Georgia’s Special Economic Development Feature in Fortune Magazine
Wednesday, June 17th, 2015
Photo caption: Governor Nathan Deal and Commissioner Chris Carr celebrate Georgia’s special economic development feature in Fortune magazine as well as the state’s new ranking for being home to 20 Fortune 500 headquarters.
FORTUNE 500
“Georgia On Their Minds” is an aptly named title for Fortune’s special economic development feature in the June 2015 issue. With Georgia’s low cost of doing business, availability of skilled labor and global supply chain, it is no surprise that more than 440 Fortune 500 companies are thriving in Georgia.
Representatives from AT&T, Atlanta Beltline, Atlanta Gas Light, Coca Cola, Emory, Georgia Aquarium, Georgia Pacific, Global Payments, Kia Motors, Porsche and Suntrust joined Governor Deal, Sandra Deal and Georgia’s economic development team to celebrate Fortune magazine’s most successful special feature in 10 years. Hugh Acheson’s restaurant, Empire State South, served as the back drop of this wonderful occasion.
I can remember just a few short years ago when Georgia had 14 Fortune 500 headquarters. Today it boasts 20. Georgia’s momentum as a top state for business has seemingly taken off and not stopped since the 2012 announcement of Baxter choosing the state for its new state of the art biotechnology facility. Brands such as Home Depot and AT&T have opened up new innovation labs. Porsche and Mercedes have chosen the state for their U.S. headquarters, citing not only the state’s business environment, but also its quality of life, culture and workforce. King’s Hawaiian, Kubota, Caterpillar, Kia are just a few of the household names that are expanding and breaking records in Georgia. And then you have the film industry, which generated more than a $5 billion in economic impact for the state just this past year.
Georgia has many reasons to be proud of its economic vibrancy, and this special feature does an excellent job of showcasing the state’s unique assets and its wonderful culture of collaboration that helps brands around the state to grow, prosper and succeed.
