Cook County EDC | Business is humming in our community

Business is humming in our community

By: Charles Shiver

“Our county’s industrial base is as broad as the experience of our workforce is deep.” - Economic Development Commission Chair Buddy Duke

FAST FACTS

Population: Adel - 5,334; Cook County - 17,212

Utilities: Electricity, gas, water/sewer, and solid waste.

Transportation: Adel has easy access to I-75 and U.S. Highway 41 with I-10 just 55 minutes away. Norfolk Southern Railway provides links to deep-water ports.

Notable Employers: BASF - agricultural chemical manufacturer; Colombo North America - peanut combine manufacturer; Cook County Board of Education - education; Cook Medical Center - healthcare; JM Eagle - PVC pipe manufacturer; Sanderson Farms - poultry/feed mill; Williams Investment Company - retail, motels, and oil distributor.

“Adel is a place that is perfect for both businesses and residents, a blend of impressive commerce opportunities with a wonderful, small-town lifestyle.” - Mayor Buddy Duke

MORE ABOUT HOMETOWN ADEL

• The Georgia Grown Trail 37 was awarded the Bill Hardman Sr. Tourism Champion Product Development Award by the Georgia Department of Economic Development. This award is one among four categories and is given to recipients who take leadership roles in developing tourism opportunities. Adel, Ga., is a unique community in that it as the intersection of two Georgia Grown Trails: 37 and U.S. Highway 41.

• The lore of U.S. Highway 41 has been immortalized in popular songs including the hit by Georgia’s The Allman Brothers Band.

“…Well my father was a gambler down in Georgia,

He wound up on the wrong end of a gun.

And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhouse bus Rollin’ down Highway 41.”

- “Ramblin’ Man” by The Allman Brothers Band

• The City traces its name back to the City of Philadelphia. Rumor has it that the first postmaster saw the name on a croker sack and pushed to change the City’s name from Puddleville to Adel, taking the letters “a-d-e-l” out of Philadelphia.

• Wiregrass Georgia Technical College is a strong regional asset. The nation’s fastest growing public two-year college, Wiregrass Technical College provides a Cook County campus at the Workforce Development Center in Sparks. Wiregrass students are trained in a vast array of fields and disciplines required in today’s industries.

Additionally, Wiregrass Technical College serves as the local liaison for Georgia’s QuickStart program.

• The presence of Moody Air Force Base, just 32 miles from Adel, is important to the City’s economy in many ways.

Home to the 23d Wing and the 93d Air Ground Operations Wing, Moody trains personnel in logistics; computers; mathematics; physics; and aerospace, electrical, mechanical and aeronautical engineering. And with these highly skilled military personnel seeking employment in the local area after their military service is completed, area companies find a strong, skilled workforce from which to draw.

Source: MEAG Power Current Communities