Georgia Trend Daily – Jan. 21, 2022
Jan. 21, 2022 The Center Square
Georgia’s unemployment rate hits new low
Nyamekye Daniel reports that Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped for the 12th consecutive month to 2.6%, another record-breaking low for the state, Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler announced. Butler attributed the workforce’s recovery to the state’s “economic strategies” that drove more Georgians back to work.
Jan. 21, 2022 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
The Georgia File: Vision Pays Off
Brian Robinson writes, with the Braves’ World Series win, Tim Lee would have figuratively died and gone to heaven if he hadn’t literally done so already. The former Cobb County Commission chair lived long enough to see his vision – Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta – come to fruition, but his death in 2019 robbed him of the chance to celebrate on stage in late 2021, showering in the confetti as Queen’s We Are the Champions blared over the speakers.
Jan. 21, 2022 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metro Atlanta housing market ends year with higher prices, fewer sales
Michael E. Kanell reports that the metro Atlanta housing market ended 2021 following the trajectory set in the months that came before, with scarce listings and rising prices, according to several reports this week. The median price of a home sold in December was $355,000, up 22% from a year earlier, Re/Max reported.
Jan. 21, 2022 WABE 90.1
Airbnb continues hiring in Atlanta, picks spot for its tech hub
Emil Moffat reports that Airbnb says its first technology hub in the Southeast will be in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood, just west of Georgia Tech’s campus. The move is part of the short-term rental site company’s ongoing effort to build a more diverse workforce.
Jan. 21, 2022 GlobalAtlanta.com
Two Foreign Firms Take Home Georgia Automotive Awards
Trevor Williams reports that two foreign-owned suppliers are among the companies selected to receive 2021 GEAR Awards, a recognition bestowed by the Georgia Department of Economic Development for contributions to the state’s automotive industry. YKK (U.S.A.) Inc., the Japanese-owned company’s longstanding factory in Macon, was named supplier of the year in the category of large companies (those with more than 200 employees.)
Jan. 21, 2022 Augusta Chronicle
140-acre data center under development across from Fort Gordon
Joe Hotchkiss reports that a company specializing in government data centers plans to build its newest 140-acre facility across from Fort Gordon. Atlanta-based T5 Data Centers announced its plans Tuesday to construct a “government and enterprise cloud data center campus” on property fronting Gordon Highway about midway between the fort’s Gate 1 and the recently-closed Gate 2.
Jan. 21, 2022 Brunswick News
Judge rejects spaceport challenge
Gordon Jackson reports that a request for an injunction to stop the purchase of an industrial site for a spaceport in Camden County has been denied. Stephen Scarlett, chief judge of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, ruled Thursday the plaintiffs waited too late to try to stop the land purchase.
Jan. 21, 2022 Fresh Take Georgia
Driver Services proposes self-service kiosks to address staffing shortage
Taylor Reimann reports that for Georgians who dread waiting in long lines to get their licenses renewed, relief could be around the corner. A new proposal includes self-service kiosks at the state’s busiest driver services centers and some grocery stores.
Jan. 21, 2022 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Perspectives: Georgia Southern University
Julia Roberts reports, our Perspectives series this month features Dr. Kyle Marrero, President of Georgia Southern University. This week we present the second video in the series as Dr. Kyle Marrero covers how they impact economic growth in Georgia through education, leading to “community, vibrancy, and engagement” in five key areas they’ve identified.
Jan. 21, 2022 State Affairs
The Price of Georgia’s Low Vaccination Rate
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon reports that COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the Peach State is among the lowest in the country, with just 54% of Georgians having received two doses, and less than 1 in 5 having received a booster. The impact is shown in the cost of the unvaccinated becoming hospitalized: nearly half a billion dollars in preventable hospitalization costs alone since June.
Jan. 21, 2022 WABE 90.1
Fulton DA asks for special grand jury in Trump election probe
Sam Gringlas and Jim Burress report that the Georgia district attorney investigating whether former President Donald Trump and others attempted to interfere with the 2020 election in the state has asked for a special grand jury for the probe. In a letter, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said her office has reason to believe “that the State of Georgia’s administration of elections in 2020, including the State’s election of the President of the United States, was subject to possible criminal disruptions.”
Jan. 21, 2022 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jolt: John Isakson’s snub of Trump team’s phony Georgia elector scheme
Patricia Murphy, Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell report, in December of 2020, a small group of Georgia Republicans gathered in secret in the Georgia state Capitol, assigning their own shadow slate of GOP electors in case, they said, Joe Biden’s victory was overturned. The group included state GOP chair David Shafer, state Sen. Burt Jones and a range of party functionaries and activists.
