Georgia Trend Daily – Sept. 27, 2019
Sept. 27, 2019 Georgia.org
US Elogistics Service Corp. establishes new distribution center in metro Atlanta
Staff reports that the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) announced today that US Elogistics Service Corp., a global logistics solutions company based in New Jersey, will open its first facility in the Southeast, investing $4 million and creating 150 new jobs in Austell. US Elogistics Service Corp. is seeking to ramp-up its operations in response to an increased demand for e-commerce goods in the market, as there has been a significant increase over the last few years of businesses looking to sell online.
Sept. 27, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Economy: Macon Momentum
Jeffrey Humphreys reports that Macon is building momentum for growth. Assuming that the trade war does not intensify – and recession therefore is avoided – Macon’s total employment will rise by 0.8 percent this year (800 jobs) and 0.3 percent in 2020 (300 jobs). Construction, healthcare and financial services will account for much of the projected job growth.
Sept. 27, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Delta to spend $1.9 billion on stake in South American airline
Kelly Yamanouchi reports that Delta Air Lines plans to spend $1.9 billion to buy a 20 percent stake in South American airline group LATAM, in its largest acquisition since the Delta-Northwest merger in 2008. If approved, Atlanta-based Delta expects the deal to make it stronger in South America, a crucial region of the world where it trails behind competitors.
Sept. 27, 2019 Atlanta Business Chronicle
10 Years Later: Georgia venture capital fund paying off for state, startup
Dave Williams reports that a venture capital fund the Georgia Research Alliance launched a decade ago with $7.5 million in seed money from the state and $12 million in private investment is punching well above its weight. As it marks its 10th anniversary, the GRA Venture Fund has leveraged that initial investment and a second injection of $25 million in private funding in 2015 to attract $510 million from outside investors and create 920 high-paying jobs, Kurt Jacobus, the fund’s managing director, told members of the alliance’s Board of Directors Sept. 19.
Sept. 27, 2019 Savannah Morning News
Whales strand on St. Catherines
Mary Landers reports that for the second time this year pilot whales have stranded themselves on a Georgia beach. The latest stranding began Wednesday on St. Catherines Island in Liberty County about 50 miles south of Savannah. Approximately 26 short-finned pilot whales stranded on or near the island, leaving 15 dead.
Sept. 27, 2019 Dalton Daily Citizen-News, Valdosta Daily Times
Georgia advocates react to Purdue opioid settlement
Riley Bunch reports that Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr recently announced the state was signing on to a national settlement with drug manufacturer and distributor Purdue Pharma to end a country-wide lawsuit against the company for its role in the opioid epidemic. The deal is tentative, but could be worth up to $12 billion nationwide over a period of time.
Sept. 27, 2019 GPB
Clinical Trial Opportunities For Cancer Patients Expanding In Rural And Minority Communities
Drew Dawson reports that the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University has been awarded a six-year, $6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute for a program that will improve access to innovative clinical trials in rural and minority communities across the state. The money will be used to recruit patients for clinical trials and cancer care delivery studies in areas around Albany, Athens, Augusta and Atlanta.
Sept. 27, 2019 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Atlanta airport continues to fly high
Mary Ann DeMuth reports that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has retained its title as the world’s busiest according to recently released figures by the Airports Council International (ACI). The trade group confirmed that ATL grew 3.3 percent in 2018, serving nearly 107.4 million passengers. If you’ve been one of those passengers in the past couple of years, you know that ATL is working on a number of improvements, including construction of soaring canopies over the always-congested passenger arrival and departure lanes.
Sept. 27, 2109 Georgia Health News
Vidalia hospital may join HCA Healthcare chain
Andy Miller reports that national hospital chain HCA Healthcare has signed a letter of intent with a Vidalia hospital to discuss a possible combination of the two organizations. The agreement, announced this week, could lead Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia to become the Tennessee-based company’s 10th hospital in Georgia.
Sept. 27, 2019 Saporta Report
Georgia Tech’s new research arm aims to make region a center of sports innovation
David Pendered reports that Georgia Tech this week launched a program that speaks to Atlanta’s reputation as a home of tepid sports fans. Engaging the fan base is an entire section of Tech’s program, and its tenets, perhaps, could have benefited the Atlanta Dream – picking the WNBA team solely as an example. Tech’s new program, SPRINT, is a three-legged stool that seeks to expand the use of sports-related research, including fan engagement and marketing, topics that could raise attendance at a season-ending game.
Sept. 27, 2019 Brunswick News
State economist: Recession could be in the cards
Wes Wolfe reports that new state fiscal economist Jeffrey Dorfman stepped to the lectern last during Thursday’s joint state legislature budget hearing, but he dropped the biggest news of the day when he announced to the House and Senate appropriations committees that he’s forecasting a 50-50 chance of a mild recession kicking off early next year. “While it is no means certain that the state of Georgia will enter a recession, it is a possible scenario and so must be accounted for in that sort of average that I talked about,” Dorfman said.
Sept. 27, 2019 WABE 90.1
Ga. House, Senate Leaders Begin Sorting Through Budget Cuts Proposed By State Agencies
Lisa Rayam and Maria White Tillman report that Georgia House and Senate leaders are scheduled to meet Thursday to begin sorting through budget cuts proposed by all state agencies. Gov. Brian Kemp ordered them to find ways to cut 4% from this year’s fiscal budget and 6% from next year’s.
Sept. 27, 2019 The Center Square
Georgia’s budget hearings start with dim forecast for 2020
Nyamakye Daniel reports that experts in agriculture, applied economics and housing pined over the state’s financial progress in front of the members of the Georgia Senate and House appropriation committees Thursday. Some offered good news while another foresees a dark forecast for the state.
Sept. 27, 2019 Georgia Recorder
Shaky state finances, looming income tax cut take stage at Capitol
Jill Nolin reports that Georgia lawmakers will soon get an earful about the economic outlook for the state as the governor targets spending cuts, but it remains to be seen whether the uncertainty surrounding the state’s revenues will put a damper on plans to pass a costly tax break that is teed up for next session. Legislators baked a second cut to the state’s largest revenue source – the income tax – into a measure passed back in 2018, when the General Assembly shaved off one-quarter percentage point from the top income tax rate and brought it down to 5.75%.
Sept. 27, 2019 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: Tom Price joins the hunt for Georgia’s Senate seat
Greg Bluestein and Tamar Hallerman report that former Health Secretary Tom Price entered the sweepstakes to be Georgia’s next U.S. Senator by submitting his resume with Gov. Brian Kemp’s office for the soon-to-be-vacated seat held by Johnny Isakson. Price, a former six-term congressman, confirmed to the AJC that he applied, making him the latest high-profile figure to formally seek the spot.
