GBJ Staff

FEMA revises flood elevations for Gwinnett

The Cities of Berkeley Lake, Buford, Duluth, Sugar Hill and Suwanee, the Town of Braselton and the unincorporated areas of Gwinnett County have until June 7, 2012, to appeal proposed new or modified Base Flood Elevations (BFEs).

These BFEs are the basis for the floodplain management measures that your community is required to either adopt or show evidence of being already in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. Prompting community review of the proposed elevations are the preliminary Flood Insurance Study (FIS) and Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) recently issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

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GBJ Staff

Gwinnett property assessments in the mail

Gwinnett County property owners will get the official assessment of their property’s value soon. Chief Appraiser Steve Pruitt said the County mailed approximately 257,000 residential and 14,000 commercial annual notices of current assessment on April 6, 2012.

Property owners have 45 days from the date of the notice to file an appeal by using the statewide uniform appeal form (PT311A). The deadline for appeals is May 21.

Overall, approximately 80,000 of the residential notices will show a decrease in value, with an average decrease of 22 percent. The sum of these downward adjustments total $2.5 billion of residential market value. The general review of commercial properties resulted in more than 300 properties receiving increases in value totaling almost $625 million in market value. New property growth, fairly equally split between residential and commercial property, totaled approximately $400 million in market value.

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GBJ Staff

Changing role of REALTORS

by Mark Lackey

The viewing and selling process in residential real estate is a whole new ballgame. Unprecedented access to information means that someone who only buys or sells a home every five to seven years is bound to be confused or have unrealistic expectations.

Not long ago, REALTORS showed homes because these professionals had access to the closely held Multiple Listing Service (MLS) book – a tome as thick as a phone book, published each week listing homes available for sale. Prospective buyers gave their REALTORS a description of their ideal homes. The REALTORS then escorted these prospects to homes they’d previously toured and that their agencies had as listings.

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Kim Marks

Re-education makes sense for Corey Gibson

Corey Gibson

As owner of a small construction business in Colorado, Corey Gibson built vacation homes for more than 17 years. In 2009, he moved his family to Georgia to be near his aging mother. He found that Gwinnett is flooded with good construction workers just like him who have, “all the experience and skill sets, but not the education.”

Wanting to be more than a little fish in a big pond, Gibson enrolled in the Commercial Construction Management program at Gwinnett Technical College and is on track to complete his degree in the fall.

“Going back to school as a 40-year-old was very intimidating,” he admits. “My biggest fear was being the old guy at school.”

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GBJ Staff

Norcross firm named ENERGY STAR Leader

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized Gwinnett-based national real estate investment firm, Wells Real Estate Funds, as an ENERGY STAR Leader. Three Georgia organizations achieved this designation for improving the energy efficiency of their building portfolios by 20 percent or more.

“We are extremely honored to have been selected as one of only three Georgia companies to be recognized as an ENERGY STAR Leader,” said Scott Meadows, managing director, property services for Wells Real Estate Funds. “We strive to operate our properties as responsibly as we can with respect to green building practices, and we are pleased that our efforts to achieve the highest standards of energy efficiency have been recognized.”

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GBJ Staff

Gwinnett residents, apply for homestead exemption

Tax Commissioner Richard Steele announced that the deadline for all Gwinnett County homestead exemptions for tax year 2012 is April 1 and urges homeowners to apply.

“I want homeowners to get any tax break they are entitled to as easily as possible,” said Steele. “The best way for them to save money on their property tax is to be sure they are taking advantage of any exemption they can. We want homeowners to know what is available to them and how to apply on time in order to reap the most benefit possible.”

There are several exemptions available to qualifying homeowners. Two common exemptions include:

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GBJ Staff

ER Snell completing Gwinnett roadwork

In March, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved a contract with the Georgia Department of Transportation for $2.5 million in state funds for the Sugarloaf Pkwy. extension from Campbell Rd. to Georgia State Route 316.

Construction of the final section is already underway by ER Snell Contractor, Inc. Having previously won the contract, the firm anticipates ramps on the south side of SR 316 will open to traffic in August with the north side ramps expected to open by the end of the year.

Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash said, “The Board’s gratitude goes to the state DOT for contributing funds to this regionally significant project. This is just another example of how our SPLOST funds have been able to leverage state and federal funding to help improve mobility.”

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GBJ Staff

Caterpillar may have long reach

by Scott LeCraw

Caterpillar, Inc. will break ground on a one million s.f. manufacturing plant near Athens, Ga., that will ultimately employ as many as 1,400 people. The plant is to be constructed on 265 acres of the ‘Orkin Site’ that has been on the market for decades.

That’s certainly good news for Athens, but it may also be good news for Gwinnett County. The site of the plant is roughly 20 miles from the Gwinnett County line and about 30 miles from Lawrenceville. History indicates that a major plant in such close proximity will likely have a positive economic impact on the surrounding communities.

An excellent example is the BMW plant in Spartanburg, S.C., constructed in 1992. This manufacturing facility was expected to generate about 2,000 jobs. Today, the plant employs about 5,800. BMW has continuously expanded its operations in Spartanburg, with a cumulative capital investment of over $5 billion. That capital investment has led to the creation of a vast network of over 50 suppliers located throughout South Carolina. Studies indicate that BMW’s 5,800 direct jobs support about 23,000 supplier jobs.

The Ga. State Route 316 corridor already sees a high level of activity. But property in that corridor is likely to come into demand as suppliers begin to form a cluster around Caterpillar. Many of the plant’s employees will live in Gwinnett and they will certainly spend money here.

We live and work in a global economy. The equipment to be produced at the new Caterpillar plant is currently produced in Japan. The production and jobs coming back ‘onshore’ will benefit all of us, but Gwinnett County may get a larger than expected share of that benefit.

Scott LeCraw is the owner of LeCraw Realty and can be contacted at www.lecrawrealty.com.

News Release: Caterpillar Plans New Factory Near Athens, Ga.

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GBJ Staff

Gwinnett’s international business scope

(L-R) Michael Mayers, operations manager, Bob Broaddus, laboratory manager and Michael Forgeron, president of Analysts, Inc.

According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, there are 579 ‘internationally based businesses’ in Gwinnett County that employee a total of 26,597 people.

Of these, 147 are involved in manufacturing. Together, they employ 10,959 people and account for approximately half of Gwinnett’s manufacturing jobs. Among this group, 29 companies in the Global Fortune 500 have a significant presence in Gwinnett.

“The Partnership Gwinnett community and economic development strategy and its investors have facilitated the creation high-wage jobs – more than 10,000 in the last five years,” said Nick Masino, senior vice president of Economic Development & Partnership Gwinnett. “That is why it is now more crucial than ever that we continue expanding our economic development initiatives internationally.”

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GBJ Staff

2012 Cleantech Trends

In a 2010 Global Survey, Ernst & Young identified ‘cleantech’ as one of six trends shaping worldwide business practices.

Although many companies and individuals fully embrace environmental sustainability, critical mass is a future target if, as predicted, the cleantech movement is to usher in the next industrial revolution.

The investment climate for clean tech, both domestically and overseas, is cooling somewhat in 2012 due to global economic concerns. Nevertheless, 10 trends are emerging as ones to watch in the near term.

  1. An increased demand for retrofit energy-efficient products will continue to counter a slowing trend for new green construction.
  2. Growth in the number of U.S.-based biorefineries will turn cellulosic biomass products like wood and agricultural waste into fuels, plastics, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals.

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