County leaders brought investors, developers, property owners and regional partners together to showcase opportunities, strengthen collaboration and expand Clayton County’s economic base
Clayton County’s available properties, strategic location and potential for economic expansion were placed before regional investors as county leaders made the case that the community is ready for its next chapter of development.
The Development Authority of Clayton County hosted the Clayton County Real Estate Investment & Development Forum on Thursday, Aug. 27, at the Arena at Southlake in Morrow. Presented under the theme “Building a Greater Clayton,” the forum brought developers, brokers, business owners, property owners, real estate professionals and government leaders together to discuss the opportunities shaping the county’s economic future.
The message throughout the event was clear: Clayton County has valuable assets, but transforming those assets into jobs, investment and an improved quality of life will require cooperation across government agencies and the private sector.
“It takes more than just one agency, more than just one board to move Clayton forward,” said Dr. C.H. Braddy, chairman of the Development Authority of Clayton County. “It takes more than just the Board of Commissioners.”
Braddy said the Development Authority is working to identify available land and connect with developers and other potential partners. He emphasized that the Authority cannot accomplish that work alone.
“We’re all coming together under one vision to actually move Clayton forward—with the Housing Authority, with the Economic Development Office, and developers and stakeholders,” Braddy said.
The forum was presented in partnership with Aerotropolis Atlanta, the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce, Clayton County government and the Housing Authority of Clayton County.
Attracting investment and expanding the tax base
The Development Authority of Clayton County, also known as Invest Clayton, is responsible for attracting new jobs and investment to the county. Its business-development services include site selection, project management, development incentives, permitting assistance and customized market and demographic research.
The Authority’s economic-development efforts are centered on five primary industry clusters: logistics and distribution, food and beverage processing and manufacturing, health services and health logistics, aviation and aerospace manufacturing, and film.
Maceo Rogers, president and CEO of the Development Authority of Clayton County, said the agency’s work ultimately centers on attracting investments that produce tangible benefits for the community.
“We market the county to business investors that will create jobs and investment and grow our county’s tax base,” Rogers said. “We create quality jobs and quality investment to, again, grow this county.”
Rogers described the forum as a “jump-start” toward bringing more of Clayton County’s available and underused properties into productive use. Expanding the tax base, he said, could generate additional resources and contribute to a higher quality of life for residents.
“We have opportunities that should be doing more on and for our tax base,” he said. “We need to get these properties back on the tax rolls so that we can generate a higher, better quality of life for the citizens of this great county.”
The event also introduced Clayton County’s opportunities to investors and development professionals who may not have been familiar with the activity occurring south of Atlanta.
“We had a lot of folks from the north side who weren’t aware of some of the things that we have going on,” Rogers said. “The more we can expose these opportunities, the better off we are, because you have to get people into your environment who are going to make a difference.”
Rogers said attracting investment from outside Clayton County is essential, but supporting the expansion of businesses already operating within the county remains an important part of the overall strategy.
“Bringing investment from the outside to the inside is paramount,” he said. “We have investment from the inside. That’s a great thing. We like to think and know that we can take existing businesses and create expansion opportunities.”
Connecting development with workforce preparation
New buildings and businesses represent only part of the economic-development equation. Employers must also have access to workers with the skills required to fill the jobs those investments create.
Dr. Shaun E. Johnson, chief of Workforce Development and Training for the Development Authority, said the forum allowed her team to promote the county’s assets while hearing directly from employers about their workforce needs.
“Today was an awesome opportunity for us to share all of the things that are available here in Clayton County,” Johnson said. “And then having the opportunity to hear from some of our business partners about some of the things they need in reference to workforce development.”
Johnson said those conversations gave her a better understanding of how her office can support the county and respond to the needs expressed by businesses.
The Authority’s workforce-development services include customized job profiling, employee recruitment, skills-assessment testing and skills-gap training. Aligning those services with incoming and expanding businesses could help ensure that Clayton County residents are prepared to compete for the jobs created through new investment.
Open for business
Kayla Chase, project manager with the Clayton County Office of Economic Development, said the forum demonstrated the importance of partnership, communication and cooperation among the agencies responsible for guiding the county’s growth.
“We all want to move Clayton forward, but we have to do it by working together,” Chase said.
While Invest Clayton focuses on attracting investment and creating jobs, the county’s Office of Economic Development works in business attraction, retention and expansion, project management and site-selector engagement.
Chase said the county is seeking development that broadens the choices available to residents and strengthens the local economy.
“For the Community and Economic Development Department, today is important for us just to emphasize that we are open for business,” Chase said. “We want to see mixed-use development come here, a diverse use of housing, as well as a different clientele for restaurants and retail.”
Her comments added a more specific community-development dimension to the forum. The goal is not simply to place new buildings on available land, but to consider the combination of housing, restaurants, stores and commercial activity that residents will experience in their daily lives.
“The importance of being here today is to show how we can get that done,” Chase said, “and what our next five years look like in Clayton County.”
Building regional partnerships
Detrick Stanford, chief operating officer for the Clayton County Board of Commissioners, said the forum created an opportunity to bring the development community together to consider Clayton County’s direction.
“The Development Authority has done a phenomenal job in ensuring that we bring the development community into one room to talk specifically about the role and the direction of Clayton County,” Stanford said.
He added that successful development requires partnerships that extend beyond the county’s geographic boundaries.
“We hope that the citizens, as well as the development community, see the direction the county is heading in,” Stanford said. “That will bring us what we deem a fruitful, collaborative relationship with not just the development community, but also the region.”
Stanford’s perspective is informed by 20 years of service to Clayton County. He described that milestone as both a joy and a privilege and credited the public servants who helped cultivate his understanding of government service.
Clayton County’s location remains central to its investment appeal. The county sits approximately 12 miles south of downtown Atlanta and contains most of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Its Tier 1 designation also provides qualifying businesses access to some of Georgia’s highest job-tax credits, along with other local, state and federal incentives.
The Arena at Southlake as a community asset
The Arena at Southlake served as more than the location for the forum. Event organizers also used the gathering to demonstrate how the venue can support business, community and entertainment activities.
LaShonda Neal, the arena’s sales director, said the facility offers spaces for small-business meetings, corporate events, team-building programs, conferences, concerts and other large gatherings.
“There is so much to thrive for here in Clayton County,” Neal said. “There are properties that are available. There are opportunities that are available in order to bring our community together, which is one of the reasons that the Arena at Southlake is here.”
Neal said the venue’s conference rooms, rooftop space and arena bowl allow it to accommodate organizations with different needs—from a meeting of 10 or 25 people to a major corporate or community event.
“The arena has a lot of things to offer for not just a small-business owner, but also for large corporations as well,” Neal said.
Taking control of Clayton County’s story
Beyond land, incentives and workforce development, Braddy said the county must also take control of how its future is presented.
“This is our county,” he said. “With this county being what I see as a stone that many builders have rejected, now we are becoming the chief cornerstone.”
For Braddy, “Building a Greater Clayton” is not simply an event theme. It reflects a larger effort to replace outdated perceptions with a clearer picture of the county’s assets, people and economic potential.
“We’re taking our narrative back,” Braddy said. “We’re taking our story, and we’re writing our story. We are truly Clayton.”
District 1 Commissioner-elect Dr. Demetrius Collins offered a concise message that reflected the collaborative spirit of the gathering.
“We are Clayton,” Collins said, “and we are going to move forward together.”