Creating options in Effingham County

Creating options in Effingham County

 John Henry, CEO of the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority says it’s important that students in Effingham County have options to work in the county. He cited a 70 percent out-commuter rate, with many residents working at Gulf stream or the port and its infrastructure in Savannah. The county has a population of more than 54,000, but only 9,000 to 10,000 jobs, a number he wants to see grow.

“It’s a complete loss of human capital and that investment that we made if those students can’t return to this community and have a good viable job to come back to,” Henry says.

Effingham’s identity as a bedroom community is a drain on local governments to provide services.

“It’s imperative that the IDA and the entire community work to increase industry and commerce in the county to offset those residential tax burdens,” Henry says. “And we've made a lot of strides with it.”

With the recession over, he says the number of lookers has increased threefold over the past two years, with 80 percent to 90 percent international. Henry says many projects are not port-related or even interstate highway dependent.

He has plenty of land to work with, including a 2,600-acre industrial parcel known as the Research Forest Tract. The site has mega site potential but is still in the planning stages.

Because the county has to provide so much infrastructure to undeveloped industrial sites, the county has steered away from distribution and call centers. “We get more bang for our buck from manufacturing,” Henry says.

That ostensibly included making movies. However, ambitious plans for a 1,560-acre movie studio complex have so far brought mostly drama to the county.

A hostile takeover last year resulted in a new name, new CEO and new focus. Medient Studios became Moon River Studios, a nod to the Breakfast at Tiffany’s song written by Savannah native Johnny Mercer.

Jake Shapiro, a member of the original management team who is now CEO, hopes to have the first building operational by early summer.

He says the previous plans were “grandiose and ego driven,” including a glass suspension bridge that was estimated to cost $2-3 billion, and Shapiro says, “never would have happened. They were just wasting everybody’s time and money.”

A Wall Street veteran, Shapiro proposes a $90-million full-service film studio and production facility that will bring 527 jobs. The county built a road and will provide necessary infrastructure for the complex.

Rick Lott, executive director of the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce, appreciates what he calls the “more realistic plan.” Once soundstages and other buildings start “coming out of the ground,” he says, “then everybody here will breathe a sigh of relief and know that we’ve got a brand-new future ahead of us in the county.

“It’s one thing to have industry coming into an area – and we really need more industry here – but something like a movie studio, oh my gosh, it’s so sexy. It’s not only the revenue coming into the county from the production of films, but it’s studio tours.”

Lott says other soundstages in the region have been booked far in advance, “so it really does seem like a ‘build it they will come’ situation.”

Director Penny Marshall has already committed to film the felicitously named Effa in Effingham County. It’s a biography of Effa Manley, the African-American sports executive who became the first woman inducted into the baseball hall of fame. With a budget of $21 million, Shapiro says the film could produce $60-80 million in benefit for the region.

“What’s amazing about Savannah and Effingham County is tremendous diversity, both in terms of architecture and topography,” Shapiro says. “We’ve got shoreline at Tybee Island and mountains nearby. Atlanta can pass for any big city in the world; Savannah can pass for the Lower East Side of Manhattan or Chicago. For a filmmaker, it’s an ideal location.”

Movies produced by Moon River could even be screened in Springfield, thanks to the reopening in April 2014 of the Mars Theatre. It closed in 1957, forcing residents to seek their entertainment outside the county. Locals such as Gussie Nease led fundraisers, and the city stepped in with a $1-million infusion.

Open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday and for special events, the state-of-the-art multi-use facility shows first-run movies and classics and hosts live performances.

“I think it’s going to serve as a wonderful catalyst for business growth in Springfield and the county,” Lott says.

The concerts have attracted people from as far away as Hilton Head and Charleston, while movie audiences are mostly local.

“It’s good to see life back in town after dark,” says Springfield City Manager Brett Bennett.

Restaurants typically open only for lunch are now feeding customers on nights when the theater is open. A new locally owned restaurant is even expected to open this summer in a building that has never housed a restaurant before.

“I think it’s a direct result of the Mars Theatre,” Bennett says, noting that new retail businesses have already opened. “It definitely has sparked more of an interest of people wanting to be downtown.”

Springfield also has spruced up the stretch that it calls “between the lights” with the first phase of its streetscape improvements, notably moving utility wires underground and adding street lamps.

The city of nearly 3,000 residents is also enhancing its natural resources.

The Springfield Ebenezer Greenway is preserving 275 acres in and around Ebenezer Creek, a blackwater creek designated a National Natural Landmark for its cypress-gum swamp forest.
Copyright 2015 Georgia Trend Magazine.