< PreviousTalk about an opportunity zone. e term has a specifi c defi nition in the context of economic development, as the article beginning on page explains. But the entire state of Georgia could be considered a zone of opportunity for companies seeking the nation’s best business climate — year after year. A string of six consecutive fi rst-place fi nishes means Georgia’s performance in this annual exercise in any year since was not an anomaly. It’s a pattern, and one that outgoing, term-limited Governor Nathan Deal helped set in motion.Certain ingredients were already in the bowl when the governor came to offi ce in : the world’s busiest airport with direct access to business destinations around the globe; bustling seaports; a diversifi ed economy in the Atlanta area and statewide; top universities; and an already business-friendly environment thanks in part to his predecessor, two-term Gov. Sonny Perdue, now the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.What did Chef Deal add to the mix? Among other things, a commitment to fi scal soundness, economic predictability, smart investment in education and transportation and to championing the state’s agriculture, fi lm production and other key industries. He elaborated on these points in his last such interview with Site Selection in mid-October, not long after Hurricane Michael had ravaged a large swath of the state with devastating eff ects (losses north of $. billion, conservatively) on its cotton, peanut, pecan, timber and other crops. We covered that topic fi rst.“We have numerous people working to make sure that debris is removed from our roadways so utility crews can get in and restore power, especially to vulnerable institutions like hospitals,” noted the governor. “Fortunately, we did not have fl ooding from this storm. But the high winds passed through the heart of our agricultural community. We are trying to get people back to normal as quickly as possible.”Trains and Boats and PlanesA big part of Georgia’s business climate is transportation-based. Could Georgia do as well in this ranking without Hartsfi eld-Jackson International Airport with its fortress Delta Airlines hub and global passenger and cargo reach? No way. Countless businesses, large and small, are in Georgia thanks to that connectivity. Interstate highways in the Atlanta metro may be a daily thorn in commuters’ sides, but investment in those, including reversible express routes that bypass local exits, is helping. By the way, it’s not Atlanta’s fault — nor its Interstate highways’ — that the occasional livestock truck overturns during rush hour, sending cows, pigs or chickens onto the highway. at can happen anywhere.“Infrastructure and transportation are essential ingredients to having a successful state for business,” says Gov. Deal. “Our focus there has been to make sure we provide the necessary things government can and should do to make the business community grow and prosper.” e Port of Savannah has record container volumes year after year and eff orts to deepen the Savannah River and the port are ongoing. “ e state has put in more than $ million as its share of that cost, and the federal government is contributing its share, and we’re hopeful that project will be complete by or ,” the governor reports. “ e Port of Brunswick is the second busiest auto port, and we have made some changes there to expand space for those vehicles. As we see an increase in automotive manufacturing and parts suppliers locating in Georgia, having access to the port for products coming in or going out is very important, and Brunswick is the key to that. e ports are responsible for almost $ billion in economic impact, and exports have grown by . percent since I took offi ce in . ousands of people are working across our state as a result of having robust ports.”In late October, Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) and statewide; top universities; and an already business-friendly environment thanks in part to business-friendly environment thanks in part to his predecessor, two-term Gov. Sonny Perdue, now his predecessor, two-term Gov. Sonny Perdue, now the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.What did Chef Deal add to the mix? Among What did Chef Deal add to the mix? Among other things, a commitment to fi scal soundness, other things, a commitment to fi scal soundness, economic predictability, smart investment in education and transportation and to championing education and transportation and to championing the state’s agriculture, fi lm production and other key industries. He elaborated on these other key industries. He elaborated on these points in his last such interview with Site Selection in mid-October, not long after Selection in mid-October, not long after Hurricane Michael had ravaged a large Hurricane Michael had ravaged a large swath of the state with devastating eff ects (losses north of $. billion, conservatively) on its cotton, peanut, conservatively) on its cotton, peanut, pecan, timber and other crops. 66 NOVEMBER 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO N68 NOVEMBER 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO NExecutive Director Griff Lynch detailed Fiscal Year successes, including , units of cars, trucks and tractors handled through Georgia terminals.“ e Port of Brunswick achieved a solid performance across all cargo categories over the last fi scal year,” Lynch said. “As GPA adds new terminal space, we will expand our service area in the Southeast and beyond.”During the event hosted by the Brunswick Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce, Lynch outlined a series of infrastructure projects that will increase capacity and provide new opportunities in Roll-on/Roll-off cargo handling. Over the next months, GPA will add dockside acres to the Ro/Ro operation. e new space will increase car storage by , spaces. About that Traf c …What does this mean for Georgia’s Interstate highways, which next to rail are the chief arteries from the ports to points west and vice versa? e Interstates in and around Atlanta are so clogged at times the region loses points in the quality-of-life and logistics categories. Atlanta traffi c? “It’s a sign of growth,” says the governor, returning the serve with more than a little topspin. Site Selection’s 2018 Top State Business Climate Rankings Overall Executive Competi- 2017 New 2017 New 2018 New 2018 New Mature Firm New Firm Final Ranking Survey tiveness Plant Rank Plant Rank Plant Rank Plant Rank Tax Index Tax Index Total Rank Rank Per Capita (Jan. - Aug.) Per Capita Rank Rank Points (Jan.- Aug.) 1 Georgia 1 3 4 5 1 2 3 6 1012 North Carolina 2 1 5 7 4 10 7 13 993 Texas 4 4 1 11 5 32 12 42 904 Ohio 11 6 2 3 9 19 5 3 89T5 South Carolina 3 10 16 9 8 5 32 34 88T5 Tennessee 5 2 14 13 11 9 29 29 887 Virginia 10 6 9 18 2 4 11 39 87T8 Alabama 7 18 19 15 21 15 13 19 83T8 Indiana 6 13 10 10 17 17 43 15 83T10 Kentucky 17 8 7 2 6 3 18 7 82T10 Louisiana 14 16 17 8 22 16 10 2 8212 Florida 11 20 12 36 10 29 19 36 70T13 Utah 8 22 34 34 41 48 6 10 69T13 Arizona 13 15 22 29 24 23 14 31 6915 Oklahoma 15 27 28 25 25 18 16 5 6816 Mississippi 9 21 32 28 33 30 37 21 6517 South Dakota 21 26 38 17 37 12 2 11 64T18 Michigan 29 5 11 22 7 13 25 25 63T18 Nevada 23 23 31 21 19 6 4 38 63T20 Iowa 23 9 21 6 20 7 40 41 61T20 North Dakota 17 30 41 16 44 31 15 18 6122 Wisconsin 31 23 20 20 14 11 35 4 5723 Missouri 31 11 15 14 16 14 36 26 5624 Kansas 20 14 24 12 30 25 47 48 5525 Pennsylvania 26 17 8 23 12 22 50 49 53 Source: Conway Projects DatabaseBut it’s a fair point. More than , private-sector jobs have come into being and Georgia has jumped from the th most populous state to th most populous since he took offi ce. “With that comes traffi c and congestion,” he points out. “ at’s why the Transportation Act of was so important. It was the fi rst time in years that the state of Georgia had looked at how we fi nance infrastructure improvements. We’re making progress on completing the major projects that were part of that, most of which were Interstate-related. e reversible express lanes on I- south of Atlanta and now on the north side, too, are proving to be very successful in traffi c congestion relief.” Other measures include extending paid express lanes on I-.“To fund these eff orts, we’re using public-private partnerships in a unique fashion, in which we engage the private contractor to carry part of the debt until the project is completed,” the governor explains. “ at is proving to be very successful. We believe we have saved a lot of money on the design-build concept we’re using, which allows us to extend the HOT lanes on I- north considerably farther north than we had originally planned.” e role of inland ports in unclogging Interstates will soon become apparent, adds the governor. One has been operational in Cordele, in southern Georgia, for a number of years, but mainly for agricultural use. e Appalachian Regional Port (APR), in Murray County northwest of Atlanta, opened in August . It is designed to provide logistics solutions for customers in a four-state region and remove an estimated , trucks and million truck miles from local highways every year. APR already is triggering development. e Foxfi eld Company, based in Bluff ton, South Carolina, is developing a -acre (-hectare) industrial park in Cartersville, on I-, that will accommodate million sq. ft. (, sq. m.) of industrial space when completed. It’s just miles from the new port. Foxfi eld President Harry Kitchen, Jr., identifi es several competitive advantages the ARP aff ords, including an effi cient alternative to an all-truck dray to and from the deep-water Port of Savannah for target markets in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky; lower transportation costs; and the ability to move hundreds of containers at once.“While the needs of each industry and customer diff er, the effi ciencies gained through inland terminals means port customers would be wise to investigate the benefi ts of using the inland rail hubs,” says Kitchen. “Lower costs for long-distance drays, convenient access to empty containers and the reliability of Georgia Ports Authority terminal operations make the inland ports important new supply chain assets.” e Foxfi eld Company mainly develops projects in Georgia, so we asked Kitchen for his take on Georgia’s business climate, or its competitive advantage. It turns out it’s about the state’s economic development team. “Major prospects are very savvy when it comes to assessing the positives and negatives of site selection,” he relates. “Each state needs to identify the key drivers for each project and bring their best opportunities to the table. e site selection game is more about site elimination than site selection, and the best sites always rise to the top. Georgia does an excellent job in identifying the true needs of a prospect and putting the best team together to make the short list of candidate sites and close the deal.”Investment in the state’s aviation infrastructure — its ability to staff the world’s busiest airport and the state’s aerospace-related companies — is ongoing. In October, Gov. Deal announced that the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) will establish an Aviation Academy to operate at Silver Comet Field at the Paulding Northwest What Matters Most:Site Selectors’ Most ImportantLocation CriteriaSource: Site Selection survey of corporate real estate executives, October 2018 1 Workforce skills 2 Transportation infrastructure 3 Workforce development 4 Higher education resources 5 Utilities (cost, reliability) 6 Right-to-work state 7 State and local tax scheme 8 Ease of permitting and regulatory procedures 9 Quality of life 10 Incentives70 NOVEMBER 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO N72 NOVEMBER 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO NAtlanta Airport. Chattahoochee Technical College will oversee operations and build a new facility to house the Aviation Academy, where students will train in aviation mechanics and maintenance.“Here in the No. state for business fi ve times over [the sixth such win had not yet been announced], we are strategically building upon the economic assets that set us apart from other states and investing in academic resources to produce a highly skilled workforce,” said Deal at the announcement. “With an investment of approximately $ million, Chattahoochee Tech’s Aviation Academy at Silver Comet Field is yet another example of a partnership between the state and local levels creating a resource that will benefi t both the economy of the local community and that of our entire state.”Delta Air Lines, Gulfstream and Pratt & Whitney are among Georgia’s leading aviation-related companies with major operations in the state. “To remain a suitable home for employers such as these and to connect Georgians with high-paying, quality jobs, we are investing in aviation mechanics and maintenance training through TCSG, which has a proven record of success in providing specialized training,” says Deal.Georgia ranks fourth in the nation for the number of individuals employed in the aviation fi eld, and the job growth outlook for the industry exceeds national averages over the next years. e programs will help fi ll an aerospace mechanic jobs defi cit that in late stands at about , positions.“My intent was to put the roots down so deep that it would be very di cult for anybody to pull them out.”— Governor Nathan DealPhoto: Getty Images 1 Georgia 2 North Carolina 3 South Carolina 4 Texas 5 Tennessee 6 Indiana 7 Alabama 8 Utah 9 Mississippi 10 Virginia2018 Executive SurveyBusiness Climate RankingsNext >