BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WALB) - Just days ago, a major company suddenly shut down in Bainbridge. Where does that leaves the health of the industrial park it was in?

Earlier this week, Danimer Scientific abruptly closed just three years after expanding. Now, neighbors wonder what’s next for the Downrange Industrial Park.

There are currently about 250 to 300 acres of the park that sit vacant. Development Authority leaders said the money invested into Danimer has not been wasted and will support the next business that takes its place.

“We really benefited from Danimer starting that project,” Rick McCaskill, the Executive Director of the Development Authority, said. “It’s unfortunate it hasn’t worked out for Danimer, unfortunate for Danimer, unfortunate for Bainbridge. But we’ll end up with a good company, and there’s a lot of good stuff there that’s going to be valuable to a lot of different companies. We’re excited about the prospects that we can get in there.”

Millions of federal dollars invested through the project helped jumpstart infrastructure in the park and will benefit new businesses. In fact, McCaskill said there are already inquiries for the Danimer property.

“It’s a hot spot. We’ve got a lot more people looking,” he said.

So far, over $25 million has been invested into 750+ acres of the downrange Industrial Park.

Development projects like Anovion were supposed to start operations this year. McCaskill said the company is supposed to start construction in July and is now expected to open in the next few years. A grain company from California is also starting operations in October.

”We’re having a lot of big projects look at us because of the amount of land that we have and because of the heavy infrastructure that we have out there,” he said.

Ultimately, McCaskill said residents will start seeing movement in the industrial park in the next few years that will positively impact Bainbridge.

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