The Atlanta area continues to attract business and industry, though not at the past white-hot growth rate. At press time, nearly 4.4 million-sq.-ft. (408,760-sq.-m.) of space was available in the North Fulton metro Atlanta area, where current Class A space has dropped to roughly $18 per square foot. Cingular Wireless announced in July 2001 it would take over 376,000-sq.-ft. (35,000 sq.-m.) of space from Nortel Networks in Alpharetta. "The Cingular deal was great and healthy for the market," says Leigh Martin, a broker for CB Richard Ellis, "but space is way up in the north."
        In February 2001, GE Power Systems moved its headquarters from Schenectady, N.Y. to metro Atlanta's Cobb County. The division is the most profitable business unit of General Electric Co. The firm has 4,300 employees in the Atlanta area. "This is a state where you're welcomed with open arms," said Jack Welch, now-retired CEO of GE, before its annual shareholders meeting held in Atlanta in 2001. "We love it here and our people really like it."
        Atlanta has also seen its share of new biotech investments. UCB Pharma announced an 110,000-sq.-ft. (10,200 sq.-m.) expansion on its Cobb County campus. The site is expected to house more than 300 new employees. UCB develops products to help treat respiratory ailments and diseases and is a subsidiary of Belgium-based UCB Group.
        New Atlanta bio-tech investments are music to Gov. Barnes' office. In 2001, Gov. Barnes launched the Georgia Cancer Coalition initiative. The initiative has been part of a plan to attract biotechnology firms to the Peach State. According to the Georgia Dept. of Industry, Trade and Tourism (GDITT), in six months the GDITT's Life Sciences Division attracted six high-tech projects and brought 776 jobs to the state.
        "Biotech, if a state is going to prosper, has to be a major part of the base on which the state prospers," says Gov. Barnes.