The Georgia Chamber of Commerce began its 22 city tour across Georgia in its effort to help businesses and the state grow, and grow efficiently, over the next 14 years. According to the Chamber, “it’s an ambitious plan to expand Georgia’s role in global commerce, cultivate a world-class workforce, bolster economic mobility, improve long-term job creation and support diverse, thriving communities.”
The 2030 program could be thought of as a big listening tour to help communities fulfill their wants and desires, as well as to help educate those communities on steps that may need to be taken to help get there. In order to keep pace with the rest of the country, Georgia’s economy will need to grow by 40% by 2030. Over that time, 1.9 million new people are expected to move into the Peach State and will fill over 1 million new jobs. Millennials are expected to increase in the workforce by 20% and as baby boomers hit retirement, the number of seniors is expected to grow by 50%.
The tour began last week in Augusta and will criss-cross the state over the next few weeks, with most stops happening in May and June but culminating in Macon in August. Nearly every region of the state will be covered with stops in Cartersville, Young Harris, Albany, McDonough, Brunswick, Dublin and Thomasville to name a few. This is not a Big Five tour (Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah, Athens) and will seek to get input from all Georgians.
Georgia’s existing and ever-improving infrastructure, such as Hartsfield and the Savannah Port, will be a big piece of the puzzle. 6.5 million more containers will be moved through Georgia ports as they see a 75% increase in volume. This number may increase or decrease depending on how progress develops on the Savannah port expansion project which is currently seeing a shortfall in promised funding from the Federal government. Hartsfield will see 134,000 new commercial takeoffs and landings.
The extra residents and growing economy will also add an estimated 1.5 million new cars to the roads (many new trucks will be hauling cargo from Savannah and inland ports in Cordele and elsewhere) and use 16% more energy. Also, one resource Georgia is continually nagged by, water, will continue to be sorely needed, and Alabama and Florida are not likely to let that happen easily. It is estimated that to keep the economy growing, the state will need 18% more college graduates and 38% more primary care physicians.
Part of the program is an industry survey. The survey asks questions such as how many employees does a business have, what is the political affiliation of the business owner and what political issues are important to them, as well as how global issues may impact business.
Georgia Chamber President and CEO Chris Clark will facilitate the town hall meetings and hold live polls for attendees to help create the roadmap for Georgia’s future. All the events are free but registration is required, if interested, see here: http://www.gachamber.com/georgia2030-tour-stops/
