Medical school plans advance, biotech corridor still struggling

BYLINE: Don Nelson, Athens Banner-Herald, Ga.

Dec. 30--Biotechnology and medicine, two areas government officials and business leaders lump into a category called the life sciences, fueled a recurrent and dominant theme in business and economic development news headlines during 2007 in the Athens area.

Below are summaries of several top life science stories that made the front pages of the Athens Banner-Herald in 2007. In addition, this report will provide in chronological order a list of news capsules reviewing other business stories.

--A plan to develop a medical school on the U.S. Navy Supply Corps School campus after the military base closes (under the federal Base Realignment and Closure Act) in 2011 began taking place in 2007. The University of Georgia presented the medical school concept to the Local Redevelopment Authority early in the year, and the rest of 2007 was spent wrangling over that proposal.

UGA and the LRA finally nailed down an agreement, and the LRA sent the plan off to the federal government in late October.

Under the plan, the LRA will give the 58-acre base to UGA. In partnership with Athens Technical College and the Medical College of Georgia, the university plans to eventually build or renovate 1.2 million square feet of facilities on the site to train doctors, nurses and other health sciences students.

UGA also agrees to pay $7.9 million to a coalition of Athens nonprofits for an off-base cluster of shelters, housing, clinics and other facilities to benefit the homeless, most likely on North Avenue.

UGA is applying to the U.S. Department of Education for a public benefit conveyance to get the base for free. If the department doesn't agree by November 2009, or if the state legislature doesn't fund the planned new medical school by May 2010, the LRA will submit a backup plan that calls for UGA to get half the base and the Navy to auction off the other half to a private developer for a mixed residential and commercial development.

UGA estimates the medical school will generate $17 million in payroll and $1.4 million in taxes for the Athens-Clarke economy.

Because of the connection with Augusta-based Medical College of Georgia, Augusta lawmakers and business people, who feared the plan would hurt MCG's impact on Augusta, have opposed the plan and have pressured state officials to withhold funding and approval to proceed with a medical school campus in Athens.

--Another big story that could have significant impact on the Athens economy came in July from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that named a University of Georgia-owned site off South Milledge Avenue as one of five finalists for a federal National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility.

The government wants to build a 500,000-square-foot lab that will provide research and development space to combat bio- and agro-terrorism threats and emerging disease pandemics, especially illnesses such as avian flu that can transfer from animals to humans.

If Homeland Security chooses Athens for the lab, the project would create 1,550 construction jobs over a three-year period, according to figures from the UGA Carl Vinson Institute.

The lab, itself, would create about 125 jobs in its first three years and has the potential for 250 to 350 permanent jobs generating $550 million in wages and salaries during its first 20 years of operation. An additional 500 jobs would be created through businesses outside the lab.

The UGA site is competing with locations in Manhattan, Kan., home of Kansas State University; at the Flora Industrial Park in Madison County, Miss.; at the Umstead Research Farm near Durham, N.C., which already has strong biotechnology research facilities; and the Texas Research Park in San Antonio.

A decision is expected by fall 2008.

--Project Bamboo, the code name for a company that was considering building a flu vaccine manufacturing plant on part of the Orkin tract that straddles Oconee and Clarke counties, turned out to be Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Solvay, the Marietta-based U.S. subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, a group of pharmaceutical companies run by Brussels, Belgium-based Solvay, had been awarded a nearly $300 million contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop cell-based influenza vaccines and plan for domestic manufacturing capacity in the U.S.

The company was looking at several sites around the country, including one in Birmingham, Ala. In September, an Athens real estate broker said Solvay had decided to go to the Alabama location, and the Birmingham media were reporting that Solvay was coming to the city with its flu vaccine plant.

Shortly after that, however, the Birmingham News reported that a scheduled announcement about Solvay had been postponed and Solvay spokesman Neil Hirsch said the company had not made a decision.

Athens-Clarke officials have indicated there might be a slight chance that Solvay will reconsider an Athens site.

Should Solvay choose Alabama, it will be the second time in the past two years that a major pharmaceutical firm has passed over the Orkin tract and selected another state.

--The Georgia General Assembly approved nearly $18 million in funding for Athens Technical College to construct a new life sciences building that will encompass between 85,000 square feet and 100,000 square feet. Athens Tech also embarked on a major fundraising campaign to raise an additional $5 million for the new building and to help expand the scope of Athens Tech's life sciences curriculum.

The above stories highlighted the strong activity in the life sciences sector for 2007 in the Athens area. Efforts to build jobs and economic growth around biotech and medical firms should remain in the forefront for 2008.

--In February, we learned that investors and state officials in Wisconsin were trying to lure away Athens-based company Aruna Biomedical, which markets and sells human neural progenitor cells, derived from human stem cells.

Aruna CEO Steven Stice, a UGA researcher and the person who discovered a way to produce the neural cells in large quantities, said he intended to stay, even if the company moved. Georgia investors made counteroffers to keep Aruna in the state.

-- Missouri-based Landmark Holdings applied for a certificate of need in January to build a long-term acute care center on Sunset Drive. Georgia's Department of Community Health approved the certificate in June.

The hospital project will cost about $9.9 million to build, including about $1.6 million for a 5-acre tract of land on Sunset Drive, $1.2 million for equipment and $5.7 million in construction costs. The building will include 42 private rooms, a chapel and family meeting rooms.

Landmark has indicated that the hospital will serve people living in Clarke, Oconee, Madison, Oglethorpe and 10 other nearby counties.

The business news covered much more than the life sciences, though, and what follows are brief descriptions of various other stories that made the Banner-Herald's front page in the realm of business and economic development.

--Restaurants in downtown Watkinsville began serving beer and wine Jan. 1 under an ordinance that was passed by the Watkinsville City Council in 2006.

Proprietors of the Watkinsville eating establishments said the ability to serve beer and wine enhanced their sales.

--Developers announced in January that they planned to build a second Target department store in Athens, this one on Lexington Road, but in June, the project was called off.

--John Cochran and Brian "Spike" Buchowski, the owners of Athens-based Terrapin Beer Co. announced in February that they planned to build an Athens brewery to make their beer.

For years Terrapin has had other companies make its signature beers, but leased a building on Newton Bridge Road this summer and converted the space to a beer brewery. They obtained their state license in December and expected to begin brewing before 2007 ends.

--The same developers who created Tailgate Station, a condominium-style parking lot for UGA football fans, announced plans to build a similar option for recreational vehicles. The RV lot called BullDog Park, will provide a 250-spot, 18-acre RV lot on the corner of Olympic Drive and Hancock Industrial Way (4 miles from Sanford Stadium) is scheduled to open in June 2008. Lots are priced at $30,000.

--A late, deep freeze Easter weekend devastated fruit crops such as blueberries and peaches throughout Georgia and prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare 152 of Georgia's 159 counties as disaster areas.

--The Georgia Department of Economic Development in April designated Athens-Clarke County as an Entrepreneur Friendly community. The state launched the Entrepreneur Friendly Designation program last year to build a network of Georgia communities dedicated to helping small businesses and the state's economic development efforts as a whole.

--Swiss native Brigitta Hangartner opened her new downtown Athens movie theater called Cine in April in the old Snow Tire building. Hangartner renovated and readapted the building to house a bar, restaurant and two theaters showing domestic, art and foreign films.

--Save-A-Lot, a deep-discount franchise grocery store, took over the former Southern Family Markets (and before that Bi-Lo) space in the Shoppes of South Athens on South Milledge Avenue.

--Piedmont College purchased the Prince Avenue Baptist Church and school campus on Prince Avenue and adapted the building for Piedmont's classes, which started in May.

--Members of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce's board of directors picked former Athens-Clarke Mayor Doc Eldridge to head the chamber, replacing Larry McKinney, who resigned in September 2006 to take a job with the Daytona Beach/Halifax Area Chamber of Commerce in Florida. Eldridge began his new role June 1.

--Air Midwest, the only commercial airline service available at Athens-Ben Epps Airport, announced its intention to discontinue air service between Athens and Charlotte, N.C. The airline provided service through US Airways.

Gulfstream International Airline has submitted an application to the Federal Aviation Administration to replace Air Midwest as Athens' commercial carrier and was supposed to take over in October. Air Midwest continues to operate flights under the federal Essential Air Service subsidy program. Gulfstream officials have not returned phone messages asking when the airline will begin serving Athens.

--Atlanta development company Rialto Property Partners LLC submitted plans for a five-story, 100-room, boutique-style Hotel Indigo at 500 College Ave. on property that formerly served as the Clarke County School District headquarters.

The Intercontinental Hotel Group, which owns the Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza also owns the Hotel Indigo franchise.

Plans call for a hotel with executive suites, a 24-hour restaurant, a bar that will feature live music and an outdoor patio area tying the lobby and restaurant together, he said.

--CBL & Associates Properties Inc., the Chattanooga, Tenn., company that owns and manages Georgia Square Mall announced the company would spend more than $10 million to renovate and update the 675,000-square-foot Athens mall, which opened in 1981.

Workers will reshape the main entrance on the south side and two secondary entrances on the north side. Inside, renovations will bring new furniture and fixtures, upgraded restrooms, new escalators, new tile floors with carpet accents and new lighting. Also, the old elevator will be replaced with a new and larger elevator, and a curving stairway will connect the mall's two levels at the center of the facility.

--The executive director of the Athens YWCO announced in August that the YWCO had bought land in Oconee County where the organization would build a new facility and relocate in the future.

--Madison County's largest commercial employer, Weyerhaeuser Co., announced in early October that it would cut more than a third of its work force at the end of that month.

The Weyerhaeuser Co., which operates the Colbert iLevel manufacturing plant on Georgia Highway 72, announced that the company would lay off 70 of its 205 employees and permanently shut down its veneer production line in 30 days.

Weyerhaeuser laid off 25 hourly jobs at its Colbert facility in January.

--An Anderson, S.C., family purchased the J&J Flea Market, a giant operation off U.S. Highway 441 near the Jackson-Clarke county line in late September.

Arthur Boggs and his family -- wife Pamela and sons Trey and Bryan -- bought the J&J from Jerry Farmer and immediately began expanding the facility.

The Boggses also bought more than 120 undeveloped acres adjoining the 33-acre flea market, which is open Saturdays and Sundays.

--The owners of Charmar Flowers & Gifts announced in October that the drought had taken its toll on their business, and they decided to close shop.

The business already had been hammered by the late freeze in April, and had suffered an 80 percent to 90 percent drop in sales of bedding plants due to the drought and associated ban on outdoor watering. The owners have been talking with interested parties about selling the business.

--The Pottery, a sprawling, 175-acre complex of garden and home decorating merchandise closed Nov. 12 after more than 30 years of business. The enterprise had grown from a small inventory of flower pots to a million-square-foot warehouse and garden center complex.

The owner, Joe Craven, sold the property that straddles Jackson and Banks counties to developers who plan to turn the site into a major commercial shopping center.

--Athens wholesale bakery Big City Bread Bakery closed briefly in November after the couple who bought the business from original owner Jim Payne, unexpectedly shut down the bakery after only eight months of ownership.

The bakery was reopened in mid-December when Hartwell entrepreneurs Rick and Juliette Shimkets purchased the business. The Shimkets operate Tastes of Georgia, a cafe and wine store in Hartwell and had relied on Big City Bread products for the restaurant's panini-style lunch menu.

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