InTucker Magazine

Business Boom – July 2020

ucker is undoubtedly one of the fastest-rising business destinations in the Metro Atlanta area.  Each month, the Business Boom will seek to show different examples of how Tucker’s business scene is flourishing.

Tucker Businesses Moving Forward During Pandemic

This year has been an extremely challenging economic period for our local businesses due to the pandemic, and yet our local companies are toughing it out. In this month’s column, I would like to highlight the adaptability of our long-standing businesses, as well as introduce some new additions to Tucker.

Corporate Environmental Risk Management, LLC (CERM), a regional engineering, environmental and program management firm located off Northlake Parkway in Lakeside Centre is continuing to see growth in 2020. The minority owned and operated consulting firm has grown from a two-man start-up to an award-winning organization employing over 100 talented professionals consisting of project managers, technical leaders, planners and support staff covering the southeast U.S. region. Their Managing Director, Al Edwards, explained that as the firm is working in the critical infrastructure area, they have found that their water, transportation and energy clients are moving forward as well as advertising new opportunities. Al further reports that in terms of adapting to the need for distance separation due to the pandemic, CERM’s qualified staff were already largely working remotely, and their production numbers have improved with the extended work from home period.

Al shared, “What concerns me is my staff, and it has been a blessing to provide employment stability through the pandemic, while continuing to invest in community partners in multiple communities.”

In addition, CERM is very pleased with their location in Tucker. “This is an ideal location for our employees, we’re close in but also able to avoid the worst of the congestion along the Perimeter.”

Located nearby on Lawrenceville Highway is SteelMart, which supplies structural steel and other fabricated steel products to the commercial building community. SteelMart expanded their footprint in Tucker in 2018 with a 47,000 SF addition and according to co-owner Brian Satisky, “We have yet to see a slowdown from our customers, so we are staying focused as clearly commercial building is still going on.”

Moving into the former Green Egg building also on Lawrenceville Highway is Imeca Lumber & Hardware, a Florida based family-owned company that provides supplies to the cabinet industry and wood flooring.

Imeca representative Vladimir Batista relayed that, “For our first flagship location in Georgia, Tucker, with its many cabinet shops and extensive commercial activity, was the perfect fit.”

On the south side of Tucker, Wisconsin-based Briggs & Stratton opened a new advanced battery manufacturing plant. The 78,000 SF facility will start with four production lines and over 80 employees with capacity to accommodate future growth. Rick Carpenter, vice president corporate marketing at Briggs & Stratton, said the Georgia plant will provide additional capacity to the company’s battery operations and supply a local golf cart manufacturer. Known for their lawnmowers, Briggs & Stratton is the world’s largest producer of small gasoline engines and already has a significant engine facility in Statesboro, Georgia.

The City is grateful for our resilient existing industries and that we are still attracting quality jobs to our community.