Soft Landing at The Burson Center
When a company chooses to locate in Carroll County and has a need for a soft landing location, Carroll Tomorrow offers a unique opportunity. The Burson Center, a mixed-use business incubator and resource center, provides offices, meeting and conference rooms plus a variety of services.
“Establishing a presence in a new community can be a significant challenge for any company,” said Andy Camp, Vice President of Economic Development at Carroll Tomorrow. “By offering The Burson Center for soft landings, companies choosing Carroll County can quickly get to work renovating or constructing their facility from a local base of operations.”
Colorado Premium Foods is the latest company to utilize The Burson Center for a soft landing. A manufacturer of premium protein products, Colorado Premium will create 190 jobs and invest $20 million in a Carroll County food processing plant by the end of 2018.
Among the company’s officials who located at The Burson Center as they awaited the completion of office space at their 159,000-square-foot building was Lori Blackmon, human resources manager.
“The facility and staff were beneficial in allowing Colorado Premium to have a successful startup,” Blackmon said. “ The staff’s encouragement, professionalism and resourcefulness were exemplary. Carrollton and Carroll County are very fortunate to have The Burson Center team driving business success.”
When Robin Miller was senior manager of administration for Yachiyo Manufacturing of America, she also led a team at The Burson Center prior to the opening of their plant.
“Simply put, Carroll County and the Carroll Tomorrow leadership collectively met all of our needs …close to our customer base, available workforce, available land, strong sense of community, incentives, soft landing, just the entire package,” Miller said.
Services are focus of a soft landing at The Burson Center. A shared receptionist and print/copy center is on-site, and staff assists with identifying local resources needed by the individual projects. Examples include the recruitment of a trained workforce, government permitting and taxation assistance, language interpretation/translation and cultural exchange.
Donna Armstrong-Lackey, Senior Vice President of Carroll Tomorrow, coordinates soft landings and Lauren Holverson, Director of the Burson Center, is on site to assist clients with their needs such as employee recruitment.
“Not only are we able to provide a larger conference room for recruitment fairs, but we also assist through our partnerships with the Department of Labor and Goodwill Career Center. We want these new companies to easily find the employees they need to successfully grow in Carroll County,” Holverson said.
The Burson Center began development in 2004 through a partnership of several public and private agencies, under the direction of the Carroll County Economic Development Foundation, Carroll Tomorrow, a 501c3 economic development public-private partnership. The building is named for Dr. John Burson, a local physician and area philanthropist, who donated it to Carroll Tomorrow for the purpose of new business development and expansion. The Center opened for operation in July, 2006.
The center facilitates entrepreneurship, innovation, and business growth by assisting new ventures. It fosters an environment for planning, organizing, and expansion in addition to building a solid foundation while minimizing risk. The center provides business planning, expansion coaching, counseling, technical support, affordable office space, an entrepreneurial environment for clients, and more.
The Burson Center has incubated 130 businesses, creating more than 900 jobs and over $80 million in capital investment since opening in 2006. In addition to the companies that are in residence at The Burson Center, the Center’s staff, and resource partners are currently working with over 250 other businesses annually of varying sizes through the northwest Georgia region. The Center has hosted more than 20,000 visitors for over 3,100 seminars, expos, and programs.
For information concerning a soft landing at The Burson Center, contact Andy Camp at andy@carroll-ga.org or 678-890-2354, Donna Armstrong-Lackey at donna@carroll-ga.org or 678-890-2332, or Lauren Holverson at lauren@carroll-ga.org or 678-890-2340.
