In 1998, Newton and Walton Counties established a Joint Development Authority. A year later, Jasper and Morgan Counties joined to make it a foursome — the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties. The goal: “Create an industrial area to attract industry to the region,” including “a research park for bio-science industries,” which would become Stanton Springs, the center of Georgia’s strategy to promote and grow the life science industries.
Located 40 miles east of Atlanta and adjacent to I-20, Stanton Springs is home to bio-tech giant Shire and Georgia’s BioScience Training Center. The 1,600-acre mixed-use master planned community bills itself as the epicenter of Georgia’s strategic plan to brand itself as a global destination for bio-related industries. Stanton Springs will also become home to a 416-acre Facebook data center campus, thus hosting a duo of leading edge industries.
Gov. Nathan Deal welcomed Facebook during a March 7 press conference at the state Capitol, noting that “Georgia’s business-friendly climate and world-class infrastructure continue to attract innovative companies like Facebook.”
“It is fitting that the No. 1 company in the world in terms of active users has chosen the No. 1 state for business for this project,” he added. “This project represents a significant investment and will create meaningful opportunities for the surrounding community.”
With an initial investment of $750 million and 100 jobs, the center will be part of the advanced infrastructure that provides apps and services to more than 2 billion people around the world. The new data center will be Facebook’s ninth in the U.S.
Facebook will build the data center on 416 acres of land it has purchased in Stanton Springs. The site where the data center will be developed lies within Newton County. Phase 1 will be constructed in four phases, with an investment of
$750 million for the first two buildings, expected to total 970,000 square feet and become operational in 2020.
Investments in subsequent phases are estimated at $550 million each and are expected to be completed in 2025, 2027 and 2029. Only the first phase is guaranteed under the terms of Facebook’s agreement with the JDA.
Facebook expects to hire 100 people in the first phase — for jobs in engineering and management as well as data center technicians.
“As a company, Facebook is committed to creating a positive impact at the local level — that means hiring, partnering and investing locally,” said Rachel Peterson, vice president of Data Center Strategy at Facebook. “We are thrilled to be making Georgia our new home and look forward to a long and strong partnership with the state, Newton County, and our new community.”
Shane Short, executive director of the Development Authority of Walton County and who handles economic development for Stanton Springs, told this writer that community leaders “couldn’t be happier to have an outstanding company like Facebook as a community partner.”
“This is just the beginning of a long-term partnership that will continue to grow stronger. We value our partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Commissioner Pat Wilson, and his professional team,” Short added.
In addition to jobs, the four counties in the JDA expect to eventually see significant property tax revenue from the project. Under the terms of the agreement with the JDA, property taxes on the data center will be abated for 25 years. In the meantime, however, Facebook will make payments in lieu of taxes beginning by 2024. The first payment will be $2 million, increasing by $1 million every two years for a maximum payment of $5 million by 2030.
Payments in lieu of taxes and, eventually, property tax revenues will be allocated to each county according to its initial investment in the development of Stanton Springs — 10 percent for Jasper County, 37.5 percent each for Newton and Walton counties, and 15 percent for Morgan County.
In January the JDA unanimously agreed to issue $42 billion in taxable revenue bonds in phases and to sell the 416 acres in Stanton Springs for the project. The purchase price was $62,500 per acre. In addition, Facebook agreed to pay the JDA a fee of $1.5 million.
Stanton Springs’ founders – mostly rural counties – are not new to the business of economic development.
Jasper County (pop. 13,900) is home to a large egg producer, and industries that manufacture axles, panel board, landscape products, and structural steel. Morgan (pop. 17,900) hosts an injection molded finished plastic products manufacturer and a Georgia Pacific corrugated packaging plant. Newton County (pop. 107,000) employers include General Mills, and machining, coatings, and metals fabrication businesses; and Walton County (pop. 90,000) hosts steel framing, industrial solutions, furniture, concrete, and fence producers.
“There’s strength in numbers,” notes Craig Lesser, who served as Georgia’s Commissioner of Economic Development and was instrumental in attracting KIA Motors manufacturing to a 2,200-acre West Point, Georgia site.
Lesser is founder and managing partner of the Pendleton Consulting Group, an economic and community development consultancy. During his tenure as Commissioner, Georgia announced nearly 500 new investments and business expansions, which totaled more than $8 billion and created more than 40,000 new jobs.
The training center is located directly across from Shire’s $2 billion bio-manufacturing facility. The training center is owned by the State of Georgia and operated by Georgia Quick Start, a division of the Technical College System of Georgia. The facility has served as a component of the state’s long-term initiative to promote and grow the life science industries.
“When a world leader in technology such as Facebook chooses to locate an essential part of its operations in Georgia, it solidifies what we already know: that Georgia is a prime and safe location for data centers and information technology,” says Pat Wilson, Georgia’s Commissioner of Economic Development.
Tal Wright is an InsiderAdvantage Georgia contributor.
