FedEx is to cut the ribbon today on a distribution center in Jackson County that is large even by the latest standards of super-sized warehouses. Its location underscores Jackson’s emerging role as a major transit hub in metro Atlanta and its current effort to update its long-range transit and transportation plan.
Tag: Economic development
Posted inLatest News
Northwest express lanes to open Saturday in bid to boost mobility for commuters, truckers
Georgia’s major initiative to ease traffic congestion along I-75/I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties is to open this weekend. The Northwest Corridor Express Lanes are slated to open mid-day Saturday, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Tuesday.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta receives $60 million to spur development, create jobs in low-income areas
Atlanta received more federal tax credits to spur development in the round of awards announced Tuesday than it did in the previous round, awarded in 2016. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms heralded the latest award as one of the largest in the country.
Posted inColumns
Make a $1 billion investment in Georgia’s youth, workers, families and communities
By Guest Columnist TAIFA S. BUTLER, executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
You’ve no doubt heard many times Georgia is the No. 1 place to do business, but what if the state can also be the top place to settle and raise a family? That is the audacious vision the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute unveiled at its Jan. 25 policy conference under the banner “People-Powered Prosperity.”
Georgia needs a people-first strategy to build a stronger, more inclusive economy.
Posted inColumns
Next Atlanta mayor must have plan to promote child care
By Guest Columnist PAM TATUM, CEO of Quality Care for Children
No doubt the City of Atlanta has a lot going for it. The new mayor will take charge of a vibrant city with a reputation as a great place to do business – a city with a growing population that’s a major destination for young college grads. But with all Atlanta has going for it, it may not be the best place for young people to start a family and educate their children.
Posted inLatest News
Fed reports no upward pressure on wages in coming year across Southeast
The latest report on jobs and wages in the Southeast continues to tell the story of a tight labor market, but one that’s not tight enough to drive up wages, according to the Federal Reserve’s economic report.
Posted inLatest News
Georgia voices vie for attention during NAFTA talks
The NAFTA talks slated to conclude Monday have transpired as an array of Georgia voices have sought to be heard: The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and five local chambers; small farmers seeking protection from competitors based in the U.S. and Mexico; and Sonny Perdue, a former Georgia governor now serving as U.S. agriculture secre
Posted inLatest News
Metro traffic congestion to be eased as seaport cargo shifts from truck to rail
Metro Atlanta commuters can find solace in a factoid nestled in a report released Thursday by the Georgia Ports Authority. Some 50,000 trucks a year are to be removed from the region’s highways once an inland port served by rail opens next year in Chatsworth, officials say.
Posted inColumns
MARTA – a jewel in metro Atlanta’s economic development future
All of a sudden, nearly everybody wants MARTA.
Metro Atlanta and Georgia have always been obsessed with economic development – attracting new companies to town or getting existing companies to expand.
So when Amazon says it wants to locate its second headquarters in a place with transit, it is sending a message loud and clear to our state and local officials that metro Atlanta needs to expand its regional transit system.
Posted inLatest News
Big freighter due in Savannah hours before port is to close for Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma isn’t helping the Port of Savannah as huge ships come and go. The good news is that largest ship ever to call on the East Coast departed Sunday from Savannah. The not-so-good news is that a large vessel is due to arrive Friday at 2 p.m. – just 10 hours before the port is to close.
Posted inUncategorized
The Incalculable Value of a Public Research Institution
By James Weyhenmeyer The first day of a new school year is marked by excitement and expectation, and today thousands of new and returning students are buzzing through Georgia State University’s campuses from downtown Atlanta, to Decatur and Dunwoody. Yet Georgia State is not just a place where the next generation of nurses, teachers, artists […]
Posted inLatest News
Georgia’s gamble on film industry continues to pay off
Gov. Nathan Deal’s trade mission to Hollywood in 2015 evidently continues to reap benefits. Deal announced the film industry generated $9.5 billion of economic impact for the fiscal year that ended June 30. That’s up from the $7 billion in economic impact for the previous fiscal year.
Posted inLatest News
Turkey season opens: ATL’s old wealth is heading to the woods
Georgia’s season for turkey hunting opens Saturday. The hunt is a major economic driver in communities that rely on connecting hunters with prey.
Posted inHigher Education, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Georgia State Prepares The Next Generation Of Problem Solvers In Business and Society
Georgia State University is preparing the next generation of entrepreneurs who will lead in business and address problems facing society.
Posted inLatest News
Ala. trade deal with Cuba could impact Georgia port; Fla. balks under pressure from governor
Cuba and Alabama signed a deal Thursday to explore opportunities to grow trade between the state port in Mobile and Cuba. A similar deal planned for two ports in Florida was cancelled following threats by Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott to cut state funding to any state port that signed a deal with Cuba.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta can expect tax windfall from 2019 Super Bowl, if prediction for Houston pans out
Atlanta, host of the 2019 Super Bowl, can take heart in a report issued Thursday by Moody’s Investor Service. Moody’s predicted that the Super Bowl in Houston will raise tax revenues that are pledged to repay bonds issued to build NRG Stadium.
Posted inColumns
Georgia ports wise to maintain course, despite Trump’s talk of tariffs: Advisor
Although President-elect Trump has shaken global commerce with his call for revamping U.S. trade agreements, an economist who specializes in infrastructure says Georgia has no reason to change its investment strategy at state-owned seaports.
Posted inLatest News
Defending legacy retailers amid the boom in e-commerce
Cyber Monday is expected to launch a record-high e-commerce penetration this holiday season, even as the retail industry tries to protect its legacy malls with new concepts such as one being tested by the owner of Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square.
Posted inLatest News
TV, movie studio in Covington plans to open in 2017 with 700,000 square feet
A new $110 million movie and TV studio for filming and editing productions is moving forward with plans to open in Covington in 2017, according to Georgia planning documents. Evidently, the company sees a great need to keep its cards close to the chest.
Posted inLatest News
Rural Georgia, home to 17 percent of state’s residents, faces grueling hardships
The once-behemoth Rural Georgia is slumping to its knees. The region that once controlled the governor’s office, state House and Senate, and the highway department is bleeding jobs as health care is becoming scarce, according to accounts in two recent reports.
