HARRIS COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL) – The search to find suitable land for the CHIPS4CHIPS effort may have landed on a large undeveloped tract in Southern Harris County.

For almost 18 months, the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley has spearheaded the effort to find space for high-tech manufacturing.

The mega site consisting of 2,500 acres of land was recently found in Southern Harris County. The site that could potentially become the home to semiconductor manufacturing in the Chattahoochee Valley sits south of Georgia Highway 315 between I-185 and U.S. Highway 27.

Now, the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley has received federal funding to see if the site is suitable for development. Georgia Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock led a successful bipartisan effort to get $1.5 million into the federal budget.

“I am all in on economic development for the Chattahoochee Valley and I have been since I was elected,” Ossoff said. “So I have appropriated these funds to plan the development of a new industrial site that can attract major national, international investment in job and wealth creating industry in cutting-edge technologies here in the Chattahoochee Valley.”

Now that a location has been found and United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley has the opportunity to evaluate the property, which United Way has the option to purchase.

“It’s two parcels of land that are contagious,” Moser said. “And we don’t know how much buildable land we can get out of that. We have to get in there, do the environmentals, look at where the wetlands are, so soil testing, drill a bunch of holes.”

Moser said this would be huge.

“If we can pull this off, this is a game-changer for Columbus, Chattahoochee Valley, for a 20-county area here in Southwest Georgia and East Alabama,” Moser said. “We are going to work with anybody who is interested in doing this As of now, Ossoff says it is all about optimism.  

Ossoff said this work is gaining steam.

“Whether it winds up being semiconductors, chips, or other industries, the momentum that is being built right now in the Chattahoochee Valley for economic development is unprecedented. Ben Moser and the team at the United Way deserves huge credit,” Ossoff said. “I have been partnering with them every step of the way, turning over every stone. Every time I speak with business leaders, nationally or internationally, I tell them to come and look at investing in Columbus.

Moser says the possibility of the mega site being used for high-tech manufacturing is a long-haul proposition and if the site is suitable, it could be utilized for one large user or multiple smaller users.

“This is years away. It takes a long time to do these things. The evaluation process is going to take probably a year” Moser said. “And then if it were to check out – or a large portion if it were to check out – we are talking three to five years in preparation most likely.”