Food Bank of Northeast Georgia

Clayton, GA (2016)

Food Bank of Northeast Georgia

Business Development, Community, Food Bank or Pantry, HFFI, Homeless Services, Incubator, Mixed-use, Rural, Shelters and Community Food

A Food Bank expanded its reach into the Georgia mountain region by opening a distribution warehouse and food processing center in Rabun County.

Investment

NMTC Amount: $7,500,000
Total Project Cost: $8,146,622

IMPACT

35 FTE jobs
237 construction jobs
Increased service to low-income/low-food populations

CDEs

Rural Development Partners

Investor

Unknown

Project Description

Note: This project includes two locations: 46 Plaza Way; Clayton, GA 30525 and 861 Newton Ridge Road; Athens, GA 30607. The map shows the Clayton location.

The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia (FBNEGA) was founded in 1992 to end hunger in NE Georgia. At the time, FBNEGA distributed approximately 350,000 pounds of food to 36 agencies. The organization had grown tremendously by 2016, distributing 12-13 million pounds of food annually through more than 240 partner organizations.

FBNEGA serves 14 counties, five of which are metropolitan (Barrow, Clarke, Madison, Oconee, Oglethorpe), and nine of which are non-metropolitan (Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Jackson, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White); 60% of the foodbank’s distribution going to non-metropolitan counties.

The NMTC helped FBNEGA to increase storage space for distribution to 18 million pounds of food (14 million meals), and provide numerous programs, courses, and economic development opportunities across the two sites: Site 1) a new $4.8 million, 64,000 sq. ft. Food Hub in Clayton, Georgia; and Site 2) a $1.7 million expansion and renovation of FBNEGA’s 7,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Athens, Georgia. These critical infrastructure changes allowed FBNEGA not only to increase distribution, but more efficiently operate and expand the quantity and quality of healthy food provided to their 240+ foodbank partners and offer key complementary programming. A large part of the increase is directly attributed to the income stream from the development of a frozen food line using Individual Quick Frozen equipment, which was also funded with NMTCs.

MAP

Address: 46 Plaza Way, Clayton, GA 30525

Census Tract: 13241970201

Voices from the Community

[The NMTC] has increased our capacity to fulfill our mission and promise to the community. It is an investment in the betterment and well-being of your neighbors and deserves your support.