Bulloch County’s prepared site for industrial and business development at the I-16 interchange on U.S. Highway 301 now has a new name, the Bruce Yawn Commerce Park, county Board of Commissioners Chairman Roy Thompson announced in front of about 400 people Monday night at J.I. Clements Stadium.

The event that drew that crowd to Georgia Southern University’s baseball stadium in Statesboro was the State of the Region and Business Expo, where Gov. Brian Kemp gave the keynote speech. The Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce organized the event, which included a small trade show by local exhibitors on the main entrance level before speeches from a stage down on the field, with the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport’s governing board as presenting sponsor and the university as venue sponsor.

“It is an honor to be in Statesboro and be here on the campus of Georgia Southern University and be able to share all of the great things that we have going on in this state of opportunity,” Kemp said.

He noted that in September he “had the honor of announcing that Georgia again, for the ninth year in a row is the number-one state in the country for business.”

These rankings are from “Top States for Doing Business” reports published annually by the magazine now known as Area Development. Costs of doing business, and therefore things such as low taxes and power costs and generous incentives, factor in the rankings by a panel. Southern states dominated the 2022 rankings, with Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas and North Carolina being the top five.

“It’s people like you all that are helping make that possible,” Kemp said, to applause. “What’s so amazing, just a month before that announcement we celebrated our state hitting a new record for job creation and investment. In 2022 alone, Georgia saw over 51,000 new private-sector jobs announced that are coming to our state, and over $21.2 billion of investment coming to our communities.”

Non-metro jobs

Over 74% of those investments will be “located outside the metro Atlanta region, in communities just like Statesboro,” he added. Kemp noted that these numbers only include projects the state was involved in bringing to reality but not “the many others that we didn’t participate in.”

Since Kemp took office, more than 137,664 new jobs have been added in Georgia, and more than $47 billion in investment has come to the state, he said.

“I’m also happy to share that in that same time, over $325 million in investment has come to Bulloch County alone, and over 14,300 new jobs and $8 billion of investment to this region of the state,” he said.

Kemp noted that more Georgians have jobs now than ever before, and that the state’s unemployment rate is at a historic low of 2.8%. After hitting that level in August, the state rate remained unchanged in September, Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler announced last week. The national unemployment rate for September was 3.5%, returning to the 50-year low reached in July.

Big EV projects

“Twice in the last fiscal year we announced the single largest economic development project in state history, first with Rivian and then with Hyundai Motor Group, both of which will invest billions of dollars in our state while creating thousands of new jobs,” Kemp said.

Both of those projects are large factories planned to manufacture electric vehicles.

Kemp noted that the next morning – Tuesday, Oct. 25 – he and others present Monday evening would take part in the official groundbreaking ceremony for the Hyundai Motor Group plant “just down the road at the Bryan County Mega Site.”

“That one economic development initiative alone will net the coastal region approximately 8,100 jobs through over $5.5 billion in investment in the coming years,” Kemp said Monday.  “And if I have anything to say about it, we’ll see even more historic announcements in the coming years, many which will be tied to that project.”

Bulloch County Commissioner Curt Deal, a friend of the governor and his family, had introduced Kemp as the keynote speaker.

I-16 site update

Before that, Thompson, the Board of Commissioners chairman, had come to the stage. He brought some shirts with him in a suit bag.

“As we celebrate recent developments in our community tonight, and as we share the opportunities to come, I’d like to share a very special recognition that will mean a great deal to all of us, particularly me,” he said.

Several years ago, Thompson noted, the county government partnered with the Development Authority of Bulloch County, or DABC, to purchase land at Interstate 16 and U.S. Highway 301 South “anticipated to be the beginning of industrial recruitment at the interstate.” The county, he noted, then partnered with the city of Statesboro to have water and sewer lines extended to the site.

The county also obtained state assistance for changes to U.S. 301, including access lanes in front of the site, and paved two entrance roads.

“It’s taken some time and patience, but we’re beginning to see the fruits of our labor in commitments now,” Thompson said.

Aspen Aerogels broke ground in February on a $325 million factory, expected to employ more than 250 people, at the site, until now known as Southern Gateway Commerce Park. Just this month, TravelCenters of America opened a TA Express fueling center at one of the entrances.

Yawn tribute

As the DABC and county officials worked on the commerce park’s development, one “very important person” was involved each step of the way, from the “city utilities conversation” to negotiations with TravelsCenters of America and Aspen Aerogels, Thompson said.

“Chances are that you know him well and were touched by him in some way in your own lives. But tonight on behalf of the Development Authority of Bulloch County and the Board of Commissioners, I have the honor of announcing the renaming of the Development Authority’s industrial park at Interstate 16 to Bruce Yawn Commerce Park,” Thompson said, as applause erupted. “Now, that is something else.”

A mockup of a monument sign with the new name appeared on the stadium’s scoreboard. The sign has yet to be funded or installed.

Yawn, 74, was still chair of the DABC when he died suddenly of a heart attack Jan. 20. He also served on the Sea Island Bank board, and then on the local Synovus board which it became, for about 30 years. From April 2015 on Yawn was executive director of Willow Pond Senior Care.

But his first claim to local fame and wide influence was as owner of Snooky’s Restaurant from 1971 until 2012, at first along with his father, the late Vivian D. “Snooky” Yawn.

“We lost Bruce too soon, earlier this year, but his impact on our lives remains with us every day,” Thompson said, choking up. “We hope that this recognition will allow us to remember Bruce and his service to our community as the chairman of our Development Authority. We are honored tonight to be joined by many members of Bruce’s family.”

His wife Carol, their daughters Nancy and Susan and their son Jeff were among those in attendance.

Signed T-shirts

From the suit bag, Thompson brought out a T-shirt from another restaurant, owned by a friend, who had it autographed by the late Hank Aaron, the renowned, record-setting Braves baseball player. Then he brought out a Snooky’s T-shirt, one of two Yawn signed for Thompson and his wife, Deborah, just before the restaurant closed.

He suggested that those mean at least as much to them.