Dalton targets shift from carpet industry

DALTON, Ga. - Whitfield County leaders are rolling out a red carpet - just not for the companies that made the carpet in the first place.

It's all about diversifying the local economy. Leaders say the move is a good thing because the flooring industry has hemorrhaged about 6,000 jobs over the last five years. That's mostly because of a sharp decline in new home sales.

So the 181-acre Carbondale Business Park the county is building off Interstate 75 would ideally be occupied by some industry that makes something other than carpet, leaders say.

Two years ago, through a community study, the Dalton-Whitfield County Joint Development Authority identified five target industries they should recruit: automotive, chemical, plastics, advanced manufacturing and data centers.

"Our whole plan for economic development - while we will look at other business types - a lot of our planning has gone into targeting these businesses," said Elyse Cochran, executive director of the Joint Development Authority. "We've researched those businesses and designed our plan around what they would want."

But if push comes to shove, county leaders will consider carpet makers and those who supply materials to carpet manufacturers.

"We have one of the highest unemployment rates in Georgia, so obviously our county commissioners are concerned about creating jobs," Cochran said. "But we want to create value-added jobs, the kind that pay more than the average."

So while that might be another carpet mill, it could be a chemical supplier or a new-age type carpet plant.

"The floor covering industry is investing lots of money in innovation and efficiency and they are becoming a lot more green," Cochran said. "So the industry may have fewer jobs, but we anticipate the trend of investment to continue to rise."

It's important to the county commission Chairman Mike Babb that the county not seem unappreciative of the carpet industry, a base that's despite losing jobs over the last few years, still keeps Dalton as the largest industrial base in the state, he said.

"If a carpet company came with the high technology and a high investment, then we would consider it," Babb said. "Plus, we hope it will draw people to Whitfield County to give us the once over."

County leaders bought the land for about $7 million with long-term bonds, Babb said. Leaders want any business that locates in the park to invest about $70 million in the property. They plan to sell it rather than give it away to a big employer.

In addition to drawing people to look at the area for industrial development, it could also serve to tamp down the cost of privately-held industrial development lands, he said.

For now, the park is not much more than a thick wooded lot, between two interstate exits at the southern tip of Whitfield County.

But Cochran hopes developers see it as the prime location for major industrial business. She said its location to the Interstate, access to workers, rail lines and nearby population centers makes it ideal for that application.

Babb, Cochran and other county leaders only recently pitched the property to statewide developers in Atlanta.

"We had 27 people from the Georgia Department of Economic Development that we presented park to," Babb said. "Now it's in their toolbox of things to offer anyone who is looking to locate a business in the state of Georgia."

Online: Hear Elyse Cochran discuss the Carbondale Business Park. Read previous stories. Comment.

Upcoming Events