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mETRO ATLANTA cOmpANyANNOUNcEmENTs THE NATION’s HEALTH IT cApITAL
A THRIvING TEcHNOLOGy HUB ATLANTA ATTRAcTs cLEAN TEcH cOmpANIEs FAsTEsT-GROWING cONTAINER pORT GETs AppROvALs EXpORTs ON AN UpWARD TREND pORscHE cARs NORTH AmERIcA BREAKs GROUND
With strengths in wireless, software, digital media, transaction processing and internet security, metro Atlanta is a global hub for mobile technology. Technology users around the world are able to use their mobile devices for information, communication and secured transactions 24/7 in large part because of metro Atlanta’s companies.
Atlanta-based AirWatch LLC’s software solutions are in high demand by businesses around the world to manage and secure their fleet of mobile devices. 5,300 customers use AirWatch to globally manage their mobile devices, mobile apps and mobile content. Now the largest en-terprise mobility management provider in the world, AirWatch plans to expand its sandy springs (North Fulton county) headquarters by creating another 800 jobs on top of the 600 jobs currently staffed in metro Atlanta. Atlanta’s mobile technology cluster includes many more companies that are known worldwide. Information and media com-panies such as Cnn, turner Broadcasting system and the Weather Channel have teams in Atlanta dedicated to building their mobile platforms. Leading communication com-panies have a major presence in metro Atlanta, such as At&t Mobility’s corporate headquar-ters and sony Mobile Communications’ North America headquarters. major software and hardware companies have their internet security operations in metro Atlanta as a result of acquiring local companies, such as iBM and dell secureWorks. With 70 percent of all
credit and debit transactions that occur in the nation handled by companies primarily in metro Atlanta, including Global Payments, First data, nCr and elavon, metro Atlanta leads in enabling 24/7 mobility.
Georgia ranks fifth in the nation for “app intensity,” the ratio of total jobs related to apps, according to cTIA – The Wireless Association in association with Application Developers Alliance. Apps are being innovated by startups within Atlanta incubators, such as the Advanced Technology Development center (ATDc) on the Technology square campus of Georgia Tech. And an Atlanta-based company, Big nerd ranch inc., develops apps and pro-vides app training primarily to FORTUNE 500 companies such as procter & Gamble, AT&T, microsoft, Google, GE, Delta Air Lines and Boe-ing. Training in mobile graphic design, digital media, human-computer interaction, software engineering, computer science, gaming, and information security is also available at metro Atlanta’s higher education institutions.
mETRO ATLANTA
ECoNoMIC BrIEfING
yEAR-END 2012 | IssUE 17
HIGHLIGHTING mETRO ATLANTA’s EcONOmIc DEvELOpmENT sUccEss sTORIEs
ATLANTA sTRENGTHENs pOsITION As
HUB FOR mOBILE TEcHNOLOGIEs
GLOBAL LEADER AIRWATcH EXpANDs AmID GREATER
DEmAND FOR mOBILE DEvIcE mANAGEmENT
AirWatch and other software
companies are playing a critical role
in attracting new businesses to the
region and solidifying Atlanta as a
leading technology player.
- Alan Dabbiere, chairman of AirWatch
AirWatch Announces HQ Expansion of 800 Jobs L to R: melanie Brandt, cOO, Technology Association of Georgia (TAG); Alan Dabbiere, chairman, AirWatch; Gov. Nathan Deal; chris cummiskey, commissioner, Georgia Department of Economic Development; sam A. Williams, president, metro Atlanta chamber
neW LoCAtions
company Facility Type Business Type county projected Number of Jobs*
Adcare corporate Headquarters Assisted Living and Nursing Homes North Fulton 40
AGBAR corporate Headquarters / Operations center Water management city of Atlanta 30
Air France Air cargo Air cargo Freighter service south Fulton 25
Air power & Hydraulics, Ltd. manufacturing / Distribution center Hydraulics cylinder manufacturing coweta 30
Anewmed, Inc. manufacturing medical Device Reprocessing DeKalb 25
Antikörper Online GmbH U.s. Headquarters pharmaceutical Research & manufacturing DeKalb 25
Appnovation Technologies software Development center Web & mobile Applications North Fulton 5
Arkadin corporate Headquarters Web & video conferencing solutions North Fulton 50
Artec corporate Headquarters / Operations center computer programming services cobb 40
Asurion Insurance services software Development center / center of Excellence consumer Technology protection services city of Atlanta 250 Baxter International manufacturing / Distribution center Bio-pharmaceutical Newton / Jasper / Walton 1,500
Bento Box Branch Office Animation city of Atlanta 100
carter's, Inc. Distribution center children's Apparel manufacturing Jackson 600
cavanna packaging UsA North American Headquarters packaging machinery Design & manufacturing Gwinnett 12 cBs corp. IT & software services center / center of Excellence media & Entertainment North Fulton 101 centene corp. Business support / shared service center Insurance services and Health programs North Fulton 75
centre Testing International (cTI) U.s. Headquarters / Laboratory products Testing DeKalb 5
cHEp UsA U.s. Headquarters / Logistics center pallet and container pooling solutions DeKalb 173
cIs Biotech, Inc. Laboratory Diagnostic Test Kits DeKalb 70
continental Bakery / BakeRite manufacturing / Distribution center Food processing south Fulton 90
coviva U.s. Headquarters Home care service provider North Fulton 10
Davidson Hotels corporate Headquarters Hotel Lodging / Hospitality DeKalb 45
FedEx Ground Distribution center package Delivery Gwinnett 1,000
Fresenius medical care call center patient-Oriented Renal Therapy cobb 120
Galectin Therapeutics corporate Headquarters / R & D center pharmaceutical Research & manufacturing Gwinnett 10
GenAgain Technologies Recycling center mixed Waste Recycling Douglas 60
Genesis10 Branch Office Business and Technology consulting North Fulton 100
I.J. martin & co., Ltd. Regional Headquarters Executive coaching cherokee 10
India consulate consulate International Affairs North Fulton 20
Infosys Technologies Business process Outsourcing (BpO) center Technology, consulting and Outsourcing cobb 250
Interoll corp. manufacturing / Distribution center conveyor system manufacturing paulding 65
The Krystal co. corporate Headquarters Quick service Restaurants DeKalb 60
LaserJob GmBH Branch Office Laser cut stencil manufacturing Forsyth 5
mAINTag U.s. Headquarters Aeronautics supplier city of Atlanta 15
mcAlister's corp. / mcAlister's Deli corporate Headquarters Quick service Restaurant and Franchise North Fulton 40
method studios Branch Office post production visual Effects city of Atlanta 15
mitsubishi Electric cooling & Heating Division Headquarters Air conditioning & Heating Technology manufacturing Gwinnett 198
novoGI clinical Testing Laboratory medical Device manufacturing DeKalb 10
panasonic Automotive systems company
of America R & D center Automotive Navigation and Entertainment systems Development city of Atlanta 100 paxxo AB corporate Headquarters / Distribution center Waste Disposal Bag systems manufacturing coweta 7
peak Health solutions corporate Headquarters Health IT North Fulton 80
pointclear solutions Branch Office Health IT cobb 75
purac Biomaterials UsA manufacturing / Distribution center polymer manufacturing for medical & pharmaceutical DeKalb 50
Q2eBanking Branch Office payment processing software Development Gwinnett 40
Q-matic corp. corporate Headquarters software Development Gwinnett 20
shoals Technologies Group Branch Office solar panel Wiring systems manufacturing south Fulton 5
sionic mobile corp. corporate Headquarters / R & D center mobile marketing Applications city of Atlanta 45
solarmax corporate Headquarters / manufacturing solar Inverter manufacturing Gwinnett 50
sports challenge, LLc corporate Headquarters Digital Entertainment Gwinnett 25
stargate studios movie production studio visual Effects coweta 5
sterling Infosystems IT & Engineering Headquarters Employment screening services cobb 35
stöcklin AG corporate Headquarters / Distribution center Intra-Logistics Design and Development city of Atlanta 20
streamline Health corporate Headquarters Health IT city of Atlanta 150
Talenti Gelato manufacturing Food processing cobb 100
TÜv sÜD R & D center Electrical/Lighting safety & Efficiency Testing North Fulton 30
UN Forklift Regional Office / sales & Distribution material Handling Equipment Henry 15
Universal Environmental services /
Avista Oil AG Recycling center Used motor Oil Recycling Fayette 40
vestar Technologies corporate Headquarters / manufacturing metal products manufacturing Newton 75
vitzro Group / IUs Technologies U.s. Headquarters / manufacturing smart Grid Technology Forsyth 150
voestalpine manufacturing Automotive parts manufacturing Bartow 220
LoCAL exPAnsions
company Facility Type Business Type county projected Number of Jobs*
AGc Glass company N.A. manufacturing Glass Fabrication Douglas 60
AirWatch corp. U.s. Headquarters mobile Device management North Fulton 800
Aptean U.s. Headquarters software Development North Fulton 150
Assurant call center Insurance services Gwinnett 100
Barracuda Networks, Inc. Branch Office Information security city of Atlanta 20
Bridgestone Golf manufacturing Golf Ball manufacturing Newton 20
cardlytics, Inc. corporate Headquarters Transaction Analytics city of Atlanta 100
carter's, Inc. corporate Headquarters children's Apparel manufacturing city of Atlanta 200
children's Healthcare of Atlanta Data center Healthcare services Gwinnett 32
coyote Driver services, Accounting and Finance Division Office Third-party Logistics provider (3pL) North Fulton 160 cryoLife, Inc. manufacturing / Lab Tissue processing and medical Device manufacturing city of Atlanta 20 custom molded products corporate Headquarters / manufacturing spa, pool, Whirlpool components manufacturing coweta 50
Decostar Industries manufacturing Auto parts manufacturing carroll 120
Dell secureWorks software Development center Internet security North Fulton 200
Elekta, Inc. corporate Headquarters / R & D center medical Device DeKalb 100
First Data corp. R & D center payment processing services North Fulton 100
Gas south call center Natural Gas provider cobb 100
Global scholar software Development center Academic curriculum software Development North Fulton 48 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
International Airport Airport Air Transportation and cargo south Fulton 1,000
The Home Depot, Inc. ecommerce Distribution center Home Improvement center Henry 300 Hughes Telematics, Inc. corporate Headquarters Wireless Fleet vehicle management North Fulton 200 Kabbage, Inc. corporate Headquarters Online Financial services Firm city of Atlanta 30
Kaiser permanente medical Office Healthcare services cobb 100
Keuhne + Nagel southeast Headquarters / Distribution center Third-party Logistics provider (3pL) south Fulton 60
mG International (mGI) manufacturing Auto parts manufacturing paulding 30
Okabashi Brands manufacturing Footwear manufacturing Gwinnett 150
Oversight systems, Inc. corporate Headquarters software Development North Fulton 100 pardot, LLc corporate Headquarters marketing software Development city of Atlanta 115 pratt Industries call center / Retail services Division Head-quarters Recycled content clayton 50
pure Water Technology Branch Office Bottled Water systems clayton 7
Qspex Technologies, Inc. corporate Headquarters / manufacturing Optical Lens manufacturing North Fulton 120
Quantisense corporate Headquarters Business Intelligence software cobb 60
Ricoh Electronics, Inc. manufacturing Thermal media coating Gwinnett 58
sapient software Development center Web Design & software Development city of Atlanta 166
state Farm customer service center Insurance services DeKalb 500
vision stairway & millwork manufacturing / Distribution center stair and Accessory manufacturing cherokee 20
* projected Number of Jobs generally are to be created over three years. This list shows all known and confirmed companies that have made metro Atlanta location announcements. If you would like to inform us of other company announcements, please email [email protected]. sources: Atlanta Business chronicle; Atlanta Journal-constitution; company websites; Georgia Department of Economic Development; Georgia power community & Economic Development Department; metro Atlanta chamber.
GeorGiA’s toP HeALtH it CoMPAnies
> mcKesson Technology solutions > Healthport Technologies, LLc > medAssets, Inc.
> Greenway medical Technologies, Inc. > Navicure, Inc.
> surgical Information systems > craneware, Inc.
source: Healthcare Informatics (HcI) magazine, HcI-100, June 2012
BIOscIENcE cOmpANIEs
cHOOsE ATLANTA
Dutch-based Purac Biomaterials will invest $20 million and create up to 50 jobs in a new biomaterials manufacturing plant in Tucker (DeKalb county) that will pro-duce polymers for the medical and phar-maceutical industry. “Together, with our location in the Netherlands, this facility will enable us to further strengthen our leading role in biomedical polymers,” said menno Lammers, managing Director.
massachusetts-based Galectin t h e r a p e u t i c s announced relocating its headquarters to Norcross (Gwinnett county), where it will develop carbohydrate-based drug com-pounds to treat cancer and liver fibrosis. proximity to the University of Georgia’s complex carbohydrate Research center and a lower cost of doing business were among the reasons why Galectin favored metro Atlanta. Approximately 10 jobs are projected at the new facility.
elekta, which innovates clinical solutions for treat-ing cancer and brain disorders, announced growing its North American headquarters in metro Atlanta. Upon relocating approxi-mately 150 employees from Norcross, Ga. to the perimeter business district (DeKalb county), the swedish compa-ny projects creating an additional 100 jobs in the areas of medical device and health IT. “Elekta’s global influence in healthcare is increasing rapidly,” said president and cEO, Tomas puusepp. “The move of our North American headquarters [within] Atlanta will support this trend and strengthen Atlanta’s growing biomedical community.”
clients and partners to work with,”said David Karabinos, cEO. The company’s metro Atlanta clients include the centers for Disease control and prevention (cDc), Greenway medical Technologies and seemyRadiology.com.
The 3rd annual Health it Leadership summit, one of the nation’s premier health IT events, brought together a crowd of more than 600 business leaders, healthcare provid-ers, and public and private organizations on December 4, 2012. The discussion focused on meeting future healthcare needs through the use of innovative approaches and tech-nologies to improve the population’s health, and the quality and cost of healthcare. The summit was founded in 2010 by three orga-nizations, all dedicated to supporting the growth of the Health IT industry: the Georgia Department of Economic Development, metro Atlanta chamber and Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) Health.
Atlanta is often referred to as the nation’s health IT capital with more than 225 health IT companies with a presence throughout Georgia. In 2012, companies announced cre-ating jobs and industry leaders converged to advance the industry.
streamline Health, a leading provider of saas-based healthcare information technology solutions for hospitals and physician groups, opened an Atlanta office through its acquisi-tion of Interpoint partners, and then decided to relocate its headquarters from cincinnati. “The selection of Atlanta as our corporate headquarters will help strengthen our ability to drive future growth, hire talented associates and deliver value to our clients and share-holders,” said Robert E. Watson, president and cEO. streamline Health projects up to 150 jobs at its midtown (city of Atlanta/Fulton county) location.
PointClear solutions, a provider of health-care technology products and solutions based in Huntsville, Ala., opened an Atlanta office where up to 75 jobs are projected in cobb county. “We selected Atlanta as our next office because it has an extensive Healthcare IT ecosystem, has experienced software develop-ment and usability professionals in the market and has a large concentration of prospective
THE NATION’s
HEALTH IT cApITAL
Home to the nation’s largest pediatric hospi-tal, children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, renowned medical colleges Emory school of medicine and morehouse school of medicine, and a vibrant hospital community, metro Atlanta offers a unique combination of resources to facilitate clinical trials. Georgia’s resources and innova-tions to make clinical trials faster, more efficient and more compliant were highlighted in the first clinical Research in Georgia conference on November 2, 2012. Nearly 200 attendees learned about clinical research in Georgia and best practices to facilitate clinical research.
cLINIcAL REsEARcH EXcELs IN GEORGIA
One of the areas where
Georgia excels is supporting
and conducting clinical trials
and research,
said Donna Hyland, president and cEO, children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and 2010-2012 chair of the metro Atlanta chamber’s Bioscience Leadership council (BLc).
© Georgia Department of Economic Development
FINTEcH sTRONG
IN GEORGIA
Atlanta is a growing hub for com-panies that specialize in financial tech-nologies, specifically payment process-ing, which is defined by the Electronic Transactions Association as the “pro-cess of authorizing, collecting, posting, interchanging, settling, and reporting payments such as credit cards, debit cards, checks, and any other form of consumer or business transactions.” Approximately 70 percent of all credit and debit transactions that occur in the nation are handled by companies based in Georgia, primarily in metro Atlanta, according to Atlanta-based Global payments. Four of American Banker’s top 20 FinTech companies in the world are headquartered in Georgia: NcR, First Data, Tsys and Equifax.
In 2012, Atlanta-based First data Corp. expanded its headquarters with a new learning and innovation center, projected to add more than 100 jobs. The FORTUNE 500 company serves more than 6 million merchant locations, thou-sands of card issuers and millions of consumers worldwide. It operates in 34 countries and processes 56 billion transactions worldwide.
pANAsONIc
GRAND OpENING OF
INNOvATION cENTER
In October 2012, officials from the Georgia Department of Economic Development, metro Atlanta chamber, and Georgia Tech celebrated metro Atlanta-based Panasonic Automotive systems Company of America’s new R&D center. The panasonic Automotive Innovation center, projected to create 100 jobs at Georgia Tech’s Technology square campus, advances automotive navigation and entertainment systems.
ATLANTA: A THRIvING
TEcHNOLOGy HUB
ATLANTA’s pREmIER INvEsTOR sHOWcAsE REAcHEs
$1 BILLION mARK
Atlanta stands as one of the country’s most significant and innovative technology hubs.
That standing is based, in part, on a long history of success in attracting and growing top technology companies. Along with our world-class universities, our ability to develop a critical mass of companies in the field has provided the underpinning for what has become a true national and global center for technology business.
Our universities, like Georgia Tech, Emory University and Georgia state University, are global field leaders in technology and biosci-ence degree programs and the technology companies headquartered here some of the world’s largest and most influential.
From the early days of peachtree software, which revolutionized accounting software, to the kick off of huge industry pioneers like scientific Atlanta and mcKesson corp., Atlanta technology companies have always stretched the boundaries of technology innovation and shaped the way the world thinks about technol-ogy and its uses and products.
Georgia now has some 13,000 technol-ogy companies, employing 250,000 technoltechnol-ogy workers and is home to industry pioneers like AT&T mobility, cNN, and Damballa Inc., each of which represent next- generation technology development and talent.
meanwhile, we continue to grow numer-ous new technology stars through stellar incubators, like the Advanced Technology Development center (ATDc). stand-out ATDc graduates include Theragenics corp. and cardiomEms, Inc.
Over the years, Atlanta has become what industry leaders describe as the technolo-gy ecosystem of the real world. We have
Each year, Georgia’s top technology innovators have the opportunity to meet the country’s top-tier investors at venture Atlanta, Georgia’s premier technology event. As a result of a competitive application process, forty companies presented at venture Atlanta 2012, held Oct. 17-18. These early stage and venture companies received advanced coaching to make their best six minute presentations to the room full of investors, including many out-of-state venture firms. since the event’s incep-tion five years ago by Atlanta cEO council, metro Atlanta chamber, and Technology Associaincep-tion of Georgia (TAG), presenting technology companies at venture Atlanta have secured more than $1 billion. www.ventureatlanta.org
photo courtesy of
m
etro Atlanta
chamber
the people and companies that drive the content – companies like The Weather channel and Turner Broadcasting system. We make the software and provide the best in internet security through companies like IBm Internet security systems. We process the payments through companies like Global payments Inc., and we do the most innovative research and development in the industry.
Atlanta also holds the key to long-term technology growth because we have target-ed and developtarget-ed key strengths in the most vibrant areas for growth, such as financial tech-nology, healthcare IT, e-commerce, logistics/ supply chain software and mobility.
Atlanta also is fortunate to provide a tal-ented, creative and diverse workforce born out of the region’s proximity to 57 colleges and universities with more than 250,000 students enrolled in the area. Every year a new class of talented students matriculate at Georgia Tech, Georgia state University, Emory University, the University of Georgia, our historically black col-leges and universities (HBcUs) and dozens of universities in close proximity to our city.
We are busy growing the next genera-tion of innovagenera-tion, from engineering software research, to health IT applications coming out of Emory University, to Kennesaw state University’s mobile apps lab. Our companies are doing the same through initiatives and programs like the GE smart Grid Technology center of Excellence and the Novelis Global Research & Technology center in Kennesaw.
As technology continues to be increas-ingly important in our everyday lives, Atlanta will remain one of the world’s most important global technology hubs.
Tom Gebhardt, president of panasonic Automotive systems company of America
MAC President Sam A. Williams describes why metro Atlanta is a thriving ecosystem for technol-ogy and how area universities are growing the next generation of innovators. This op-ed was also published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In 2012, metro Atlanta’s clean tech cluster grew with several companies announcing new locations or expansions, projected to create over 500 jobs.
GROWING THE NATION’s
LARGEsT vOLUNTARy
sOLAR pORTFOLIO
A milestone was achieved in 2012, with the Georgia public service commission’s (psc) approval of the Georgia power Advanced solar Initiative (GpAsI) that will create the largest voluntary devel-oped solar portfolio from an investor-owned utility. Georgia power plans to acquire 210 megawatts of additional solar capacity that will be enough to power nearly 20,000 Georgia customers.“Developed in cooperation with the psc, our solar plan will encourage new, cost com-petitive opportunities for solar development in our state while helping Georgia power continue to build a diverse generation port-folio that provides our customers with the safest, most reliable and most cost effective electric system in the nation,” said Georgia power president and cEO paul Bowers.
ELEcTRIc vEHIcLE
(Ev) cHARGING
INFRAsTRUcTURE
EXpANDs
THE NATION’s mOsT DIvERsE
cLEAN TEcH EcONOmy
ATLANTA ATTRAcTs & GROWs cLEAN TEcH cOmpANIEs
Company Clean tech Category in Metro AtlantaProjected Jobs
vitzro Group / IUs Technologies smart Grid 150
(confidential) Recycling 100
GenAgain Technologies Waste To Fuel 60
solarmax solar 50
pratt Industries Recycled content 50
Universal Environmental services / Avista Oil Recycling 40
AGBAR Water Technologies 30
(confidential) Recycling/Removal 25
paxxo AB Waste Removal 7
shoals Technologies Group solar 5
source: metro Atlanta chamber
photo courtesy of E
cOtality, Inc.
Metro Atlanta Clean tech Companies by Category Total = 533 companies
GEORGIA TEcH: A NATIONAL LEADER FOR ENERGy REsEARcH
The strategic Energy Institute (sEI) at Georgia Tech serves as a national resource for energy information dissemina-tion and plays a leadership role in the transi-tion to a more sustainable energy economy. In the fall of 2012, Georgia Tech complet-ed its new carbon Neutral Energy solutions Laboratory for researching sustainable ener-gy solutions. Nearly 50% of the cost to build the 40,000 square foot, $24.6 million facil-ity was funded by an award from the U.s. commerce Department’s National Institute of standards and Technology. The new facil-ity is intended to be a model for sustainable laboratory space.
In November 2012, Georgia Tech research-ers were awarded grants totaling more than $9 million from the U.s. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research projects Agency – Energy (ARpA-E) to develop energy tech-nology solutions. The grants will support three projects involving solar fuel genera-tion, power generation from vortices of solar heated air and energy storage. “Georgia Tech is one of the leading recipients of ARpA-E awards in the nation and these new awards demonstrate Georgia Tech’s continued promi-nence across the entire energy space in developing transformative energy solutions,” said Tim Lieuwen, director of Georgia Tech’s strategic Energy Institute.
metro Atlanta is expanding locations for drivers to charge their electric vehicles, thanks to The Ev project, an initiative to help build America’s electric vehicle (Ev) infrastructure. EcOtality, Inc., a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies, in partnership with the U.s. Department of Energy, is offering its Blink smart charging stations free to qualified residents and commercial sites throughout metro Atlanta.
“By signing up for a free charger, Ev own-ers can take part in this massive research project that can help reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil,” said EcOtality chief Innovation Officer Don Karner. As of year-end 2012, over 500 Level 2 charging stations and 20 Dc Fast charger stations were awarded in Georgia.
Atlanta-sandy
springs-marietta
is the most diverse
metropolitan area
clean economy
in the nation.
– The Brookings Institution, 2011
Agriculture Biofuels Other Power Generation Services Smart Grid Solar Water Wind Energy Storage Transportation Air & Environment Energy Efficiency Recycling and Solid Waste Products/Materials
source: metro Atlanta chamber
FAsTEsT-GROWING
cONTAINER pORT IN THE
NATION GETs AppROvALs
The port of savannah achieved mile-stones in 2012 regarding the savannah Harbor Expansion project (sHEp) to accom-modate larger ships that are expected from the expansion of the panama canal. In October, the U.s. Army corps of Engineers gave final approval to begin the project as early as summer 2013. “The Record of Decision affirms that deepening savannah harbor to 47 feet is economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and in the best interests of the nation,” said col. Jeffrey Hall, commander of the Army corps’ savannah District. Other federal agencies, including the Department of commerce, the Department of Interior, and the Environmental protection Agency, had previously given their approvals. In November, neighboring south carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental control ruled the project may move for-ward. “It’s great to see the states work together. There’s no doubt the region needs all the port capacity it can get,” said curtis Foltz, executive director of the Georgia ports Authority.
TWO FORTUNE 500 cOmpANIEs
EXpAND DIsTRIBUTION
ATLANTA WELcOmEs FOREIGN-OWNED
mATERIAL HANDLING pROvIDERs
Fedex corp.’s subsidiary, FedEx Ground, opened its newly-constructed distribution center in Norcross (Gwinnett county) with the latest technology designed to process 15,000 packages an hour. Approximately 1,000 jobs are projected at FedEx Ground’s fourth distribution center in metro Atlanta.
This new facility is evidence of the southeast
region’s increased presence in the distribution and
logistics business,
said Robert E. Holcombe, vice president of the southern region for FedEx Ground.the Home depot is building another facility in mcDonough (Henry county) to fulfill its growing online sales. The direct fulfillment center is expected to be completed in the summer of 2013, creating up to 300 jobs. “We were looking for something more in the eastern United states, which is a simple function of the concentration of our online orders,” said Home Depot spokesman stephen moore.
Chep UsA, a global leader in pallet and con-tainer pooling solutions, chose metro Atlanta for its U.s. headquarters. Up to 173 jobs are projected in Dunwoody (DeKalb county). cHEp, which is part of Australia’s Brambles Limited, handles pallet and container supply chain logis-tics for over 300,000 customers in 50 coun-tries. more than 200 million pallets, 14 million containers and 170 million reusable plastic crates are available to its customers. “We are delighted to join the Atlanta business commu-nity. Georgia offers cHEp excellent proximity to many of our key customers, provides advan-tages in recruiting and attracting talent into our organization and offers an outstanding quality of life for our employees who will relocate,” said Kim Rumph, president.
interroll, based in switzerland, is building a Regional center of Excellence that will gener-ate 65 jobs manufacturing mgener-aterial handling products and pallet flow storage solutions in Hiram (paulding county). The $10 million, 93,000 square foot manufacturing and show-room operation will be the second Interroll Regional center of Excellence in the UsA. “Working with our own just-in-time produc-tion system, we help our customers optimise their supply chains, allowing them to focus on what they do best. The paulding facility will be one of 11 premier Interroll facilities around the world and is a location we will be proud to show our customers,” said cEO paul Zumbuehl. Among Interoll’s 23,000 customers include Amazon, coca-cola, DHL, FedEx, procter & Gamble, and siemens.
photo courtesy of Georgia
ports Authority
AIR cARGO sERvIcE
EXpANDs
International air cargo volume has grown 135% since Atlanta hosted the Olympic Games in 1996. During the world’s largest gathering of the air cargo community at the International Air cargo Association’s (TIAcA) 2012 Air cargo Forum hosted in Atlanta, mayor Kasim Reed announced plans to build a fourth cargo facility at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In 2012, Air France began twice-weekly all-cargo ser-vice between Atlanta and paris. Nine of the top 10 global cargo airlines provide service to/from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Interna-tional Airport.
EXpORTs ON AN UpWARD TREND
metro Atlanta’s economy is getting a boost from companies exporting merchandise glob-ally. According to data released in 2012 by the U.s. Department of commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA), metro Atlanta’s exports increased 28.5% from 2009-2011, reaching $17.2 billion which is 55% of Georgia’s total exports. Greater exports result in an increasing number of successful local companies and local jobs.
Export sales are projected to grow even further as there are many export resources work-ing together with metro Atlanta companies. In 2012, the Export-Import Bank opened a regional export finance center in Atlanta to assist local companies with global sales opportunities. And, the metro Atlanta chamber engaged local prospects through export workshops and signed a memorandum of Understanding (mOU) with ITA to make ITA’s services more readily available to local companies. The metro Atlanta chamber is focused on growing local companies through business opportunities in foreign markets, including exports, investments and partnerships.
TvsDEsIGN EXpANDING EXpO
cENTER IN cHINA
To prepare Nanjing china for the 2014 youth Olympic Games, the Nanjing Hexi District held an international design competi-tion for expansion of the Nanjing Internacompeti-tional Expo center (NIEc). In July of 2012, Atlanta’s tvsdesign received the news that their design was selected. As the world’s leading designer of conference and exhibition centers, tvsdesign was the original architect and designer of the NIEc in 2006. The winning design will increase the exhibition space while complementing the new youth Olympic center, located adjacent to the expansion site. The Nanjing International Expo center, which now spans more than 50 acres, will expand 300,000 sm of office, retail and exhibition space. tvsdesign joined mayor Kasim Reed and an Atlanta delegation, co-facilitated by the metro Atlanta chamber, on a trip to Nanjing in march 2012 to identify business opportunities.
FOREIGN-OWNED
cOmpANIEs sAy “yEs”
TO ATLANTA
In 2012, many foreign-owned com-panies announced creating jobs in metro Atlanta at a new location or expanded operation, including:
Image courtesy of tvsdesign
1 canada $3,068,689,482 2 mexico $1,632,191,844 3 singapore $1,196,675,525
4 china $750,732,889
5 Japan $734,540,047
source: U.s. Department of commerce, International Trade Administration
1 Transportation Equipment manufacturing $4,218,261,000 2 machinery manufacturing $2,403,525,875 3 computer and Electronic product manufacturing $2,153,373,742 4 chemical manufacturing $1,677,779,756 5 Food manufacturing $1,281,346,591
source: U.s. Department of commerce, International Trade Administration
projected Jobs company in metro Atlanta
Australia
cHEp UsA 173
canada
Appnovation Technologies 5
china
centre Testing International
(cTI) 5 UN Forklift 15 France Air France 25 Arkadin 50 coviva 10 mAINTag 15 Germany
Air cargo Germany 15
Antikörper Online GmbH 25
Artec 40
Universal Environmental
services / Avista Oil AG 40
LaserJob GmbH 5
India
Infosys Technologies 250
Japan
panasonic Automotive systems
company of America 100
Netherlands
purac Biomaterials UsA 50
spain AGBAR 30 sweden Elekta 100 paxxo AB 7 switzerland
I.J. martin & co., Ltd 10
Interroll corp. 65
Keuhne + Nagel 60
solarmax 50
stöcklin AG 20
United Kingdom
Air power & Hydraulics, Ltd. 30
source: metro Atlanta chamber
mETRO ATLANTA’s TOp
EXpORT mARKETs
mETRO ATLANTA’s TOp
EXpORTs By INDUsTRy
Gov. Nathan Deal and mayor Kasim Reed broke ground with porsche president and chief Executive Officer Detlev von platen and other officials on November 27, 2012 for porsche cars North America’s new headquarters, training center and customer and driving experience center. porsche will relocate 300 existing employees and create an additional 100 jobs at the new facility in the city of Atlanta, at Aerotropolis Atlanta, the site of the former Ford plant adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Gov. Nathan Deal celebrated the grand opening of the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer’s new online contact center on October 12, 2012 with cEO Frank Blake and cFO carol Tomé. The Home Depot’s new facility in Kennesaw (cobb county) opened with approximately 300 employees that serve customers via email, live chat and calls. Ultimately, the company projects creating up to 700 jobs.
FORTUNE 500 THE HOmE DEpOT OpENs
ONLINE cONTAcT cENTER
GAs sOUTH cREATEs
mORE JOBs FOR THE
ATLANTA EcONOmy
Georgia’s fastest-growing natural gas provider has created more jobs in metro Atlanta by operating its own customer service center, after it had pre-viously outsourced the work. Gas south opened the call center in cobb county on may 1, 2012, which has created over 100 jobs. customers previously spoke to customer service representatives in canada or contracted employees in Georgia. Gas south decided they would provide the best service by bringing their customer service in house.
pORscHE cARs NORTH
AmERIcA BREAKs GROUND
FOR NEW HQ
source: Inc. 5000, 2012
photo courtesy of
state of Georgia, Office of the Governor
photo courtesy of
state of Georgia, Office of the Governor
Rank metro Area # of Inc. 5000 companies 1 New york, Ny 350 2 Washington, D.c. 347 3 Los Angeles, cA 249 4 chicago, IL 218 5 Atlanta, GA 186 Boston, mA 186
ATLANTA cULTIvATEs
FAsT-GROWING
cOmpANIEs
Did you know metro Atlanta is the headquarters of 186 of the nation’s fast-est-growing private companies? metro Atlanta ties for 5th in the nation for Inc. 5000 companies. Eligible privately held, for profit, and independent companies were ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2008 to 2011.
visit http://www.inc.com/inc5000/ list/2012/metro/atlanta for a complete list.
Metro Atlanta Chamber
235 Andrew Young International Blvd., NW Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404.880.9000
metroatlantachamber.com
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
EcONOmIc DEvELOpmENT KEy cONTAcTs
HAns GAnt senior vice president Economic Development 404.586.8456 [email protected] JorGe FernAndez vice president Global commerce 404.586.8460 [email protected] dAvid HArtnett vice president Bioscience-Health IT Industry Development 404.586.8443 [email protected] BoB PertierrA vice president supply chain & Advanced manufacturing 404.586.8445
[email protected] LArry WiLLiAMs vice president
Technology Industry Development 404.586.8451 [email protected] KeLLy sydney Director Research 404.586.8419 [email protected]
235 Andrew Young International Blvd., NW | Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Phone 404.880.9000 | MetroAtlantaChamber.com
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