Georgia’s Brian Kemp stands on his record as others eye his Atlanta office.
Athens, Georgia, native and former small business owner Brian Kemp, the 83rd governor of the Peach State, had a lot to say recently when he was invited to address 400 business and community leaders at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce in Duluth.
His 15-minute address wasn’t a stump speech or a delicately worded presentation on government policy. Far from that, it was a rhetorical victory lap that doubled down on his conservative priorities and made clear what he hoped Georgia would become once he leaves office in January.
In short, he vowed to continue working with his wife Marty to put an end to human trafficking in Georgia; work with the Georgia Assembly to make sure recreational marijuana never becomes legal in Georgia; advocate on behalf of data center development in small rural towns that need jobs and an improved tax base; and keep on fighting for Georgia to land more California businesses.
This wasn’t just a goodbye speech. It was a tour de force of frank talk on his policies and priorities.
- On whether Paramount Studios would relocate its headquarters from California to Georgia: “No comment, but I will say this: Why the hell would they want to stay in California?”
- On the mounting opposition to data centers: “A statewide data center moratorium is insane. We have to win the AI race. We cannot let China win that race. We are not trying to force a data center on anybody, but this is a race we cannot afford to lose.”
- On whether recreational use of marijuana ought to be legalized in Georgia, he said that the negative repercussions he’s seen in the states that have done this have only hardened his conviction against legalizing pot in Georgia.
- On what he planned to do for an encore: “I keep telling my team that we have to run through the finish line. We announced two great projects this past week; and we’re not done yet.”
In 7.5 years in office, Kemp and his administration have brought record-breaking economic development to Georgia. The tale of the tape confirms it: 2,841 projects; $125 billion in capital investment; and 226,000 new jobs created by these projects. Two weeks after his speech at the Chamber, Kemp and the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) announced a new record in Fiscal Year 2026 with roughly $35.2 billion in project investments between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. During that fiscal year, the GDEcD Global Commerce team supported 436 expansions by Georgia businesses and new company locations across the state. “These community-building commitments are expected to bring an estimated 25,300 new private-sector jobs in the coming years,” said the agency’s press release.
Back in Duluth in August, Kemp told the audience of community and business leaders that he was most proud of leading Georgia to being ranked the No. 1 State for Business a record 12 years in a row by Area Development magazine and a record eight years in a row by Site Selection magazine.
“A statewide data center moratorium is insane. We have to win the AI race. We cannot let China win that race. We are not trying to force a data center on anybody, but this is a race we cannot afford to lose.”
– Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
Moreover, he said, Georgia accomplished this while giving money back to businesses and citizens. “We passed over $11 billion in tax cuts, including $2 billion this year,” the governor said. “And we’re not done yet.”
He cited as evidence two big projects landed by the Georgia Department of Economic Development in early August: Siemens investing $185 million and committing to hire 1,400 workers at an installation in Jackson County; and South Korea-based DeltaX investing $141 million and creating 250 jobs to establish its North American manufacturing headquarters in Walton County.
“The decision by DeltaX to locate its headquarters here and further grow Georgia’s energy sector is another testament to our position at the forefront of innovation and emerging technology,” said Kemp. “Projects like this are possible because of our cutting-edge research universities, world-class workforce training and reliable energy infrastructure, and I look forward to the opportunities it will bring to the people of Walton County.”
Kemp also made it clear he would not bow down to those he characterized as naysayers who want to halt progress in Georgia. “Early County, one of the poorest counties in the country, lost 500 jobs when a sawmill closed down,” he said. “The good folks there want a data center and need it to replace the jobs they lost. We are not trying to force data centers where people do not want them, but we have to educate people on this topic.”
