ATLANTA – A Tifton business leader will lead the state’s efforts to attract more businesses to rural Georgia and expand those already there.
Gov. Brian Kemp Wednesday announced Tift County Development Authority President and CEO Brian Marlowe will join the state Department of Economic Development as deputy commissioner for rural Georgia.
In that role, Marlowe will head the Rural Strike Team, a group of economic development officials Kemp formed last year to spearhead job creation in rural parts of the state.
“Rural Georgia is ripe for investment,” the governor said. “We believe we can land big projects in rural communities across our state.”
Kemp pledged to make rural economic development a priority when he ran for governor two years ago. The Rural Strike Team aims to do that by tapping into expertise provided by Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Rural Prosperity Center, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia and the House Rural Development Council formed by Georgia House Speaker David Ralston.
The strike team’s specific charge is to promote and market industrial sites in rural communities large enough to house projects that will benefit multiple counties.
“With more than 20 years spent working in rural economic development, Brian’s track record of locating new projects in his community, expanding existing industries, and generating opportunity in South Georgia speaks for itself,” Kemp said Wednesday. “I have every confidence that by working with leaders in the General Assembly, the business community, our universities and technical colleges, state agencies, local developers, and the world-class team at [the Department of Economic Development], Brian will help us move the needle for rural Georgia.”
Besides the development authority position, Marlowe also serves as president and CEO of the Tift County Chamber of Commerce. He also was a member of Kemp’s transition team following the 2018 gubernatorial election.
ATLANTA – A new poll shows President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden running even in Georgia with Election Day just two weeks away, as are Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue and Democratic opponent Jon Ossoff.
The same poll of 759 likely Georgia voters released by The New York Times and Siena College shows GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler has opened up a lead over Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins behind Democrat Raphael Warnock in the fight for second place and a spot in an expected runoff for Georgia’s other Senate race.
The survey, conducted by telephone Oct 13 through Oct. 19, has Trump and Biden tied at 45%, the same result as in a previous New York Times/Siena poll released on Sept. 24.
“Georgians seem locked in and equally divided when it comes to their choice for president,” said Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute. “Democrats remain committed to Biden, Republicans remain committed to Trump and independents are tilting a little in Biden’s direction.”
The demographic divides between the two candidates also have remained about the same in Georgia. Men support Trump by 12 points, while women back Biden by 10 points.
Biden is the overwhelming favorite of Black voters, with the support of 81%. Trump has the support of 65% of white voters.
Whites without a college degree back Trump 76% to 18%, but the president’s support among whites with a college degree is a much narrower 52% to 40%.
The poll also showed Perdue and Ossoff deadlocked at 43%, with Libertarian Shane Hazel at 5%. Last month’s survey had Perdue up by 3%.
Meanwhile, Democrat Warnock, the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, is the leader in the special election to complete the unexpired term of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson.
The Siena poll showed Warnock with 32%, followed by Loeffler with 23% and Collins with 17%. None of the other candidates in the crowded field broke single digits.
Loeffler, appointed to the Senate by Gov. Brian Kemp late last year, and Collins, a veteran congressman and former member of the General Assembly, have been waging brutal campaigns to win the right to take on Warnock, the Democratic frontrunner, in a second round in early January. With about 20 candidates on the special election ballot, it’s highly likely no one will amass the 50%-plus-one vote margin on Nov. 3 needed to avoid a runoff.
The poll’s margin of error was plus-or-minus 4.1%.
ATLANTA – A former health-care executive in Gwinnett County has been sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison for delaying the shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus pandemic.
Christopher Dobbins, 41, of Duluth pleaded guilty in July to hacking his former employer, the medical device packing company Stradis Healthcare, and sabotaging their electronic shipping records, causing more than $200,000 in damage.
“As businesses worked to get PPE into the hands of those most in need of it, Dobbins chose to hack his former employer and maliciously interrupt that process,” said Byung J. “BJay” Pak, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. “His actions caused delays in the delivery of desperately needed equipment in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.”
Before being fired last March, Dobbins had administrator access to the computer systems containing the company’s shipping information, Pak said.
Three days after receiving his final paycheck, Dobbins used a fake user account that he had previously created to log into the company’s computer systems. He then conducted a computer intrusion that disrupted and delayed the medical device packaging company’s shipments of PPEs.
While logged in through the fake user account, Dobbins created a second fake user account and then used that second account to edit 115,581 records and delete approximately 2,371 records. The edits and deletions disrupted the company’s shipping processes, causing delays in the delivery of much-needed PPEs to health-care providers.
Besides the prison sentence, Dobbins also was ordered to pay $221,200 in restitution.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of Georgia’s Coronavirus Fraud Task Force, formed by state and federal prosecutors to protect Georgians from criminal fraud arising from the pandemic.
ATLANTA – Georgia and 10 other states joined the Justice Department Tuesday in filing a lawsuit aimed at preventing Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices.
The suit accuses the tech giant of entering into a series of exclusionary agreements to lock up the primary avenues through which users access internet search engines.
“On behalf of Georgians, our office joined this lawsuit to address Google’s potential anticompetitive conduct in order to maintain a fair and free market for consumers, advertisers and all companies now reliant on the internet economy,” state Attorney General Chris Carr said.
The suit alleges that Google’s anticompetitive practices have had harmful effects on competition and consumers by preventing any meaningful search competitor from gaining vital distribution. Restricting competition has reduced the quality of internet searches, offering less choice and innovation, the plaintiffs claim.
The suit also complains that restricting competition allows Google to charge advertisers higher rates than it could in a competitive market.
In response, Google called the lawsuit “deeply flawed” but made no other statement.
There’s a history of legal challenges to Big Tech. In 2001, the Justice Department working with a coalition of states filed suit against Microsoft and won a decision declaring federal antitrust laws forbid anticompetitive agreements by high-tech monopolies. The suit against Google claims it is using similar agreements to maintain and extend its dominance.
Congress also has been involved in efforts to rein in Google and other huge tech companies. Tech CEOs representing Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook were called a U.S. House committee during the summer.
Earlier this month, the House antitrust subcommittee released a lengthy report following a yearlong investigation concluding there is substantial evidence the tech giants’ market power has reduced consumer choice by hampering competition.
States participating in the lawsuit against Google besides Georgia include Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Texas.
ATLANTA – A supplier of steak, beef, pork and chicken products will bring its eastern U.S. headquarters to Americus, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday.
Idaho-based BandD Foods also will build a food processing and packaging facility in Sumter County, a $15 million investment expected to create more than 100 jobs.
“During the first quarter of this fiscal year, food processing was one of our biggest job-creating industries,” Kemp said. “Just days into the second quarter, that trend remains strong thanks to our top-notch logistics network and highly skilled workforce.”
BandD Foods was originally founded in 1972 to supply fast-food restaurants with finger steaks. Today, the company produces a variety of frozen food products ranging from finger steaks to tempura to Asian cuisine-inspired meal kits.
Working with several leading frozen Asian food brands during the last decade, BandD has tripled its workforce to keep up with the demand. The Americus plant primarily will process and package ready-to-eat frozen chicken products.
“As our company has grown steadily over the last several years, we realized it was time to expand,” said Tim Andersen, president of BandD Foods. “We searched the country for the perfect location, and we feel confident we have found it in Sumter County.”
When BandD Foods opens its Americus location next year, the company will initially need to hire 100 workers, with more positions being added in the future. The jobs will range from maintenance technicians to production operators to food safety specialists.
“BandD Foods is a perfect fit for our Americus, Georgia, facility and community,” said Rusty Warner, executive director of the Sumter County Development Authority. “We have an experienced workforce to fill the positions and will follow the company’s growth as they move forward.”
Project Manager Sandra Yang represented the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce division on the project in partnership with the Sumter County Development Authority and Georgia Power.
Americus will become BandD Foods’ only location outside of Idaho.
