DECATUR COUNTY, GA (WTXL) — Grady County leaders are planning a new 20,000-square-foot building at Cairo's industrial park, hoping to attract a new business and potentially bring at least 25 jobs to the area.
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The roughly $1.2 million project will be an addition to the industrial park on Cairo's east side. The Joint Development Authority finished its first building there in 2022, and leaders say it was rented almost immediately. The company that moved in started with a couple of employees and now has 15.
Grady County Joint Development Authority Executive Director Chris Addleton said the job opportunities created by that first building prompted plans for a second.
"Part of why we exist as an authority is to give opportunities to all the people in Grady County, preferably to create jobs.....if we can attract a manufacturing company, that it will lead to at least 25 jobs," Addleton said.
The project is being paid for through state funding from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, local bank funding, and money from the development authority.
For longtime Cairo resident Benjamin Johnson, who spent 25 years working in the food industry, the announcement represents progress for a community where job options have historically been narrow.
"Around here you've got basically public works, hospitality, food service, and then there's a couple of small factories. And so we make do with that until something better comes along," Johnson said.
Johnson said any new jobs would be a meaningful step forward for the people he cares about most.
"Anytime you can have any amount of jobs, you've made the community better than it was yesterday. And so I'd be happy to see my brother and sister, my niece and nephew with a job," Johnson said.
The development authority is currently seeking a contractor and hopes to have the building finished by June 2027.
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