It’s not necessarily out of the ordinary for non-major cities to serve as home to Fortune 500 companies. After all Wal-Mart, the largest company in the US and retailer in the world, is famously based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Tiny Hershey, Pennsylvania, hosts a chocolate company by the same name, and Hartsfield, South Carolina – population 7,764, is home to Sonoco, one of the world’s largest consumer packaging companies.
But most Fortune 500 companies, which last year generated $13.8 trillion in revenue, some 2/3 of the U.S. economy, are based in its largest cities. New York, Seattle, and of course, Atlanta – featuring familiar names including Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Delta, and Southern Company, among the 18 total from the Peach State.
But Columbus, Georgia, can now claim two companies in the Fortune 500, with fintech giant Global Payments being named to the list for the first time in 2021, per the new list which was released Wednesday. It joins insurance company Aflac, which ranked 131 on the list for 2021, up from 146 last year.
Global Payments has had a busy few years in a burgeoning industry, becoming one of the country’s largest financial technology companies after acquiring Columbus-based TYSYS in 2019. That move put it on the cusp of the prestigious list, but the growth didn’t stop there – in May Global Payments announced it was purchasing real estate management platform Zego for $925 million. It also announced a key partnership with Google, specifically Google Cloud, from which it will now operate its merchant acquiring services worldwide.
“With its new placement on the Fortune 500 list, Global Payments further solidifies its position as a leading fintech powerhouse. The nomination is a testament to the company pivoting its strategy to meet changing consumer behaviors during the pandemic, highlighting its tech-enabled approach that continues to be a driving force in the industry,” said Matt Cochran, a company spokesperson.
Columbus-based Synovus was also in the Fortune 1000, ranking 891 in the nation.
Georgia’s other non-Atlanta Fortune 500 company is Mohawk Industries, one of the world’s largest flooring companies, out of Calhoun in North Georgia. Mohawk ranks as Georgia’s 10th biggest company, coming in at 321 in the full list.
