Cutting the Ribbon on 230 jobs & a $16 million investment with georgia governor Brian Kemp

A strong local workforce and business-friendly environment led New York-based Check-Mate to expand with a second facility located in Thomasville’s industrial district.

The Workforce Made the Difference

Bayly has customers stretching from Thomasville to San Francisco, the most notable being the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, for which they produce the tall, plumed "tar buckets" or shakos, the cadets wear when the long gray line turns out for special occasions.​

"Most of the reason we came here [to Thomasville] was because of the workforce... they were people who enjoy the work, something we didn't have in South Florida. There were plenty of people who applied for the jobs we had; we had about 400 qualified applicants for 30-40 positions." - John Wagner, owner

Improving Quality of Life

International Design brought nine of its 23 employees from Miami to Thomasville.

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"If you are in Miami and you are a cabinet maker earning $45,000 a year, you are living below the poverty line," owner Ian Quinton said. "If you are living in Thomasville, Georgia earning $45,000 a year, you're middle income." Some of his workers' kids will become the first in their families to attend college. Quinton says he left Miami when faced with a rising overhead fueled by increased taxes and insurance. And, he says, there was that diminishing quality of life auto-bound urbanites know so well. "I was commuting three hours a day from home to work because of the Miami traffic. Now it takes me about seven minutes to get to work."

"Every job is a person, and every person represents a family that can support themselves."

SHELLEY ZORN

Payroll Development Authority Director