Governor Sonny Perdue and members of the OneGeorgia Authority Board met today at the Heart of Georgia Technical College in  Dublin to approve grants and loans from the OneGeorgia Authority’s portfolio of financing programs.

These awards will assist with a variety of economic development projects in rural  Georgia aimed at creating jobs, stimulating new private investment, supporting the retention of existing jobs and enhancing regional competitiveness through capacity-building projects. These projects, along with their respective local leadership representatives, were recognized at the OneGeorgia board meeting.

Company officials and local leaders associated with the most recent EDGE awards were recognized at today’s meeting. The eight EDGE awards, totaling $16,773,513, are leveraged against just over $1.2 billion in total project costs and are projected to create over 2,992 jobs as well as the retention of an additional 222 jobs.

The Putnam Development Authority was awarded a grant for their Enhancing Regional Competitiveness/Road Infrastructure plan.

Equity grant funds of $500,000 will be used to assist with the construction of an access road and entryway into the newly acquired 130-acre tract of land,  Rock  Eagle  Science & Technology  Park . The project site is located along US Hwy 441, just north of the City of  Eatonton and 14 miles from I-20 in  Madison. The site plan for the Park consists of 21 parcels ranging from 3.4 to 10.6 acres which will be marketed to small and medium-sized technology-sector companies. The  Putnam  County high school campus is located on 129 acres on the northern end of the property and the  Science  Technology  Park will be located on 130 acres on the south end of the property. In order to market to potential tenants, it is necessary to construct an entryway into the Science and  Technology  Park .

Equity Grant Award:  $500,000/Total Project Cost: $2,859,573

The OneGeorgia Authority was created utilizing one-third of the state’s tobacco settlement to assist the state’s most economically challenged areas. The OneGeorgia Authority is expected to receive about $1.6 billion over the 25-year term of the settlement. From the Authority’s inception to-date, OneGeorgia has made 506 awards totaling $299 million leveraged against total project investment of $6.9 billion, a return on investment of 23:1. Impacting 136 economically-depressed counties, 51,865 jobs have been retained and created.