Economic Development Features

Aerotropolis: The name sounds like something Mad Men’s 1960s marketing whiz Don Draper might have invented for Walt Disney’s newest attraction. You can almost envision Don and Uncle Walt poring over the “futuristic” sketches for this airport-city, a sort of…

With money especially tight, counties are being called upon to do more with less. The six winners of this year’s County Excellence Awards – Chatham, Cobb, Decatur, Heard, Liberty and Mitchell counties – have demonstrated an ability to provide their…

Each spring, when buses from the Heart and Soul of Georgia Tour roll into a select group of cities, the visitors are met by high school marching bands, exuberant elected officials and citizens excited about the opportunity to showcase their…

Georgians are holding their breath, awaiting the results of the upcoming legislative session, hoping that a new funding source for transportation will be created and some solutions offered for the state’s transportation problems. With gas prices creeping back up, voter…

For years Donald Bates had struggled with keeping new hires in place at Tara Foods, an Albany plant that produces products such as sauces and peanut butter for its parent company Kroger, the supermarket chain, as well as custom orders…

Prospects for producers of aerospace products are deteriorating rapidly, and the abrupt reversal of fortunes is somewhat surprising. After all, when the economic downturn began there was a huge backlog of orders for aircraft, and the U.S. government’s defense budget…

In good as well as tough economic times, the industries that make up the state’s life sciences are reliable sources of employment and spending. In 2007, the life sciences industry’s state-wide economic impact was $16 billion and 62,033 jobs, larger…

Albany’s economy is in a severe recession, and I expect it to last longer and cut deeper than the national or statewide recession, due mostly to the closing of the Cooper Tire plant. Other challenges – lower agricultural commodity prices…

Lately, navigating Georgia’s transportation mess is like skiing in an avalanche. In a way, the situation mirrors that of the national economy – no one is sure how we got here or how to get out. But there is hope…