His final full year was a significant one for the Liberty County Development Authority, retiring CEO Ron Tolley said – and there is more to come, he told a recent Liberty County Chamber of Commerce’s Progress Through People luncheon.
Tolley is retiring after 43 years as the LCDA’s CEO, and extolled the authority and its staff for what he called a “great year” in 2023.
“We had a lot that happened in 2023,” he said.
Tolley cited the LCDA’s final board meeting of the year, a meeting that led to six bond resolutions, sales agreements, lease agreements or memoranda of understanding for six different companies. Those pacts total $350 million in investments, with 3.2 million square feet of space and 600 jobs.
“It was one of our best board meetings,” he said.
Future expansions, Tolley said, could mean up to 5 million square feet of buildings and 1,500 jobs. The current annual payroll for manufacturing and distribution, he said, is about $300 million.
Tolley also extolled the work being done across Islands Highway from the LCDA’s Tradeport East with the under construction Dorchester Commerce Center. The project developer is building three spec buildings. The smallest is 276,000 square feet, with another building encompassing 594,000 square feet and the largest of three to be 1.2 million square feet in size. The first two are expected to be finished this year, and the largest one has a target date of 2025.
“That is a major commitment on the part of a developer,” Tolley said.
It also will give Tolley something he has longed to see – visibility from Interstate 95.
“I am so proud to say (it) will be adjacent to I-95 and highly visible to the thousands of people who go down I-95,” he said. “That is so important because for years we’ve had great resources but no one ever saw them. Now, they will see them.”
The continued development along the stretch of Islands Highway from the interstate interchange to Brigdon Road has met with opposition from east end residents, concerned about growth, pollution and increasing traffic.
The first three spec buildings are the first phase for Dorchester Commerce Center, which could add two more phases and up to another seven buildings. The first phase represents an investment of $195 million and parking for up to 900 employees.
Tolley also said Newbridge, which owns land adjacent to Tradeport East, has a site that is appealing to future development.
“Things are going great for the authority in Liberty County and there are new things that are teed up,” he said. “A lot of things happening around Tradeport East.”
While Tradeport East — across Islands Highway from the Dorchester Commerce Center — continues to attract industries, the LCDA reached a deal with Riceboro-based SNF for land in its Tradeport West holdings off Highway 17. SNF purchased 20 acres to develop a rail yard that will create 25 jobs and will allow the company, which employs approximately 1,700 people, to expand its footprint in Riceboro.
“By taking their rail yard from Riceboro into Tradeport West, they can put additional facilities in Riceboro and have 125 jobs total as a result of this rail being developed,” Tolley said of SNF’s $20 million investment.
Not every company the LCDA has worked with the past year has been as large as SNF. One of the smaller companies is owned by a pair of brothers, Tolley said. Initially, it will have 30 jobs and a $6 million investment, with a building that can be expanded to 100,000 square feet.
“This one of the smallest companies we’ve worked with in a long time but it worked perfectly. Two brothers started a company and it kept growing and growing and it got to the point where they needed their own facility,” Tolley said. “And with the growth they have exhibited in the past, they will probably need that 100,000 square feet.”
Also ongoing is site clearing for Creative Home Ideas, which has an initial investment of $15 million and expects to have 70-100 employees. The LCDA also held a groundbreaking for Westin Furniture last month, for a project that has an investment of $26 million at the start and could provide from 80-190 jobs, depending on its growth and expansions.
One of the larger projects was the announcement of Sewon Automotive Georgia, with an $80 million investment and a projected 180 jobs. That company is going to go into a 510,000 square foot building once it is completed, and it could be expanded to 710,000 square feet. Those kinds of expansions usually lead to higher jobs numbers, too, Tolley said.
“Typically, when they expand their facilities, you also see increases in employment,” he said.
Another 647,000 square foot building in Tradeport East is now home to a company, with 50 jobs, and two affiliate companies. Safavieh developed a 1.4 million square foot building that is home to Hooker Home Furnishings and three other firms, including longtime Liberty County industry Hugo Boss.
The clothier started nearly 25 years ago with 65 employees and 165,000 square feet in the Midway Industrial Park. The company has doubled its footprint in the Midway park to 330,000 square feet, taking an available building there, and its employment ranks are now up to 400.
Tolley recalled the LCDA starting out with 60 acres in hand — half of which was wetlands. Their holdings have grown to thousands of acres and the jobs it has created have gone from 300 to 4,100. He credited the board and especially the staff for those achievements.
“It’s a team effort in the authority office,” he said. “None of this would have been possible without them working on it.”
The LCDA has announced Tolley’s successor, current United Way of the Coastal Empire CEO and former Savannah Economic Development Authority vice president Brynn Grant, a Liberty County native and resident.
Tolley sees a bright future ahead for the county and the LCDA.
“The authority is well teed up for incredible announcements,” he said. “And I anticipate you’ll see several more in 2024.”