Rowen Foundation signs agreements with Georgia higher ed systems to use site

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The Rowen Foundation has signed “living laboratory” agreements with the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia to use its site, according to a news release.

The foundation’s 2,000-acre site is located between Atlanta and Athens and can serve partnerships with the universities and tech colleges in the area.

The site could bring over 10,000 jobs and potentially over $11 billion investments in metro Atlanta, according to previous reporting by Atlanta Business Chronicle.

“Allowing our academic and industry partners to utilize the land as we continue to build our infrastructure and plan for vertical development is an exceptional use of our resources that advances the mission of our private- and public-sector partners,” said Mason Ailstock, president and CEO of Rowen, in a prepared statement.

The recent partnerships have already generated two projects. The first will focus on workforce development in the electric mobility, energy and infrastructure industries in Georgia. The project includes the University of Georgia, Georgia Gwinnett College and Gwinnett Technical College.

The project has a goal of building a workforce hub for Georgia with a capacity of over 100,000 jobs. The project will include auditing existing programs in the electric mobility industry and addressing workforce needs and skill gaps.

For the second project, Rowen is partnering with UGA’s Georgia Network for Electric Mobility.

The project could include “autonomous mobility, infrastructure to support autonomous mobility, environmental and agricultural stewardship, workforce development and upskilling, autonomous vehicles and in-road charging, and demonstration of smart-city technologies,” according to the news release.

“We are pleased to support Rowen, our students, the state of Georgia and our partners in higher education by serving as the contracting institution for these projects,” said  S. Jack Hu, Rowen board member and senior vice president of academic affairs and provost at UGA.