Georgia Rising - Let our experts explain why the Peach State is ripe for business

The state of Georgia’s economy has been very strong for a number of years now. The state has

had a surplus in tax revenues and there’s several reasons for it. The future also remains bright

for the Peach State as more major companies businesses are now calling Georgia home with

more on the horizon.

William Hatcher, PhD, chair of the Department of Social Sciences in Pamplin College of Arts,

Humanities, and Social Sciences said compared to most other southern states, Georgia has

achieved tremendous success by having a good rainy-day fund in the form of tax revenue.

“Georgia politicians have been more responsible in managing their budgets and investing and long-term development, and this goes back decades,” said Hatcher.

In luring businesses to invest in the state, companies look at several needs that include built

infrastructure and human capital. Hatcher said both state and local governments are also likely

to give tax breaks when those businesses commit to locating Georgia.

When talking human capital, companies will look at the education level in a given area to make

sure it fits their need. The local labor market’s characteristics, such as education attainment,

needs to match with the needs of the company looking to invest in the community.

New companies will also look at even the lifestyle choices in the immediate area of where they

want to locate.

“They look at what are the assets in the community? What are our workers going to be doing after work? So when you look at the growth in cybersecurity jobs in the Augusta area, you’ve also seen over the years an increase in community assets, from the trail systems to more restaurants and more culture assets. It all goes together as the workers come in, they seek to build those things to attract people to the area,” he said.

While some businesses and companies may have decided where they want to move

beforehand, Hatcher indicated they often still will play one state against another, or even

communities against each other, looking for the best possible deal.

In the past couple of decades, Georgia has seen a huge boom in the movie and television

industry. The state has been able to lure production companies to Georgia and the main reason

is tax incentives, Hatcher said.

“That was a very targeted tax incentive that had a positive effect. Georgia basically said you produce your movies and films here, but there are certain rules you have to follow, such as having a certain percentage of your workforce be local, you’ll receive those tax incentives,” said Hatcher.

Work, live, play communities have also blossomed again in the past 20 years. People are trying

to keep their work commute time to a minimum and would like to be able to walk to the amenities they need on a daily basis. While that’s how cities used to be developed, it hasn’t been the case since the advent of the car. Once again though, people are putting a major

emphasis on getting away from having to rely on their vehicle.

In order to keep building the tax base and making it worthwhile for business to move into an

area, Hatcher believes that local, city and county governments need to find a way to work

better together.

“When you have multiple, competing parts of a local economy there’s a lot of benefit, but there’s also a lot of drawbacks if you don’t think holistically, like a region, to go forward,” he said. “Historically, Georgia has focused on promoting business and thinking long-term in its decisions in this promotion.”

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William Hatcher is a professor of political science and chair of Augusta University’s Department of Social Sciences. He is an expert in the areas of public administration and social, economic and political institutions.

Hatcher is available to speak with media regarding this topic. To arrange an interview today, simply click on his icon now.