By JOHN THOMPSON
Business Editor

The last year in Fayette's business community can best be described as transitional.

Transitional in the respect that one of the county's older retailers, A&P Foods, abandoned Peachtree City, while red clay was dug out to make room for more new businesses to call the county home.

Although A&P decided to completely move out of the Atlanta market, the grocery wars continued unabated in Fayette County. A new Kroger, featuring a media center, opened in March on south Ga. Highway 85.

Other features at the new 56,000-sq. ft. store include a business copy center, a full floral department and a meal replacement center.

Meanwhile, Winn-Dixie replaced its older store in the Fayetteville Corners shopping center in Fayetteville with a new state-of-the-art, 62,000-sq. ft. store at County Line Road in January.

The store is the company's largest design and includes a fruit bar, bakery and Fisherman's Wharf Seafood, which offers fresh seafood and Maine lobster.

The grocery wars should further heat up early next year when Harris Teeter moves into the A&P location in Peachtree City. Harris Teeter has sprinkled upscale metro stores throughout the Atlanta region and the Peachtree City store is the company's first foray on the south side.

While the grocery wars dominated many of the headlines early in the year, other retailers also looked to Fayette for new stores.

At Fayette's largest shopping center, the Fayette Pavilion, work began on phase three of the large power center.

Phase three will occupy 50 acres on the Ga. Highway 314 side of the center and feature Belk, Kohl's and Joanne Fabrics.

Across the street at Pine Trail Road, the Fayetteville City Council gave the approval for a shopping center that will include a Barnes and Noble bookstore, along with a Linens `N Things store.

Just south of the Pavilion, grading work began for an Applebee's restaurant and a super Eckerd pharmacy.

The other major project in Fayetteville that's underway is a Lowe's superstore, next to the Banks Crossing shopping center.

New banking options also dominated the early year headlines. In April, longtime Fayette County banker Gary McGaha announced that Southern Community Bank would open in early 2000 at 525 north Jeff Davis Drive. When he made the announcement, McGaha said the time was right to open a new bank.

“A small community bank can give better service. All decision making powers will be handled by local people,” he said.

Just a few weeks later, former Fayette County Bank executive Pat Shepherd announced the Bank of Georgia would open for business in early 2000 in Peachtree City.

Shepard, along with proposed managers Rick Duncan and Mickey Godwin, has vowed to bring community banking back to Fayette County.

Peachtree City also experienced a growth period with several major announcements. In February, Gilbert Southern Corporation announced it would locate its new district headquarters in the city. The 20,000-sq. ft. building near TDK Boulevard and Dividend Drive is expected to initially employ 20-30 people.

Gilbert Southern is a subsidiary of Omaha-based Peter Kiewit Sons Inc., which provides heavy civil and structural construction services throughout the Southeast.

A new office-warehouse building also was announced for the golf cart city.

Longtime Peachtree City home builder Richard Simms broke ground in April on a 20,000-sq. ft. building on Fulton Court off Huddleston Drive.

The building can house one large tenant or be subdivided into as many as eight spaces, Simms said.

Many experts thought the business construction pace might slow down, but two statistics seem to be driving the activity at a steady pace.

The county's unemployment rate is one of the two or three lowest in the state and fell to a record state low 1.6 percent in December 1998.

In March, a study showed that Fayette County had the state's second highest percentage of incomes over $100,000. Only Fulton County had a higher rate with 11.2 percent of the households having a six-figure income. Fayette's rate was 9 percent.

Later in the year, Florida Rock Products and Hoshizaki America Inc. were the two big winners at the year's Fayette County Chamber of Commerce “Spirit of Industry Awards” luncheon.

The second annual luncheon was attended by 160 business people at the Peachtree Wyndham Conference Center.

There are two categories for the award: companies with fewer than 50 employees and those with more than 50 employees. The companies must submit an application and a panel of judges determines a winner in each category based on the industry's economic impact and its citizenship. Each category is worth up to 50 points.

The two winners last year were Florida Rock Products, Tyrone, in the under-50 employees category and Matsushita Communication Industrial Corp. (Panasonic) took top honors in the over-50, going on to take first place in the Georgia Economic Development Association's statewide award.

Among the areas highlighted by Florida Rock Products were participation in schools and Scout programs, 100 percent employee participation in the United Way, donations to schools and churches, the Southern Conservation Trust Inc., and employee scholarship programs.

Hoshizaki America, a maker of commercial ice machines, was chosen for its contributions to educational, civic and charitable organizations.

It worked with schools, Scouts, the International Society and the Roosevelt Cup Wheelchair Basketball. Donations by employees and the company were made to organizations such as Breast Cancer Foundation, Cancer Society, Red Cross blood drive, Fayette Samaritans food and clothing bank, Kosovo Family Sponsorship and the United Way, and cash and in-kind donations to the Fountain at the City Hall, Peachtree City, schools, Scouts, and local service clubs.

In announcing the awards, chamber chairman-elect Tate Godfrey said that the industrial base in Fayette County represents about 8 percent of ad valorem taxes collected and it represents 18 percent of ad valorem taxes collected in Peachtree City.

“Today,” he said, “is to celebrate and thank the industries that are such an important part of Fayette County and the many contributions they make.”

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