Well, you can’t win ’em all. News is expected to officially break later this week that Volvo open its first U.S. auto-plant to South Carolina. Georgia, the other finalist, misses out this time, but with the arrivals of Mercedes, Porsche, and a huge chunk of the film industry already on Governor Deal’s resume the sting should subside soon enough.
At the end of the day, our neighbors to the North simply put together a more lucrative package of tax breaks and incentives, an impressive feat considering what Nathan Deal and co. allegedly put on the table. Georgia’s offer included nearly $40 million in ‘deal closing funds’ in the budget, the promise of a $25 million training facility for plant employees, and tax breaks similar to the $400 million worth of incentives given to Kia, who opened a similar plant in the state in 2006.
The plant would have created over 4,000 jobs, a huge win for a Savannah area that has already seen an economic boom in recent years.
The silver lining is that money set aside for Volvo is now free to use for the next bid, which is sure to come sooner rather than later. With $40 million in closing money and another $25 million for a training center, expect Nathan Deal’s next prize to wind up a little more like Mercedes and a little less like Volvo.
Governor Signs 2016 Budget
Governor Deal on Monday officially signed the 2016 budget, which weighs in at $21.8 billion, an increase of $1 billion from 2015.
The budget’s highlights include an increase of over $500 million for K-12 education, funding for the Georgia Film Academy to support the rapidly expanding film industry in the state, and funding for the state’s ongoing criminal justice reforms.
Said Deal in his press release regarding the signing, “Our decisions on what to fund each year carry a great deal of weight. I commend the General Assembly for working with me to produce a balanced budget that reflects the needs of our agencies and the people of this great state.”
