Economic Development: March 2013
High-Tech Jobs: General Motors is opening a 228,000-square-foot IT Innovation Center in Roswell, hiring 1,000 high-tech employees over the next three to five years such as software de-velopers, database experts and business analysts. This is the third such facility for the company in the U.S.
Growing Tall: A new study by Georgia Tech and the Georgia Forestry Commission reports that economic activity generated by the forestry industry topped $25 billion in 2011 and provided 118,459 jobs.
More Auto: Mando Corp. is adding a new 317,000-square-foot casting facility in Meriwether County. The $80-million facility, which will support the manufacture and assembly of the company’s new line of energy-efficient automotive parts, will create an anticipated 660 jobs by 2020.
Consolidation: As part of corporate restructuring, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co. is adding 200 jobs to its Alpharetta campus, which currently employs more than 850. The company is consolidating its customer support staff from various global locations to Alpha-retta. The new jobs will be added by the end of Octob-er 2013.
ICU Improvements: Piedmont Healthcare is investing in its Buckhead hospital’s intensive care unit. The $9-million project will include renovation of existing space and the addition of 11,000 square feet, along with 18 private rooms and 50 new nursing jobs.
Assisted Living: Wood-stock is getting a new 28,000-square-foot Alz-heimer’s and memory care assisted living center. The $10-million project, called Autumn Leaves of Towne Lake, will employ 45. It is scheduled to open by the end of the year.
Closure: Conifer Health Solutions has announced it is closing its Alpharetta call center this spring, laying off nearly 90 people. The move is part of a corporate consolidation by the Frisco, Texas-based healthcare billing outsourcing company.
Biotech Growth: Ken-nesaw-based MiMedx Group is expanding its manufacturing capacity, adding more than 100 jobs. The biotech company develops and man-ufactures regenerative biomaterials and bioimplants for use in areas such as wound care and burn healing.
Power Plant: Dublin-based Green Power Solu-tions is constructing a power plant in Laurens County, employing 35 and supporting an additional 200 jobs in the forest industry. The biomass-fueled plant, which should come online in 2015, represents an initial capital investment of $95 million and is the result of a collaboration between Beasley Forestry Products and Land Care Services.
