QUITMAN — City and county officials celebrated “a new day” Thursday with the ground breaking of the new Brooks County Industrial Park and the promise of its first tenant — Roastwood Materials Inc. — to build its $2.5 million headquarters and manufacturing facilities in the park.

The 250-acre park sits on land purchased by the Brooks County Development Authority from Brooks County. It’s located on Madison Highway just south of downtown. Quitman annexed the land and rezoned it for heavy industry in 2005.

Construction of streets, city utilities and other infrastructure will begin by mid-2008, and Roastwood Materials hopes to start construction on its 11-acre tract in January, company officials said.

Roastwood plans to hire 52 employees over the next three years. They will manufacture a type of construction lumber that will be the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, according to the company.

Those 52 employees are considered the beginning of Brooks County officials’ commitment to replace the 12,000 jobs the county lost when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in the 1990s.

“It’s a new day here,” Brooks County Development Authority Director Tina Herring said as guests sat under an event tent on the park site for the ground-breaking ceremony. “We are going to replace those 12,000 jobs we lost. We’re going to be a good partner to Valdosta and Thomasville. We’re not going to be just a wayside place you pass through. We’re going to be a destination.”

Herring played a large role in getting the industrial park started. She worked to obtain $2 million in state and federal grants and also lobbied Quitman and Brooks County elected officials for the remaining $1.7 million to cover the $3.7 million total needed to build the park’s infrastructure, said Brooks County Development Authority Chairman Buddy Holwell.

Holwell praised Herring’s efforts since coming on board April 2. He noted how Brooks County’s proximity to Interstate 75, I-10 and railroad service are strong selling points for attracting more industry to the park. The park has thousands of feet of railroad frontage and is 14 miles from I-75 and 24 miles from I-10, Brooks County Engineer Ben Devane said.

“The lots or tracts run from two acres up to 25 acres,” Devane said. “In the larger area, if someone wants more or less, we’ll be more flexible once we get the infrastructure in. We’ve got railroad running right through it. With the cost of fuel going up, that makes rail service an attractive selling point with other prospects that have looked at this site.”

Holwell said the new industrial park brought about an unprecedented spirit of cooperation between Quitman and Brooks County officials.

“The greatest thing I can say about this park is how it has drawn this community together,” Holwell said. “It has been one of the most pleasant things I have ever been associated with. Everyone has stepped up to the plate to do what was needed to make this happen. There was not one problem with anybody.”

Tootsie Bower, Quitman City Commissioner for District 2 Post 4, hailed the park as a sign of more good news to come for the quaint South Georgia city.

“I am so pleased that we are so far along in bringing lots of progress,” Bower said. “This could certainly be the catalyst to bring in the industrial development we need. We have the area for this kind of growth.”

Roastwood Materials Inc. was started by Jerry L. Walden, company president, and Michael Twomey, vice president, in Tallahassee, Fla. The two men are the only employees to date, but will start manufacturing their wood products once the construction of its headquarters, fabrication building and production kiln are completed next year. A separate eco-friendly sawmill is planned but a site has not yet been selected.

The company is the sole licensee of an environmentally friendly, chemical-free process to treat wood using high temperatures. The process creates lumber that has no water, sap or nutrients, keeping insects and rot at bay, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.