Companies interested in space

A permanent tenant to the county's speculative building in Grovetown hasn't been named, but several companies have expressed interested in the site, development officials said Wednesday.

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Development Authority of Columbia County Executive Director Zack Daffin said the county has been a finalist during the site selection process for at least five companies in-part because of the 50,000-square-foot building at Wrightsboro Road and John Deere Parkway.

The companies showing interest include a Canadian manufacturer, whom Daffin said has scheduled a trip to visit the site soon.

"There are some real advantages to them being here," Daffin said of the company, which he would not identify. "The spec building is already doing what we hoped it would do" to lure new manufacturers to the county.

Daffin said that since March companies have expressed interest in the site, though a permanent tenant has not been finalized.

The facility is essentially four walls and a roof that a tenant will complete to its specifications.

State grants and an interest-free federal loan funded about $600,000 of the $1.5 million facility, with the remaining cost financed through a public-private partnership with developers Bill Kulke, Tony Atkins and David Darby.

Rental income from a permanent tenant will pay off the 10-year federal loan.

Toledo, Ohio-based Dana Corp., a parts supplier to John Deere, signed a 90-day lease agreement for the building with the development authority in June. The company has not been mentioned as a permanent tenant, but the building is adjacent to two major John Deere plants.

In other business, Daffin said the authority is in the planning stages for a ground-breaking ceremony for the long-planned Augusta Technical College campus in Horizon South. Details have not been finalized and a date has not been set.