Coastal Pines expansion on hold

Mar. 16—A planned $44 million expansion of Coastal Pines Technical College is on hold.

Brunswick Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce President Ralph Staffins told the chamber board on Wednesday that Gov. Brian Kemp expressed some concerns about the planned 93,765-square-foot Business & Technical Center at Coastal Pines. The matter came up during a meeting between chamber staff and the governor earlier this month, he said.

"The governor had real concerns about the cost of the project compared to enrollment, and it's not just our college, it's all colleges and technical schools," Staffins said.

Tech schools across Georgia had state-funded projects halted due to the state's decision not to issue bonds to cover the projects, said Coastal Pines President Lonnie Roberts. The state government funded planning and design work

Robert said he has not been told why the state has balked at following through with construction.

The building would have housed classrooms and workshop space for welding, construction, HVAC and industrial systems programs, Roberts said.

Enrollment is the main issue, he told The News. It's not clear whether enrollment numbers will support the kind of expansion Coastal Pines had been planning for.

"We need to take a hard look at the square footage and lower the cost," Staffins said. "We've got to make sure our needs are definitive."

A challenge has been the stagnant number of workers available in the Golden Isles. The prime working age group — 18 to 55 years old — has not grown in Glynn County since 2005 and the number of youths living here since 2010 has dropped.

Most of the population growth in the Golden Isles is 55 and older, with most being retirees.

Efforts to increase enrollment by recruiting directly from local schools has proven fruitful, Roberts said, but not enough to assuage concerns at the state level.

Kemp's office did not return a request for comment.

In other business, chamber board member Ron Asdell reported that he'd recently met with the Georgia Ports Authority and Gulf Stream about workforce issues. GPA needs to hire 100 more people in conjunction with the Port of Brunswick's expansion.

Asdell said Glynn County Schools administration is helping to find students who might be interested in working at the port after graduation while Gulf Stream is looking for more housing that's affordable for its employees.