With the help of its partners at Jackson EMC, Walton EMC, and the Gwinnett County Departments of Transportation, Parks and Recreation and Fire, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful GC&B) will collect live trees between December 26, 2023 and January 24, 2024 at select fire stations throughout the county. They will then be transported to Lawrenceville’s Bethesda Park for Bring One for the Chipper 2024 on Saturday, January 27, 2024.
Schelly Marlatt, executive director of GC&B, emphasizes: “Bring One for the Chipper has become an annual tradition for countless families – whether dropping off their trees, volunteering at the event, or both. While the collection of trees is a service that we are honored to offer our neighbors throughout Gwinnett County, we’re happy to open it up to other metro Atlantans who happen to be in the area with their live Christmas trees in tow. The main purpose of this undertaking is to divert as many live Christmas trees from the landfill as possible. Instead of decomposing slowly, they will find a new, immediate purpose of beautifying our local parks, enhancing their enjoyment by our local residents and visitors – young and old.”
- To be accepted for treecycling, live Christmas trees must be free of lights, tinsel, decorations, and tree stands. Artificial trees will not be accepted.
Gwinnett Place has $16 billion economic impact
Gwinnett Place continues to generate significant public revenues for Gwinnett County, the county’s school system and the entire state. The findings of a recent economic impact study show that Gwinnett Place had an annual economic impact of $15.9 billion – jumping $2.5 billion in just three years and a whopping $6.4 billion increase from 2017 – all with a primarily vacant property that continues to lose value each year in the heart of the district. The study was conducted by KB Advisory Group and presented to the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (CID) Board of Directors during its recent meeting.
Jonathan Gelber, vice president of KB Advisory Group, says: “This economic impact analysis clearly demonstrates that Gwinnett Place continues to be the economic engine of Gwinnett County – creating a combined public benefit of $199.2 million in annual recurring public revenues. We believe that if Gwinnett County can begin the transformation of the former Gwinnett Place Mall site into the Global Villages concept that Gwinnett County and the community envisioned earlier this year, the economic impact of the area would grow exponentially,” he added.
The full report includes statistics about demographics and population, area employment, economic activity, education, real estate and more. The report highlights include:
- The Gwinnett Place area accounts for 28,688 workers, which is seven percent of all Gwinnett County jobs on less than one percent of Gwinnett’s land.
- The Gwinnett Place area includes 2,054 companies with $2.1 billion in payroll and $7.5 billion in sales.
- The Gwinnett Place area is responsible for $199.2 million in annual recurring public revenues.
- The area includes 220 restaurants that sell $102 million in retail food and beverage sales.
- Almost 10 percent of the county’s office inventory resides within the Gwinnett Place area.
- Across various commercial types, the Gwinnett Place area supports higher average rents than the county overall.
- Office rental rates within the Gwinnett Place area over the past decade have remained higher than the county overall.
- The industrial and flex space within the Gwinnett Place area has higher rents than the county overall.
A fifth of the county’s inventory of hotel rooms is concentrated in the Gwinnett Place area.
Gwinnett Place’s retail sector dominates the community with more than 8.4 million square feet of retail space, over 8,000 jobs (or almost 30 percent of the area’s total jobs) – generating $749.5 million in retail products. Accommodation and food services comprise the second largest sector with almost 4,800 jobs. Professional, scientific and technical services jobs continue to be well-represented in the Gwinnett Place area, with over 3,100 jobs, which represents 10% of all such jobs in Gwinnett County. 11% of the county’s jobs in real estate and management are concentrated in this area. The Gwinnett Place area’s workers continue to mirror the diversity within Gwinnett County.
Explore Gwinnett honors hospitality partners
Explore Gwinnett honored several of its hospitality leaders at its annual awards event, hosted at the Gas South Convention Center recently. The event was also organized as a donation drive, resulting in more than 4,500 items collected to benefit the Michael Steven Powell Legacy Fund.
The hospitality partners recognized at the event included:
- Outstanding Sports Partner: Shannon Butler, Special Event Operations Coordinator, Gwinnett Stripers;
- Outstanding Hospitality Partner: Wendi Lucas, Sales Manager, Main Event Entertainment;
- Outstanding Hospitality Partner: David Sukala, Director of Sales and Marketing, Sonesta Gwinnett Place Atlanta;
- Outstanding Hospitality Partner: Kevin Priger, Senior Sales Manager, Hilton Atlanta Northeast; and
- Outstanding Community Partner: Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation.
Gwinnett’s hospitality community participated in Explore Gwinnett’s annual hospitality industry charity drive. The 2023 recipient was the Michael Steven Powell Legacy Fund, which was created by Casey and Marcia Powell to honor their son, Michael, who passed away in 2022. This non-profit is committed to supporting local charities and chooses a local charity each month to support.
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