Savannah Chamber

32 17 becomes operational. Meanwhile, the State of Georgia is focusing its cyber activities in Augusta. The Georgia Cyber Center at Augusta University's Riverfront Campus spurs innovation and trains cybersecurity workers to support the large cluster of cyber security activity in the Augusta MSA. In 2020, Perspecta announced that would open a regional headquarters at the Georgia Cyber Center, creating 178 jobs. The firm will provide cyberspace operations to the Cyber Command. In 2019, Parsons Corp – a cybersecurity technology provider – opened a new office in the Georgia Cyber Center to train operators supporting the Cyber Command and its operational units at Fort Gordon. Although Augusta's undersized information and financial activities industries spared the region from the restructuring that has plagued these sectors, it also may limit opportunities for renewed growth in those industries expected in 2021. Low per capita personal income and low overall levels of educational attainment are also negatives for the area. The single-family housing situation looks good. Housing activity and home prices will be on the upswing in 2021, which bodes well for homeowners, homebuilders, home renovators, and businesses that depend on consumer spending. In the second quarter of 2020, Augusta's home prices were 13 percent above their pre-Great Recession peak level, and were up 6.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. Due to low mortgage rates, continuing population and job growth, home prices will continue to appreciate in 2021, but more slowly than in recent years. Sustained increases in home prices will support consumer spending – especially on home improvements – and entrepreneurial activity. In terms of new construction, the upturn in single-family homebuilding began in 2013 and gained traction in 2014-20. Prospects are good for Augusta's homebuilders in 2021. Optimism for homebuilders and home prices reflects low mortgage rates, job growth, the and very positive net migration of people to Augusta. In order, the major migration flows into Augusta are from Columbia SC, Atlanta GA, Baltimore MD, Honolulu HI, Fayetteville NC, Killeen TX, Colorado Springs CO, Savannah GA, San Antonio TX, and Charleston SC. Brunswick From peak-to-trough the Brunswick MSA lost 21.9 percent of its jobs to the COVID-19 recession. The heaviest job losses were in leisure & hospitality and state government. Because the Brunswick MSA is one of the most tourism- dependent areas in the nation, it took a much harder hit from the pandemic than the state or the nation. For the same reason, the initial three month rebound was much smaller than the rebounds posted by either the state or the nation. In the initial three month rebound, the Brunswick MSA reversed only 30 percent of its job losses. In 2021, Brunswick's employment will rise by 6.8 percent, mostly due to the delayed recovery of the area's large leisure and hospitality industry. Only after a medical solution to the virus is widely available – we assume in the second half of 2021 – will tourism dependent areas such as Brunswick experience meaningful economic recovery. Although the year- over-year rate of 2021 job growth will be high, the area's economy undoubtedly will be one of the last to fully recover from the pandemic. In the post-pandemic economy, Brunswick's current weakness – tourism – will become its main strength. Meanwhile, the Port of Brunswick and the in-migration of full-time and part-time residents will continue to contribute to the area's economic growth. Brunswick is not very dependent on information, manufacturing, financial activities, or professional & business services industries. Accordingly, high-tech employment accounts for only 1.6 percent of the area's jobs, compared to 4.4 percent for the state and 5.0 percent for the nation. Due partially to the area's focus on tourism, Brunswick's economy tilts towards retailing, a very cyclical industry that is undergoing massive restructuring. Due largely to the presence of the Port of Brunswick, Brunswick's economy is dependent on international trade and is therefore quite sensitive to global economic conditions as well as to shifts in international trade policies and tariffs. Nonetheless, new investment at the port boosts the area's long-term prospects for trade-based economic growth. There is a significant aerospace cluster of companies in the Brunswick area: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Jered LLC, Starnbaugh Aviation Inc., Scoject Inc., Quaker State Plating, R.G. Grabber Inc., Palmetto Aviation Repair LLC, and Skycraft Aviation Specialties. Recent changes in the tax deductibility of corporate jet purchases should benefit the area's aerospace industry, but the pandemic and the trade war have hurt the industry. The Brunswick MSA's top employers, in order, are the SE Georgia Health System, Sea Island Co., Brunswick Cellulose, eBay, Wal-Mart, GSI Commerce, King & Prince Seafood Corp, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp, Rich Products,

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