Our Purpose

The Worth County Economic Development Authority was created by the Georgia General Assembly through a State Constitutional Amendment in 1966 (Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia. 1966 No. 61 House Resolution No. 115-201 Page 860) and ratified by the voters of Worth County in 1968. The Authority has seven members, all of which are appointed by the Worth County Board of Commissioners. The EDA works in partnership with the County Commission and local municipalities to market Worth County to state wide development project managers and supports quality development in the county.

The Worth County Economic Development Authority negotiates local incentive agreements from project to project based on the overall attractiveness of the project. Determining factors of local incentive packages are based on the number of jobs being created, the quality of the jobs being created, benefits, amount of private investment, and the time to complete a project.

We also work in conjunction with the local Chamber of Commerce to foster an environment for local entrepreneurs that is conducive to successfully owning and operating a new or existing business.

Economic Development Authorities (EDAs) use policies and efforts that seek to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for a community or region by creating and/or retaining jobs and supporting or growing incomes and the tax base. More broadly defined as anything a community does to foster and create a healthy economy. The goals of Economic Developers include:

• Business Recruitment and Expansion – attracting new business
• Business Retention and Expansion – enhancing existing businesses
• Business Start-ups – encouraging the development and growth of new businesses

The EDA’s purpose is to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically distressed areas of the United States. Economic development involves the allocation of limited resources including land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship in a way that has a positive effect on a community’s business climate or the level of business activity, employment, income distribution patterns, and fiscal solvency.