Builders & Connectors: Matt Carter
By Jennifer Hafer
He may have a 45-minute commute from his home in Blackshear to his job at the Development Authority of Appling County in Baxley, but a recent trip to Atlanta had Matt Carter counting his blessings.
“I drove through Atlanta, and it took roughly three hours,” he says. “My commute is not near as awful as an Atlanta commute, absolutely not.”
It was somewhat of a winding road that led Carter to a career in economic development. He started in logistics, followed by a transition into property management that was derailed by the Great Recession. So, in 2011, he took the helm at the Pierce County Industrial Development and Building Authority.
“In roughly 2005, I had the opportunity to partner on a retail venture and manage a shopping center, and we all know what happened in 2008,” he says.
“At that time, Pierce was leaning heavily on Ware County for economic development. So, realizing there was a lack of resources for local industries and being able to help in updating the industrial park in Pierce County is what basically started my interest in economic development. It was the perfect opportunity to help the community grow.”
Despite consisting of 600 acres and including a CSX rail line, water, and sewer, the Pierce County Industrial Park was pretty much a ghost town at the beginning of his tenure, according to Carter. “Basically the land was sitting vacant with no one marketing it,” he recalls. “It’s taxpayer property that was not being utilized. My goal was to activate this site and draw more interest to the community.”
By the time Carter left Pierce County in 2024 to join the Appling County development authority, occupancy in the industrial park more than doubled from “roughly seven small businesses and a couple of industries.”
Pierce County is home to one industrial park, while Appling County boasts five industrial parks consisting of nearly 700 acres. Acreage that represents “endless opportunities over here in Baxley,” Carter says.
Appling County is also part of the Southeast Georgia Regional Development Authority (SGRDA). Back in the 1990s, the joint development authority consisted of Appling, Bacon, and Jeff Davis counties, but in 2018, Pierce County approached the group with a land-for-rail deal. Under the agreement, the counties jointly own 58 acres in the Pierce County Industrial Park and share the rail-spur, according to Carter. “The No. 1 importance of that is we are a profit-sharing joint authority,” he says. “So, if a project lands in that joint property, the taxes off of whatever the industry is, the profit is split 25 percent each.”
While a rising tide raises all ships, Appling County does have some advantageous assets of its own, according to Carter.
“In Park West, we have a 60,000-square-foot spec building and roughly 100 acres around it is GRAD certified and ready to go,” he says. “We have four-lane access to the ports, to I-95, I-75 and I-16, right on down to I-10 out from Jacksonville.”
In September, the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) announced that Park West earned “Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development” (GRAD) certification with “Select” status. According to GDEcD, the new certification that makes the site “particularly attractive for future industrial development.”
“It’s all about speed to market,” Carter says. “The certification helps speed up the process for industries to move forward when they are looking at a site.”
In addition to abundant acreage and good transportation infrastructure, Appling County is home to Southern Pines College and Career Academy (SPCCA), which is located next door to the Baxley campus of Coastal Pines Technical College (CPTC).
Opened in 2023, SPCCA is a collaboration between the Appling, Bacon, Jeff Davis, and Wayne County school systems in conjunction with CPTC to address workforce development needs. The regional educational partnership gives high school students free dual enrollment training for technical careers in fields including electrical lineman, nursing. and automotive — all high demand in the region.
The county’s largest industry is the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Power Plant, which employs more than 900. Established in 1975, the plant sits on a 2,244-acre site along the Altamaha River and generates about 1,848 megawatts of carbon-free electricity — more than 8 percent of the state’s power. The county is also home to Appling Healthcare, an acute care community hospital in Baxley, while the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America is located 65 miles away in Ellabell.
“Students are able to go out of high school straight into the technical schools and into a local industry right here in the community,” Carter says. “We have one new industry, Harbor Fab, which moved in last November. They do metal fabrication, building steps and stairways for sawmills and different industries.”
“I think Appling County is well suited for additional fabrication, manufacturing, possibly distribution, energy support,” says Carter.
With the average timeline for a community to court an industry and have the company open its doors typically ranging from one to three years, there are no quick wins in economic development. But there is immense satisfaction to be found when that lengthy process leads to creating community prosperity.
“It’s a long-term game,” Carter says. “In this particular role, you don’t have immediate successes, but it’s great seeing the different successes through the years.”
Carter says his top priorities over the next three to five years are continuing to market the real estate available for industrial development, as well as building out the utility infrastructure and roadways into the remaining 50 acres in Appling County Industrial Park West.