ATLANTA – Georgia is still on the minds of companies looking for a place to set up shop.
The Peach State has been designated the “top state for doing business” for the eighth year in a row by Area Development, the nation’s leading corporate site selection magazine, Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday.
Kemp made the announcement in Columbia County at the grand opening of Amazon’s newest robotics facility in Georgia.
“Thanks to our nation-leading workforce development efforts, resilient job creators, and strong pro-business environment, Georgia is emerging from the global pandemic with unprecedented economic momentum,” he said. “My administration will remain focused on building on this solid foundation and continuing to bring more jobs and opportunity to hardworking Georgians across the state.”
The executive publication’s annual poll of approximately 50 leading site consulting firms from across the country considers 13 factors in choosing the top state for doing business. In addition to the top state award, Georgia earned a No. 1 ranking in five categories: overall cost of doing business, cooperative and responsive state government, competitive labor environment, workforce development programs, and available real estate.
“Over the last eight years, each award of the No. 1 state for business title from Area Development has been special,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “But this year, in the face of a global pandemic and all the challenges associated with COVID-19 worldwide, it is especially gratifying to continue to be recognized for our partnership with the business community.”
Georgia set new economic development records during the last fiscal year in spite of the pandemic. Nearly $11 billion in new investments during fiscal 2021, which ended June 30, represented a 46% increase over fiscal 2020, while 33,439 jobs created across the state beat the previous record by 5%.
This is story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Georgia Power plans to build a battery storage facility in Talbot County.
ATLANTA – Georgia Power is getting closer to launching its first foray into a revolutionary new source of energy generation.
The state Public Service Commission (PSC) next week will consider a proposed demonstration project to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of generating power through battery storage.
Georgia Power plans to build a battery storage system near an existing substation in west-central Georgia’s Talbot County that will generate 65 megawatts of electricity. One megawatt produces enough energy to power 650 average homes.
The Mossy Branch Battery Facility is the largest of three battery storage projects the Atlanta-based utility is planning with 80 megawatts of power the PSC authorized two years ago. Battery storage is the most forward-looking component of the latest 20-year energy production plan Georgia Power filed with the commission in 2019.
“We believe the Mossy Branch project will provide a significant opportunity to evaluate in real-time in a real-world environment the commercial and operational performance of a standalone grid-charging storage asset,” Brandon Marzo, a lawyer representing Georgia Power, told the commission’s Energy Committee Thursday. “That really is the benefit of doing this project.”
Battery storage is the latest in an otherwise familiar array of sources Georgia Power uses to generate energy. The technology promises to play a role in helping the utility reduce its reliance on coal as it increases its use of natural gas, nuclear and renewable power.
Georgia Power has not revealed how much the demonstration project will cost. That information was redacted from a filing the utility submitted to the PSC in July.
If the commission signs off on the project next week, the battery storage facility is expected to go into commercial operation in two years.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Visa will expand its Georgia presence by opening a new hub in Midtown Atlanta, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.
The project is expected to create about 1,000 jobs in the metro region during the next several years.
“Georgia is a growing hub for the fintech industry thanks in part to our strategic investment in workforce development initiatives,” Kemp said. “I look forward to seeing the countless opportunities this significant expansion creates for hardworking Georgians.”
Visa’s new 123,000-square-foot hub at 1200 Peachtree St. is expected to open next year.
The office will represent a wide range of Visa teams and functions, with a particular concentration of technology and client services teams.
The company is actively hiring for careers in client services, product management, software development, risk and security, finance and more. Individuals interested in opportunities with Visa are encouraged to visit: https://vi.sa/AtlantaCareers.
“As the starting point for Atlanta’s Transaction Alley, Fulton County is a national leader in fintech talent,” Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said. “We are thrilled such a strong company like Visa has decided to invest in our vibrant and tech-centric community.”
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce Division partnered with Fulton County, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Georgia Power on the project.
“Visa’s investment in Georgia is a testament to the strong pipeline of diverse talent we continue to produce in the state,” Georgia Commissioner of Economic Development Pat Wilson said.
“It is very exciting to see a company like Visa join our roster of world-renowned payment and fintech leaders that have chosen to invest and build the industry here.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – August was the second busiest month in the Port of Savannah’s history, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) reported Tuesday.
The port handled 485,595 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) last month, a 10% increase over August of last year and second only to the 498,000 TEUs that moved through the Garden City Terminal last March.
Meanwhile, the authority’s Board of Directors has allocated more than $34 million to add 1.6 million TEUs of new capacity due to come on line in December.
“This investment will begin to deliver the additional capacity we need to better accommodate increased volumes and demand for our services,” said Griff Lynch, the authority’s executive director.
Part of the approved expenditures include the purchase of 22.2 acres adjacent to the GPA’s 145-acre West Expansion property.
The board also provided funds to begin developing another 18 acres of land adjacent to the 60-acre Peak Capacity project, which is currently under construction.
In total, the developments will add 230 acres of container handling space, due to come online in phases by 2023.
“The GPA’s expansion strategy will not only maintain Savannah’s position as the hub port of the U.S. Southeast, but strengthen its ability to drive economic growth and private investment for communities across Georgia,” said Joel Wooten, chairman of the authority’s board.
“In light of unprecedented demand, it is incumbent on the board to maintain our ports to promote job growth for the state.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
A proposed titanium mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has drawn intense opposition.
ATLANTA – Advocates for civil discourse in public policy debates have long bemoaned the proliferation of profanity and other negative comments on social media sites.
Now, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is trying to do something to clean up its social media accounts.
The agency’s board was briefed Tuesday on a proposed rule setting guidelines for the “moderation” of comments posted on its third-party social media websites.
The rule would allow the DNR to remove comments not related to the topic of the social media post or that contain profanity.
In subjecting social media posts to such scrutiny, the agency would be creating a “limited public forum,” a concept the U.S. Supreme Court has declared does not violate Americans’ constitutional right to free speech.
“People get concerned about the First Amendment,” Kate Iannuzzi, the DNR’s deputy executive counsel, told board members Tuesday. “What we are doing is specifically allowed by the First Amendment. … All we’re trying to do is keep [social media posts] on topic and ask the people not to use profanity.”
The proposed rule doesn’t indicate what prompted the DNR to want to limit the content it allows on social media.
But the agency tends to draw intense criticism over issues that come under its purview. Lately, those include Georgia Power’s plans to leave in place coal ash from some of its closed ash ponds and a proposed titanium mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
The Board of Natural Resources is scheduled to vote on the rule at its next meeting Oct. 26.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
