As the Liberty County Development Authority nears completion of its strategic review, it also is taking a look at where it has been — and where it wants to be.
Dr. Michael Toma, Fuller E. Callaway Professor of economics at Georgia Southern University, presented LCDA members at their last meeting a look at how Liberty County measures up against its neighbors and other communities — and why economic development is important.
The LCDA also has undertaken a strategic review, headed up by Boyette Advisors, to see how it stacks up against the region and the state. It also will have a target industry analysis to show what prospects the LCDA should pursue and will have an incentives guidelines. There also will be a communitywide survey.
“The plans you are working with Boyette will help you get some policies,” Toma said.
“It is a great foundation for what we’re doing next,” Grant added.
Toma said businesses looking at expanding into a new community have a set of questions to ask, with where are their workers going to come from, where the workforce is going to live and will their employees enjoy living in that community among the top queries.
“One of the things we heard was a lot of people want retail and entertainment and raise issues regarding housing,” Grant said.
What was not understood as much, she said, was industrial recruitment.
Economic development spurs what Dr. Toma calls a “virtuous cycle” — as jobs are created, so are opportunities and resources, along with more investment in amenities, better housing and more retail and entertainment options, leading to a higher quality of life. And that, he said, enhances the ability to recruit new businesses and keep the cycle going with more jobs.
Economic development, he said, is the vehicle for long-run improvement in economic conditions in Liberty County. But the process is challenging, Toma’s presentation pointed out. It is very competitive and can be frustrating, and also expensive. Since success is a long-term outcome, it requires maintenance and due diligence. Community assets, ready sites and skilled labor also are key. Agencies dedicated to economic development should prioritize target industries and put in place a systematic, policy-driven incentives plan.
“We’re competing with thousands of communities for those jobs,” Grant said.
From 2018-23, the logistics sector in Liberty County employment grew from 4% to 9%, and its average annual wages grew from $43,000 to $47,000. Most of the sectors remained steady, with a 1% decline in employment in local government.
Manufacturing had the biggest jump in annual wages, going from $69,000 on average in 2018 to $84,000 in 2023.
“The biggest bang for wages in a job are for those in the manufacturing sector,” Toma said.
Toma also pointed to increases in per capita income, total personal income, population and employment. Liberty County, which lost population from 2012-15, regained that loss in 2016-19 and has grown its population by 6% since. Per capita income grew by 6% from 2012-15 and has grown at 9% since, while total personal income has jumped from 2% growth in 2012-15 to 16% in 2020-23.
Toma also looked at how Liberty compares to the four counties in the I-16 Joint Development Authority — Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham and Effingham — and to counties that have the same geographic separation from other population centers, such as Laurens County from Macon and Warner Robins, Jefferson County from Augusta and Clinch County from Valdosta.
Population growth in Liberty County outpaced its comparisons from the JDA and its geographical comparisons and outpaced the state’s population growth. Long County, with a 20% jump in population from 2020-23, was by far the fastest-growing county in Toma’s figures. Toma also noted that Long County was starting off with a lower population base.
When compared to the JDA and the state, Liberty’s personal income growth is a little behind, at 16% in 202023 while the JDA has a 21% growth and the state has a 20% over the same period.
Liberty County’s per capita growth, up 9% for 2020-23, trails that of its comparative counties, the JDA and the state.
Bang for the industrial buck
The average annual wages for manufacturing jobs are $84,000. Those kinds of jobs and the wages that go along with them create new income and allow people to attain housing, Toma noted.
He also pointed to the ALICE findings — asset limited, income constrained employed — for those who have jobs but still struggling to make ends meet. The ALICE survival budget for two adults and two children is $78,000 a year, and in Liberty County, 45% of the families either meet poverty levels or are in the ALICE constraints. Statewide, that figure is 48%.
“Which raises the question — which industries do we want to recruit for our county’s economy? What gives us the biggest bang for our buck?” Toma asked.
Manufacturing has the biggest bang for the buck, he said, but also creates and supports additional development in the jobs that enhance the quality of life.
Adding 500 manufacturing jobs could mean as many as 187 non-base jobs. That’s an impact, Toma said, of twice that of 500 logistics jobs being added and three times that of 500 retail jobs being added. Adding 500 manufacturing jobs will bring almost $44 million in new wages, and its multiplier jobs could bring in nearly $6.4 million in additional payroll.
As an example, Seohan is creating 180 jobs at Tradeport East, making a $72 million in capital investment.
“Jobs like these will help inject money into the economy and support and spur development of secondary jobs,” Toma said.
Cutting off the leak
With improved economic development, the tax base is increased and in turn, governments are more apt to lower millage rates, Dr. Toma pointed out. Also, with employment growth comes increases in wages, better retail options and more opportunities for affordable housing. Economic development also has an impact on quality of life, including more recreational amenities and a “live here, work here” emphasis.
That also will help fight what Toma calls “leakage,” the salaries and wages that are paid to employees who leave the county on a daily basis. For Liberty County, that “leakage” is $1.2 billion a year in payroll. For Chatham County, Dr. Toma said, it’s $3 billion a year in payroll that goes back with workers to their county of residence.
Recapturing some of the leakage leads to secondary jobs, such as those in retail, and that income gets to be recaptured and stay local, Dr. Toma said.
“We want jobs and we want higher-paying jobs,” he said. “With more investment in amenities, it helps Liberty County become a place people want to live and work. You mitigate the income leakage.”
It also helps spur what Toma referred to as the “virtuous cycle.”
“What economic development is intended to do is to create opportunities for those who want to work, live and play here by increasing employment, wage rates, quality of jobs, and quality of retail options,” he said. “Quality of jobs also make housing more attainable. It improves quality of life. As the quality of life and tax digest increase, that creates revenue that can be plowed back into investments in recreational amenities.”
A median valued home does not generate sufficient property taxes to pay for the government services provided to it, Toma said. To pay for those services, the millage rate would have to be 16% higher on that property without revenue from property taxes on industrial and commercial properties.
Economic development, however, is seen as a way to help lessen the property tax burden on homeowners.
Most of the Tradeport East development has been built out, and there are only a couple of smaller parcels left among its more than 1,800 acres, Grant said. Its location, right off I-95, has been key for its success.
Tradeport West, several miles away off Highway 17, needs to have infrastructure in place. The nearly 2,000-acre tract has 596 acres available for building.
But having a systemically- driven policy and prioritizing what industries are important also could help Liberty County’s longterm competitiveness as a place to work and a place to live, Toma said.
“The story that is emerging is balance,” Toma said. “All enhance the long run success of Liberty County. This is not going to happen overnight. The economic development process is a long process. There may be projects you’re competitive for. It’s a long-run proposition.”