For those of you who have not renewed, and received an email warning you of suspension if you did not renew; you have a 90-day grace period (until March 31st) in which to renew, and you will still have member benefits and access to your profile during this period. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Kelly McLendon if you have any questions at kmclendon@georgia.org or 404-962-4110.
Click here for detailed instruction for the renewal process.
The March 13 GEDA Luncheon Program will feature the Georgia Small Business Rock Stars Awards at the Crowne Plaza Midtown Atlanta. Thank you to our March sponsor, Georgia CEO.
Thank you for joining us for the February 6th Luncheon. Thank you to our sponsor Thomas & Hutton Engineering Company for making this event possible. We had over 250 people attend this event at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Midtown Hotel, to hear from Jason Broadwater of Revenflo. You can access the presentation here.
Thank you for joining us for the February 7th Legislative Event. Thank you to our sponsor, Dan McRae, Esq. and Seyfarth Shaw for making this event possible.
Thank you to Meghan Duke, GEDA Chair of the Young Professional Committee; and Economic Development Director, City of West Point, and the following members, who assisted in delivering GEDA mementos and Legislative Breakfast invites to the Legislators on Thursday, February 2nd: Keith Barclift, Senior Project Manager, Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority; Daniel Dobbins, Economic Development Specialist, City of Hawkinsville; Jade Morey, Project Manger, Houston County Development Authority; Bob Kosek and Trent Williamson, Project Managers, Metro Atlanta Chamber.
After wrapping up two consecutive days of successful GEDA events in Atlanta, I have many people to thank and a couple of folks to congratulate.
First of all, thanks to GEDA President Kevin Shea, Georgia's newest CEcD (congrats!), and GEDA Manager of Membership Services Kelly McLendon for all their hard work to plan and execute back-to-back membership events in a two-day period (and thanks to GEDA Marketing & Communications Chair John Scott for taking pictures). I've had a chance to see "behind the curtain" what all goes into making our events happen, and Kevin and Kelly work tirelessly.
Congratulations to Brian Sillitto, CEcD, Senior Vice President of Economic Development with the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce, who passed the Certified Economic Developer exam on November 3-4, 2016 in Albuquerque, New Mexico! Also, congrats to Kevin Shea, CEcD , who re-attained his CEcD designation by passing the CEcD exam at the IEDC Leadership Summit in Jacksonville, Florida on January 28-29.Congratulations to Dr. Ilka McConnell with Athens Technical College for being selected the February 2017 Young Professionals (YP) Spotlight. If you wish to nominate someone for the YP Spotlight please click here.
The Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority (MBCIA) and the Macon Economic Development Commission (MEDC) announced in December that the two groups have signed an agreement to restructure the Economic Development Team for Macon-Bibb County, Georgia, effective January 1, 2017. Under the agreement, GEDA members, Pat Topping, Senior Vice President, and Ashley Miller, Manager of Business & Industry, with MEDC will continue to focus on Talent Recruitment/Retention, Workforce Development, Existing Industry/Retention and Growth, and Entrepreneurship/Small Business Development for Macon-Bibb.
Going forward, MBCIA is solely responsible for marketing Macon-Bibb County to new industry and managing its community incentives and assets for recruitment and retention, with Stephen Adams, Director of Economic Development and GEDA member, serving as the new point of contact (sadams@mbcia.com).
Congratulations to Mark Farmer, who on January 3rd, began a new job as Economic Development Manager with Gwinnett County. Mark formerly worked with Partnership Gwinnett for the past nine years. He is the Chair of the GEDA Entrepreneurship Shared interest Group (SIG).
Ed Cahill, Director, Economic Development, GreyStone Power, is retiring as of March 3rd. Jeff Noles who works with Ed will be Greystone’s new Economic Development Director.
We received word from George Milligan, Executive Director, Development Authority of Johnson County, that the GEDA 2003 Volunteer of the Year, Mary Jo Stephens of Johnson County passed away on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. Please keep Miss Mary Jo and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
The Georgia Association for Career & Technical Education (GACTE) is looking for business and economic development presenters for its General Interest Sessions which will be held on Monday, July 11, and Tuesday, July 12, 2017 during the Annual GACTE Summer Conference at the Cobb Galleria Centre/Renaissance Waverly Hotel. Please consider submitting a proposal as we celebrate "70 Years of Educating Georgia's Workforce." We are looking for Best Practices and other sessions that would be of interest to conference attendees at all levels and all program areas of Career, Technical & Agricultural Education. Over 2,300 CTAE professionals from across Georgia will be in attendance. If you are interested in presenting, please use this link (https://gacteprogram.wufoo.com/forms/general-interest-session-presenter-proposal/) to enter your proposal information. The deadline for entering proposals is February 28, 2017. For questions please contact:
Matthew H. Gambill
Executive Director
Georgia Association for Career & Technical Education
770-655-0046 (C)
678-461-0006 (O) mhgambill@bellsouth.netPlease keep David Luckie, CEcD, EDFP, Executive Director, Griffin-Spalding Development Authority, and his family in your prayers. David's mom passed away this week. Please see the obituary for more info on the services, etc.
Congratulations to Scott Poag, CEcD, Project Manager, Augusta Economic Development Authority, and Peter Tokar III, Economic Development Director, City of Alpharetta, on being selected by Development Counsellors International in its 40 Under 40, 40 of the country’s Economic Development Profession’s Rising Stars. Read more...
Project Announcements
DIANA FOOD TO INVEST $50 MILLION IN BANKS COUNTY - New facility to create 80 jobs
January 27, 2017 — Governor Nathan Deal announced that Diana Food, a global provider of natural ingredients to the food and beverage industry, will create more than 80 new jobs and invest $50 million in a food processing, manufacturing and research and development facility in Banks County.
Congratulations to Brad Day, Executive Director, the board and staff of the Development Authority of Banks County and their local sales team! This is the first location in Banks County in some time, and a very nice one, at that. This project is Anchor to the county’s industrial park. Recognition is in order for the entire project team, including Joshua Stephens, Project Manager, Global Commerce Division Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD); Walt Farrell, Senior Project Manager, Georgia Power; and Rodger Brown, Director of Strategic Communications, Georgia Quick Start. Joshua is the “Golden Boy” this month with three announcements, after some others at the end of last year! Way to go, Josh, and keep that lucky streak going!!! Read more…
Sonoco Packaging and Display to create 595 jobs in Fulton County
January 25, 2017 – The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) today announced that Sonoco Products Company, one of the largest global diversified packaging companies, will create 130 full-time and 465 part-time jobs in a new packaging center in Fairburn. The company’s overall investment totals approximately $20 million.
Congratulations to the team of Joshua Stephens, Project Manager, GDEcD, Global Commerce Division; Al Nash, Executive Director, Development Authority of Fulton County; Quick Start, Georgia Power and Avison Young; who worked on this project. Read more…
Colorado Premium to create 190 jobs in Carroll County - Protein product manufacturer to invest $15 million by 2018
Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that Colorado Premium, a manufacturer of premium protein products, will create 190 jobs and invest $15 million in a Carroll County food processing plant by the end of 2018.
Kudos to Brittany Holtzclaw, Director, Logistics, Energy, Agribusiness & Food Team, Global Commerce Division Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD); Daniel Jackson, President/CEO, Donna Armstrong-Lackey, Senior Vice President, and Andy Camp, Vice President, Economic Development, Carroll Tomorrow and Bradley Harris, Senior Project Manager, Georgia EMC; for all their hard work on this project.
Following is a listing of the whole team that worked the project. These projects are all team efforts, and some people may be left out, but this is a good effort at listing those involved.
Workforce Development and Education Partners:
Rodger Brown – Director, Georgia QuickStart
Steve Daniel – President, West Georgia Technical College
Laura Gammage – VP of Economic Development, West Georgia Technical College
Local Leadership:
Loy Howard – CEO, Tanner Health System
Tim Warren – President, United Community Bank
Rich Stinson – President and CEO, Southwire
Marty Smith – Chairman, Carroll County Board of Commissioners
Tim Grizzard – City Manager, City of Carrollton
Gary Hewitt – Southland Insurance and Chairman, Carroll County Chamber of Commerce
Matt Windom – Executive Director, Carroll County Water Authority (chamber board member)
State of Georgia: Brittany Holtzclaw – Director, Georgia Department of Economic Development
Local Economic Development Team:
Daniel Jackson – President and CEO, Carroll County Chamber of Commerce & Carroll Tomorrow
Donna Lackey – Senior VP, Business Development and The Burson Center
Andy Camp – VP, Economic Development
SYSNET GLOBAL SOLUTIONS TO CREATE MORE THAN 500 JOBS IN DEKALB COUNTY - Ireland-based provider of cybersecurity and compliance solutions will invest $2 million in Brookhaven contact center
January 12, 2017 — Governor Nathan Deal announced that Ireland-based Sysnet Global Solutions, a leading provider of cybersecurity and compliance solutions to the payments industry, will create more than 500 jobs and invest $2 million in a DeKalb County contact center.
Congratulations to the team of Nikki Yu, Project Manager, Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), Global Commerce Division; Brenda Robbins, Senior Project Manager, Georgia Power; Rebecca Jordan, Associate Project Manager, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Rodger Brown, Executive Director, Marketing and Strategic Media, Georgia Quick Start; Elizabeth Scott, Regional Coordinator, Georgia Department of Labor; Cushman & Wakefield; and Rolanda Thomas, Vice President, Operations and Business Development; Decide DeKalb; and the City of Brookhaven. Read more …
Z GALLERIE TO CREATE 115 JOBS, INVEST $3.7 MILLION IN DOUGLAS COUNTY
January 11, 2017 – The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) announced that Z Gallerie, a premier lifestyle brand in the fashion home space, will create 115 new jobs and invest $3.7 million in an east coast distribution center and customer service center in Douglas County.
Kudos to the winning team of Chris Pumphrey, Executive Director, Douglas County Economic Development Authority; Joshua Stephens, Project Manager, Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), Global Commerce Division; Charles Stallworth, Senior Project Manager, Georgia Power; Rodger Brown, Director of Strategic Communications, Quick Start; and Steve Grable, Senior Vice President, SIOR, JLL. Read more …
Committee & SIG News
Rural Development SIG
Rural Development SIG Session in the ECG Board room following the March 13th GEDA Luncheon. Panelists will include Corinne Thornton (DCA), Ashley Morris (GDEcD) and Daryl Ingram (ECG). We invite any economic developer who is interested in learning about specific strategies to recruiting and retaining industry.
Education and Workforce Development SIG
The Education and Workforce Development Shared Interest Group is actively recruiting members. You can join the group by clicking here.
Please join our group to learn about some of the great things that are happening in Georgia. Or, if you have a best practice we would like to celebrate your success! Contact us at info@geda.org.
Professional Development Committee
Congratulations to Justin Farquar on receiving one of the BEDC grants from GEDA. Justin Farquhar joined the Development Authority of Bryan County in May 2016. Justin's duties include existing industry outreach, data analysis, updating and maintaining the Authority's website, assisting the CEO with requests for information, and tracking news relevant to economic development in both Bryan County and the State of Georgia. There is still one BEDC grant available.
You can apply for the BEDC grant and other GEDA Professional Development Grants by clicking here. Or, contact Scott Poag, CEcD, GEDA Professional Development Chair; and Project Manager, Augusta Economic Development Authority, with any questions.
Young Professionals Committee
Remember that there will be a Coffee with the Commissioner on Monday, March 13th with Camila Knowles, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. This event will again be at the ECG Conference Room. Contact Meghan Duke, GEDA YP Committee Chair & City of West Point Economic Development Director.
Congratulations to Dr. Ilka McConnell with Athens Technical College for being selected the February 2017 Young Professionals (YP) Spotlight. If you wish to nominate someone for the YP Spotlight please 
Congratulations to Justin Farquar on receiving one of the BEDC grants from GEDA. Justin Farquhar joined the Development Authority of Bryan County in May 2016. Justin's duties include existing industry outreach, data analysis, updating and maintaining the Authority's website, assisting the CEO with requests for information, and tracking news relevant to economic development in both Bryan County and the State of Georgia. There is still one BEDC grant available. 
