Issue link: http://savannah.uberflip.com/i/1336228
18 3 2019, BioIQ – a health IT company – announced that it would create 500 jobs in Cobb County at its new headquarters. In 2019, Edifecs Inc. announced plans to create 200 healthcare IT jobs over the next 3 to 5 years in Atlanta. Animal healthcare is also a source of economic growth. Boehringer Ingelheim, which has located its North American Headquarters in Duluth, will create over 225 jobs at three locations in Georgia – Gwinnett, Clarke, and Hall counties. The build out of headquarters projects announced over the last several years will be an important force powering Georgia's current and future economic growth. Several headquarters projects were announced in 2020. For example, in July, Common said it would establish a second headquarters in Atlanta, creating 274 jobs. In September, Papa John's choose Georgia as the location of its new global headquarters, bringing 200 jobs to the Atlanta MSA. In addition to headquarters projects announced in 2020, projects announced in prior years will spur growth as they build out more fully and become more interwoven into the business fabric of the state. For example, in late 2018, Norfolk Southern announced that it will relocate its corporate headquarters to Atlanta. Norfolk Southern broke ground on a new complex in 2019 and expects to move in the second half of 2021. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Georgia's ideal geographic location makes Georgia a good hub from which to serve operations in the Americas. In addition, access to talent and the strength of the business community are very important drivers of headquarters locations in the Atlanta MSA. According to FEMA, Georgia has a very low risk for business disruption due to natural disasters, which is an important consideration for headquarters locations. Thirty companies with headquarters in the Atlanta MSA rank among the 2020 Fortune 1000, placing Atlanta behind only New York City and Houston among US metros headquartering Fortune 1000 companies. In 2019, Atlanta was home to only 26 Fortune 1,000 companies. During the initial lockdown period, many people postponed visits to healthcare providers, but because their health concerns did not disappear, most appointments were rescheduled once the economy reopened. Georgia's healthcare industry quickly adapted to the new realities imposed by COVID-19. For example, the fast rollout of telemedicine by many traditional healthcare providers made the healthcare industry more resilient than most other industries. Due to the essential need for healthcare, the 2021 outlook for Georgia's healthcare providers is very good. Georgia's growing and aging population will demand more healthcare services. Of course, there's seemingly intractable disagreement about who will pay the bills, which is a headwind for the industry's growth. More specifically, uncertainties regarding the long-term viability of the ACA as well as Georgia's nonparticipation in the expanded Medicaid program cloud the outlook for the healthcare industry, especially rural hospitals. Despite the fact that 1.4 million Georgians do not have health insurance, this sector will be one of the better performers. The large numbers of baby boomers are reaching the age where the incidence of heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and other care-intensive problems begin to rise rapidly. In essence, the population of persons with multiple chronic health conditions that require ongoing healthcare continues to grow rapidly regardless of the vicissitudes of the business cycle or healthcare policy. Factors that will encourage providers of high-tech and highly specialized professional services to favor sites in Georgia – especially the Atlanta MSA – include the good business climate, logistical advantages in terms of serving far-flung clients, and the available professional workforce. For example, the Boston Consulting Group's decision to create a new regional support center in Atlanta reflects the ease of using the area as a geographic hub from which to serve clients throughout the Southeast. The plethora of short- and long-term changes created by the COVID-19 pandemic will generate business for consulting firms. The renewed growth of corporate profits bodes well for consulting firms. In addition, providers of business services that either lower costs or provide necessities should do well in 2021. Assuming that the trade war does not intensify, the prospects for Georgia's transportation and logistics industry are good. One driver will be the abundance of logistics and distribution projects already in Georgia's economic development pipeline. This highly cyclical industry also will benefit from more spending by consumers, increases in industrial production, more homebuilding, population growth, improvements in Georgia's transportation infrastructure, and the state's expanding role as a regional and national logistics and distribution center. In addition, the accelerated shift from physical retail to online retail benefitted Georgia's distribution and logistics industry in 2020 and will do so again in 2021. The gradual build out of economic development projects involving the relocation and expansion of manufacturers bode well for the future of Georgia's transportation and logistics industry. In 2021, cargo volumes will outpace state- and US-GDP growth. That will be quite an accomplishment for an industry that typically moves in lockstep with the overall economy. The 2018 opening of the Appalachian Regional Port will help the Port of Savannah tap into new markets and will help economic developers bring more projects to Georgia.