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Published Sunday, February 07, 2010 in Local

Development exec to visit CTCA headquarters

By Jeff Bishop

The Newnan Times-Herald

The Coweta County Development Authority approved funding this week for a trip to a March 18 economic development council that's going to include a visit to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) headquarters.

Development Authority President Greg Wright said he met with CTCA officials just this week, "and their plans are moving forward" to place their Southeastern cancer facility in Newnan across from the Ashley Park development.

"They are moving forward with plans to begin their project by the end of the year, as required by the Certificate of Need," Wright told the development authority members.

An Economic Development Council meeting in Chicago will offer the perfect opportunity to meet leading CTCA officials face-to-face, Wright said.

"I plan on going to the CTCA headquarters and making a connection with them," he said as he asked for approval of approximately $1,500 to fund the trip.

It's a good idea to kill two birds with one stone and make the most of the travel opportunity, said board member Jim Mottola.

"Either effort is worth the money," Mottola said.

In other business, the board announced that the next meeting of the Joint Development Authority will be Friday at the Coweta County Development Authority offices at Creekside Industrial Park.

Wright said he attended a recent meeting at the Central Educational Center with officials from Mercer University. Mercer will begin offering classes at the CEC in the fall.

"The course offerings will be limited at first," said Wright. "But the university has plans to expand the options in the future.

"Mercer has been very successful at its other satellite locations and expects the same interest and support in Coweta," he said.

Wright said he has also been working with officials at the Newnan-Coweta Airport as they work to identify possible funding sources for expansion plans.

"We had a meeting last week with representatives from Senator Saxby Chambliss' office and have another meeting in a couple of weeks with Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and Senator Johnny Isakson's office," he said.

A strategic planning session for the development authority should be held soon, Wright said.

"We have discussed the need to move forward with our strategic planning process," he said.

"I am meeting with Clint Taylor, our region project manager with Georgia Power's community and economic development department, to begin drafting a strategic plan for the authority," he said.

"We will use the draft as a starting point for our discussions," he said.

Development Authority Executive Assistant Brenda Washington said she met with Tim Fleenor at D&H Distributing on Feb. 2, and she has visit requests in to Buffalo Rock, Albion Industries, and Caldwell Tanks. "Everything is going fine" with the existing industries she has spoken with, she said.

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