The Georgia Bioscience Joint Development Authority voted in June of 2012 to rebrand the Highway 316 Corridor as “Georgia’s Innovation Corridor.”
Caterpillar Inc.’s ongoing development of a more traditional, large, manufacturing facility in Oconee and Athens-Clarke counties near the eastern end of the highway influenced the group’s decision to “broaden the reach of interest” from the original single focus on attracting “bioscience” to encompass more potential future development, says the group’s outgoing chairperson, Tracey Stice of ArunA Biomedical Inc. of Athens.
The group also elected a new slate of officers. The new president is Chuck Horton, a member of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners. Vice president is Tommy Jennings, the president of the Barrow County Chamber of Commerce. The secretary is Chris Brown, senior vice president of Duke Realty’s Atlanta office; and Stice, elected treasurer. The Georgia Bioscience Joint Development Authority is a regional authority with members appointed by the governing bodies of the four counties along the corridor. They include Athens-Clarke, Oconee, Barrow and Gwinnett.
Excerpted from The Barrow Journal, June, 2012
