By Michael V. Hannigan
Athens City Administrator Philip Rodriguez on Monday gave City Council members a short update regarding progress in the Biotech Manufacturing Center (BMC) closure.
Last week, the Athens Economic Development Corporation and the City Council both approved a plan to keep the BMC out of bankruptcy court to try and limit the damage caused by the BMC’s failure.
Monday, Rodriguez told the council that officials were getting closer to a lease with West Pharmaceuticals, the business currently in the former BMC building, which Rodriguez said, “we all have attested is is a good business partner for our community.”
In addition, Rodriguez said, the AEDC is also negotiating a lease with another business prospect for the remaining space in that building.
“The exciting part of it for our community is that building is going to be used very soon for some good economic development purposes,” he said.
Rodriguez singled out AEDC Executive Director Lisa Denton for her work on the BMC failure.
“She is leading the way in creating a good environment for our businesses in the future and to hopefully not put us in the same spot again as a community,” he said.