Officials in Locust Grove are hopeful that new tax credit incentives will help to encourage investment in the city’s downtown area.

   The city is eligible for incentives through the Rural Zone Program. The Georgia General Assembly’s Department of Economic Affairs, in 2017, developed the Rural Zone program as a tool for economic development in rural downtowns statewide.

   Locust Grove announced the Rural Zone designation in late 2018. Main Street Manager, Anna Ogg, said the “long and competitive application process” for the program has already begun to pay off.

   “We are very excited about the possibilities for this program in our downtown,” said Ogg. “We already have two projects underway that plan to take advantage of these tax credits. We have several others interested in the possibilities presented by this incentive.”

   To be included in the program, a rural area must have a population of fewer than 15,000 people, a core of historic commercial structures, and evidence of blight and disinvestment in its downtown area.

  Locust Grove is one of nine communities that received the Rural Zone designation in late 2018. Others are Avondale Estates, Greensboro, Hartwell, Hogansville, Jessup, Monticello, Sylvester, and Waycross.

  The Rural Zone designation is geared toward providing incentives for new job creation and private investment. The program includes tax credits for job creation, property investment and historic rehabilitation.

  Each full-time-equivalent job created in the area will be eligible for a $2,000 state income tax credit each year of the designation, 25 percent of downtown property purchase price and 30 percent of rehabilitation costs on structures 50 years old or older.

  Locust Grove Mayor Robert Price said he is optimistic about what the Rural Zone designation will mean for his city in the years to come.

  “It is our sincere hope that designation as a Rural Zone will help support economic development in our historic commercial core and serve as a valuable new tool for transforming our historic downtown into the thriving district envisioned in the City’s 2016 LCI Study,” said Price. “By further incentivizing investment, historic rehabilitation, and job creation in the heart of our small community, we aim to make the City of Locust Grove an even more inviting place to work, live, and visit.”

  Locust Grove City Manager Tim Young credited city employees for their efforts during the nomination process.

  “The outcome of all of these efforts will be a more vibrant downtown that emphasizes our unique historical and cultural heritage in our already busy developing city,” said Young.   For more information, call Anna Ogg at 770-692-2320 or e-mail aogg@locustgrove-ga.gov.