Long Term Local Investment
We are providing $80 million for a community fund informed by the community for local priorities such as schools, public safety, health care, utilities, workforce training, housing, veterans’ services, and support for small businesses and working families.
We will be paying hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax revenue, and expect to be the largest taxpayer in the county. The project will create thousands of construction and permanent on-site jobs, and prioritize local contractors and businesses.
Codex in ChatGPT for Georgia Students
Additionally, we will make up to $71 million in credits for Codex available to every Georgia college, community college, and technical school student in Georgia. Codex is OpenAI’s agentic coding tool, now available within ChatGPT, that helps people build software and complete technical projects. Eligible students will receive $100 in credits through their ChatGPT accounts to extend their use of Codex, gain hands-on experience with agentic AI, build projects, and develop practical skills for careers across engineering, manufacturing, health care, education, entrepreneurship, and the skilled trades.
Listening to the Community
Listening to the community is an important part of how Project Camellia is moving forward. We were pleased to welcome hundreds of residents to our July 23 open house at the Effingham County College and Career Academy. The open house gave our team the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with community members, understand questions, concerns, and feedback and to share more about the many ways Project Camellia will work in collaboration with the community around it. We appreciate everyone who took the time to join us and share their perspectives.
Rest assured that these conversations are continuing beyond the open house. Over the past several weeks, we have been meeting with residents, state and local officials, community leaders, schools, businesses, and other regional partners to learn about local priorities, answer questions, and gather feedback on the project. Additionally, our team has been knocking on doors in neighborhoods near the project site to speak directly with neighbors and follow up when additional information is needed.
We are also hearing from residents through our website, email, and phone. Our team is working to respond to those inquiries, and we encourage community members to continue reaching out with questions, comments, and feedback.
We know there are a wide range of questions about the project, and we are committed to providing clear information and maintaining an open dialogue with the community.
What we hear through these conversations — at community events, at residents' doors, and through our website, email, and phone — have and will continue to help inform the project as it develops. Input from residents, local officials, schools, businesses, and community organizations is also shaping a Georgia Community Compact that will translate community priorities into specific commitments and clear accountability measures.
We look forward to continuing these conversations and keeping the community engaged as Project Camellia moves forward.
