Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that the Centers of Innovation, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, connected and assisted nearly 4,000 Georgia companies during 2014, up 30 percent from the previous fiscal year.

“We are proud to offer this unique economic development resource to both companies that call Georgia home and those looking to locate here,” said Deal. “For businesses to remain competitive, they must keep up with the ever quickening pace of change and growing levels of complexity in the global marketplace. Our Centers of Innovation provide outstanding assistance to these companies, helping ensure success and bolster Georgia’s economic development efforts.”

Exclusive to Georgia, the Centers of Innovation deliver the technical industry expertise, collaborative research and partnerships to help the state’s strategic industries connect, compete and grow globally. The six individual centers are focused on the aerospace, agribusiness, energy technology, information technology, logistics and manufacturing industries. 

“The Centers of Innovation showcase Georgia’s focus on understanding the needs of business and our commitment to support private industry growth,” said GDEcD Commissioner Chris Carr. “When we couple the resources of our centers with the other divisions of our department and programs such as Quick Start, it creates an environment that is truly the best state in which to do business.”

During the Fiscal Year 2014, the Georgia Centers of Innovation helped companies commercialize revolutionary wireless health monitoring systems, created new business models for unmanned aerial vehicles in the agriculture industry, secured federal grants to support the floor covering industry, developed new waste-to-energy technologies and supported the startup of 40 new food businesses. In addition, a collaborative partnership with the Georgia Department of Agriculture also allowed the centers to add streamlined access to the resources available through the Department’s Georgia Grown initiative while strengthening the connection both departments already share with international export efforts.

This past March, Deal was the keynote speaker at the 6th Annual Georgia Logistics Summit hosted by the Center of Innovation for Logistics in Atlanta. More than 2,200 people were in attendance from 38 states and 11 countries. This event has quickly grown to be the only industry event of its kind and size in the nation. The 2015 event will take place March 31 – April 1 at the Georgia World Congress Center. 

“It has certainly been a great year for Georgia, topped-off with well-deserved No. 1 rankings in both national competitiveness and business climate,” said Centers of Innovation Executive Director Page Siplon. “The decades of experience each center has allows them to speak their industry’s language and efficiently support companies with the unique challenges and opportunities they face every day.”