Value to Athens-Clarke County

The citizens and business community of Athens-Clarke County – and surrounding counties – would benefit from the presence of NBAF in Athens. Building the NBAF will bring as many as 1,000 - 1,500 construction jobs to Athens during the three-year construction period. It will employ an estimated 250 or more federal employees at opening. In addition, an estimated 400 jobs will be created in the community as a result of the facility. A study by the UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government estimates the direct economic impact of NBAF in Georgia at $500 million in wages/salaries and $1.5 billion overall over 20 years.* The NBAF would also help establish GA Highway 316 as the state’s biotechnology corridor, helping to attract private industry in fields such as vaccine research and development and helping to make the region the Silicon Valley of infectious disease research.

The NBAF also will add to the region’s already impressive assets of research infrastructure and talent by helping the University to attract more top-notch researchers and grants and building on its reputation as a leader in research that improves and protects animal and human health.

*Revised CVIOG estimate 9/07.