No takers on EDC property sale

Published 10:54 am Tuesday, May 31, 2016

MOULTRIE — Apparently, the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority will have to take a land sale project back to the drawing board.

The 30 days for accepting sealed bids on 87.5 acres off primarily farm land known as the “Cole property” south of Moultrie ended Tuesday. No bids have been received, said Darrell Moore, executive director of EDC.

Earlier attempts to sell the property failed as well.

The property is valued at $260,000  and currently is being rented by Colquitt County farmer Mike Mobley. Any sale would have allowed Mobley to finish his crop season.

The decision to offer the property for sale again came a month ago as the EDC also decided to pursue development at Citizens Park on property owned by the EDC.

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The authority voted to use $1.5 million in Special Local Option Sales Tax monies from the 2002 SPLOST to “explore the idea” of building an “incubator” building at Citizens Business Park on Quitman Highway on property already owned by the authority.

The proposal is to build a shell that can be partitioned off to accommodate upstart businesses.

Moore said there is a demand for these kinds of projects and noted that he has visited some other communities where incubators have been built.

“This concept is exciting,” said Chairman Larry Franklin.

Franklin said four local companies have already expressed interest in this type of development.

He further noted that while it is great to land a large commercial project like Publix in the community, it’s equally important to pursue those businesses that hire 10 to 15 employees each who can then shop at Publix and other stores.

He also noted that this idea parallels the local SCORE (Service Corporation of Retired Executives) initiative that helps guide would-be entrepreneurs in starting up new businesses or expanding existing ones. Business volunteers serve as mentors to help business beginners understand what they need to launch and sustain a commercial enterprise.

The SCORE project for Moultrie and Colquitt County was recently recognized for its mentoring program. A reception was held here to recognize the Moultrie chapter and to honor retired banker Bob Montgomery, who heads up the local SCORE project, for his mentoring prowess.

In discussing the incubator project, authority member Daniel Dunn said this move should require considerable strategic planning. “Let’s look around at other projects and find out what works,” he said.

Member Jim Matney said the authority definitely needs to utilize these capital funds after determining a viable project.