April 2018 Features

• Athens Posts Great March Job Numbers

  April 27, 2018

  Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Athens set more records in March as most of its critical job measures trended in the right direction again.

• Zaxby’s Announces New Chief Marketing Officer

  April 26, 2018

  Zaxby’s Franchising LLC is excited to announce that Joel Bulger has joined the company as the company’s first Chief Marketing Officer. In this new role, Joel will lead the marketing team to strengthen digital and social platforms and drive results through advertising and strategic partnerships.

• Georgia Employers Association Legal & Benefits Workshop Covers the Bases for Georgia Employers

  April 26, 2018

  Georgia's thriving economy is producing excellent opportunities for business and associated challenges for business leaders and human resource professionals. Competition for the best employees is intense and the regulatory and legal environment continues to change rapidly. The upcoming Georgia Employers' Association Legal and Benefits Workshop is intended to help Georgia businesses keep all of the bases covered.

• SOS Brian Kemp Announces Commission Members to Review Georgia's Next Voting System

  April 25, 2018

  Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced his list of appointees to the Secure, Accessible & Fair Elections Commission, which is tasked with studying options for Georgia’s next voting system. The SAFE Commission will conduct thorough discussions on all options – including the feasibility of using all hand-marked paper ballots to all electronic machines with a voter-verified paper trail – and travel the state to solicit feedback from stakeholders.

• Georgia Chamber Launches Scorecard Website for 2017-18 Session

  April 24, 2018

  The Georgia Chamber of Commerce launches its Scorecard website recapping the 2017-2018 Legislative Session and how each legislator voted on top-priority bills for the organization.

• Piedmont Athens Generates $375M for Local and State Economy

  April 23, 2018

  Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center generated more than $375 million in revenue for the local and state economy in 2016, according to a report by the Georgia Hospital Association.

• AG Chris Carr: We Must Continue Efforts to Strengthen State's Response to the Opioid Epidemic

  April 23, 2018

  As the former Commissioner for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, I am very proud of the fact that our state is the top state in the nation in which to do business. The recognition highlights the collaborative mindset we apply to economic development in our state, and it highlights the many opportunities that our Georgia families enjoy as a result of having a thriving business environment.

• State Economic Competitiveness Rankings Reveal Upward Standings Tied to Federal Tax Reform

  April 23, 2018

  The American Legislative Exchange Council released the much anticipated 2018 edition of Rich States, Poor States. Utah again earns the top spot for states with the best economic outlook, followed by Idaho, Indiana, North Dakota and Arizona. Several states' success in increased rankings can be tied directly to the success of federal tax reform and the resources it gave to lawmakers to cut taxes at the state level.

• Second Annual Embark Georgia Leadership Conference Set for May

  April 20, 2018

  A statewide program that supports young people who have been homeless or in foster care pursue their educational goals will again hold its annual leadership conference at UGA.

• Senator David Perdue: Trump’s North Korea Policy Is Succeeding

  April 20, 2018

  CIA Director and Secretary of State-designate Mike Pompeo’s recent meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was an important step to lay the groundwork for the upcoming meeting planned between President Trump and Kim.

• Georgia Sets Employment Records in March

  April 19, 2018

  State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said today that Georgia continued to set records in March even as the number of jobs dipped slightly.

• Delta Offsets Carbon Emissions for 170,000+ Customers Today

  April 19, 2018

  Delta is helping customers travel a little cleaner today by offsetting carbon emissions on all domestic travel into and out of seven major airports with high corporate travel demand. The investment comes in honor of Earth Month and the airline's commitment to carbon-neutral growth.

• AG Chris Carr and Legal Community Commence 7th Annual Georgia Legal Food Frenzy

  April 18, 2018

  April 16th marked the first day of the 7th Annual Georgia Legal Food Frenzy, a two-week food and fund drive led by Georgia’s legal community. The 2018 competition is presented by the Office of the Attorney General and the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia to benefit the Georgia Food Bank Association.

• Three Companies Named Georgia’s 2018 Manufacturers of the Year

  April 17, 2018

  At a luncheon held Thursday, Gov. Nathan Deal named three of Georgia’s leading companies as the 2018 Manufacturers of the Year. Pratt & Whitney in Columbus, Ga., won in the category of 500 or more employees; NIBCO in Greensboro, Ga., won in the category of 150-500 employees; and, Alpharetta-based Metcam won in the category of 150 or fewer employees.

• Job Prospects Bright for University of Georgia Class of 2018

  April 13, 2018

  After Taylor Smith graduates from the University of Georgia, he’s headed to the Major Leagues. He’s not an athlete; he’s going to be a research and development analyst for the Tampa Bay Rays. He will run statistics and use data science to help pick the best amateur draftees for the team. It’s a dream come true for a lifelong baseball fan, and a perfect fit for the skills he learned at UGA—where in May he will receive joint bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics, a bachelor’s in mathematics, and a certificate in data science.

• How Georgia is Improving Affordable Housing as a Platform for Health

  April 12, 2018

  Access to quality, affordable housing is critical for supporting good health. For individuals and families with tight budgets, high housing costs can lead to tough choices between making rent and going to the doctor, between keeping the lights on and buying healthy food, or even between being part of a community or becoming socially isolated.

• Georgia’s Legacies, Past And Future

  April 11, 2018

  The last week of Georgia’s 2018 meeting of the General Assembly featured even more symbolism and ceremony than usual. There were the customary farewell speeches by members who won’t be returning after this year’s election. On Tuesday and Wednesday, there was also a casket in the middle of the rotunda.

• Treasury, IRS Announce First Round of Opportunity Zones Designations for 18 States Including Georgia

  April 11, 2018

  The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service designated Opportunity Zones in 18 States. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created Opportunity Zones to spur investment in distressed communities throughout the country. New investments in Opportunity Zones can receive preferential tax treatment.

• BankSouth Promotes Kenneth Mann as Market President in Watkinsville

  April 10, 2018

  BankSouth is pleased to announce the promotion of Kenneth Mann as market president of our Watkinsville branch. With more than 20 years of banking industry experience, Mann most recently served as a relationship manager and commercial lender for BankSouth.

• Hartsfield-Jackson Still World’s Busiest in Global Ranking

  April 10, 2018

  Demand has continued its robust year-on-year growth across the world’s major airports both in terms of passenger numbers and air cargo. Passenger traffic at the world’s 20 busiest airports grew by 5.2% in 2017. With almost 1.5 billion passengers passing through their terminals in 2017, this group of 20 represents 17% of global passenger traffic.

• Georgia’s 2018 International Representatives Visit the State

  April 09, 2018

  Georgia’s competitiveness in the global marketplace is continuously strengthened by the work of its international representatives across the globe. The state of Georgia has representation in 12 strategic markets including Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Europe, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Peru, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The state’s international representation directly contributes to the state’s success as a global business hub.

• Advanced Technology Development Center Attracting More Out-of-State Entrepreneurs to Georgia

  April 06, 2018

  Portland, Maine is a long way from Atlanta — exactly 1,177.7 miles by way of I-85. But when Stacy Taylor and her business partner, Richard Kehne, looked for a place to build and grow their logistics and technology startup, Taylor Kehne Industries, they left New England and bypassed other startup hubs including Boston and New York to plant stakes in Atlanta. The key draw: Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center.

• James Beard Award-winning Chef & Farmer Dan Barber to Speak on the Future of Food, Sustainability April 10th at UGA

  April 05, 2018

  Dan Barber, chef and national farm-to-table and sustainable food systems advocate, will deliver a lecture, “What Kind of Menu will Meet the Challenges of the Future? Exploring a New Recipe for Good Food from the Ground Up,” at the University of Georgia’s Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries on Tuesday, April 10th.

• Georgia Power, Employees & Foundation Invest $21M to Improve Georgia Communities in 2017

  April 05, 2018

  Georgia Power released its total charitable giving impact for 2017, including more than $21 million total invested by the company, The Georgia Power Foundation, Inc. and employees in Georgia communities and non-profit organizations throughout the year. Last year alone, 6,000 Georgia Power employees and retirees donated their time to help their neighbors and improve the quality of life in their communities by completing more than 147,000 volunteer hours.

• Commercial Vehicle-Only Lanes Coming to Georgia

  April 04, 2018

  We all experience the frustrations of traffic congestion. And if you’ve driven I-75 north from Macon you’ve no doubt experienced some of the worst gridlock in Georgia. The corridor, dominated by truck traffic, is home to almost daily traffic snarls due to crashes, stalls, overturned trucks and spills. These incidents can be deadly, tie up traffic for hours, make trip times unpredictable, and result in huge costs in terms of time, wages, jobs, health, property damage – and lives lost.