Issue link: http://savannah.uberflip.com/i/1202658
29 12 homegrown high-tech workers needs to be expanded substantially, especially given that it is becoming more difficult to attract talent from the places that historically sent highly trained workers – often with jobs in hand and families in tow – to Atlanta. In 2019, Dematic, a supplier of integrated automated technology, software and service that optimize the supply chain, announced that it would locate its global headquarters in the CODA complex in Midtown Atlanta's Tech Square, creating over 230 jobs. In 2019, Invesco announced that it would move its global headquarters to Midtown Atlanta, adding 500 jobs. In 2019, BlackRock opened a new innovation hub in midtown Atlanta's Tech Square neighborhood that will employ 1,000 people when fully developed. Accenture is expanding its operations at Tech Square, adding hundreds of tech-related jobs over several years. In partnership with Georgia Tech, Keysight Technologies recently expanded its presence by opening a software design center in Midtown, creating over 200 software and engineering jobs. Kaiser Permanente recently established an IT campus in Midtown that will support 900 jobs when fully developed. NCR's new global headquarters campus is located in Midtown near Tech Square. The NCR campus includes a research, innovation, and design-thinking lab. In total, NCR will support over 1,800 jobs in Midtown. Honeywell will employ about 830 people at its global headquarters for "home and building technologies," which includes a state-of- the-art software center. The UCB Solutions Accelerator recently opened at Technology Square. KPMG's "Ignition" innovation center in Midtown will support about 160 professionals. In the new Delta Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility at Georgia Tech, Boeing recently opened a manufacturing research and development center that will develop advanced manufacturing technologies. In 2018, Airbus and Georgia Tech opened a new aircraft design facility. In addition, many small and startup companies are locating near Tech Square. Pandora's regional headquarters in Midtown Atlanta has space for 200 to 250 employees. Just a few miles north of Tech Square, Buckhead is developing a prominent high-tech cluster. Edifecs – a health-IT company – will locate its new East Coast office in Buckhead, hiring up to 200 associates over three to five years. Salesforce recently announced an expansion of its presence in Buckhead, creating 600 jobs. GE's first global digital operations center in the Prominence office tower supports 250 jobs. The new GE digital hub is across the street from the Atlanta Tech Village, a "co-working" space for technology companies. BetterCloud recently announced plans to expand its software development hub at the Piedmont Center, adding 150 jobs over the next two years. The Atlanta MSA's high-tech development is not limited to the City of Atlanta. For example, Thyssenkrupp Elevator Americas' Business Unit will create more than 650 new jobs in Cobb County at a new headquarters and innovation complex, scheduled for completion in 2022. Compared to other large metropolitan areas with strong links to global markets the costs of living and doing business in the Atlanta MSA are low. Companies and nonprofit organizations looking to lower costs will continue to relocate to Atlanta. Access to workers, especially skilled labor, is vital to business success. Despite the limit that traffic congestion places on realistically accessible workers, many companies are attracted to Atlanta due to the large and diverse pool of workers. The pool of talent is large and deep for occupations that require a college degree as well as for occupations that do not require college degrees. In addition, the high concentration of colleges and universities ensures a large supply of experienced faculty, newly minted college graduates, and student interns. Less positively, stricter issuance of H-1B and H4 visas limits Atlanta's ability to attract international talent. This constitutes a major threat to growth of Atlanta's high-technology industries. On an annual average basis, the 29-county Atlanta MSA will add 31,300 jobs in 2020, a year-over-year in crease of 1.1 percent. Although the pace of job growth in the Atlanta MSA in 2020 will exceed the pace expected for the state as a whole, the pace will be only half as fast as in 2019. Atlanta's high concentration of service producing industries, IT companies, distribution companies, e-commerce fulfillment centers, institutions of higher education, health care providers, life sciences companies and headquarters operations will keep Atlanta's job machine in forward gear. Many of the large economic development projects recently announced by the Georgia Department of Economic Development were located in the metropolitan area. Major improvements at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport bode well for Atlanta's growth, especially the new international terminal. The airport is the world's busiest for passenger traffic and is the number one high-tech airport in the nation. It has excellent access to mass transit. Extreme weather events capable of shutting down the airport are relatively rare. The airport makes the Atlanta area an ideal location to operate corporate headquarters due to its large