ATLANTA – A U.S. solar cell manufacturer that went bankrupt six years ago amid competition from a glut of cheap Asian solar panels announced Wednesday it is restarting its manufacturing plant in Norcross.
Suniva, which began as a Georgia Tech spinoff, secured a $110 million commitment earlier this year from Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC) to finance the upgrading, expansion, and restarting of the Gwinnett County plant. The first phase of the expansion will create up to 240 jobs and increase the plant’s manufacturing capacity to 1 gigawatt, enough to power 750,000 homes.
Production is expected to begin by next spring, to be followed by a second phase of expansion that will further increase capacity to 2.5 gigawatts.
“The solar cell is the essential component in solar energy generation,” Matt Card, Suniva’s president and chief operating officer, said Wednesday. “Today’s announcement is the first step in rebuilding solar cell manufacturing in the United States, which will bolster our country’s energy independence and security.”
Besides the financial boost from OIC, Suniva executives cited new federal tax credits provided through the Inflation Reduction Act Congress passed last year for allowing the company to restart cell manufacturing operations.
“This announcement shows the Inflation Reduction Act’s power in writing a new chapter for the American solar industry,” said John Podesta, senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation.
“After closing during the last administration, Bidenomics is bringing this plant back to life. It’s part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to renew manufacturing, create good-paying jobs, and ensure America wins our competition with countries like China.”
ATLANTA – Georgia lawmakers should simplify the state’s dual enrollment program for high-school students wishing to get a jump on post-secondary education, do more to publicize the program and provide more funding, a legislative study committee recommended Wednesday.
The joint House-Senate panel unanimously approved a report following several meetings around the state this summer and fall exploring ways to make the dual enrollment program financially sustainable while speeding up the progression of students earning credit for taking college courses into high-demand careers.
Among other things, the committee recommended doing away with a three-year sunset provision on the program.
“When it comes to a time frame, we want continuity,” said Georgia Rep. Matt Dubnik, R-Gainesville, one of the committee’s co-chairmen.
The study committee also recommended clarifying state law by providing a legal definition for the term “high-demand careers.” Currently, the list includes 18 careers ranging from welding to criminal justice, but there’s no specific criteria for either adding to or subtracting from the list to keep up with workforce requirements.
“It needs to be based on data we can track and monitor,” Dubnik said.
The panel also suggested the state look to increase the number of “articulated agreements” between the University System of Georgia and the state’s technical colleges, which allow technical college students to transfer after two years to complete their degrees at a four-year state college or university without losing credits.
“A lot of these arrangements are done locally or regionally,” said state Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, the study committee’s other co-chairman. “It would be in the best interests of our students if there were more uniformity throughout the state.”
Beyond steps to simplify the dual enrollment program, the committee also recommended the state take steps to make information about the program more accessible to students and parents and boost funding to hire more high-school counselors and technical college instructors.
Brass said how many of the panel’s recommendations would require legislation and how many could be implemented through policy changes remains to be seen.
“This report doesn’t lock the legislature into anything,” he said. “We’re only making recommendations.”
The committee’s report will now be forwarded to the full General Assembly to take up during the 2024 legislative session beginning in January.
ATLANTA – The Okefenokee Swamp Park has landed $497,000 in federal funding for a research project aimed at telling the story of a group of young Black Americans who worked to develop the park during the Great Depression.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a nationwide New Deal program formed to provide employment and vocational training to young Americans ages 18 through 25. CCC Company 1433, a group of nearly 200 Black Americans from Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, worked on conservation projects in the Okefenokee, building bridges and roads, planting trees and developing recreational facilities.
The federal funds will go toward a project dedicated to collecting, preserving, and digitizing historical records and manuscripts pertaining to Company 1433’s efforts. The database the project produces will be made accessible to the public to promote an awareness of the historical and cultural significance of the CCC to both the swamp and surrounding communities.
“The Okefenokee region was a crucial safe haven for many Black Americans in the New Deal era,” said U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who requested the federal funding for the project. “This all-Black Civilian Conservation Corps revitalized the broader region, which is important and often overlooked in our state’s history.”
The federal funds will be used to hire an archivist to work with project leaders to complete the work within three years. Collected material will be made available online through the University of Georgia’s Digital Library.
Also, park officials will work with teachers in nine counties surrounding the swamp to incorporate findings from the project into existing eighth-grade social studies curricula.
“These funds will help us preserve an untold yet critically important piece of history … encouraging a deeper appreciation and understanding of the swamp’s intrinsic, economic, and cultural value,” said Kim Bednarek, the park’s executive director.
The Okefenokee Swamp is the largest blackwater swamp in North America, encompassing roughly 700 square miles. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, renowned worldwide for exceptional habitat and species diversity, is preparing a bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Okefenokee Swamp Park was founded in 1946 at the northern entrance to the swamp near Waycross to provide visitor access and interpretive education aimed at developing an appreciation of the swamp’s wildlife, cultural and natural beauty.
ATLANTA – Walmart will build a food processing facility in Valdosta, a $350 million investment expected to create almost 400 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.
The Valdosta dairy plant will provide milk to more than 750 Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs in South Georgia.
“We’re excited that Walmart will soon tap into Georgia’s No.-1 industry and open new opportunities in the Lowndes County area,” Kemp said. “We look forward to many years of success as this project further strengthens our thriving agriculture industry.”
The new facility will provide fresh dairy products using ingredients sourced from local farmers. Operations are due to begin in late 2025.
Walmart will be filling positions in production, engineering, quality, food safety, warehouse operations, maintenance and driving.
“This new, state-of-the-art facility will not only bring jobs and opportunity to the Valdosta area,” Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper said. “It will enable our dairy farmers to produce more goods from start to finish right here in Georgia – sending a larger share of the retail dollar back to the family farm.”
The state Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the project in partnership with the Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority, the city of Valdosta, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia Power, and the Technical College System of Georgia’s Quick Start program.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s high-school graduation rate rose again this year to another all-time high since the state began using an adjusted calculation the federal government first imposed more than a decade ago.
The Georgia Class of 2023 recorded a graduation rate of 84.4%, up from 84.1% last year.
This year, 107 school districts posted graduation rates at or above 90%, while 43 districts recorded rates at or above 95%. Georgia’s statewide graduation rate has increased 14.7% since 2012.
“I’m incredibly proud of Georgia’s high-school seniors – and the teachers, leaders, and families who have supported them to produce these results,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said Tuesday.
“It’s important to remember that the positive news we’ve received lately – from this historic-high graduation rate to Georgia students beating the national average of the SAT – is more than just numbers. Every data point represents an actual student and new opportunities that have opened up for their future.”
Georgia uses a federally required method to calculate its graduation rate: The number of students who graduate from high school in four years is divided by the number of students who entered ninth grade. That ninth-grade enrollment number is adjusted to reflect the number of students who transfer in or out of a school over the next three years.
The Peach State’s high school graduation rate has risen steadily during the last decade except for 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to resort to online instruction rather than in-person learning. The graduation rate dropped slightly between 2020 and 2021, from 83.8% to 83.7%.
