Our Communities Mean Business

Griffin

Hogansville

Jackson

LaFayette

LaGrange

Lawrenceville

Mansfield

Marietta

Monroe

Monticello

Moultrie

Newnan

Norcross

Oxford

Palmetto

Quitman

Sandersville

Sylvania

Sylvester

Thomaston

Thomasville

Washington

West Point

Whigham

MEAG Power’s nearly 70% emissions-free generation portfolio offers some of the cleanest, most reliable and cost-effective wholesale power around. And it’s delivered through 49 Georgia communities that mean business.

These public power communities are ideal home towns for your company’s present and future. With locally owned and managed electric utilities, they have the flexibility to adjust rates to attract new business. And because the electric utility revenue is retained and reinvested in the community, these already great places to live just keep getting better.

For companies looking for a place to put down roots that offers ultra-clean, highly reliable, lowcost power, locate your enterprise in one of these MEAG Power communities. They mean business.

Our state has experienced incredible growth over the last few years and remained resilient through ever-evolving conditions. Georgia was named the top state in which to do business for an unprecedented ninth year in a row and sustained another record year of economic development in fiscal year 2022 with $21.2 billion in investments and 51,132 jobs from 358 projects. Even more importantly, 85% of the investment and 30,000 jobs were outside of Metro Atlanta, proving our entire state is overflowing with opportunity for Georgians.

With this extraordinary growth comes new challenges that are more complex than we have previously faced, including addressing our workforce shortages and building long-term talent pipelines, developing infrastructure of the future, and creating a more dynamic, diverse economy. These three areas of focus serve as the Georgia Chamber’s priorities to build the New Georgia Economy. Additionally, ensuring our leaders across the state have specialized data is integral to furthering our economic success, regardless of zip code. This imperative created the need for a more strategic and data-driven approach to solving our most significant challenges and serves as the impetus for the 2023 Economic Competitiveness Redbook.

Highlights from this year’s Economic Competitiveness Redbook include:

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW:

The majority of Georgia’s population are in their prime working years, and we are continuing to become more diverse. This bodes well for Georgia’s future as a talent hub that will serve the needs of existing industry and newcomers alike. When examining county classification breakdowns, our hub counties and Metro Atlanta counties also have the majority of their population in prime working years, ages 25 to 44, but our rural counties tend to have slightly older populations. Additionally, the average Metro Atlanta and hub counties have larger non-white populations than the average rural county.

By 2040, Georgia is projected to grow by nearly 16%. Our hub counties are projected to experience the greatest growth by 2040, followed by our Metro Atlanta and rural counties that are nearly tied at 7% growth. However, many rural counties still face negative population growth.

Georgia’s strong GDP growth in the last year proves the state’s economy has remained resilient while other states have been impacted more heavily by national economic trends. The state’s personal tax burden indicates the regulatory environment has been favorable for Georgians to experience prosperity. Georgia was also named the “Top State for Business” by Area Development Magazine for a record ninth consecutive year due to our strong business climate.

Business birth rates indicate areas for growth for the state to foster a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, but our survival rates prove Georgia is a great place to start, operate, and grow a business.

WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE:

Georgia ranks in the top ten for non-agriculture employment growth, both in the last year and over the last ten years, which is illustrative of the state’s strong economy and ability to meet growing workforce needs.

Educational attainment depicts how much skilled talent exists in the state. Georgia ranks in the top 25 for the percent of population with an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, and above. This proves the state is a talent hub, but opportunity exists to grow our skilled labor pool.

This trend is confirmed when examining Georgia’s labor force participation rate, which did not change over the last year with Georgia ranking 32nd. Historical and recent trends for Georgia counties show that highest labor force participation rates exist in Metro Atlanta and lowest in rural Georgia. Strategic efforts to increase participation in the labor force in rural communities will provide economic benefits to local economies as well as the state’s overall economy.

Georgia is a top producer of high-tech talent and has had an increasing number of high-tech jobs.

INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE FUTURE:

Georgia ranks highly in terms of highway expenditures in the short and long term due to the significant investments from the state in traditional infrastructure. Significant growth is expected at the Georgia Ports with twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) expected to more than triple by 2050 and airport loads at our regional airports to nearly double by 2040. Additional investments will be required to support the increased demand and projected growth of the state’s infrastructure. Examining healthcare infrastructure data shows apparent differences in access to healthcare professionals depending on the type of county. Rural counties are experiencing the greatest challenge in retaining and attracting healthcare talent.

INCLUSIVE INNOVATION:

Fostering dynamism is integral to Georgia’s current and future success as an innovation hub while also supporting entrepreneurialism. Georgia ranks 6th in growth of business applications over the last five years, demonstrating the strength of our innovation ecosystem. At a county level, hub counties experienced the greatest growth of business applications over the same period.

Similarly, Georgia ranks 3rd in the percent of adults becoming entrepreneurs each month and ranks 9th among other states for start-up early job creation, proving the state is full of opportunity and has cultivated a strong business climate. Ranking 35th in start-up early survival rate indicates that access to capital will be needed to bolster the efforts of our entrepreneurs and start-ups.

FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PUBLICATION, GEORGIA COUNTIES ARE DIVIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Metro Atlanta: 11 counties clustered around Atlanta job centers. These include: Cobb, Cherokee, Clayton, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale.

Hub Counties: 13 counties that serve as job hubs across the state. These include: Macon-Bibb, Columbia, Chatham, Athens-Clarke, Dougherty, Floyd, Glynn, Hall, Houston, Muscogee, Lowndes, Augusta-Richmond, and Whitfield.

Rural Georgia: The remaining 135 counties are considered rural.

As leaders of the Georgia Chamber and the Georgia Chamber Foundation, we believe it is paramount that our investors and elected officials across the state have information that better directs their resources and time to address our ongoing economic challenges.

The Georgia Chamber Foundation was created to lead the business community’s efforts to engage in proactive long-term solutions for some of Georgia’s most pressing challenges. By examining long-term trends, the Foundation performs data analysis and research and develops policy solutions. Our Governmental Affairs Council then uses that insight to guide our advocacy and legislative priorities each year before the Georgia General Assembly in hopes of helping your businesses thrive.

The Chamber’s New Georgia Economy strategic plan has been an invaluable tool in convening leaders across the state to ensure we remain focused on preparing for future growth. We are grateful for all those business and community leaders that have engaged in this effort.

The 2023 Economic Competitiveness Redbook is an extension of this strategic effort to bolster economic growth in our communities and the state as a whole. Ever-evolving conditions in our global economy present challenges, but the data included here clearly illustrates that Georgia has unique opportunities to create unparalleled economic success.

We look forward to a continued partnership with our elected, community, and business leaders to prepare Georgia for long-term future growth.

Chair