VALDOSTA — Work is progressing smoothly on the first craft brewery in the city, according to development authority members.

The Georgia Beer Company is expected to open in October after renovations on a century-old downtown building are completed.

At a Tuesday meeting of the Valdosta Lowndes Development Authority, which is assisting Georgia Beer Company, photos showing recent renovation work were shown by Stan Crance, the authority’s project manager and existing industry coordinator.

Authority member Roy Copeland asked if it would be possible to get a report showing how the brewery would economically impact Downtown Valdosta.

Another authority member, Tom Call, said he visited a North Georgia brewery and saw how much local interest there was in it.

“It was just a metal building, nothing fancy, and there were 150 people visiting at 2 p.m. on a Saturday,” he said.

Copeland said he is impressed by the level of community input available through a Georgia Beer Company Facebook page.

In other business, the authority heard about efforts with seven active projects seeking to locate to Valdosta/Lowndes County with potential capital investment of $354 million and as many as 1,100 new jobs.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.