Cummiskey: Economic Development Incentives More Art Than Science
Friday, May 24th, 2013
When it comes to luring corporate relocations and expansions, economic incentives are more the icing than the cake.
The Peach State, armed with a roughly $100 million "deal closing" fund, hands out discretionary incentives to just 7.25 percent of all prospects, Chris Cummiskey, Georgia's economic development commissioner said at a meeting Thursday.
Which companies get the money, is more art, than science.
There is no formula, Cummiskey said. Instead, the state's economic developers make a calculated guess on which companies are likely to put the project in the state — incentives or not.
Giving away money to companies who would put projects in the state anyway, makes little sense, Cummiskey said. Saving it up for those prospects "on the fence" about which state to go to, is a better use of incentive dollars, he said.
