Opinions

If anything good came out of the worst recession in 70 years, economic development specialists in Metro Atlanta will tell you it was the unexpected chance to reflect on long-held strategies and decide how to hit the ground running when…

After a couple years of plant closings, particularly in the carpet industry, and unemployment in some areas topping 20 percent, there are encouraging signs in North-west Georgia. Counties’ economic development executives spent the year honing strategic marketing directions and readying…

Without question, 2009 was a miserable year for the state, national and planetary economies. But a group of economic developers in Northeast Georgia will remember the year a bit differently. “I think 2009 will go down in history as the…

West Central Georgia is at a turning point, as the region absorbs the staggering new changes that will increase its population by some 30,000 over the next several years. Columbus, with nearly 200,000 people, provides a snapshot of the changes…

A cautious optimism is overtaking economic development officials in the central part of the state, as interest in manufacturing and warehousing sites is on the rise. “Our activity has picked up in the last three months over the previous eight,”…

Augusta and Richmond County saw new investment and new jobs created in 2009, and other parts of the East Central region are anticipating construction of new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle or new biomass facilities. But many communities are looking…

Despite an economy that just can’t seem to shake the recession blues, spring 2010 finds economic developer Bruce Drennan in an upbeat mood. He’s about to see a project seven years in the making finally come to fruition. Construc-tion is…

Economic developers in many of the larger counties of southeast Georgia are reporting that their communities maintained stability and even saw some job growth through the economic turbulence. At the same time, smaller counties saw new jobs arriving, thanks in…