08/15/2008 – Cherokee Tribune – By Cherokee Tribune staff

An international business is expanding its operations in Cherokee County and relocating its administrative office here from Cobb County.
Chart Industries is a leading global manufacturer of equipment used in low-temperature and cryogenic medical storage systems.
The Ohio-based company, which operates a plant in the Interstate 575/Airport Industrial Park south of Ball Ground, is expanding its lab space and relocating its office administrative facility from Marietta.

“This is a great example of business growth and expansion needs being met locally,” said Buzz Ahrens, chairman of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners. “We very much appreciate Chart Industries’ commitment to Cherokee County and wish them continued success.”
The plant, which opened in Cherokee in 1982, is one of the county’s top-five industrial employers with 262 employees.
The company has signed a one-year lease with Stag Enterprise to use 20,800 square feet of its 46,800-square-foot building in the park on Airport Drive off Interstate 575 exit 24, which Chart’s existing 154,000-square-foot plant is near.

Chart will split the additional space to allow 15,000 square feet for office space and 5,000 square feet for lab use. Stag will continue operating the remainder of the $2 million multi-tenant building.

The Marietta administrative office for Chart employs 28, but company officials have not said whether the relocation and lab expansion would create new jobs.
The effort to find additional room for Chart locally has been a long-term project by the Development Authority of Cherokee County, which owns the industrial park and promotes industrial growth.

Bilijack Bell of Wilson, Hull & Neal Real Estate represented Stag Enterprise and was instrumental in putting this deal together, according to authority officials.
“We tried to locate this division of Chart Industries almost five years ago, but didn’t have the available space for them. We are so proud that they have chosen Cherokee County,” authority Chairman Marshall Day said.

Chart is a leading global manufacturer of highly engineered equipment used in the production, storage and end-use of hydrocarbon and industrial gases. The majority of Chart’s products are used throughout the liquid gas supply chain for purification, liquefaction, distribution, storage and end-use applications, the largest portion of which are energy-related.