Gainesville Focus

Gainesville’s economy will continue to outperform the state and national economies. Gainesville’s comparatively good outlook reflects several factors, including the considerable number of expansion projects announced over the last decade; growth of the medical, educational and tourism industries; favorable demographics and strong economic prospects for neighboring counties, especially Forsyth, North Fulton and Gwinnett.

The area is an increasingly popular bedroom community for Atlanta. The cost of doing business in Gainesville is only 85% of the U.S. average. The labor force is growing.

There is a good match between the skills of the area’s workers and their level of educational attainment. Gainesville’s industrial diversity is low, but that is not surprising for a metropolitan area within a single county. Low industrial diversity will not limit the city’s economic growth, but it could increase employment volatility.

Gainesville’s economy depends more heavily on manufacturing, education, healthcare and wholesale trade than either the U.S. or Georgia economies. Gainesville is more dependent on nondurable goods manufacturing, especially food processing, than on durable goods manufacturing.

This tilt towards food manufacturing helps shield Gainesville from economic slowdowns, and the local economy is not as cyclical as the high proportion of factory jobs suggests. Similarly, Gainesville’s focus on education and healthcare help to moderate the ups and downs in the local economy. Gainesville is not very dependent on government jobs.

The gradual buildout of recent economic development projects will be a powerful, steady economic tailwind. For example, CJ Foodville will open a new bakery and food processing facility, creating 285 jobs in 2025. And Kubota announced a $140 expansion of its operations and broke ground on the new factory in 2023, which will bring 500 new jobs to Gainesville.

Other businesses that have located or expanded in Gainesville include King’s Hawaiian, Cottrell, Dongwon Tech Corporation, Geveko Markings, Fox Factory Holding Corp, VDL Industries, Elastron, Mars Wrigley Confectionary, Jinsung TEC, Alfrex and Mincey Marble.

The rapid growth of manufacturing and logistics along I-985 is one reason the Georgia Ports Authority is building an inland port in Gainesville. The Northeast Georgia Inland Port will help attract more manufacturing, logistics and distribution companies to the area. Some expansions outside of manufacturing include Agile Cold Storage; Tatsumi Intermodal; a logistics/distribution firm; Lowers Risk Group, a risk management firm; and ProCare Rx, a healthcare IT firm.

The medical sector will be an important economic driver, successfully drawing more patients from surrounding rural and Metro Atlanta counties and developing as a medical service hub in those areas. In addition, growth of the medical sector will reduce the cyclical volatility of Gainesville’s economy and boost per capita incomes, making the area even more suitable for retiree-based economic development.

Gainesville is a major post-secondary education hub, which helps shield the economy from economic slowdowns or recessions. The University of North Georgia (UNG) directly employs about 1,900 workers and supports an additional 4,400 off-campus jobs.

In addition, the focus on post-secondary education promotes the area’s entrepreneurial activity and labor force growth. Lanier Technical College’s new campus allows the institution to offer new and expanded programs, including mechatronics and construction management. And each semester, Lanier Tech, UNG-Gainesville and Brenau University add newly minted talent to the supply of workers in the area, which is crucial, given the expectation that labor markets could remain tight.

The demographic forces supporting Gainesville’s economic growth are strong: Hall County’s record of above average population growth supports the expansion of businesses that sell goods and services to households.

Gainesville is a popular choice for workers commuting to jobs in the Atlanta MSA. Almost one in four workers in Gainesville commute to jobs there. Retiree-based economic development will power economic growth. In addition, spillover effects of strong economic and population growth in Gwinnett County, North Fulton and Forsyth County bode well for Gainesville-Hall County.

There is one uncertainty: Immigrants account for around a fifth of the metro area’s population. Stricter enforcement of U.S. immigration laws could be more problematic for Gainesville’s economy than for the economy of either the state or the nation.