By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Nick Masino of Partnership Gwinnett is always entertaining when he speaks before a group. We were lucky enough to enjoy a Nick presentation the other day. Here are a few highlights from that talk that Nick gives as information on prospects who know little about Gwinnett.
Diversity: Gwinnett is one of the most diverse of areas in the United States, with 25 percent of its residents born outside the United States. “Gwinnett is what the rest of the USA will look like by 2040,” Nick predicts. Not only that, but Gwinnett is home to 600 international businesses, contributing another layer to its diversity.
Millennials: While many think that millennials only want an apartment inside the perimeter, many millennials are already living here, and as this group gets older, even more will arrive for its suburban features. Some 19,000 Gwinnett homes are owned by millennials, plus 33,000 apartments are rented by this group.
Continued development: In virtually every part of Gwinnett, projects are coming out of the ground for mixed use and multi-family development. We have written about many of these, which you see in Duluth, Suwanee, Peachtree Corners, Sugar Hill, Lawrenceville and in the Gwinnett Place area. Today more than $1 Billion (that’s a B) in development is already underway in Gwinnett. Gwinnett’s not a sleepy community seeing no new development.
Company stability: Companies come to Gwinnett, and nearly all stay here. Some 99.9 percent of companies that are located outside the perimeter re-sign leases. In 2016, Gwinnett’s private sector grew by 8,000 jobs. At present, there is 150 million of square feet of flex space in Gwinnett.
High-tech: Yes. Gwinnett continues to be among the top three counties for technical jobs, which started out of Technology Park/Atlanta in the 1980s, according to the Technical Association of Georgia. Gwinnett now has over 225,000 square feet of incubator/co-working space. More’s coming!
Transportation: In existence now for 20 years, Gwinnett’s successful bus system works beautifully each business day. New routes soon will be announced to the Emory University and CDC areas. Of the recent Interstate 85 bridge collapse, Nick points out that “within 24 hours we had expanded routes to all northern MARTA stations.” Nick also like to talk about a future concept: bus rapid transit, which he anticipates is much more economical and easier to operate than any rail service.
Education: Nick emphasizes the high quality of Gwinnett education. He touts that, with 183,000 students, Gwinnett Public Schools won the Broad prize not once, but twice. And he mentioned the Buford Public Schools being ranked tops in the nation. And then there’s the high-quality private schools, such as Wesleyan and Greater Atlanta Christian. There’s also Georgia Gwinnett College’s sterling 10 year start-up; plus Gwinnett Tech, even a Medical School (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Suwanee), and UGA Gwinnett here, all housing students from the pre-K to doctoral degrees. Nick also tells how the county has passed a $3 billion ESPLOST funding.
What does all this mean? Nick tells audiences that it means that companies like Kaiser Permanente, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Crawford and Company, Carcoustics and many other firms have recently decided to have facilities in Gwinnett County, and call it home.
He adds: “Since Partnership Gwinnett’s inception in 2007, we have helped to create 19,375 jobs, and bring over $1.3 billion of investment to this community.”
That’s all a big WOW! Attaboy, Nick Masino!
NEW SUBJECT: He’s right! Lou Camerio of Lawrenceville writes to correct a slight imperfection in a recent post: He says: “Hope Springs (Distillery of Lilburn) is the first ‘legal’ distillery in Gwinnett in modern times.” Can’t argue there!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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