James Nov-Dec 2023 web - Flipbook - Page 61
uring my time in the state Senate and as an
economic development executive, I’ve seen
Georgia’s economy grow rapidly, diversify and
become the number one state in the nation in which to
do business for over 10 years in a row. These statewide
accomplishments can be attributed to the great business-friendly environment created by the leadership from
the administrations of Govs. Roy Barnes, Sonny Perdue,
Nathan Deal and Brian Kemp, as well as by the state Legislature, Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson and Department of Community Affairs
Commissioner Christopher Nunn.
Furthermore, local elected officials and economic
development leaders have gone above and beyond to
ensure their communities win projects and enable our
state to flourish.
In addition to the massive wins across the 159
counties in our great state, Northwest Georgia has
flourished over the last 10 years. Catoosa, Chattooga,
Dade and Walker Counties (the four counties that are a
part of the Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority) have all seen significant growth in key industries and great levels of investment. Since 2012, our
four-county region has seen over 4,086 new jobs and
more than $1.49 billion of new investment. In my view
these wins are due to a regional approach to economic development, a strong workforce talent pipeline,
business-friendly local elected officials and the strong
statutory and discretionary incentives offered by the
state of Georgia.
To see business recruitment efforts succeed, it
takes all of the aforementioned components working in
concert with one-another. Our state’s efforts are only
as strong as the efforts of our local communities and
our local communities are only as strong as our state’s
efforts. In recent months, outside forces have targeted our state’s tax incentive structure. In my personal
experience, these incentives are absolutely crucial
to economic success— particularly in smaller, border
counties such as ours. As we work to secure projects,
we are in constant competition with other states. And
while working on these competitive projects, it takes
both strong local incentives and strong state incentives to achieve victory.
As we move forward into the jobs and industries
of tomorrow, our local communities here in Northwest Georgia and our state leaders, spearheaded by
the governor, are prepared to rise to the occasion and
continue our track record of success in business expansion and recruitment. This record of success has been
built with the economic development “toolbox” that our
local communities and state have to offer and win these
competitive projects. Let’s keep the toolbox in place
and continue the team-effort approach. That will ensure
we are the number one state, and number one region in
Georgia, to do business for the next decade as well.
Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga, the executive director of the Northwest Georgia
Joint Development Authority, represented the 53rd state Senate district from
2001 to 2023.
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