On Thursday, Great Wolf Lodge Georgia held its grand opening, and local officials celebrated the vision of late LaGrange City Manager Tom Hall.

According to LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton, three years ago, Hall heard about the major resort that had just been turned down for a location in Peachtree City. He saw the potential of a development like Great Wolf and encouraged the City of LaGrange to submit the city for consideration.

Three years and 710 new jobs later, Great Wolf Lodge Georgia is attracting more reservations than the last four locations did during opening weeks and what its management deems a “promising” number of reservations for the attached conference center. 

Meanwhile, nearby land is being cleared for the developments that are expected to follow. While the nature of these new developments has not yet been announced, there is a good chance that they will also bring more jobs to the area.

These jobs, of course, add to the multitude of positions in the Georgia International Business Park, which shares an interstate exit with the resort, to create the ideal environment for job hunters.

Several local groups are working to ensure that those local employers and workers alike  get a good deal on this local growth through training on everything from robotics to interview skills.

All of these things take vision though, and we thank the men and women who have worked to make their vision for what this community can be a reality. This vision is already impacting all of our lives, and we are excited to see what will come next.