The State of Georgia and particularly our region are very lucky to have Baxter International coming to Stanton Springs. Baxter is recognized worldwide as a leader in biomedical manufacturing and is a company that makes long term commitments to the communities in which they locate. The State has made a concerted effort to locate major life science companies and other industries that will potentially raise the standard of living for all our citizens. The efforts of the State and the Joint Development Authority brought these efforts to fruition. While the people working at Baxter will have the opportunity to earn a very good living, the spinoff from having 1,500 such people in our region will have a ripple effect that will affect us all. While any one community will not see all the growth associated with a facility of this size, our region will benefit from this and other facilities like this that locate in this region. The other positive note is that pharmaceutical manufacturing can usually be found grouped together and the State’s planned training facility in Stanton Springs will be used to continue to turn out a workforce trained to work in this industrial segment.
Without the vision of our leaders years ago and the fortitude to stick with the plan, we would not have been in the position to compete with the rest of the world for Baxter. While the actual timeline began four years ago with a consultant seeking community and industrial property information, the real groundwork was laid years before that by the members of the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton counties. Their vision and hard work will continue to pay off for years to come as our area will be positioned to grow our industrial base with high quality businesses like Baxter.
Those of us in Economic Development recognize the value of locating a company of Baxter’s caliber in our area and time will demonstrate to others that this win will continue to provide a huge economic stimulus to our economy for years to come.
Thanks go out to the State of Georgia, the Department of Economic Development, the JDA, the chambers, and welcome Baxter to our area.

Bob Hughes is the president of the Madison-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce.

Printed in the July 19, 2012