton County Economic Development, said a few announcements are in the pipeline for the area. 

“It always takes a little bit longer when you think you’re at the finish line and then you have another week or two to go on, but hopefully we’re in the same boat looking at a few announcements coming forward,” she said. 

Already made public, Hall said construction is about to start on a rail spur to service U.S. Corrugated. 

“As always, with grants it is always fun to go through the process and procedures with consultants and different people rechecking and change orders, but finally we’re here and we hope to break ground and have a completely new rail spur going in to service this facility by the end of the year,” she said. “So, that’s very exciting.”

Shane Short, executive director of the Development Authority of Walton County, also shared that three major announcements are on the horizon in neighboring Walton County. 

“We’re looking forward to a couple announcements coming out,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a while to finish all the legal work on all of these MOUs (memorandums of understanding), but hopefully very soon we’ll be making three announcements in Walton County.

“There’s one in particular we’re really excited about. It’s a new manufacturer coming in. Their product is outstanding and we’re looking forward to the company to get up and rolling.”