The Development Authority of Polk County (DAPC) has approved plans to move the location of the new speculative building in Cedartown’s North Business Park.

The 105,000 square foot structure will be erected on selected acreage across the street from the AT&T instead of adjacent to the building.

Construction is expected to begin in 2013 at an estimated cost of $2.2 million. The building is to have a 30-foot ceiling height, 50 x 50 foot bay spacing, three-wall concrete insulated tilt-up construction, expansion wall and a parking lot.

The need for a new speculative building has been the focus of local officials and community leaders for several months.

The idea presented was to begin a rotating spec building project.

Local officials emphasized that this has been an economic development success story for more than a decade.

In the past, a speculative building was erected in either Rockmart or Cedartown. As soon as one was built, it was sold and plans begun to erect another, thus the rotating project.

Officials note that eight of the top 15 manufacturing employers in Polk were attracted by or located in an existing spec building.

“There is a lot of political will for this project,” said DAPC President Eric McDonald. “We have land, but prospects want to see

buildings.”

Polk’s economic development marketing plans for 2013 will not only include the new spec building in Cedartown, but also a new 38-acre site recently purchased by the Rockmart Development Authority.

This site, located near the Slate Market Grill, will be designed to attract prospects seeking office or commercial locations instead of large manufacturing facilities.

There is also discussion about renaming the Rockmart Industrial Park to include its proximity to Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC).

McDonald emphasized that prospects are interested in a trained workforce.

“We have an older population that needs to be retrained and a younger one looking for a good paying job,” he said. “We also have a facility (GNTC) that does a great job of training people.”

He pointed out that Polk is very aggressive in its quest for new industry.

“There are many things planned for the future,” he said. “Next year should be busy. Indications are the economy is improving and prospects are again looking at potential sites for industrial locations.”