Progress 2014

ANNUAL PROGRESS EDITIONGwinnett Daily Post • SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

INSIDEHOUSING MARKET ............................................................................................................ 2FJAIL POPULATION .............................................................................................................. 4FSHERIFF’S OFFICE .............................................................................................................. 4FSCHOOL GROWTH .............................................................................................................5FGCPS CONSTRUCTION ....................................................................................................6FGEORGIA GWINNETT COLLEGE .......................................................................................7FGEORGIA GWINNETT COLLEGE ATHLETICS ...............................................................8FCHAMPIONS TOUR AT TPC SUGARLOAF ...................................................................8FMOVIE STUDIO ...................................................................................................................9F

progress 2014

Housing market making a turnaroundOne of Gwinnett’s big-

gest industries took quite a hit in 2008, when the housing market crashed in the Great Recession.

Not only was develop-ment stagnant, but the county experienced the most foreclosures in the state, and prices dropped, leaving many local resi-dents underwater on their mortgage.

But the numbers have been climbing — well, the number of permits have been rising while the num-ber of foreclosures have dropped.

In 2013, 2,336 single-family permits were issued. The number is still well below the 2004 high of 8,291. But it is four times more than the 446 issued in 2009 and well on its way to the 2007 number of 3,525.

Jason Delaney, an assis-tant professor of econom-ics at Georgia Gwinnett

College, said he saw signs of the improving housing market when he bought a

house last summer.“There’s much more

competition in the mar-

ket,” he said, adding that more bidding wars are happening.

“As the labor market starts to loosen up and you see people feeling more secure about their future, you will see the housing market return,” Delaney said.

With many people’s personal wealth tied to their home, much of the doldrums set in due to the drop in housing values, he said. “It became very difficult for people to sell their house and move somewhere else,” he said.

According to Gwinnett County’s assessor’s office, the average home price in Gwinnett dropped dra-matically. The number ex-perienced dramatic growth until reaching a high in 2008 of $213,000.

By 2012 that number dropped to $157,000, a decrease of about 25 percent. The number was lower than 2003’s average

of $174,000.But things are begin-

ning to look up.Not only are Gwinnett

officials expecting a 2 percent increase to the tax digest in 2014, the first upward trend in five years, Realtors are also seeing signs of increases.

According to reports from Georgia MLS, the average sold price in Gwinnett County in-creased almost $20,000 in January from the same month last year.

“The market is turn-ing around. Foreclosures and short sales are on the decline and the low inventory is pushing the price of resales up,” said Tom’Rourke, CEO of the Northeast Atlanta Metro Association of Realtors. “We just returned from the Georgia Realtor Conven-tion and the market seems to be moving in the right direction all across the state.”

By Camie youngcamie.young@ gwinnettdailypost.com

Paychecks show promise of economy’s improvement

Gwinnett County pay-checks have been evident of the tight times of the Great Recession.

This year, though, county employees have rejoiced at the first raise in pay in five years, a sign that Gwinnett’s decline in revenues is taking a turn.

“We haven’t had (a pay increase) in five years, and things have gone up so

much, groceries and gas,” said Sharon Wilkerson, who works in the tax asses-sor’s office and applauded commissioners when they approved the raise earlier this year. “I think we all deserve it.”

The funding comes from an expected increase in prop-erty taxes, which comes after years of seeing revenues decline along with declining property values. Officials expect a turnaround in 2014, with about a 2 percent increase expected in the

county tax digest.Commission Chairwoman

Charlotte Nash said the county staff polled nearby counties and private compa-nies and found similar situa-tions, with raises coming to employees.

Salaries had become an issue for the government, as some of the 4,800-person labor force began to leave for higher-paying jobs. The issue had caused Police Chief Charlie Walters and other officials to worry about hiring and retaining quality

employees.“We think this was very

important,” Nash said when she proposed the raises late last year. “It is a recognition of the fact that they have worked very hard over those years (without raises).”

Commissioner Lynette Howard agreed that the long-awaited raises are well-deserved.

“The citizens have great county employees working for them,” she said, after ap-proving the budget in Janu-ary. “The staff is creative and

innovative. They can develop better systems using less resource while still setting the highest standards in their industries.”

School teachers in the area are still awaiting word of an increase in salary, although the state’s ability to increase funding has led to a cut in furlough days, which helps with paychecks.

Jason Delaney, an assis-tant professor of economics at Georgia Gwinnett College said that overall wages are still on the decline, but that

is because older people are once again able to make decisions about retirement, which is freeing up jobs for younger workers. Those workers are starting at lower salaries than those retiring, but that is leaving room for more wage hikes.

“That will start to happen more and more,” he said of raises, which were forgot-ten in an economy of tight budgets and layoffs.

“That’s great news,” he said of Gwinnett’s pay increases.

By Camie youngcamie.young@ gwinnettdailypost.com

This file photo shoes new home construction.

2F SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014 • gwinnettdailypost.com

3F •gwinnettdailypost.com SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

progress 2014Fewer inmates doesn’t equal lower budget at jail

LAWRENCEVILLE — The Gwinnett County jail has seen a nearly 20 per-cent decrease in its inmate population over the last six years, but the effect on its budget — and taxpayers — has been nil.

At the end of 2008, the jail’s average inmate popu-lation was 2,691, a total not far from maximum capacity. That number was just 2,180 in 2013.

Sheriff Butch Conway has credited the decline to a controversial federal pro-gram called 287(g), which allows his department to check the legal status of anyone booked into the jail and begin immigration proceedings when appro-priate.

“We’re not booking in as many illegal aliens as we did in the past,” Conway said in December. “That number’s dropped quite a lot.”

Regardless of the rea-son, the Gwinnett County jail saw 5,558 fewer in-mates last year than it did in 2008. Coupled with an improving economy, that might theoretically lead to some sort of savings.

Not so much.The sheriff’s office bud-

get has creeped up some-where around $1 million in most the last several years, and the new budget ap-proved in January allotted the office just under $73.4 million.

“The slight budget increases have been in response to overall price increases, such as fuel,

food and utilities,” sher-iff’s office spokeswoman Deputy Shannon Volkodav said last month. “There is a small cost-saving measure with a decrease in inmate population, but it’s not signficant.”

Volkodav said no real effect is felt because operational expenses, 75 percent of which are personnel costs, tend to

remain consistent. Because the sheriff’s office is, as of Feb. 6, 46 employees short of a full staff, over-time payments to exisit-ing deputies offset any savings from a reduced inmate population.

Any money not spent from each year’s pre-ap-proved budget is returned to the county’s general fund. Exact numbers for

those contributions were not available.

In the four-plus years since the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office adopted 287(g), more than 11,300 detainers have been placed on local arrestees. That number, though, has been decreas-ing.

According to records kept by the department, 2,926 immigration holds were placed in 2010, the first full year of the pro-gram. Nearly 1,000 fewer were used in 2013.

Conway has asserted that the decline in his jail’s inmate population is directly tied to 287(g) and what he believes has been a successful run crack-ing down on the county’s undocumented residents.

“I think a lot of them did move out of Gwin-nett when we started that program,” Conway said late last year, “and I think a lot of them don’t expose themselves to things that will get them arrested.”

By Tyler esTeptyler.estep@ gwinnettdailypost.com

After seeing a nearly 20 percent drop in inmate population over the last six years, the Gwinnett County jail now has several empty housing units. (Staff Photo: Brendan Sullivan)

At the end of 2008, the jail’s average inmate population was 2,691, a total not far from maximum capacity. That number was just 2,180 in 2013.

Agencies not at full staff; not economy’s fault

LAWRENCEVILLE — An improving econ-omy means local law enforcement agencies have the financial ability to keep a full staff.

Problem is, they’re not having a ton of luck doing so.

The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office is ac-tively hiring and, as of Feb. 6, had a whopping 43 vacancies. Spokes-woman Dep. Shannon Volkodav said that trend might soon be reversing. The department hired six people in January, had 16 conditional job offers out and had 10 interviews scheduled for the next week, Volkodav said.

All that would cut a decent chunk out of the deputy deficit — and the funds thrown at overtime pay — but whether it becomes a trend is yet to be seen.

The Gwinnett County Police Department has 31 sworn positions it’s look-ing to fill, but its problem hasn’t necessarily been hiring new officers. It’s been keeping them.

“We’ve got to stop the bleeding,” Chief Charlie Walters said during bud-get hearings last Septem-ber. “We’re not growing leaders for our future. We’ve got to make this a preferred place to live and work.”

The plea, echoing those made in other recent years, was made because handfuls of of-ficers have been leav-ing the Gwinnett police department for city agencies across metro Atlanta. The fledgling

department in the new city of Brookhaven, Wal-ters said, hired away five officers in one day.

The reason? Much higher salaries, report-edly.

A post on the Gwin-nett County website lists starting salaries at $36,074 (for entry-level officers) and $38,777 (for officers that are already state certified). At the sheriff’s depart-ment, starting salaries are listed at $34,028 (for entry-level Deputy/Jailer I positions) and $38,770 (for already certified Deputy II positions).

The budget approved earlier this year included a 3 percent raise for all county employees, the first in five years. How that affects officer reten-tion is yet to be seen.

Things are a little peachier on the fire de-partment side.

The 2014 budget included additional staffing “to support two new med units.” Accord-ing to county officials, a total of 18 positions were funded — three new openings and 15 others that were held vacant during previous budget cuts.

“In addition,” officials said, “the budget funds five new positions in response to statewide juvenile justice reform, three in juvenile court and two in the district attorney’s office.”

By Tyler esTeptyler.estep@ gwinnettdailypost.com “ We’ve got

to make this a preferred place to live and work.”

— Charlie Walters, Gwinnett Police Chief


progress 2014SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014 5F •gwinnettdailypost.com

Deal proposes more K-12 education funding

The proposal by Gov. Nathan Deal to spend more money on K-12 education in the upcoming state budget was met with a question of timing by Gwinnett teachers.

“Interesting it is an elec-tion year when these propos-als are made isn’t it?” said Lynne Franks, a third-grade teacher at Riverside El-ementary. “Teachers are due a little respect, especially the hard-working Gwinnett teachers. It would be nice if the legislature would ac-knowledge the hard work of teachers and put a priority on education every day, not just during an election year.”

At $547 million, Deal called his proposal the largest single increase in funding for K-12 education in seven years. The proposal, which he outlined in January during a joint session of the General Assembly, is designed to increase access to technology, end teacher salary freezes and restore instructional days.

Deal’s proposed $8 bil-lion toward K-12 education includes nearly 82 percent of new revenue receipts dedicated to education, with 68 percent of those new revenues going to K-12 education.

Gwinnett County Public Schools CEO/Superin-tendent J. Alvin Wilbanks said that the district greatly appreciated Deal’s budget recommendations. Wilbanks also noted the proposed increased funding for the Quality Basic Education formula, a statewide formula based on enrollment.

“(This) will certainly as-sist GCPS as we struggle to provide essential operational services to support our core business of teaching and learning and possible salary increases for our teachers and staff,” Wilbanks said in a statement.

Gwinnett teachers haven’t had a raise in six years, which for some has meant more than $10,000 in would-be wages.

“If more of our state leg-islators and citizens actually visited a Gwinnett classroom they would see hard work-ing teachers that spend their days counseling, teaching,

planning, parenting, grad-ing, meeting, not to mention working long hours after school to prepare for their next day with an ever-chang-ing curriculum,” Franks said. “Teach is an action verb, not a noun.”

Deal added that during his administration, funding for education has increased every year for a combined more than $930 million.

For technology, Deal included $44.8 million in the budget to better connect ev-ery classroom in Georgia to the Internet and other digital resources.

While GCPS is in its third

year of a classroom technol-ogy initiative, many districts across the state, especially in rural South Georgia, lag behind in technological advancements.

“It is my goal that every child in any classroom in our state will have access to the best instruction possible, and this can be done by expand-ing the availability of our online learning,” Deal said.

Beyond high school, Deal also asked legislators to cre-ate a new Zell Miller Hope Grant for technical college students that would cover 100 percent of their tuition for those who maintain a

3.5 grade-point-average. Deal’s budget proposal also includes $10 million for a one percent interest loan program solely for techni-cal college students, and a recommendation to fund the Hope Scholarship and Hope Grant at 103 percent of the amount it was last year.

“This will allow students who have a financial need to cover the funding gap in tuition, books and fees,” Deal said.

After the success of last year’s priority list of areas of study in technical colleges that have high job place-ment, Deal added welding,

health care technology, diesel mechanics and infor-mation technology to the list of commercial driving, practical nursing and early childhood education.

Deal said 100 percent of the tuition was paid for through the Hope Grant for students who pursued the original three areas.

The governor also an-nounced the creation of the Governor’s High Demand Career Initiative, which is a collaboration between lead-ers in economic develop-ment, the University System of Georgia and technical colleges and schools.

By Keith Farnerkeith.farner@ gwinnettdailypost.com

Gwinnett County Public Schools CEO/Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks said that the district greatly appreciated Deal’s budget recommenda-tions. (File Photo)

progress 20146F SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014 • gwinnettdailypost.com

GCPS growth, construction continuesThe 13th largest school

district in the country continues to grow, even in the wake of the economic downturn.

The current building plan, funded by special purpose local option sales taxes approved by voters in 2011, has continued even though Gwinnett County Public Schools hasn’t opened a new school since 2011. That will change in August when the district opens North-brook Middle in Suwanee. It’s the first new school to open in the district since Moore Middle in Law-renceville in 2011.

Earlier this year, the dis-trict’s enrollment included 4,173 new students, which caused it to hire about 40 new teachers. It was a bounce back from last year’s number of new stu-dents — 265 — compared with the 2007-08 year, which saw 3,574 new stu-dents. The 2012-13 school year was the first time in more than a decade that the district did not open a new facility.

With 169,150 current students, up 4,173 students from the 2012-13 school year, Gwinnett remains the largest district in the state and one of the fastest-grow-ing in the Southeast. In five years, the district is expect-ed to top 180,000 students enrolled, said Steve Flynt, the district’s chief strategy and performance officer.

The next largest districts in Georgia are Cobb County (110,001 students), DeKalb County (99,398) and Fulton

County (95,232).District officials have

said in previous years that the growth slowdown gave them a chance to catch their breath and play catch-up.

Projected to one day welcome 2,000 students, the yet-to-be-named Berkmar/Central Gwinnett relief cluster high school at 2136 Old Norcross Road is scheduled to open in August 2015, with between 700 and 900 students. As construction crews from the Carroll Daniel Construction Company of Gainesville worked through the winter, one of the benefits of work-

ing under an existing roof — being out of the weather — was revealed.

The school will also cre-ate a new cluster, the 19th in the district, which will be named after the school, the first geographic attendance zone to open since Lanier High opened in 2010. New schools are typically named in the winter or spring before they open. One of the more noticeable changes that community members have already noticed is the new school will breed new sports rivalries.

“Our community comes together to help form that

cluster and learning com-munity,” district spokesman Jorge Quintana said. “We’re very fortunate to be in an area where our parents are very supportive and become involved in that process, and students and parents will be involved with the selection of colors and a mascot. It’s always a very exciting opportunity and exciting time.”

The building is a former warehouse once occupied by Bridgestone Tire, but was not in operation when the district purchased the property in 2005 for $6.7 million. While weather

protection was a positive in this project, Chief Opera-tions Officer Danny Jardine said the major challenge is to bring an older warehouse building up to current codes while providing an aestheti-cally pleasing exterior and learning environment.

The price tag, $63.5 mil-lion, was $602,000 lower than the next lowest bidder, but is higher than recent new schools such as Lanier High ($50.7 million) and the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology ($35.4 million), which both opened in 2010.

The largest building

project ever by the district is designed to provide stu-dents creative instructional programs not seen in a typical high school, Jardine said.

District officials have said in previous years that the growth slowdown gave them a chance to catch their breath and play catch-up.

Jardine said the gap in constructing new schools was planned and tied to funding. Moore Middle opened as part of Phase II of the building program funded by general obliga-tion bonds approved in 2008.


Construction continues on Old Norcross Road at the new Berkmar/Central Gwinnett relief high school scheduled to open in August 2015. With 169,150 current students, up 4,173 students from the 2012-13 school year, Gwinnett remains the largest district in the state and one of the fastest-growing in the Southeast. (Special Photo)

174920-1

progress 2014GGC interim president not bothered by title

For the second time in his career, Stanley “Stas” Preczewski is an interim president of a college. Yet because of his personal-ity, and the way Georgia Gwinnett College was built, Preczewski believes the interim title doesn’t change the job description.

“Whether you have interim before your name, the decisions still have to be made and the respon-sibility is still the same,” Preczewski told the Daily Post in a recent interview in his office. “You just have that word out front. I operate the same whether it’s there or not there.”

The appointment, which began on July 1, follows GGC President Daniel Kaufman’s recent move as the new president of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Preczewski served as provost since GGC’s founding in 2005.

Preczewski was also in-terim president of Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville from July 2011 through June 2012. While he learned some lessons in his first stint as an interim president, Pre-czewski said GC’s more than 100-year-old history is a stark contrast to GGC still being in the develop-ment stages.

There is no timetable for the Board of Regents to name an official president, spokesman John Millsaps said.

The standard process for finding a college president includes the formation of two separate committees: a campus search commit-

tee and a Regents search committee.

With a military back-

ground as a retired colo-nel, Preczewski said he makes decisions based on

the mission and the vision of the college. He also doesn’t treat the interim

title as a sort of on-the-job interview for the perma-nent position.

“I’ve never made a deci-sion, ever, in my life that benefits me, in fact I’ve done things that have hurt myself,” Preczewski said. “We’ve always operated, and will always operate, in the best interest of the students. If we do what’s in the best interest of me, generally that’s not what’s best for the students. … There’s only one reason a college exists, there’s only one reason we have jobs. It’s because students choose to come here. They choose to come here because they’re successful here.”

While the job descrip-tion hasn’t changed, Prec-zewski’s duties have since he was provost, which he admitted to being largely internal to the campus. The president’s duties are largely external, and deals with every stake holder that touches the university: students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, donors, legislators and the Board of Regents.

“Everybody has a slightly different twist of what they would like to see a college to do,” he said. “Your job is to find that middle point. It’s not

a science, it’s an art.”Meanwhile, Preczewki

is proud to share reten-tion statistics that show 87 percent of students who started in August remain on campus, a 2 percent improvement from last year. The school’s new advising center is also credited for a three-fold increase in retention of at-risk students.

Last year, the General Assembly agreed to a six-year draw down of $1.375 million per year for GGC. Preczewski said the col-lege can handle the drop in funding because it knew it was coming and planned for it.

“We’ll take the cut, since we know it’s com-ing, and it will have no effect on the quality of our education,” he said.

Institutions around the country are beginning to take notice, for reasons that include managing with less money. Precze-wski said he’s been invited to speak about GGC’s model at national confer-ences. And he’s proud to share the recent U.S. News & World Report No. 5 ranking that GGC received for Southern public col-leges.

“We’re getting a reputa-tion for quality,” he said.


In this file photo, interim Georgia Gwinnett College President Stanley “Stas” Precze-wski speaks at a graduation ceremony. Despite having the interim title since July, it doesn’t bother Preczewski, who believes the interim title doesn’t change the job de-scription. (Staff Photo: Jason Braverman)

“There’s only one reason a college exists, there’s only one reason we have jobs. It’s because students choose to come here. ”

— Stanley “Stas” Preczewski, Georgia Gwinnett College interim president

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014 7F •gwinnettdailypost.com

GreaterGwinnettChampionship.com

APRIL 14-20 TPC SUGARLOAF

FRED

COU

PLES

KENN

Y PE

RRY

BUY EARLY AND SAvE!

TickeTs sTarT aT jusT $20*

DEFENDING ChAmPION BERNhARD LANGER

*Select ticket prices increase 4/14/14.

progress 2014Young Grizzlies program aims to keep growing

LAWRENCEVILLE — Despite the late January chill, the stands were full for Georgia Gwinnett College’s baseball season opener.

Well-prepared fans sat on blankets to insulate themselves against the metal bleacher seats. Students, some comforted only by youthful blasé came out just in what they wore to class.

However they warded off the weather — there was still snow on the hill behind the stands in right field — the fact that they were there en masse warmed athletic director Darin Wilson’s heart.

“Our attendance for soccer all fall was very good, as well as our atten-dance for our first baseball game,” Wilson said. “So we’re very pleased with that as far as bringing in some additional dollars. Our community has done a nice job coming out and supporting our teams. So we want to continue to market that and get the fans out here.”

Wilson was charged with building an athletic program from scratch — in a slowly recovering economy — and has guid-ed the Grizzlies through a successful first two years.

The biggest factor, Wil-son said, was the student body approving an athlet-ics fee.

“Which pretty much funds us from top to bot-tom right now in terms of how we function and operate,” he said. “So we are very thankful, first of all, to our students.”

GGC has six teams in four sports — baseball, softball, tennis and soc-cer. The tennis team has its own large facility just down the road from cam-pus. The soccer, baseball and softball fields are on campus and impressive enough to have already

been tabbed for confer-ence tournaments. The baseball and softball sta-diums were both finished less than a year ago and already Wilson is looking at the possibility of need-ing more space for fans.

“We’ve got a beauti-ful facilities here, but as you saw (for the season opening) weekend, we’re already close to getting to capacity with our baseball stadium,” Wilson said. “So there will be some things we want to look at in the near future there and then we’ve got some things we want to do with soccer as well — a press box and some additional bleachers.

“So we’ve got to con-tinue to work. We’re very happy with where we are in Year 2, but certainly not satisfied.”

GGC’s athletic program funding has been helped by the efforts of Ned Colegrove, the assistant athletics director for com-munications and market-ing.

“Ned has done a great job from a marketing standpoint in generat-ing some outside income for us as well — through sponsorships and that type of thing,” Wilson said. “We’ve got several op-portunities at each venue, from scoreboard sponsor-ships to field wraps. We’ve also got our website, www.grizzlyathletics.com, with several opportunities as well.”

They’ve also recently launched the Grizzly Club for boosters of the athletic program.

“Individuals can come

in and donate to athlet-ics in general or they can donate to individual pro-grams,” Wilson said.

It helps address an issue that the young college doesn’t have any choice about. Most schools have 50 or more years of alum-ni to tap for donations.

“When I first started 2 ½ years ago, we had no alumni,” Wilson said. “Now we have some alumni and that number is going up every year. Obviously the more we can graduate, the better off we’re going to be and the more name recognition we’re going to have.

“But one of the things that has helped take up a little bit of that slack has really been our commu-nity. Our community has supported us very well

and I think that will con-tinue. Hopefully with us continuing to excel on the courts and the fields, that continues to be a great marriage as we go along.”

The sparkling athletics building itself has turned out to be just what the Grizzlies needed, too.

“A lot of times you build things and they don’t function quite as well as they could,” Wilson said. “But I’ve been extremely pleased with the way this building functions. It’s really doing exactly what we designed it to do. We got the maximum amount of space out of the foot-print, but it’s also, from the weight room, to our academic resource center to our suites to our team meeting rooms, it’s really functioning extremely

well.”“It’s pretty neat too, be-

cause one end is designed to just be punched out and we can expand that way if we need to.”

There isn’t a written checklist, but the near-term focus is on adding a press box and stands to the soccer field. Money has already been set aside for the project.

“There are always chal-lenges,” Wilson said. “I think we’ll continue to have challenges because when you look at our program from top to bot-tom, we’re certainly not fully funded. That’s one of our goals, from a scholar-ship standpoint, and then an operational standpoint, we’ve got some facili-ties needs that we want to continue to enhance.”

By Christine troykechristine.troyke@ gwinnettdailypost.com

Georgia Gwinnett College, Baseball Field is shown in this file photo. (File photo)

Champions Tour a sign of economic stability

Signing Mitsubishi Elec-tric Heating and Cooling as presenting sponsor is only part of the story.

When Gwinnett County and the TPC — Sugarloaf lost its professional golf tournament, the economy played villain. AT&T, for-merly BellSouth, had little interest in continuing its investment in the PGA Tour event, especially with AT&T sponsorships at other Tour events. The loss of a title sponsor, and the inability to find a commitment from another company, doomed professional golf in Gwin-nett.

That was then.By the end of 2012,

though the atmosphere had changed. The Gwin-nett Sport Commission, led by executive director Stan Hall, had found a present-ing sponsor and lured back plenty of other Atlanta and Gwinnett-based businesses and companies to invest in golf in Gwinnett. The money injection, amid other tireless work, created last year’s first Champions Tour event, the Greater Gwin-nett Championship. Finding major and smaller sponsors combined both the efforts of the sports commission and the belief of investors in their own economic stand-ing.

An analysis done for the Gwinnett Sports Commis-sion estimated an economic impact from last year’s tournament and surrounding

events of between $8 and $10 million, according to Hall, who said he’s com-fortable saying this year’s impact will be larger.

“We thought that was phenomenal,” said Hall, who’s group put on the event in just four months after signing the contracts. “We were more than pleased

with that.“As we look forward to

the 2015 event, we certainly expect it to be a bigger event.”

Since Bernhard Langer took the first trophy at the tournament last spring, more sponsors joined the charge, including a large investment from State Bank and Trust

as well as continued interest from Coca Cola and Gwin-nett Medical Center among others.

“It’s amazing that we did what we did last year,” Hall said, talking about the downtick that hit the economy as the tournament organizer were planning for in late 2012. “There is

no doubt that the interest is there.”

In the past year, com-mitments only increased from businesses, many who turned away opportunities a year ago and continued efforts only encourage organizer’s faith in sustained growth.

“Some of those have

come back on board this year and I expect in 2015 some more of those will come on board next year,” Hall said.

That’s the good, but the economy isn’t at a boom. Mitsubishi Electric Heating and Cooling plays the role of presenting sponsor and allows enough money for the event to succeed, but the tournament still lacks a title sponsor. Title sponsorship generally indicates a $2.5 million annual investment in the tournament.

But even that interest lev-el has increased. A year ago, no company showed interest in a title sponsorship.

“We are in conversations with three major compa-nies right now,” Hall said. “We are in, not just casual conversations, but serious conversations with three different companies who have expressed an interest in the title sponsorship. That is not to say that any of it will come to pass.”

Heartening, though, are those conversations. The interest indicates not just the acceptance and trust in the quality of the Greater Gwin-nett Championship, but also the belief that there is money to spend and money to be made.

“I think that speaks well of what people think of where our economy is,” Hall said. “I think it speaks well for us having one year under our belt with the tourna-ment.”

A tournament blessed with quality, interest and growing financial support.

By Ben Beitzelben.beitzel@ gwinnettdailypost.com

Champions Tour player David Frost competes on the 18th hole as fans gather around during the second round of the Greater Gwinnett Championship at TPC — Sugarloaf in Duluth last year. (Staff Photo: Brendan Sullivan)


progress 2014SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014 9F •gwinnettdailypost.com

Movie studio is ‘catalyst project’ for areaNORCROSS — Chuck

Warbington calls its a “catalyst project,” one that will transform the Jimmy Carter Boulevard corridor.

Once completed, the Atlanta Media Campus & Studios would be the larg-est movie studio in Geor-gia — the fourth largest studio lot in the country — and it would be built out by retrofitting much of the OFS site off Interstate 85 in Norcross.

Plans for the mixed-use development site, where OFS, a fiber optic tech-nologies company, intends to continue operations, in-clude seven sound stages,

a film school and some housing on site, as well as talk of high-rise office buildings and a five-star hotel.

“Because of the mere size of the overall proj-ect — 120 acres — along with density projected for the office, commercial and residential components, we are extremely confi-dent of labeling this as a catalyst project,” said War-bington, executive director of the Gwinnett Village Community Improve-ment District, “which will ultimately transform the Jimmy Carter Boulevard corridor into a thriving high end activity center that will create a high de-mand for new businesses

and residents in the area.”The Gwinnett Village

CID is an organization that works to increase commer-cial values in its district by promoting redevelopment, driving infrastructure investments aimed at in-creasing mobility, enhanc-ing public safety and cre-ating a roadside landscape pleasing to residents and business owners.

Warbington said the CID is expecting just under $1 billion in new and renovation construc-tion over the next 10 years of the development. Upon completion, the studio is expected to bring just under 10,000 new jobs to Gwinnett, increasing the economic output in

Gwinnett by $1.2 billion, Warbington added.

Jacoby Development, the company that completed Atlantic Station that re-vived east Atlanta, is set to close on the deal in April.

“The slight improve-ment in the economy has certainly helped the overall investment and development community to take new risks and ven-ture out for new projects,” Warbington said. “The main drivers for the media campus coming to fruition at the site is based on loca-tion in the metro Atlanta region as well as having an existing structure in place with minor alterna-tions that can be ready for film, TV, gaming and other

media ventures.”In January, officials

with Jacoby Development talked to Gwinnett Village Community Improve-ment District leaders and Scott Condra, president of Jacoby, said the first phase of the project — opening up seven sound stages — could be complete three to six months after the April closing with OFS. Condra said Hollywood producers are already in talks about making the studio home base for $100 million-plus productions, and an an-nouncement will be made in the coming weeks about a Los Angeles company managing the venture.

Since a state tax credit began drawing in the

entertainment industry, Georgia has been the site of several filming loca-tions, including sites for the movies “Wanderlust,” “Identity Thief” and “Flight.” The movies “Due Date” and “Last Vegas” filmed in Gwinnett, and upcoming movies set to film in Georgia include “The Good Lie,” “The Familymoon” and “Dumb and Dumber To,” expected to come out this year. TV series have also filmed in Georgia and include “The Walking Dead,” “Vam-pire Diaries,” “Neces-sary Roughness,” “Royal Pains” and others.

Senior writer Camie Young contributed to this story.

By Deanna allendeanna.allen@ gwinnettdailypost.com

Once com-pleted, the Atlanta Media Campus & Studios would be the largest movie studio in Georgia — the fourth larg-est studio lot in the country — and it would be built out by retrofitting much of the OFS site off Interstate 85 in Norcross.(Special Photo)


Documents

Progress 2014