Atlanta Leads The U.S. in Job Growth
The gold in the Capitol Dome in Atlanta was mined during the state's first gold rush in the mid-1830s. Today the dome may stand as a beacon for golden business opportunities in one of the largest cities in the South.
Atlanta has traditionally been an ideal spot for growing business. In the 1850s, the city sat at the convergence of four railroads and was a major manufacturing center. Today the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area is comprised of 20 counties and is home to nearly 4 million people. The 1996 Olympics focused attention on the city, and business and industry flocked to the area. According the Metro
Metro Atlanta closed the year 2000 with 200
new firms expanding or relocating to the area.
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the city closed last year with 200 new companies expanding or relocating to the Atlanta area. This expansion created 11,472 new jobs for the area and represents $2.7 billion in investment.
"Every year Atlanta welcomes a host of new companies to the area," says Sam A. Williams, president of the Metro Chamber of Commerce. "Last year was no exception, particularly with the additions of GE Power Systems, WorldCom and PSInet. These companies understand the importance of doing business here and they have made a significant commitment to the Atlanta market."
While expansion in the Atlanta area is expected to continue, the white-hot pace of growth and business development will lessen in the coming months. The city's unemployment rate has climbed above 3 percent, but the job market in the area continues to look healthy despite local layoffs at WorldCom, CNN and Lucent. According to Newsweek Magazine, Atlanta ranks as the No. 1 metropolitan area for projected job growth by the year 2005.
PSInet, a global Internet carrier, announced last June the opening of a new 88,000-sq.-ft. (8,140-sq.-m.) global Internet hosting center in Atlanta at Perimeter Center. The $54 million facility is a computer server farm, one of many that are cropping up in the metro Atlanta area. Atlanta is one of the top cities in the country with fiber-optic capacity. The area also has an advantage in connecting to the nation's NAP, national access points.
"With an exceptional high-tech business climate, Atlanta was a logical market for us to expand our company and open offices," says Brian Higgins, regional director in Georgia and Tennessee for PSInet. "Last year it was a top priority to come to the Atlanta area where we recognized we definitely needed a solid presence moving forward."
