Progress March 22, 2020

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Progress

A publication of

HEALTH & SERVICES | SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |

Sunday, March 22, 2020

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Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Above: Dr. James Kruer Jr., left, Northeast Georgia Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency Program director, and resident physician Ryan D. Berry discuss the successes of the hospital’s young residency program. Right: Northeast Georgia Medical Center resident Dr. Maurice A. Asouzu works with a device to help develop his surgical techniques.

NGMC residents settle in, prep for new class

BY MEGAN REED

mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Dr. Maurice Asouzu is among the first class of residents at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

He came to the general surgery program from medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and said the shift from a strictly academic environment to a community-based residency program was a culture change. But his attending surgeons, who mentor the residents, have been helpful, he said.

“You can ask them personal questions, not just about the operations, but about the residency in general,” Asouzu said.

He has done rotations with cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgery and in general surgery, with procedures such as gallbladder and appendix removal, worked in the endovascular surgical suite, and treated trauma patients.

“Your trauma experience here in Gainesville is surprising,” Asouzu said. “You would think you only get your trauma in Atlanta, but we serve the whole Northeast Georgia area, so we really get a wide variety of trauma.”

Overall, he’s seen more than 200 cases, he said.

The hospital has 26 residents, 20 in internal medicine and six in general surgery.

In July, numbers in each of those programs will double, with a second class of residents arriving, including physicians for the new family medicine program. The current residents, who started the program in July 2019, will then be able to step into a mentor role, passing on the knowledge they have picked up over the past year.

And they’ve stayed busy, work-

ing an average of 70 hours a week and doing rotations at the system’s hospitals, physicians’ offices and other local clinics and facilities.

Asouzu said he is looking forward to building on his skills throughout the five-year program.

“I’ll be able to do things my third and fourth year that I couldn’t do my first year,” he said. “I look forward to just learning and experiencing that growth to do more advanced cases.”

Dr. Ryan Berry, an internal medicine resident, has done rotations in primary care, pulmonology, nephrology, dermatology and in the hospital and its intensive care unit.

The internal medicine residency program has given him the opportunity to learn about all aspects of patient health, he said.

“I like the feeling of walking into the room and feeling like I actually know who’s sitting in front of me and that I know a lot of the aspects of their life that go into their health,” Berry said. “Health is not just their body. It’s not just their lab values. It’s their families. It’s their relationships.”

NGMC is working to add specialty programs in emergency medicine, psychiatry and obstetrics and gynecology, with the goal of having all those programs in place by 2024.

Dr. John Delzell, the hospital’s vice president for graduate medical education, said the specialties have been identified by the state as high-need areas. In the NGHS service area, he said, there is especially a need for family medicine physicians.

“If you look at the service area for the hospital system across Northeast Georgia, there are family doctors in every county across that area, but we still need a lot more,” Delzell said. “Adding that

Ryan D. Berry, right, Northeast Georgia Medical Center resident physician, and James Kruer Jr., left, Internal Medicine Residency Program director, discuss the hospital’s new graduate medical education program.

primary care program will be a great addition to our system.”

And in the quickly growing residency program, the new physicians have stepped up to the challenge, he said.

“The residents are incredibly motivated. They’re smart, and they’re excited about what they’re doing,” Delzell said. “They’ve chosen to come here, which is a really great thing, and as a new program in a new place, they’re really people who will step out on a limb. They trusted us as a new program.”

Dr. James Kruer, program director for internal medicine, has made a career out of teaching. He has been teaching since 1992, when he was a resident himself and realized after a discussion with a mentor that education was his passion.

“It’s very rewarding and fulfill-

ing as a physician to be able to pay it forward and teach the next generation,” Kruer said.

The residency program plans to do more work with medical students, Kruer said, including students from the Augusta University and University of Georgia Medical Partnership campus in Athens.

The residents have spent the year not only adjusting to life as a new physician but to a new community in Gainesville.

“I love the trees and the green in the South, but Gainesville has a really nice openness to it also,” Berry, who came from medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said. “I really enjoy doing outdoor things like rock climbing and mountain biking, and there’s plenty of that to do around here.”

Berry said he also makes time for family and disconnecting from work.

“I try not to look at my phone, I try not to look at emails. … When I go home, I’m home, and I leave work at work,” he said. “I try to focus on spending time with my family and just doing things that are for my well-being and my health.”

And Asouzu said the residents enjoy going down to downtown Gainesville together.

“We love going to the square, grabbing a drink in the square, grabbing food. Atlas Pizza is one of our favorite places to go,” he said.

And when he’s not working, Asouzu said he enjoys going to Atlanta for a sports game, going to the local YMCA, playing basketball at North Hall Community Center or attending church at Free Chapel.

Interviews for the next class of residents are done, and in late March, NGMC will learn who its next residents are.

The new residents will be chosen through a national program that matches residents with hospitals.

The resident must rank NGMC as one of their top choices, plus NGMC must rank the resident favorably, in order for the resident to be placed at the hospital.

“We’re always excited about new faces coming. I enjoy trying to find out why they picked us,” Kruer said.

“We do 15 days of interviews, and we interview at least 200 people. It’s always really exciting to hear in the end, why did they pick us, and why did they come to Gainesville?”

Berry said he was also looking forward to meeting the new residents.

“The residents are treated with respect, and so it’s a really beneficial place,” Berry said. “I’m excited to see that grow and blossom.”

NGHS expanding outreach with two new facilities

BY MEGAN REED

mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Northeast Georgia patients soon will have new options for health care.

Northeast Georgia Health System is set to open in May its Medical Park 2 building on Jesse Jewell Parkway.

Then in 2021, patients in Lumpkin County will have a “neighborhood hospital” along Ga. 400.

Medical Park 2 Medical Park 2, across from the existing Medical Park 1 facility off of Jesse Jewell Parkway, will include several Northeast Georgia Physicians Group practices where the health system’s resident physicians will be part of patient care.

Most construction will be done by the end of March, and furniture and supplies will be moving in in April, according to Robin Kermode, administrative director of operations for NGPG. Medical offices will then open on a rolling schedule in May and June.

A family medicine office will be the first to open on May 18, and then an internal medicine practice will see its first patients on May 26. NGPG Surgical Associates, which offers general surgery, will open June 1, followed by a pulmonology practice June 8.

The 72,000-square-foot facility will have three floors.

In addition to the doctors’ offices, the building will have a laboratory, pharmacy and on-site X-ray equipment.

“The goal is to provide as many connected services in one place as possible, so people don’t have to drive around as much to get the care they need,” Kermode

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Construction on the new Northeast Georgia Health System Medical Park 2 building along Jesse Jewell Parkway continues Monday, March 9.

Construction on the new Northeast Georgia Health System Medical Park 2 building along Jesse Jewell Parkway continues Monday, March 9.

said in an email.

Medical Park 2 will also include some educational space for the NGHS resident

physicians. The graduate medical education program will be welcoming its first family medicine residents

in July, and the internal medicine and general surgery residents will be able to use the space as well.

The residents, who have graduated from medical school and are doing additional training with the health system, will be part of the medical staff at the facility. Dr. John Delzell, the hospital’s vice president for graduate medical education, said adding residents to the team “means that more physicians will have eyes on your care.”

“We expect it will make it easier and faster to get an appointment with one of our physicians. Our goal is to expand the community’s access to primary care, while also giving our resident physicians the best opportunity

to connect with our local community,” Delzell said in an email. “Hopefully, that connection will lead the best and brightest to choose to stay here after they complete their residency.”

Northeast Georgia Medical Center Lumpkin While NGHS has been operating a hospital in Dahlonega since July 2019, the system is working to build a new facility at the intersection of Ga. 400 and Ga. 60 in Lumpkin County.

NGHS opened in the former Chestatee Regional Hospital building last year.

Chestatee Regional closed in July 2018, leaving Lumpkin without a hospital for

about a year. The current Northeast Georgia Medical Center Lumpkin on Mountain Drive offers emergency and inpatient services.

The new facility, set to open in fall 2021, will follow the “neighborhood hospital” model, an efficient alternative to larger hospitals that has been gaining traction over the last decade in rural and growing areas.

“The new Lumpkin hospital will meet the most common services needed in the community, including access to high-quality cardiac care,” Melissa Tymchuk, NGHS’ chief of administrative staff and lead for the project, said in an email.

“The neighborhood hospital is an innovative model that provides high quality acute care hospital services in a more efficient platform.”

The permanent NGMC Lumpkin is expected to have about 15 to 20 beds, with some room to expand if needed.

Tymchuk said work at the site is expected to begin in the next few months.

“The new NGMC Lumpkin will continue to provide the emergency and inpatient services provided today in the current location, with the addition of surgical services,” she said. “Support services will include lab, pharmacy and imaging services, also currently provided today.”

The University of North Georgia plans to use the former Chestatee Regional building for its health sciences programs when NGHS relocates to Ga. 400.

NGHS is leasing the property from the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

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Hall Sheriff ’s Office switches security focus

BY NICK WATSON

up an officer from taking the report.

The web tool allows people to report an incident if it falls in seven categories: lost property, theft, theft from vehicle, vandalism, phone harassment, criminal trespass and issues concerning a license plate or decal.

Each offense category is defined and accompanied with examples, and the Sheriff’s Office stressed it is for non-emergency incidents.

It also allows people to find out about law enforcement activity in their own backyard without calling the Sheriff’s Office.

“As far as from the public information office standpoint, I get far fewer inquiries about, ‘What was happening last night on this road?’ Those are pretty infrequent now, because you can just go on there and see what we were out on,” Booth said.

The Sheriff’s Office split from the Hall County Comprehensive Justice Information System, which linked jail and arrest information to the Hall County court system.

That system was first implemented in the 1980s.

The Sheriff’s Office is now using Superion’s ONESolution Records Management System, Jail Management System and Mobile Field Reporting.

Not all reports filed by residents are finalized, as some are kicked out depending on whether it’s a valid incident or if it is in the correct jurisdiction.

Community service officers said the lion’s share of the reports rejected are due to jurisdictional lines. When this happens, officers will reach out and advise the reporting party to file with the appropriate police department.

The Hall County Tax Commissioner’s Office has added a terminal to file reports, which has saved time for people reporting tag issues.

“Prior to that, people who came into the tag office to report a lost, missing or stolen tag would have to lose their place in line after they got to the window and come over here and file a report with our desk and then go back,” Booth said.

Booth said the Sheriff’s Office may potentially add a terminal in the Sheriff’s Office lobby for residents to file reports.

nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com

SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Lt. Scott Ware works in his office at the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.

INESVILLETIM E | GA

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THETIM ES

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office’s attempt to build a surveillance camera database succumbed to the speculation and worries of “Big Brother.”

“We kind of lost that public image perception immediately, and we just didn’t recover from that notion that people had,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said.

In May, the Sheriff’s Office unveiled its plan to collect information on surveillance cameras owned by residents A citizen gives their name, address, contact information and type of surveillance system.

They answer further questions concerning the length of their recording capabilities, the area depicted on the camera and the best time to be contacted by an investigator. Even if registered on the database, a person has the right to refuse access.

Booth said there are only 34 cameras in the database as of early March, and no crimes have been solved as a result of it.

Of the 12 most recently added cameras to the database, 11 were residential and one was business-related.

Booth said the camera program is still in operation, but the Sheriff’s Office is transitioning to working with Ring, the home security company known primarily for its doorbell-camera product.

The criminal investigations division is still working on getting signed up and up to speed with the Ring program.

“Ring camera owners can upload footage from their cameras of anything that they know of that’s suspicious or they feel law enforcement should know about, then Ring uploads that to a searchable database maintained by that company,” Booth said.

Law enforcement agencies affiliated with the program can access the database and search by address or geographical area for any usable footage, Booth said.

There is no specific timeline for the move to Ring.

Since the rollout of the Sheriff’s Office’s Sheriff to Citizen online suite of law enforcement tools, there have been 364 reports filed by residents that free

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Hall deputies work with their new K-9 partners

BY NICK WATSON

nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com In the matter of five months, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office lost two vital members of their teams that walk on all fours.

Gus, an 8-year-old bloodhound, and Journey, a 7-year-old English lab, died after each giving roughly five years of service.

The dogs stepping up to be their handlers’ new partners share the name Bella.

Gus died Aug. 13 after suffering heart failure, according to authorities.

“According to the report, Gus’ death is consistent with a left-sided heart failure. The development of the issue would have been gradual and likely not obvious until Gus could no longer compensate for it,” according to the report.

Capt. Brad Rounds said the dog “fell out” and went limp while out with his handler, Jeremy Prickett.

The 7-year-old English Lab Journey was a beloved member of the Sheriff’s Office team and died Jan. 23, one week after his retirement reception.

“I feel like the entire time, the five years, we pushed every opportunity we had. We made the most of it,” Cleveland previously told The Times.

Cleveland and Journey were called on to work events at Georgia Tech and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, including almost every Atlanta Falcons home game. The pair was assigned to the Los Angeles Rams in the leadup to last year’s Super Bowl while they were at the Falcons complex in Flowery Branch. When the Sheriff’s Office got leads on Cleveland’s next dog, he decided to take Journey along for the ride to San Antonio.

“I like to think he assisted us

with picking the canine we did, and he got to spend two weeks where he rode in the kennel with her because they got along that well,” Cleveland previously told The Times.

Bella, a 2-year-old German shorthaired pointer, was the one selected.

The dog passed its certification testing on the first try Feb. 21, and has been working full-time at the courthouse since then.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said the most recent training with Cleveland’s Bella has been her “odor threshold,” or the lowest concentration of a compound that she can detect and alert Cleveland.

This involves masking and hiding the scent in different ways and in different scenarios to test her ability to discover the item.

Beyond the odor threshold, Bella is still in need of obedience training, Booth said.

“She still has a lot of puppy in her, and she’s a very sweet dog. But that breed and her age makes her hyper for lack of a better term,” Booth said.

For Bella the bloodhound, Prickett has taken his partner on more than 26 tracks since Gus’ death.

More than half have led to capturing someone.

Bella and Prickett have participated in mutual aid calls for Gainesville and White County, with the latter leading to four miles of tracking over two hours.

Bella ultimately led authorities to the suspect who had broken into a house.

“With that case, Prickett said it solved a couple of burglaries in White County as a result of that one capture. She’s doing really well.

She’s fully in the field with him all the time now,” Booth said.

Hall County Deputy Jeremy Prickett’s new K-9 partner Bella leaps into the back of a transport truck. The bloodhound is one of two new dogs named Bella in the Sheriff’s Office.

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Hall County Deputy Dustin Cleveland works with his new partner named Bella, a German shorthaired pointer, that is new to the Sheriff’s Office.

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Community learns to live well at Times’ Healthy Aging Expo

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Visitors to The Times’ 2020 Healthy Aging Expo Wednesday, Feb. 26, at The Venue at Friendship Springs help themselves to some refreshments. The expo features demonstrations, health screenings and entertainment.

Piedmont College Cardio Vascular Tech student Taylor Warren performs a carotid artery screening on Deborah Baker during The Times’ 2020 Healthy Aging Expo Wednesday, Feb. 26

Above: Visitors to The Times’ 2020 Healthy Aging Expo make their way through the more than 40 booths on site.

Above: Shuri Roberts, of the Northeast Georgia Physicians Group Vascular Center, helps visitors at her booth during The Times’ 2020 Healthy Aging Expo Right: Trixy Paloger gives information on sepsis to visitors of The Times’ 2020 Healthy Aging Expo.

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Longstreet plans to grow Gainesville campus

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Longstreet Clinic is planning to add a three-story building between 60,000 and 90,000 square feet at its Gainesville campus. The new building will connect with the building at 725 Jesse Jewell Parkway.

Clinic hopes to complete expansion by late 2021

BY MEGAN REED

mreed@gainesvilletimes.com The Longstreet Clinic is planning an expansion that will almost double its physical presence in Gainesville.

While the project is still in the early stages, the building will likely be between 60,000 and 90,000 square feet and three stories high, Longstreet Clinic CEO Mimi Collins said. It will be connected floorto-floor with the existing 725 Jesse Jewell Parkway building on Longstreet’s Gainesville campus.

Most of Longstreet’s imaging services will likely be relocated to the first floor of the expansion, although the Breast Center will stay in its current location, Collins said.

The clinic’s neurosurgery, or-

thopedics, physical therapy and physiatry practices will be located in the new building, along with a pain management practice that will be Longstreet’s first of that specialty.

“It was an opportunity to colocate those practices that have a lot of commonality in the types of patients that they treat, and being co-located together makes a lot of sense from a patient care perspective,” Collins said.

As the clinic grows, providers are needing more space, Collins said.

“We just continue to grow in this campus. We already occupy about 95,000 square feet in these four buildings, the three that are connected and the one across the street,” she said. “Our neurosur-

geons are down the street at the Guilford Clinics building, so we’ve been wanting to move them down here.”

While the timeline is still tentative, Collins said Longstreet hopes to have the expansion open by fall or winter of 2021.

Collins said the new pain management practice will complement Longstreet’s other specialties, and in addition to that new practice, two new oncologists will be joining Longstreet soon, one in summer 2020 and another in the fall. There are also plans to hire several new pediatricians.

The specialty of endocrinology is also relatively new to Longstreet.

Dr. Evgenia “Jenya” Korytnaya joined the clinic late last year as its first endocrinologist.

Longstreet Clinic provides many specialties and primary care. Two new oncologists will be joining Longstreet, one this summer and one this fall.

Good News Clinics reestablishes identity, opens pathway

BY KELSEY PODO

kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com With 28 years under its belt, Good News Clinics is nearing three decades of improving health care access to Hall County residents.

Instead of only giving medical treatment to its patients, the nonprofit has decided to provide social work support to its most vulnerable population — heart failure patients who aren’t medically cleared to work.

Liz Coates, Good News’ executive director, said this program started in February as a partnership with United Way of Hall County.

Through this new collaboration, she said the nonprofit will intercept certain patients’ needs like helping pay for rent, covering utility bills and providing food supplies.

“These are the patients who have lost their jobs, they’re ill, uninsured and low-income,” Coates said. “This (food insecurity and bills) just exacerbates their already complicated situation.”

Beth Oropeza from United Way has taken the lead as the program’s social worker.

Coates said Oropeza is already having five to six appointments each week to meet with the nonprofit’s most medically atrisk patients.

The clinics treat upward of 3,000 people without insurance annually, with a roster of doctors providing voluntary services. The nonprofit receives its funding through donations.

“Our message is that Good News has always been and is continuing to keep chronic diseases managed, so emergency rooms and hospital beds are available for those sick in the community,” Coates said.

To better reflect Good News’ identity, the organization’s board thought it was time to reassess how it’s portrayed in the community.

Coates said they fully re-

SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Good News Clinics Medical assistant Ana Martinez asks patient Jonathan Rivera a few questions before he sees the physician Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, at the Gainesville nonprofit health center.

‘Our message is that Good News has always been and is continuing to keep chronic diseases managed, so emergency rooms and hospital beds are available for those sick in the community.’

Liz Coates, Good News Clinics executive director branded the nonprofit this year.

As a Christian organization, Good News decided to add the image of a cross to the logo and a new tagline, “Hope through Healthcare.”

Coates said the simple design conveys how the nonprofit strives for excellence in carry-

ing out its mission. She said the dot near the upper right-hand portion of the cross represents Good News’ patients reaching out for help.

The new logo’s design was thanks to the efforts of a group of Hall County students.

“Chestatee High School’s graphic design department

and their teacher, Lydia Wilson-Fields, heard about our decision to re-brand,” Coates said. “They offered to design and produce all of this beautiful new signage you see on our campus today as a student learning project, which saves Good News countless dollars on bringing this new vision to life.”

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GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT | SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

New face of downtown, midtown Mixed-use spaces in works for end of pedestrian bridge, fourth side of square

BY MEGAN REED

mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Malinda O’Brien, owner of White Dog Home, said going to midtown Gainesville was “one of the best moves” she has made.

Her business settled in midtown last year after trying out a few spots on the downtown square. The area is poised for change, including a mixed-use development with 400 apartments and several other housing developments planned.

Being part of the change is exciting, O’Brien said.

“I never would have chosen the area if I hadn’t heard about the changes that were going to be going on. I bypassed it for over a year and never even thought about going over there, and when I really dug into what the plans were for midtown, it made me choose that,” she said. “I signed a five-year commitment to the building. I was ready to show that I think it’s going to be a very good development.”

O’Brien is not the only one invested in midtown. Terwilliger Pappas, an Atlanta developer, has plans for 220 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail space at the 6.8-acre site on the southern end of the Jesse Jewell Parkway pedestrian bridge. The developer also has the option to purchase the former Hall County Jail site at Main and Parker streets for another 180 apartments and 5,000 square feet of retail space.

The development, to be named Solis Gainesville, will bring an influx of downtown residents to Gainesville, a change city officials had been seeking. City Manager Bryan Lackey said that while the city stays busy during the day, with local businesses, the Hall County Courthouse and Brenau University downtown, bringing in more residents will keep the area busy after the workday ends.

“All those people there, those rooftops, those people within a close proximity, it’s just going to add to the vibrance of our downtown,” Lackey said.

Eric Merrell, who owns Against the Clock with his wife Tonya, said when they were deciding where to locate their escape room business, they chose downtown Gainesville over Athens because of the activity in the area.

“We chose it more for the downtown vibe feel,” he said.

The downtown business community is close-knit, Merrell said.

“I don’t think we have one bad member of our downtown,” he said. “We all pretty much hand-inhand help each other out, send each other business ... always communicate like we’re best friends.”

For The Times

The Gainesville Renaissance project is designed to have 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, 15,000 square feet of office space on the second floor and eight condominiums on the third floor.

Merrell said he is excited for new businesses and hopes the additions fit in well with the community.

Downtown living was identified as a priority in the city’s downtown master plan in 2015, and another project on the “fourth side of the square” along Spring Street will bring more residents to the area.

Gainesville Renaissance will have 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, 15,000 square feet of office space on the second floor and eight condominiums on the third floor.

A pocket park will fill the space between the development and the Hall County Courthouse.

It will be developed by Fred Roddy, CEO of Roddy Properties.

Doug Ivester, a New Holland native and former Coca-Cola chairman, is an investor in Gainesville Renaissance LLP, the property owner since June 2019.

“We believe this is one of the most unique pieces of property not only in the city but in all of Hall County, so I think the project itself will have a great impact on the entire city and possibly even the region,” said Rusty Ligon, the city’s community and economic development director. “I think people will want to come from far away to visit

this project. The halo effect I think it will have in and around town will be great.”

Another private development, Parkside on the Square, had been slated for the property but fell through in May 2019. However, within days, plans for Gainesville Renaissance came together. While the city does not own the property, it had been invested in the space as a key spot downtown.

“We had worked for seemingly so long to get the Parkside project moving, and for it to just fall apart at the eleventh hour was certainly disappointing,” Lackey said. “It was quite exciting to see Mr. Ivester and his group come in pretty quickly after that and pick it up. We’re excited to see the project move.”

Also, the Liberty Midland development from The Norton Agency will bring 14 cottages to the corner of High and Grove streets. Two other projects will bring seven townhomes to Wills Street and five cottages on Davis Street.

One project completed over the past year has brought more than 100 workers to Gainesville’s square. Carroll Daniel Construction opened its new headquarters in the fall, moving downtown from the Athens Street space the com-

pany had occupied since the 1940s.

The company’s workers fill the square during lunchtime, Lackey said.

“It’s a great investment, a great architectural look to our downtown as well, being right there prominently on Jesse Jewell Parkway,” he said. “To have a local company like that, that believes in Gainesville, make that long-term investment in our downtown and to add that many more patrons for our downtown businesses, that’s really great.”

Another development that could soon be coming to Gainesville is a hotel at the site currently occupied by the historic Engine 209 at the corner of Jesse Jewell and West Academy Street. The city, which owns the property, has issued a request for proposals for the site, and while proposals were due March 9, an announcement has not been made about the developer chosen for the property.

City staff had been approached with suggestions for a hotel at the site before, Lackey said, and the request for proposals will allow the city to look at its options.

“That wasn’t really the vision of staff to have a hotel. It’s always great to have a hotel, but that was

more of one where they came to us and said, ‘we think this can work in downtown,’” Lackey said. “We kept talking about it and said let’s do (a request for proposals) and see what we get.”

A hotel, to be built by a private developer, is also planned for the former Regions building at 111 Green Street.

The area will soon be more walkable, too. The second phase of the Midtown Greenway is under construction and will go from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Industrial Drive.

“We think there will be continued interest for people to want to locate residential and commercial space along the greenway, and it’s not just within midtown and downtown,” Ligon said. “It’s now connected to the Highlands to Islands Trail, so that seven miles from the lake, downtown through midtown south down to the (University of North Georgia) campus there. I think it’s a great amenity to attract redevelopment around it, but it also provides a connector further south.”

Ligon said that although the project has seen some delays due to weather, it is set to be complete this spring.

Subdivisions going up, expanding amid housing boom

BY JEFF GILL

jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Residential building that went cold 10 years ago, in the wake of the Great Recession, is in full vigor these days.

And the growth isn’t necessarily confined to any one area in Gainesville-Hall. Home building has been widespread.

Gainesville recorded 999 building permits in 2018 — 642 of those, or nearly two-thirds — for multifamily housing like apartments, according to city records.

The city’s total dropped to 525 this year, but there’s no angst among city officials — and no comparison to the single-digit totals of the recession.

“Most of the uptick for residential growth is attributed to multifamily properties finally being developed,” said Matt Tate, deputy director of Gainesville Community & Economic Development department.

“This year, single-family development should retain a steady growth due to some of the remaining single-family residential phases in Mundy Mill, as well as, the development of some smaller singlefamily detached and residential townhome developments.”

Braselton, which is in Hall, Gwinnett, Jackson and Barrow counties, appears to be another of the hottest growth spots in the area.

The town approved 501 home construction permits in 2018, compared to 26 in 2011. It’s almost on par with Hall County’s total 581 in 2018.

Flowery Branch is another of the area’s fastest-growing communities, with subdivisions springing up across the city.

“The population is about 7,500 today. There are going to be almost 13,000 in the next five to six years,”

SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

New homes are under construction inside the new Prescott subdivision along McEver Road.

said Tim Evans, Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for economic development.

Much of it is apartments, but two new subdivisions opened in 2019 on East Main Street between Atlanta Highway/Ga. 13 and Thurmon Tanner Parkway.

Also, homes are being built in a subdivision off Gainesville Street and McEver Road.

One of the bigger neighborhoods under construction is a subdivision with 300-plus homes off McEver Road between Gainesville Street and Lights Ferry Road — a 109acre site known informally as the Conner property.

The site would be bounded by McEver Road, Gainesville Street and Lights Ferry Road, not far from

the city’s downtown, with entrances off McEver Road and Gainesville Street at Chattahoochee Street.

Home prices could run in the $200,000 to $400,000 range, and the development would feature an amenities area, lake and walking trails.

According to city records, Flowery Branch issued 32 residential permits in February (compared to 15 in February 2019) and 46 in January. So, if the trend continues, at those numbers, the city is on track to issue more than 450 this year.

And if land rezonings are any indicator, the growth is likely to continue.

Two more subdivisions are proposed on bustling McEver Road in Flowery Branch.

A 93-townhome development is proposed on 17 acres near Radford Road and across from SKF USA, and 102 single-family detached homes are proposed on 44-plus acres near Gaines Ferry Road.

In addition, a 20-townhome project off Main Street between Mitchell and Gainesville streets downtown has been approved.

The project would be just north of a housing-retail building under development off Main Street between Railroad Avenue and Church Street. That building would feature street-level stores and second-story apartments.

Subdivisions also are being built in Oakwood along McEver Road, including Prescott, which is across from West Hall High School. The

subdivision was approved in 2018 for 255 homes.

Rezoning approvals don’t always translate to construction, as in the case of the Ponderosa Farm Road subdivision approved in December 2018 — a project that received a lot of resident pushback.

“No permits have been issued or development plans submitted” for the 230-home project on 121 acres at L J Martin Drive and Ponderosa Farm Road in Chestnut Mountain, Hall County Planning Director Sarah McQuade recently said.

Active-adult subdivisions are also part of the growth, such as the recently opened Del Webb at Chateau Elan, a 784-home, 55-andolder community straddling Hall and Gwinnett counties in Braselton.

A 19,000-square-foot amenity center that emphasizes “active” in active-adult has opened there, featuring indoor and outdoor swimming pools, fitness and craft rooms, bocce ball, pickleball courts and lounge areas.

Pablo Rivas, vice president of sales for PulteGroup’s Georgia Division, which is developing the community, said he believes one of the development’s “most compelling features is its location” between Interstate 85 and Interstate 985 and the closeness to both Atlanta and the North Georgia mountains.

In the meantime, growth continues at sprawling subdivisions, such as Mundy Mill off Mundy Mill Road in Gainesville and Sterling on the Lake off Spout Springs Road in Flowery Branch.

And while they are not age-restricted, per se, they are drawing older, prospective homebuyers, Evans said.

“They’ve looked at (age-restricted) subdivisions and they say, ‘There are no kids in this neighborhood. We want to be around some families,’” he said.

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

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Apartments popping up across Hall County

BY JEFF GILL

jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Apartments for seniors, apartments for college students, apartments for millennials, apartments will retail sites.

Take your pick. All kinds are being built or are in the works around Hall County.

An apartment boom has taken place over the past year, with developers saying they’re trying to tap into one market or another.

Some rents may cause price shock for residents, and with rising land prices and housing demand, that’s not likely to ease up.

“I struggle with the higher prices, but construction costs have outpaced our ability to pay rent,” said Frank Norton Jr., a local real estate executive and housing market observer.

Costs vary from brick and mortar, land prices and permit fees.

“It’s extremely hard to build an apartment complex today (with rents) less than $1,800 a month,” said Norton, who recently opened New Holland Studios, a collection of studio apartments inside a 115-year-old former church building.

Rents at New Holland Studios vary from $800 to $1,400.

Norton’s project off Spring Street in the historic New Holland community is one of the most unique in the area, in that it is a major renovation of an existing property.

Most apartment projects in the area are being built from the ground up, such as nearby New Holland Mills behind Kroger Marketplace off Jesse Jewell Parkway.

When completed, the 284unit complex will feature a four-story main building in the center of the property that will house amenities, clubhouse and leasing offices. Amenities include an outdoor pool, fitness area, outdoor grills and fire pit, cyber cafe, pet spa and dog park.

“The idea is for (the complex) to feel like a resort,” said Will Killgore, partner with Atlanta-based developer Mesa Capital Partners, developer of The Mill at New Holland.

The development will feature 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom units, and for an extra charge, residents can rent a garage. Apartment rental rates weren’t available.

The complex will feature “carriage” units where residents won’t have neighbors living above or below them — just next to them.

In January, Gainesville City Council rezoned two midtown properties currently owned by the city, allowing for the construction of 400 apartments and retail or restaurant space.

The 6.8-acre property on the southern end of the Jesse Jewell Parkway pedestrian bridge and the 4-acre property at the intersection of Main Street and Parker Street were both rezoned to planned unit development. The city has selected Atlanta developer Terwilliger Pappas to develop the two properties.

The Jesse Jewell Parkway property will be the

first phase of the project and will have 220 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail or restaurant space. The second phase will be at the Main Street property, formerly home to the Hall County Jail. That section of the development will have 180 apartments and 5,000 square feet of retail or restaurants.

The Jesse Jewell property will be sold for $5 million, half what the city paid for it in 2018. Terwilliger Pappas will then have the option to buy the former jail site for $3.6 million within 60 days of when the last certificate of occupancy for the first phase of the project is issued.

Flowery Branch also has become a new hot spot for apartments.

Grading is well underway on a 324-unit apartment complex, Crest at Flowery Branch, off Phil Niekro Boulevard near Interstate 985 in Flowery Branch.

The Residential Group, the Atlanta-based developer on the project, is starting to clear the site, which is across from Thurmon Tanner Parkway and will also feature five outparcels, possibly for restaurants.

Apartments and retail are being built on a stretch of Main Street between Railroad Avenue and Church Street by the same developer.

The projects could be completed in 2021, said Kurt Alexander, principal with The Residential Group.

In September, a 334-unit apartment complex was approved by the Flowery Branch City Council.

The nearly 33-acre site is at 4496 Hog Mountain Road, next to Flowery Branch High School and across from Cash Road.

The Residential Group also is looking to build a 348unit apartment complex off Mundy Mill Road in Oakwood, possibly serving students at nearby University of North Georgia’s Gaines-

ville campus.

“We are looking at later this year for (developing) our project,” Alexander said.

Also serving UNG could be up to 550 apartments being planned off Tumbling Creek Road and another 486-bed student housing project off Ga. 13 and Frontage Road.

Woodfield Development has said the complex would have several amenities, including a clubhouse with business center, lounge and event kitchen, swimming pool, outdoor dining area, walking trails, and a tennis court or basketball court, according to city documents.

Monthly rents would range from $1,300 for onebedroom units to $1,900 for three-bedroom units.

Also planned is 20,000 square feet of commercial space facing Hog Mountain Road, including 10,000 square feet for a restaurant.

Even an apartment complex rejected by Flowery Branch City Council may make a comeback.

In 2019, Capstone Property Group sought to build a 520-unit apartment complex and commercial lots, asking for annexation and rezoning by Flowery Branch. Traffic concerns at the time killed the proposal.

But Capstone returned in February with a new plan — a 304-unit complex, 140unit senior living and commercial outparcels.

The newest plans drew a more positive reaction from council members, including talk about annexing the property as well as providing sewer so the city can better control design standards.

“We are going to apply for annexation ... and request sewer (at the same time),” said Jonathan Collins, Capstone president, in early March.

The newest proposal was expected to go back before the council in mid-March.

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Peaks of Oakwood apartment complex, a new 84-unit affordable housing apartment complex off Atlanta Highway/Ga. 13 in Oakwood, features a clubhouse, community room for resident gatherings and functions, laundry area and a playground and gazebo.

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Senior living housing is booming in Hall County

BY JEFF GILL

jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Hammers are flying on the new Phoenix Senior Living complex off Friendship Road/Ga. 347, near Spout Springs Road, in Braselton.

When it’s done, it will resemble more of a swanky hotel than a typical retirement home. The 208,293-squarefoot complex, scheduled to open in summer 2020, will feature a bistro, piano lounge, full-service salon, pub, library, playground and swimming pool with poolside bar.

“I think this area has been in need of something that’s more luxury,” said Kaleigh Petree, Phoenix’s director of sales and marketing. “We’re going to be that country club feel, but we’re going to have the care component as well.

I think that’s been so needed in this area for so long.”

Senior living complexes, whether be apartments, homes, traditional or luxury, are becoming a major housing trend in Hall County, particularly South Hall.

Phoenix has several senior housing properties in suburbs throughout the Southeast.

The Braselton market “matches the fundamentals we are looking for in markets that are undersupplied with quality product,” founder and CEO Jesse Marinko said. “This local market offers its citizens with all the resources and activities that create a live, work, and play community that attracts many families to settle and establish deep roots.”

Also in the works is a 308unit gated retirement community off Thompson Mill Road at the Hall-Gwinnett County line.

Hoschton developer VDC Development Group LLC’s project calls for 14 buildings totaling 544,950 square feet, with 22 one- and twobedroom 1,136-square-foot units in each building. Several small “pocket” parks would be built throughout the development.

The complex also would be near Deaton Creek Parkway and The Village at

Construction is underway on Phoenix Senior Living at 1949 Friendship Road. The 162-apartment, resortlike senior living complex will add to the already booming residential and commercial development in the Braselton area.

The three-story, 208,293-square-foot complex, scheduled to open in 2020, will feature 90 independent living units, 48 traditional assisted living units and 24 rooms for those needing memory care.

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Deaton Creek, an alreadyestablished active-adult community in Hall.

Each building will have underground parking and a large lobby area on the first floor “for entertaining guests or activities and meetings with other residents,” according to VDC’s application.

“The buildings will be modeled after large elegant homes using French provincial, English manor and other architectural styles,” VDC says. “Each building will have distinctive features and colors that will separate it from the other buildings in

the development.”

Each unit would have a full kitchen, dining area, living area, bedrooms, bathrooms with walk-in shower and outdoor patio/balcony.

“The proposed plan is that once the development becomes more occupied, there will be a catering restaurant … where residents can have a full dining experience or can choose to have meals delivered to their home on an asneeded basis,” VDC says.

Also, plans call for a wellness center/clubhouse.

Also in Braselton, a developer wants to build senior

housing as part of planned commercial/residential development off Old Winder Highway/Ga. 211 just south of Hall County.

Fountainhead Residential Development is seeking to build a 100-unit assisted living and memory care community facing Thompson Mill, which juts off Ga. 211.

Access to the four-story building would be “from an internal street also serving the commercial area and a future residential component,” Fountainhead’s application states.

The assisted living com-

mon area would include a salon, wine bar/bistro, specialty dining, community dining, 25-person theater, physical therapy, massage room and pool.

“A library, card game room and business center will also be available for the residents,” according to the application. “Adjacent to the building will be an amenity garden with a water fountain.”

Also proposed is a fourstory building housing 100 independent-living apartments, which would face Ga. 211. And 18 cottages

would be nearby “for those looking for more room and independence.”

Services in the independent-living community would include three daily “chef-prepared meals, light housekeeping, transportation within a 10-mile radius by a 15-passenger bus or sedan, 24-hour concierge, security, planned activities and entertainment,” the application states.

A 140-unit senior living complex is proposed as part of a multi-use development off Hog Mountain and Spout Springs roads in Flowery Branch. The development also would feature a 304unit apartment complex and commercial parcels.

“With the success of Cresswind at Lake Lanier and Village at Deaton Creek, I have always long predicted there would be copycats,” said Frank Norton Jr., a Gainesville real estate executive and economic development observer. “Some of them are small copycats.”

Another trend is housing in established residential developments, such as Sterling on the Lake in Flowery Branch and Mundy Mill in Gainesville, “is being diverted to age-restricted.”

“I think the strength of (Northeast Georgia Health System), the affordability of our tax structure, our close proximity to Atlanta and our recreational, active lifestyle ... all are ingredients to create this mecca we will have for the next 20 years.”

Also, Lanier Village Estates is expanding, adding 31 cottage-style homes on 24 acres off Thompson Bridge Road in North Hall. The 31 homes that will be built are already sold.

The new cottages are expected to be complete in mid2021 and will offer two different models, each with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a den and even a two-car garage. Both models will be more than 2,000 square feet.

About 580 people now live at Lanier Village, which opened in 2001. It has 303 independent living apartments, 40 assisted living suites, 31 carriage homes and 64 skilled-care rooms.

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Education & Family | Sunday, March 22, 2020

A ‘force to be reckoned with’

Riverside Military Academy welcomes new dean, aerospace courses and press box

By KELSEY PODO

kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Riverside Military Academy is undergoing one of its biggest transformations yet with staffing, academics and facilities.

Cathy Moore, who has more than 30 years of experience in higher education, started in January 2020 as the school’s new academic dean.

She decided to come out of retirement after serving as Georgia Gwinnett College’s School of Education dean for 13 years. Moore said Riverside’s president, U.S. Army Col. Stanley C. “Stas” Preczewski, reached out to her about the new opportunity.

“In my position at the college, I didn’t get as much time with students as I like to,” Moore said. “Here I get to be hands-on with students, and I’m loving it.”

Riverside is a private college, preparatory, boarding and day school for boys grades seven through 12. The fortress-like campus sits before a mountainous backdrop on Riverside Drive in Gainesville.

In the spring or summer, construction will begin for a new press box on Maginnis Field, said Christian Mims, Riverside’s director of marketing and public affairs.

The academy recently received an anonymous donation of $1 million, which will be split among the press box project and revitalizing the school’s athletic facilities. “(The donor) did it strictly for altruistic reasons of wanting to give back and serve others,” Ellen DeFoor, Riverside’s vice president for advancement, said in November 2019. “This speaks to the unique community we live in and the generosity.

They give for the joy of giving.”

The anonymous donor decided to name

‘Here I get to be hands-on with students, and I’m loving it.’

Cathy Moore academic dean Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Left: Riverside Military Academy’s new academic dean, Cathy Moorey, retired from Georgia Gwinnett College, having served for 13 years as the college’s first School of Education dean. Right: Thanks to an anonymous $1 million donation, Maginnis Field at Riverside Military Academy will be getting a press box upgrade with a second story to be named after Phil Jackson, a Hall County sports writer legend.

the space “The Phil Jackson Press Box” in honor of Phillip Jackson, former sports editor of The Times who died in 2014 after a 60-year writing career.

After the upgrades, the press box will double in size with the addition of a second story. The space currently has one level that can only accommodate Riverside’s coaches.

The press box will also have a new sound system and underground cabling, so Riverside can livestream its football games and other activities on the field.

“We’re really excited about it,” Mims said. “It’s going to be a beautiful and great addition to the incredible facilities we have here.”

Mims said Riverside will complete its new batting facility in the upcoming months. The academy still needs to name

the building and install artificial turf.

Riverside plans to offer its first aerospace engineering program in the fall.

The four courses will be offered through the Southern Regional Education Board, which is a nonprofit that works with 16 states in the South to improve public education from pre-K through doctorate degrees.

Moore said Preczewski already sent an employee from Riverside to train for the aerospace program’s first course. The teacher will receive training for the second course this summer.

Moore said no other grade schools are offering this career pathway in Georgia.

“It will be something that is unique to us, and I think it’ll be attractive for future cadets who are interested in flying or building,” Moore said. “Also for students

that think they might have an interest in working with NASA, this is their first start to dip their toes into what aerospace is all about.”

Riverside is additionally in the works of establishing a cyber security program.

“It meets a market demand, and we’ve got great community partners,” Moore said. “UNG (University of North Georgia) is doing great stuff right now with cyber security.”

Moore said this school year Riverside’s cadets have received a combined $2.5 million in scholarships. By the end of last year, the academy had a total scholarship amount of $7.1 million.

“This is one of the years that it’s going to be the most obvious to outside folks that we are a force to be reckoned with,” Mims said.

Lanier Tech expands to match community needs

By KELSEY PODO

kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com As the area’s workforce changes, so does Lanier Technical College.

“All of our programs match community needs,” said Ray Perren, Lanier Tech’s president. “If there’s not a job here, we don’t provide the program. That’s part of why we’re able to have a 100% placement rate in six of the last seven years.”

In the fall 2019 semester, Lanier Tech launched its marine technology program, which reflects Hall County’s available jobs around Lake Lanier.

Perren said Perren Lanier Tech is the only technical college in Georgia to offer this program. The courses teach students to work in the boating industry, whether they become technicians or dock maintenance workers.

Lanier Tech has also started its new construction management and diesel technology programs this academic year and plans to offer veterinary technician and clinical lab technology courses in 2021.

Perren said the college’s new campus, which opened in 2018, has helped grow its educational programs.

“There’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm over the new campus and the great facilities we provide here,” he said. “But, also because we have additional capacity for programs, we’ve been able to start programs that were really in high demand.”

Lanier Tech also set a new re-

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Left: Visitors to the new Lanier Technical College campus mingle Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. The new 95-acre campus is the first completely new technical college campus built in the state of Georgia. Right: Lanier Technical College holds the first-ever graduation ceremony in the quadrangle of the new campus Friday, May 17, 2019. About 3,000 attended the school’s 53rd annual commencement.

cord with its student population, bringing in 4,727 this semester.

This amount exceeds the fall semester’s number by over 100 students.

Perren said before the beginning of the academic year, the previous record was in the fall quarter of 2010, during the height of the Great Recession.

“Traditionally technical college enrollment goes up when the economy is bad, and our enrollment goes down when the economy is strong,” Perren said. “We’re seeing an anomaly, and it’s not just at Lanier Tech. It’s across the state.”

Several factors have led to this unexpected outcome.

Perren said he believes more people are aware of the opportunities found at technical colleges, and the skillsets graduates from Lanier Tech have are in high demand. He said the college’s increase in dual enrollment has also contributed to the high student population.

Lanier Tech currently has 1,600 high school students from 10 Georgia counties who take its collegelevel courses. Around 50% come from Gainesville City and Hall County Schools.

“This community really understands the importance of a strong tech college in terms of providing a strong workforce,” Perren said. “This college was born of the community in 1964, and the community has continued to be our advocate since the day we opened.”

In the near future, Perren said Lanier Tech will open its Nathan and Sandra Deal Library, which will be located inside the Ramsey Conference Center.

The library will be filled with donated books from former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, which were collected over his 40-year career.

Perren said the library will also include photographs, artifacts and other memorabilia from Deal’s time as governor.

About 3,000 attend Lanier Technical College 53rd commencement ceremony Friday, May 17, 2019. It was the first graduation ceremony at the new campus.

Lanier Tech will hold its grand announcement of the library and dedicate it to the Deals this spring.

“Gov. Deal is providing his memorabilia for us to have in a li-

brary here on campus, and we’re tremendously excited,” Perren said. “That doesn’t happen for technical colleges, so we’re honored to have it.”

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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |

Sunday, March 22, 2020

gainesvilletimes com

Brenau president forges new partnerships, programs

By KELSEY PODO

kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com It didn’t take a full year for Anne Skleder, president of Brenau University, to feel a strong sense of belonging.

Just seven months into her new role, Skleder has forged partnerships with community members, strengthened international bonds and helped further the university’s academic offerings.

“I’m just so grateful personally for how welcoming the community has been to me,” Skleder said. “When I came and gave a speech, I said that we’re a university of and for Gainesville, and I believe Gainesville is of and for Brenau.”

Skleder said Brenau is launching into 2020 with an emphasis on excellence, growth, innovation and community partnerships.

Two new academic routes are making their way to the university including a physician assistant studies master’s program, which will begin January 2021, and an undergraduate computer science program that will start in the fall.

Skleder said the university is putting forth $3.3 million in facilities improvements to offer the physician assistant program, which will be housed in the Brenau Downtown Center, the former Georgia Mountains Center off the Gainesville square This addition could enroll 90 students a year and employ 12 people.

“We’re really excited about our physicians assistant program,” Skleder said. “From an excellence standpoint, we’ve been able to hire really excellent faculty both from the community and outside. We have an extraordinary number of applicants, so we can choose those best suited for the program.”

Skleder said providing a computer science major will help Brenau get footholds in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

“We want students to be able to come here and take that major,” Skleder said. “It’s a step into gaming and AI (artificial intelligence).

There’s opportunities for funding for students that are technically in STEM that are not available if you’re in health care.”

Brenau has renewed its continued partnership with the Howard E. Ivester Early College run by the Hall County School System and also solidified a new agreement with Lakeview Academy.

Once Lakeview’s stadium is com-

SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Anne Skleder was named the 10th president of Brenau in April 2019, taking over for Dr. Ed Schrader. Skleder most recently served as senior vice president, provost and professor of psychology at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania.

‘Just being diverse doesn’t mean anything unless people have a voice. That makes our institution healthier, enriches our education and makes decisions better.’

Anne Skleder, Brenau University president pleted, Brenau’s track and field team will have free access to the school’s athletic facilities. Between October and March each year, Brenau will grant Lakeview students access to its theater.

Skleder said this new exchange will allow both the school and university to save money on new facilities.

“There are excellent students that want to come here and help us grow the university,” Skleder said.

“In order to do that, we need to have an innovative partnership.”

Furthering Brenau’s international relationships will prove a large part of the university’s strategic plan for this year, Skleder said.

Brenau is continuing its exchange program with Anhui Normal University, located in Wuhu, China.

Students from Anhui Normal complete their last two years of their undergraduate degrees by attending Brenau.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ben McDade, Brenau’s vice president of marketing and communications, said the Chinese students

will “be welcomed and cared for if the international situation requires them to stay beyond commencement this spring.”

Brenau has no students or faculty in China now, nor have any returned close to the time of the outbreak.

This academic year marks the fourth Anhui Normal graduating class to come through Brenau.

The university is also looking to launch another exchange program, which would bring students from Latin America to Brenau to earn full degrees.

“I want every student here to have an international experience,” Skleder said. “That doesn’t mean that they have to go away. We have about 125 international students now. If we got that number up considerably, students would be more likely to be impacted because they’ll be in a club or class with an international student.”

Skleder said Brenau is working on multiple initiatives involving diversity, inclusivity and equity.

She has started holding open forum discussions with students who take classes online and don’t have a physical on-campus presence.

“Just being diverse doesn’t mean anything unless people have a voice,” Skleder said. “That makes our institution healthier, enriches our education and makes decisions better.”

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

Progress Soars on

VISION When Eagle Ranch opened its doors in 1985, it was called “The Miracle on Chestnut Mountain” in national news. Thanks to you, miracles are still happening at Eagle Ranch.

Struggling children are moving beyond trauma, tragedy and other challenges to create a better life. Their families join in the journey, receiving the support and resources they need for their child’s successful return home and a path to a positive future. One of the Southeast’s largest residential children’s programs, Eagle Ranch is designed to help make life better for children and families going through a crisis. Our integrated approach, built on Christian principles, models home life, emphasizes education, and incorporates multi-faceted counseling.

Our Vision for The Future T H E JA M E S W. W E B B W I N G S C E N T E R

Celebrating 35 years of serving children and families, Eagle Ranch is excited to announce plans for the James W. Webb Wings Center. To be located on Eagle Ranch’s campus on Union Church Road in Flowery Branch, the first services to be offered in the new center include outpatient counseling services for children and families in the surrounding community.

THE FIRST SERVICES Additionally, Eagle Ranch will provide TO BE OFFERED mentoring and support for new and existing IN THE NEW CENTER children’s programs and non-profits that benefit children and families.

INCLUDE OUTPATIENT

The new center will increase Eagle Ranch’s reach and impact within the North Georgia and metro Atlanta community by offering children and families more resources for crisis counseling. Future plans include marriage and parenting retreats, as well as other services that complement the Ranch’s mission.

COUNSELING SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY.

For more information about Eagle Ranch’s vision for the future, visit EagleRanch.org/vision

EagleRanch.org Post Office Box 7200 Chestnut Mountain, Georgia 30502 770.967.8500

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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |

Sunday, March 22, 2020

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Sounds of seasonal construction Hall County Schools wastes no time planning for upcoming summer projects

By KELSEY PODO

kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Hall County Schools doesn’t miss a beat while its students are away for the summer.

The sounds of renovations and routine maintenance echo through the empty hallways as the district rolls out its seasonal construction.

This summer, Hall Superintendent Will Schofield said the system can expect three large projects at Howard E. Ivester Early College, Chestatee High School and West Hall High School.

These plans are not reliant upon the May 19 passing of a bond referendum and the sixth round of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. The Early College is moving into its next phase of health care science by transforming a portion of the existing building into a health care science lab.

Matt Cox, Hall’s executive director of facilities and construction, said the renovations should cost around $500,000.

Schofield said the addition will give the Early College the ability to offer more college-level health care science courses.

“One of the most exciting school programs I’ve seen in my 30-plus years is the Howard E. Ivester Early College,” he said.

Since the school launched in 2016 with 118 students, the school has grown to having 430 students enrolled at the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year.

This summer, Cox said Career Technical and Agricultural Education strides will be made at Chestatee High and West Hall High.

The district will convert an existing space at Chestatee High into a room for an automotive program.

Cox said the district is budgeting $3.8 million for the project.

“We talk about folks that know how to turn a wrench,” Schofield said. “It’s really not turning a wrench anymore. The master mechanics for Honda Motors and the major markets are now earning $100,000 a year. So, we’re really excited about having a state-of-the-art automotive program at Chestatee High School.”

West Hall High will become the site of the district’s first advanced manufacturing laboratory.

Cox said construction should cost around $1.5 million. The district plans to take one of the school’s multi-use facilities and transform it into a laboratory that will connect to the school’s main building.

Robertson Loia Roof Architects & Engineers is the contractor for each of the three summer projects.

If the May 19 vote passes for the referendum and E-SPLOST VI, Schofield said other projects will

Courtesy Hall County Schools

If E-SPLOST VI and the general obligation bond referendum is approved on May 19, Hall County Schools will begin construction of the new Cherokee Bluff Middle School. The school is expected to encompass 209,700 square feet of Cherokee Bluff Middle/High School’s current 138-acre property.

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Left: Howard E Ivester Early College students attend a science class Friday, Feb. 14. The Early College is moving into its next phase of health care science by transforming a portion of the existing building into a health care science lab. Right: Riverbend Elementary is the oldest school in Hall County, with sections of the building dating back 80 years. Hall County Schools hopes to replace seven outdated elementary schools with four.

Riverbend Elementary will be combined with White Sulphur Elementary.

begin right away, including the $44 million construction of a new Cherokee Bluff Middle School on the current Cherokee Bluff Middle/ High’s 138-acre property.

The school would encompass 209,700 square feet and have classrooms in a three-story classroom wing toward the back of the building. The wing is designed to fit 1,500 students.

The new school is one of the many upgrades in the district’s 10-year facilities plan. Another project that would get off the ground quickly if the March vote passes includes the building of new performing arts

centers at Johnson High School and West Hall High School, which is slated to cost $18 million.

Schofield said West Hall High’s theater only seats 130 people out of a student population of 1,100, and Johnson’s theater is greatly outdated.

“They both need a new performing arts center,” he said. “We’ve never backed off from the arts, and we see the important role that art plays.”

Another priority on the system’s 10-year facilities plan includes replacing seven elementary schools with four.

Hall estimates that the E-SPLOST

VI tax would raise $130 million over five years. The elementary school project is slated to cost $109 million. It’s the largest expenditure on a 10-year facility plan that would be funded through the E-SPLOST and bond referendum.

The system decided to construct four new buildings to replace seven schools: McEver Arts Academy, Myers Elementary, Oakwood Elementary, Riverbend Elementary, White Sulphur Elementary, Tadmore Elementary and World Language Academy Primary.

Stan Lewis, Hall’s director of community relations and athletics, said the first schools to combine

would be Riverbend and White Sulphur. The district has already purchased 31 acres of land on Ramsey Road near Ga. 365 where the school could be built.

Lewis said the district doesn’t anticipate construction occurring for two to three years, and plans for the other schools have not been finished.

“I think there will be a lot of satisfaction 10 years from now,” Schofield said in February. “And I can look back and say boys and girls are in better facilities because this community stepped forward in year 2020 and made an investment in the next generation.”

UNG anticipates more fruitful projects for its campuses

By KELSEY PODO

project was made possible through a second $10 million gift from Mike and Lynn Cottrell in June 2019 and The University of North Georgia $2.3 million in state funds for planhas a green thumb when it comes to ning and design. its Gainesville, Dahlonega and Blue The new 91,000-square-foot facility will be called The Cottrell CenRidge campuses.

Each year new projects blossom ter for Business, Technology and from the earth, including a new Innovation. It will include a multiStudent Health Services clinic that purpose room that can seat 240 for opened in Gainesville in January seminars, 540 theater-style or 304 for banquets. The space will also 2020.

The 5,000-square-foot facility, have labs for computer forensics, which is located on the former digital marketing, professional sales Lanier Technical College site at the and marketing and other programs.

UNG is set to bring its construcGainesville campus, gives students a one-stop shop for health care needs. tion of the new standalone Blue Students can enter on a walk-in ba- Ridge campus to a close in time for sis. A mandatory $65 fee covers the the fall 2020 semester.

The new clinic’s offerings like treatments for the 13,000-square-foot common cold, open campus is located wounds, flu and alaround three miles lergic reactions. The from the current fee is paid by stuBlue Ridge campus dents who have six off Ga. 515. hours or more of seThe facility is mester class credit. expected to accomUNG contributed modate around 500 $900,000 for the facilstudents. ity’s renovations.

Georgia lawmakThe space iners allocated $5.5 cludes a pharmacy, million for the projtwo triage rooms for ect in the 2019 fiscal initial screenings, year budget. Georfive exam rooms, Bonita Jacobs gia House Speaker several offices and David Ralston, of UNG president a lab for blood work Blue Ridge, helped and urinary tests. secure this amount The clinic has a full-time licensed in state funds. practical nurse and physician’s asBonita Jacobs, president of UNG, sistant. Dr. Tawanna Strauther from said the new, larger facility will the North Georgia Physicians Group enable the university to expand its Oakwood devotes five hours a week course offerings and serve an into the clinic. creasing number of students with “I think students may be surprised an affordable, high quality univerat what we can do here very quickly,” sity experience.

Karen Tomlinson, UNG’s director “The reception UNG has reof student health services, told The ceived from the community has Times in January. “You don’t have been amazing, and there is exciteto wait, and you don’t have to go to a ment about how we are and will pharmacy afterward.” continue to impact the region,” JaIf construction goes as expected, cobs said. “... Personally, I am most the Dahlonega campus will wel- excited to see the campus grow into come a new home for the Mike Cotone bustling with increasingly taltrell College of Business in 2022. This ented students.” kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com

Photo courtesy University of North Georgia

Construction of the new University of North Georgia Blue Ridge campus is set to finish in time for the fall 2020 semester.

Scott Rogers | The Times

Left: Students in need of basic over-the-counter medication may use a student dispensary inside the newly opened Student Health Services clinic on the University of North Georgia Gainesville campus.

Right: University of North Georgia students wait inside the newly opened Student Health Services clinic Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the Gainesville campus.

‘Personally, I am most excited to see the campus grow into one bustling with increasingly talented students.’

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

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‘It’s a good day to be a Red Elephant’ Gainesville Schools expands with new one-stop resource center, advanced studies building

By KELSEY PODO

kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville City Schools is making strides in serving students’ needs for mental health, career readiness and a larger learning space.

The district’s highly anticipated one-stop resource center, The Hub, opened in late January.

Located to the left of Gainesville High School’s front entrance, The Hub can connect students with academic mentors; behavioral and mental health support; college and career activities; and assist with providing basic needs through its clothing closet.

Students are allowed to come and go into The Hub, the same way they might visit a counselor or administrator.

“Our kids throughout this county and this community deserve and need that support,” Jamie Green, Gainesville High’s principal, said during The Hub’s grand opening in January. “I’m excited about the mission here and helping the kids.”

Plans for The Hub began in March 2019 to coincide with the school system’s “wraparound” services initiative.

The construction for the facility was funded through the 28th annual Medical Center Open Golf Tournament, which surpassed the school system’s $300,000 goal by raising $340,000.

Adrian Niles, Gainesville’s chief operating officer, said construction for the high school’s new advanced studies building will begin this spring with a completion and opening date set for the fall of 2021.

The 43,000-square-foot, twostory facility would sit in the vacant lot on the corner of Rainey Street and Century Place. Robertson Loia Roof PC was chosen as the building’s architects.

This $10 million project marks phase one of Gainesville High School’s redesign, which also includes a new cafeteria, media center, instructional building and student activities center. The combined cost of all the upgrades is $51 million.

Funding for the upcoming projects is contingent upon the May 19 passage of bond referendums and the sixth round of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for Education.

The first floor includes separate labs for manufacturing, engineering and technology, family and consumer science, construction and work-based learning. The second

Photos by Scott Rogers | The Times

Visitors crowd into Gainesville High Friday, Jan. 31, for the official opening of The Hub. A one-stop resource center for students, The Hub connects students with academic mentors; behavioral and mental health support; college and career activities; and assist with providing basic needs through additions like a food pantry and clothing closet. Below left: Gainesville High Principal Jamie Green remarks during the official opening of The Hub at the school.

‘Our kids throughout this county and this community deserve and need that support. I’m excited about the mission here and helping the kids.’

Jamie Green Gainesville High principal floor contains a STEM research lab, biology lab, chemistry lab and two health care science labs.

If the bond referendums and ESPLOST VI pass, then Gainesville could break ground on its new $32 million middle school in fall or winter of 2020, Niles said.

Gainesville Superintendent Jeremy Williams said the district’s current fifth graders would be the first eighth graders at the school.

At around 1,800 students, Gainesville Middle is well above the facility’s capacity of 1,475.

Building a new middle school to

accommodate this growth has been on the district’s radar for years. The proposed property is located off of McEver Road, across from the old Free Chapel site. Williams said 25% of the property will need to be annexed.

The new middle school would

have a capacity of 1,200 students.

Niles said the building would automatically alleviate 900 students from Gainesville Middle.

“We’re looking forward to just kicking projects off,” Niles said. “A lot of good things are happening. It’s a good day to be a Red Elephant.”

Lakeview Academy makes big changes for its future

By KELSEY PODO

kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Before Lakeview Academy celebrates its 50-year anniversary in August, a couple of colossal changes are in order.

Kirsty Montgomery will begin as Lakeview’s new head of school in July.

“I think everybody will know me, not just as the paper shuffler or the person sitting behind the desk,” Montgomery said to The Times in December 2019. “I think people will see someone who is there.

Someone they don’t just see once a year at orientation.”

Montgomery, who has a doctorate in history from the University of Chicago, currently works as the director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at NorthPhotos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times western University. She served four years on the Above: Lakeview Academy returning football players attend a ground breaking ceremony for the school’s new stadium. faculty of the Illinois Math Below left: Lakeview Academy begins construction of its new stadium. Below right: Lakeview Academy’s new head and Science Academy and football coach Lee Shaw and returning players attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the school’s new stadium. five years at Omniscope Academy, also in Illinois.

Once Montgomery assumes her position in July, she said her first 100 days will involve learning about the school and immersing herself in the community.

Lakeview also hired Lee Shaw this year as its new football coach.

He previously led Flowery Branch’s football program from the time it opened in 2002 to 2011. He then spent seven seasons at Rabun County before retiring after the 2018 season.

“This is very exciting when the position came lane track. fund, and have been able additionally ignited a partfor our school and for our open.”

Clay Eubanks, the to undertake various capi- nership between Lakeview football program,” Deuce Lakeview’s Board of board’s chairman, said tal projects to move us for- and Brenau University.

Roark, Lakeview’s athlet- Trustees recently ap- $1.7 million of the capi- ward — all without impact- Once the stadium is comics director, said. “His re- proved a $2.5 million capi- tal campaign has already ing tuition.” pleted, Lakeview will open sume speaks for tal campaign to been raised by a dedicated Sondra Berry, Lakev- its access to Brenau’s track itself. He’s built expand opportuni- group of Lakeview parents, iew’s communication di- and field team. some incredible ties in fine arts and grandparents, alumni and rector, said Carroll Daniel Fine arts students and programs around athletics. One of staff.

Construction Company has faculty will also reap benthis area, does a the campaign’s top “We are incredibly fortu- already begun clearing be- efits from the academy’s great job working priorities includes nate to live in a community hind the school for the new relationship with Brenau. with the kids at building new ath- where generosity is abun- stadium. She said the facil- They are now able to use each program and letic facilities, in- dant,” Eubanks said in a ity will be built in time for Brenau’s theater between is exactly what we cluding a stadium statement. “We continue the fall semester.

October and March each were looking for Montgomery with an eight- to have a healthy annual The capital campaign year.

‘We are incredibly fortunate to live in a community where generosity is abundant. We continue to have a healthy annual fund, and have been able to undertake various capital projects to move us forward — all without impacting tuition.’

Clay Eubanks Lakeview Academy Board of Trustees chairman Anne Skleder, Brenau’s president, said this partnership allows both Lakeview and Brenau to invest the money they could’ve used to build a new theater or track and field in other ways.

“We’ve always had a relationship with them, but what I think we’ve done is take a very significant step forward in that relationship in enriching it,” Skleder said. “Imagine what we can do now with the funds that we would have invested in building a track and field.”

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

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INDUSTRY & POULTRY | SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

Poultry forecast positive in 2020 USDA notes increases for broiler flock, eggs in its new outlook report

BY DAVID B. STRICKLAND

dstrickland@poultrytimes.com WASHINGTON — Production number forecasts for 2020 show increases for broiler and eggs, but a decrease for turkeys, the USDA’s Economic Research Service notes in its latest “Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook” report.

The report also states estimates released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics that show that retail prices for animal proteins increased faster than inflation last year, except for some poultry products. Egg prices declined 19.9%; boneless chicken breasts declined by 1.9% while the retail prices for turkey increased by 1.3%.

For other protein, retail prices for beef increased 2%, ground beef 2.5% and pork 2.6%, the report said. The increase for general inflation for 2019 was noted at 1.8%.

Broilers The end of the year production of broilers in December 2019 is approximately 3.6 billion pounds, ERS reported. This is a 7.2% year-over-year increase.

“Total 2019 production amounted to 43.9 billion pounds, a year-over-year increase of 3%,” the report said. “Birds slaughtered totaled 9.2 billion (a year-over-year increase of just over 2%), while aggregate average live weights reached 6.32 pounds. This 1% increase in bird weights was due to an increasing share of heavy-bird production (i.e., of birds weighing more than 6.25 pounds), which increased by 2.4 percentage points in 2019.”

The nation’s broiler layer flock is estimated to be more than last year, ERS said.

“Based on more birds available for slaughter thus far in the year and an increasing broiler layer flock supporting increased broiler availability, the 2020 production forecast was increased to 45.8 billion pounds, more than 4% over 2019 production,” the report noted.

Increases to the amounts of broiler meat in cold storage warehouses are also anticipated to continue, the agency reported.

“Of the 76.8 million pounds added to cold storage since the beginning of the year, other broiler meat represented 46%, while breast meat, leg quarters and thigh meat represented 37, 26 and 19%, respectively,” the report said.

“Anticipated increases in broiler supplies in 2020 are expected to continue weighing on cold storage inventories; however, given that 2020 stocks started out lower than expected, the 2020 ending stock forecast was revised down to 915 million pounds.”

For exports, the total amount of broiler exported in December was 586 million pounds, which rounded out the year at 7.1 billion pounds, which was an increase of 0.6% from 2018, ERS said.

“In 2019, Mexico continued to be the largest U.S. broiler export market (in terms of volume), while Cuba became the second-largest market,” the report added.

“However, exports to Cuba dropped off significantly in the fourth quarter, likely due at least in part to foreign exchange constraints. Exports to Georgia increased by 139 million pounds year-over-year, but it is likely that the ultimate destination for much of this volume was Kazakhstan. Shipments to Vietnam increased by 109 million pounds, likely due to increased demand for protein imports stemming from losses from African swine fever. Foreign sales to Angola decreased significantly by 94 million pounds, which can likely be attributed to Angola’s depreciating Kwanza.”

In export value, broiler exports last year represented about $3.2 billion, which is approximately 2.5% more than for 2018, ERS said. This is attributed to increases in U.S. leg and leg quarter prices, which comprise about 60% of the export volume.

Eggs Production of table eggs in December was reported at 716 million dozen, 4% more than the previous year, USDA reported.

“This increase reflected a 2.8% increase in the monthly average table egg laying flock and a 1.2% increase in the lay rate,” the report says. “In 2019 table egg production totaled (8.2 billion) dozen, 3.3% higher than in 2018, while hatching egg production increased 1.6%. The table egg laying flock ■■Please see PRODUCTION, 2PD

STEPHEN R. AUSMUS | USDA Agricultural Research Service

In a recent report, the USDA notes production increases for poultry in 2020. Broiler production is expected to be about 45.8 billion pounds; table eggs are forecast at approximately 8.3 billion dozen; but the turkey production amount for the year is estimated down to 5.9 billion pounds for the year.

Manufacturing, warehouse jobs in demand in region KIK Custom Products staff coordinator Ray McGowan helps potential employees during a career fair Tuesday, March 10, at Goodwill Career Center in Oakwood.

SCOTT ROGERS The Times

BY NICK WATSON

nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com With Fox Factory Holding Corp. relocating its headquarters to Gainesville, Goodwill of North Georgia public relations director Tenee Hawkins said manufacturing and warehouse distribution has been in the highest demand. The move, which was announced in October 2018, is expected to bring as many as 800 jobs.

“We are on the front lines of helping to fill those positions,” Hawkins said of Fox, which manufactures and designs ride dynamics prod-

ucts for bicycles and powered vehicles.

Fox Factory, which has been recently hiring material handlers, has sent a representative to Goodwill job fairs, where prospective employees could have on-site interviews and network with Fox Factory staff.

The industries where the need is more evergreen, Hawkins said, are the poultry industry and the home care field, whether they are certified nursing assistants or personal care assistants.

Some home care organizations have shifted to using the personal

care assistants instead of the certified nursing assistants because they will require less medical training.

Home care companies that have been working with Goodwill include Bench Mark, ACT Home Care and A Hand to Hold.

The issue of training at the top and the bottom of the corporate totem pole has been a concern for employers, said Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s vice president of economic development Tim Evans.

“Employers are looking for not just people to fill their entry-level ■■Please see JOBS, 4PD

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

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Warehouse development in Hall takes off New buildings to see better technology as well as vital access to interstate, infrastructure

BY JEFF GILL

jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Warehouse construction is becoming huge business in Hall County.

South Hall, particularly, has been the site of warehouse development, as developers put up buildings off major arteries, including Interstate 985.

One of the more recent developments is taking place off Friendship Road/Ga. 347 at I-985, where there is grading on part of a 78-acre industrial warehouse park.

Atlanta-based developer Taylor & Mathis is planning four buildings with a combined 650,000 square feet of space.

No tenants have been signed yet, said Mike Irby, senior vice president of development for the company, in a January interview.

Plans are to complete the project in early 2021, he said.

The project was appealing to Taylor & Mathis, Irby said, because, “for industrial warehouse property, access to interstate and infrastructure is key. You want to be very well located.”

A 350,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center for Test Rite Products, a Californiabased distributor of consumer goods, such as household and auto products, recently opened in Oakwood.

Test Rite serves major retailers in the U.S. and Canada, such as Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond.

The plant, which is in Tanners Creek Business Park straddling Thurmon Tanner Parkway, “will be an expansion of our business on the West Coast,” said Paul Freeman, Test Rite’s director of business development.

The 26-acre facility “will be importing some of the same items and fulfilling them to East Coast distribution centers of the retailers themselves,” he said.

“It’s about efficiency — meeting retailers’ needs and demands of the customers faster and cheaper.”

Compared to the Los Angeles plant, the Oakwood facility “will have higher technology in the way we store things and move products around the warehouse,” Freeman said during a recent visit to the plant.

Test Rite’s parent company is Taiwan’s Test Rite Products International, which runs a retail chain known as Hola.

“We’re still loading the building with all the inventory, but we are already filling orders and adding new customers,” Freeman said.

Two new huge warehouse developments also sit off Lanier Is-

Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

A new warehouse park is under construction at a large site off Interstate 985 at Friendship Road, across from Frazier’s Harley-Davidson.

lands Parkway and Ga. 13 in the Buford area of South Hall — I-985 Lanier Logistics and Lanier Logistics Center.

Stephen Storms, a broker who represents the land’s sellers at Lanier Logistics, said he has “just put the front 8 acres under contract (in February), so there will be lots of activity happening very soon with these properties.”

“Multi-tenant buildings are a really strong market for us, and continue to be,” said Tim Evans, the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for economic development. “Our market for industrial and warehouse users is a mixture of smalland medium-size owner-occupied businesses.”

South Hall is a hotbed, as Gwinnett companies move north after their leases expire and they need more space, Evans said.

Vacant Gainesville warehouse space, meanwhile, is tough to find.

The city is developing a 1,300acre business park that “would be open to a variety of business/ industrial uses,” Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey said. “If the appropriate warehouse use was proposed for a location in the park, I would think the city would be open to that.”

Evans noted that warehouses, at least locally, may not be quite what people envision — wideopen, tall areas where there are miles of shelves and inventory.

That type of structure is more typical off Interstate 85 in northeast Georgia, like an Amazon fulfillment center.

“Our market is more the goodsproducing, manufacturing, value-

added facility,” Evans said. “That tends to bring about higher value in the equipment, skill needs from the employees and higher wages.”

Frank Norton Jr., a local real estate executive and economic trends watcher, agreed with Evans on how warehouse uses differ in the Hall area when compared to I-85.

“What I think we’re going to see over the next five years is ... smaller users that are inland portrelated,” he said, referring to the Northeast Georgia Inland Port planned off Ga. 365 in northeast Hall. “Those will be on Ga. 365 up into Habersham County. We are already seeing some interest from industrial users along that corridor.”

Addressing poultry industry challenges through research

JOHN STARKEY

U.S. Poultry & Egg Association

TUCKER — Animal Welfare Issues, regulatory burdens, food safety concerns, animal welfare issues, the need for more young leaders in our industry ... When you consider the challenges facing our industry, the list of topics can be daunting.

However, our industry has addressed and overcome many similar, formidable challenges throughout the years.

So, the question with which we are faced as an association is: Which of these challenges can U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) best address through its mission areas?

Research has long been a cornerstone of our efforts. Since the inception of our research

PRODUCTION ■■ Continued from 1PD and lay rate continue to exceed year-earlier levels, increasing expectations for table egg production.

“The 2020 table egg production forecast was revised up to (8.3 billion) dozen, more than 1% higher than 2019. Given expectations for growth in the table egg layer flock and increased broiler production, the 2020 hatching egg production forecast was revised up to (1.2 billion) dozen, more than 4% higher than 2019.”

Stocks at the end of the year were approximately 108.7 million dozen, an increase of 38% or

program, USPOULTRY has reinvested more than $32 million dollars into the industry in the form of research grants. More than 50 universities and federal and state facilities have received grants over the years.

Our Comprehensive Research Program dates to the early 1960s when funds were first approved for poultry disease research.

It gradually grew into an allinclusive program incorporating all phases of poultry and egg production and processing.

A few years ago, the USPOULTRY Board Research Initiative was created by the boards of USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation to address current issues facing the poultry industry. The USPOULTRY Board Research Initiative operates alongside the current USPOULTRY Comprehensive Research Program and augments

the great success of the existing program by focusing additional resources toward defined areas of research.

This year, our Board of Directors, a group of 27 dedicated volunteers across the broiler, turkey and egg industries, approved 12 research grants through the Comprehensive Research Program.

The board’s selection process provides an industry outlook on major challenges before our industry and where USPOULTRY should focus its efforts and includes the following areas: 1. Fate and Effect of Commercial Peracetic Acid Solutions in Poultry Processing Waste Water Biological Treatment Processes 2. Effect of Protease Enzyme on Corn and Soybean MealBased Laying Hen Diet to Reduce Feed Cost, Improve Egg Quality and Egg Solids in Post-

about 30 million dozen from the previous year, the report noted.

“Compared to the beginning of the year, frozen egg storage increased by almost 9 million dozen, while dried egg inventories increased by more than 21 million dozen,” ERS said.

Eggs and egg product exports in December 2019 are forecast at 29.7 million dozen, which ended the year with 334.1 million dozen exported, a 0.3% increase from 2018, the report added.

Shell egg exports last year “increased by 9.6% year-over-year, while foreign sales of egg products decreased by 12.6%,” USDA said. “For the year, the top four largest markets (in terms of volume) continue to be Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong and Japan, which

combined represented 78% of 2019 export volumes.

“Exports to Canada, Mexico and Hong Kong — which are predominantly comprised of shell eggs — increased in volume share, while the Japanese market — which is entirely egg products — decreased by 8 percentage points.”

Turkeys Turkey production for December 2019 was approximately 447 million pounds, 5.1% less than the previous year, ERS reported.

This decreased was attributed to 7% fewer for slaughter, as well as a 2% increase in average live weights.

Total turkey production for 2019 was about 5.8 billion pounds,

Peak and Late Lay 3. Evaluating the Impact of Ventilation Shutdown for Depopulation of Broiler Breeders During a Foreign Animal Disease Outbreak 4. Cage-Free Pullet Density: Production and Welfare Outcomes 5. Feed Additive for Reducing Incidence of Wooden Breast Disease in Commercial Broiler Chickens 6. Evaluation of a Drinker System with or without Trays on House Litter Conditions, Bird Performance, Health and Welfare 7. A Novel Method for Enumeration and Speciation of Eimeria Species of Coccidian Protozoa by Flow Cytometry 8. Longitudinal Assessment of Skeletal and Cardiac Structures in Broilers Reared Under Slow Versus Fast Growth Rate Regimen and Its Relation to Manifestation of Lameness, Ascites and Woody Breast Condition 9. Genetic Identification and Screening for Potent AntiSalmonella Gut Peptide Variant in Chicken: Avian Defensin, Beta Defensin 1 (AvBD1) 10. Fate and Effect of Per-

acetic Acid Solutions in Poultry Processing Biological Nitrogen Removal and Anaerobic Treatment Processes 11. Profiling Salmonella Serotypes Through Processing 12. Whole Genome Sequencing and Molecular Analysis of Infectious Bronchitis Virus DMV1639 Strains Circulating in the Field Our Board of Directors also approved funding for two Board Research Initiative research grants. These grants address the following current issues: ■■ Avian Evaluation of Welfare, Behavior and Health as Affected by Growth Rate of Broiler Chickens ■■ Investigation into the Cause and Prevention of False Layer Syndrome The poultry and egg industry have used research and science to help develop the efficient and sustainable industry that we have become. Continued focus on these research topics, and other critical areas that may arise, will continue to keep us on the same road into the future.

which is a 1% decrease from the previous year, the report added.

“Production in the first half of 2020 is expected to remain below 2019 as producers work to match production to expected demand and clear overhanging stocks; however, with higher forecast wholesale turkey prices in 2020, it is likely returns will provide incentives to increase production above year-earlier levels in the second half of the year,” ERS reported. “The 2020 production forecast was revised down by 20 million pounds to (5.9 billion) pounds, reflecting an expected slower pace of production recovery in 2020. This would be an increase of 1% over 2019 production.”

Turkey exports for the fourth

quarter of 2019 decreased to 167.5 million pounds, from 170 million pounds for the same period in 2018, however the annual total saw a 4.6% increase reaching 639 million pounds, the report said.

“December 2019 exports were estimated at 45.9 million pounds, including 387,000 pounds exported to China,” ERS added.

“Mexico accounted for over 60% of U.S. turkey exports in the fourth quarter of 2019. While the 2020 turkey export forecast was decreased to 660 million pounds — due to increased competition in global markets from other meats, reduced U.S. production expectations, and higher forecast domestic prices — this would still be a 3.3% increase from 2019.”

John Starkey is president of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association headquartered in Tucker, Ga.

CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |

gainesvilletimes com

Sunday, March 22, 2020

3PD

Inland port still on the way in northeast Hall County

BY JEFF GILL

jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Georgia Ports Authority’s planned inland port in northeast Hall County is still on track for opening in the next few years.

Construction of Northeast Georgia Inland Port on Ga. 365 is “not quite ready to get started,” said Jim Walters, a Gainesville businessman, who, along with Philip Wilheit Jr., is one of two local residents on the Georgia Ports Authority Executive Board. “We have a little more funding to put together, and once that’s completed, I think we’ll be fine.”

James C. McCurry Jr., the authority’s chief administrative officer, has said the authority has bought most of the property for the port and that engineering of the site and design could be finished in early 2020.

“Then we will proceed from there to try to identify the source of capital that will pay for construction of the facility,” he said.

The regional cargo terminal will be built in Gateway Industrial Centre off Ga. 365 at White Sulphur Road.

Officials have estimated 150,000 containers per year could pour into the 104-acre port by way of Norfolk Southern railroad, which cuts through Gateway.

McCurry said he foresees early on about 100 to 150 trucks per day “coming and going from the facility, where they’re dropping off boxes or picking up boxes.”

The port’s announcement in December 2018 was a big deal, drawing local and state officials, including then-Gov. Nathan Deal.

The port will directly serve the Interstate 85 region of

Georgia, “an important (area) for the production of heavy equipment, food and forest products,” Deal said at the event.

Handling both import and export containers at the Gainesville terminal, Norfolk Southern will provide service on a direct rail route to and from the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal.

The port also is expected to be an economic engine, spurring growth in the surrounding area. Already planned is Gateway Village, a 500-acre industrial and commercial site across Ga. 365.

The port itself is expected to employ only about a dozen or so employees.

“Now, how that feeds and fosters other employment growth remains to be seen,” McCurry said.

“I think it’s going to be a big boom to the local economy — in fact, the Northeast Georgia economy,” Walters said.

The Savannah port itself is undergoing expansion.

In February, Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, announced the acquisition of 145 acres next to the Port of Savannah.

“This is the largest addition of container terminal space in Savannah in more than 20 years, and represents a powerful opportunity for Georgia to take on new trade.”

Also, by 2023, the GPA will add an additional berth, for a total of four big ship vessel slots.

“The expansion at our deepwater ports in both Savannah and Brunswick is helping to fuel growth, and in turn investment, jobs and increased competitiveness on the global stage,” said GPA Board Chairman Will McKnight.

Courtesy Georgia Ports Authority

A rendering shows the inland port proposed in northeast Hall County.

“With the kind of investment and infrastructure development announced today, Georgia’s ports will undoubtedly stay ahead of the curve and the competition.”

Tim Evans, the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for economic development, agreed.

“The continued growth ... is representative of the growing international commerce between Georgia and the world,” he said.

And inland port terminals such as the one in Hall County “will improve the route options for customers to get containerized goods to and from the Port of Savannah,” Evans said.

SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Auto Metal Direct is up and running inside the Gateway Industrial Centre and will be adjacent to the Inland Port when constructed.

Nourishing our future — AEB’s Eggs in Schools program the opportunity to increase demand for eggs via lunch and snacks. With schools expanding breakfast beyond the cafeteria to alternate venues, the increase in demand for vegetarian op-

tions, the rising popularity of brunch for lunch and a bevy of other trends, eggs versatility and affordability make it the perfect choice.

We’re proving that when it comes to nourishing Ameri-

ca’s youth, eggs truly are in a class of their own.

Anne L. Alonzo is president and CEO of the American Egg Board headquartered in Chicago, Ill.

ANNE L. ALONZO American Egg Board

CHICAGO — As the marketing organization for the U.S. egg industry, entrusted with increasing demand for U.S. eggs and egg products, the American Egg Board (AEB) always has its eye on the future growth of the egg sector. One important and growing area where AEB has been especially focused on making inroads — with both immediate and longer-terms benefits — is in schools.

We’re focusing on adults who make decisions about what children eat. Specifically, the AEB has been targeting the K-12 school nutrition programs and the foodservice professionals that run them. The opportunity to increase egg consumption in schools is significant.

Each year, approximately 2.4 billion breakfasts and 5 billion lunches are served through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, administered by the USDA. Most importantly — and perhaps more than any other program AEB is advancing — our Eggs in Schools Program is, arguably, one of our most fulfilling and personally satisfying endeavors.

Through our efforts, we’re working to nourish and feed our youth — our future — with high-quality egg products.

How does it work? The AEB has identified the top 20 school districts, by enrollment, nationally, and I’m delighted to report that for the 2018-2019 school year, increases in egg consumption were up by 3.6 percent due to the focus on foodservice distributors and an additional 9.5 percent by USDA purchases, resulting in more than 350 million egg servings in schools across the country. The 2019-2020 school year looks to be on track for additional growth, thanks in part to two new platforms we rolled out last year: “Eat Better. Learn Better.” and “5 Days/5 Ways.”

Both highlight the nutritional benefits of serving eggs and innovative ways schools can use eggs across the menu cycle.

Eat Better.

Learn Better.

dia interest around eggs and school nutrition.

“Eat Better. Learn Better” derives from research showing that students who routinely eat breakfast perform better in school. To engage school nutrition directors and encourage usage of eggs on school menus, the program capitalizes on the egg’s versatility through an Eggcellence in School Menu Innovation contest — with a chance to have their district recognized and celebrated at a special event.

A pilot last year, in which large school districts submitted egg-centric school menu items, yielded an additional 1.2 million servings of eggs, culminating with the inaugural “Eat Better. Learn Better” Celebration at Charleston County School District.

This year, the Des Moines Public Schools Food & Nutrition Program was selected from 35 applicants. The district, comprised of 33,000 students across 63 schools, serves approximately 36,000 meals a day. The two-day event — in partnership with the Iowa Egg Council — included a day of training for the district’s 300-plus school nutrition professionals on the value of protein, understanding changing school meals and social media best practices to increase meal participation. We even attracted Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Julie Kenney to provide keynotes addressing the value of agriculture and nutrition in schools. The event generated considerable local me-

5 Days/5 Ways School nutrition directors are continually looking for meal ideas that increase meal participation at a low cost while maximizing inventory. The AEB’s 5 Days/5 Ways program meets this need by providing real school recipes for each day of the week — helping menu planners minimize inventory costs while maximizing egg product use by serving them multiple ways across the menu cycle.

The versatility of eggs allows operators to customize offerings while enticing students with new eggcellent entrees. The program has been hugely popular, with social media and downloads far exceeding our goals and benchmarks.

Most recently, to grow demand for eggs with the expansion of breakfast service models, the AEB has introduced a new series of 5 Days/5 Ways menus that can be used for Breakfast in the Classroom, All Day Breakfast and after-school snacks.

Next up: Setting sights on lunch and snacks One of the keys to the success of the AEB’s Eggs in Schools programming has been our ability to provide relevant, on-trend culinary and marketing support to school nutrition programs — featuring eggs — that meets their needs and also delights both students and parents.

Now we’re moving toward

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CMYK 4PD

Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Moving goods moves up as key Hall industry

gainesvilletimes com

JOBS ■■ Continued from 1PD

BY JEFF GILL

jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A bustling economy the past few years — and particularly a rise in e-commerce — has boosted Hall County’s logistics industry.

“We’re fierce competitors during the day, but otherwise we’re good friends and watch out for each other,” said Jim Syfan, CEO of Syfan Logistics in Gainesville. “I don’t feel like any of us can be an island — we’re all in this together. There’s plenty of freight and I can’t haul it all.”

The Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 Logistics Report agrees.

“Gainesville-Hall County has developed into a growth center for expertise in freight brokerage, third-party logistics, cold-chain logistics and transportation services for freight,” said Tim Evans, vice president of economic development, in a third annual report done in partnership with the Georgia Center of Innovation Logistics.

Third-party logistics helps businesses outsource elements of its distribution, warehousing and fulfillment services.

The area has 76 logistics businesses with 4,800 jobs, compared to 65 companies and 1,900 employees in 2015.

Many firms noted in the Chamber’s study have expanded in recent years, including Clipper Petroleum, Eskimo Cold Storage, Mansfield Energy Corp., Performance Foodservice, Simpson Trucking & Grading, Syfan Logistics and Tribe Transportation.

“The recent employment growth at logistics service providers in Gainesville-Hall County underscores the increasing need for specialized workforce development programs for logistics,” the chamber report says.

“Nationally, there is an acute shortage of commercial truck drivers as a result of industry growth, retirements and ...

SCOTT ROGERS | The Times

Syfan Logistics employees work Friday, March 13, in a room filled with computer monitors at their site on Old Candler Road.

scheduling requirements.”

Lanier Technical College has created new programs on its campus off Ga. 365 that provide training and specialized skills needed by logistics service providers and other businesses.

The campus offers a commercial truck driving program, as well as new diesel technology and logistics management programs designed to support the logistics industry.

“The new facility also allowed us to expand on successful programs in material handling and ammonia refrigeration technologies used in cold-chain logistics,” Lanier Tech president Ray Perren said.

Syfan Logistics and the University of North Georgia’s Mike Cottrell College of Business have developed curriculum for a bachelor of business administration degree, with 37 stu-

dents pursuing the degree with a concentration in supply chain management and logistics.

Also, UNG is planning to offer a supply chain management camp to high school students in summer 2020 in partnership with Hall County Schools and Syfan Logistics.

Syfan began a expansion project in 2018 and is looking to expand again in 2 « years.

“That’s where we are headed,” he said.

Jimmy Adams said his company, Corporate Storage, which provides third-party logistics and warehousing services to many manufacturing companies, is expanding into a 256,000-square-foot facility off Atlanta Highway in Gainesville.

“It’s a tremendous turnaround on that facility,” Adams said.

The company is taking over the former Beaulieu Group LLC facility at 1750 Atlanta Road.

positions, but they’re looking at their highly skilled, technically trained people that may be retiring over the coming years and how they’re going to fill those positions,” Evans said.

The latter need is across the board in fields such as health care, manufacturing and professional services, Evans said. Some may need just a twoyear certificate program while others might need more specialized training and undergraduate degrees.

“There’s not one workforce development challenge and there’s not one workforce development solution for it either,” Evans said.

Hawkins said the demand for workers in the manufacturing/distribution field started to boom in 2016. The main skills and job descriptions for these workers are computer-numerically-controlled programs, welders, production/poultry maintenance and forklift operators.

Many employers are looking at more specialized skills and certificate programs that may be shorter than traditional schooling, as Evans pointed to apprenticeship programs in industrial maintenance and machining. These two-year programs involve 2,000 hours of classroom time while the participant is working in the field.

Kubota North American Corp. announced last year its plan to purchase 300 acres in Gainesville for a new engineering and design center.

That $85 million investment means additional engineers and more employees to work on the test bench, Evans said.

Association, annual Expo strive to serve poultry, egg industry

JOHN PRESTAGE Prestage Farms

TUCKER — Through the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s efforts, we continue to pursue our goal of being the leading technical resource and voice for the feather industries.

USPOULTRY serves our members and the entire poultry and egg industry through the annual International Poultry Expo in Atlanta, the flagship event produced by the association.

The International Poultry Expo is held in partnership with the International Feed Expo and International Meat Expo, as part of the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE).

The next IPPE will be held Jan. 26-28, 2021, at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Every year, IPPE attracts industry leaders, decision makers and purchasing managers from around the world to Atlanta to experience and see the newest technology, research, processes and products that the global animal food, meat and poultry industries have to offer. All segments of today’s poultry, animal food and meat industries are represented, including feed milling, hatchery, egg production, live production, processing, further processing, rendering and a variety of supporting activities.

More than 200 hours of education programs and workshops will be held, led by industry leaders and notable experts, focused on addressing the latest insights, industry issues and best practices in the areas of animal welfare, food safety, consumer trends, animal agriculture sustainability, regulatory compliance, business management, operations, domestic and international economic and market conditions, and much more.

The Expo also provides an excellent place for networking as well as company and organization meetings.

The International Poultry Expo is USPOULTRY’s primary source of income, allowing the association to serve the industry in multiple ways. One hundred percent of the revenue that is generated through IPPE is reinvested back into the industry. In 2019, more than $3 million was directed into programs to provide critical research, education, training, technical assistance, crisis management assistance, public relations and regulatory assistance for your business and our industry.

Industry research continues to be a major recipient of the funds generated by the

International Poultry Expo.

Since 1969, more than $32 million has been invested into research projects that advance all phases of the poultry and egg industry.

Research funding through both USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation continues to be a principal aspect in finding solutions to the challenges facing the poultry industry, in addition to helping keep the poultry industry one of the most efficient and productive segments of animal agriculture.

To ensure the success of tomorrow’s poultry industry, USPOULTRY also sponsors and participates in several programs designed to engage students interested in the poultry industry. Each program focuses on the development of the students’ understanding of the industry. The USPOULTRY Foundation provides recruiting grants to colleges and universities to help attract students to their poultry programs or expose students in other majors to our industry. For 2019, more than $383,577 in student recruiting funds were approved to 35 colleges and universities, from California to Delaware and Minnesota to Texas.

The College Student Career Program, held in conjunction with IPPE, offers students the opportunity to network and interview for industry jobs and internships. The International Student Program brings Latin American and other international students to IPPE each year, where they are treated to a specialized program designed especially for them.

The Ph.D. and Vet Student Career Fair, in its third year, will be held in conjunction with the Poultry Science Association Foundation during the International Poultry Scientific Forum at IPPE. The target participants are post-doctoral, Ph.D. and vet students particularly involving, but not limited to, technology driven companies such as those in genetics, health, pharmaceuticals and nutrition. All of these programs are part of the USPOULTRY Foundation’s continuing effort to encourage talented young people to become the industry’s leaders of the future.

We will bring more than 125 FFA Career Development Event winners and national FFA officers to the 2020 IPPE — please welcome these future industry leaders when you see them throughout the week! Students are given the opportunity to visit the exhibit floor to see and experience

the latest technological advancements offered by today’s poultry industry. USPOULTRY also supports 4-H and sponsors college poultry judging competitions.

Since the very first seminar in 1956, education continues to be a significant cornerstone of USPOULTRY’s mission. Our seminars help improve operations, identify and reduce loss exposures, and enhance employee safety and retention. In 2019, USPOULTRY conducted 13 seminars and six training programs covering all aspects of the industry, including environmental management, hatchery breeder and poultry processor management, live production and welfare, safety and health management, financial management and human resources.

USPOULTRY’s Human Resources, Safety & Health Program develops training materials, programs and videos that help member companies improve operations, identify and reduce loss exposures, and enhance employee safety and retention. USPOULTRY also identifies and maintains technical resources that address key industry issues, as well as provides administrative leadership for several joint poultry industry councils. This year, online training materials for a management training program and updates to USPOULTRY’s incident investigation training resources were introduced.

USPOULTRY’s Food Safety & Production Program provides technical assistance to member companies in live production, processing, animal welfare and food safety. The program helps ensure the safety and quality of U.S. poultry meat and egg products and offers compliance consulting assistance through investigation, information sharing and industry advocacy.

This year, USPOULTRY introduced an online training course on gait scoring essentials for broilers and turkeys in addition to a shell egg washing training module.

USPOULTRY’s Environmental Program offers regulatory expertise, technical assistance, regulatory compliance consultation and structured technical training programs — some including certification — for a nominal or no fee. Training can be tailored to individual company programs. To demonstrate our commitment to environmental stewardship, USPOULTRY continues to sponsor two annual environ-

mental recognition awards, the Clean Water Award and the Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award.

This year, we featured one Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award family in our video series highlighting poultry and egg farm environmental stewardship.

Further, USPOULTRY is a sponsor of the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs / International Poultry Welfare Alliance, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, and is the largest single contributor to the Animal Agriculture Alliance. The Association supports their roles in providing a broad platform to educate the pub-

lic at large about the benefits of modern, sustainable poultry production systems.

USPOULTRY is the world’s largest and most active poultry organization of its kind. Our membership includes producers and processors of broilers, turkeys, ducks, eggs and breeding stock as well as allied companies. We are committed to our members, providing assistance and service based on changing needs. A staff of enthusiastic specialists works with our members to help improve and advance the industry in the areas of research, education, the environment, food safety, poultry health

and communication.

We work in a great industry, and I personally encourage all of you to contribute to it. By investing in our future and working together to solve common problems, we will continue to grow and advance our industry. We sincerely appreciate and value your continued support of USPOULTRY’s efforts.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2021 International Production & Processing Expo in Atlanta.

John Prestage is senior vice president of Prestage Farms and was the 2019 chairman of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

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