2015 A Good Year for Stephens County Economy
By Charlie Bauder, WNEG Radio, Toccoa
2015 was good year economically for Stephens County.
The Stephens County Industrial Building Authority reports new and incoming businesses are doing well and even expanding.
One of the manufacturers that moved to Stephens County in 2015 is now shipping out the product that it makes there.
Sark Wire shipped its first locally manufactured product from its Toccoa plant at the end of December.
Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin says this is exciting news, but adds it is just the beginning for Sark Wire in stephens county.
“We are very, very proud of that company,” said Martin. “They have moved into the community and made this a good home. They are up to about 22 employees now and they are shipping product to their customers. More equipment is to arrive and then they will add on some additional employees.”
Sark Wire opened its toccoa plant last year in the old Eddy West building in the Meadowbrook Industrial Park.
Out of that facility, Sark Wire manufactures and distributes copper wire.
Meantime, the other major industrial announcement in 2015 involved German-based automotive parts supplier, NIFCO KTW, which is locating its U.S. operations at the Hayestone-Brady Business Park on Highway 17.
Martin says construction on the new NIFCO KTW plant is moving forward on schedule.
“What a fabulous success that has been,” said Martin. “We are looking at summertime for the employment to start ramping up.”
Over the next five years, NIFCO KTW plans to invest $27 million and create 200 jobs, with officials saying more than half of those jobs will come in the first year of operations.
The toccoa plant will supply parts to BMW and Mercedes Benz USA.
Another construction project that local officials are pleased to see moving along is the demolition of the old Host Inn motel at the corner of Big A Road and Fernside Drive.
The building is being raised to make way for a new Holiday Inn Express.
Martin calls that a positive step for the future of Toccoa-Stephens County.
“A hotel on that site has served this community for decades and it is our hope and dream that a hotel will continue to be there,” said Martin. “An important first step is the demolition of the Host Inn. That is well underway and hopefully, plans will continue to come together and we will see construction on that site.”
Holiday inn express officials plan construction in the fall with the 90-room hotel set to open in the spring of 2017.