Issue link: http://savannah.uberflip.com/i/1336228
35 20 Looking forward, the Gainesville's economic recovery will outpace both the state and the nation by significant margins. In 2021, Gainesville-Hall County will recovery about 2,200 jobs – a 2.4 percent gain. The area's top employers include Northeast Georgia Health Systems, Fieldale Farms Inc., Pilgrims Pride Poultry Co, Victory Processing, Kubota Manufacturing of America Corp, Mar-Jac Inc., ZF Industries, Inc., Cottrell Inc. Cold Creek Foods, and Walmart. The leading high-wage industries include offices of physicians, motor vehicle parts manufacturing, grocery merchant wholesalers, and agricultural-construction-mining machinery manufacturing. The leading mid-wage industries are local government, general medical and surgical hospitals, and building equipment contractors. The leading low wage industries are animal slaughtering and processing, restaurants, and state government. Productivity per worker is slightly higher than the statewide average. The Gainesville MSA consists of a single county – Hall County. Gainesville's ongoing economic recovery as well as good prospect for future economic expansion reflects many factors, including (1) the large number of expansion projects announced over the last decade; (2) growth of the medical, educational, and tourism industries; (3) favorable demographics; (4) a strong housing market; and (5) strong economic prospects for neighboring counties, especially Forsyth, North Fulton, and Gwinnett. The area is an increasingly popular bedroom community for the Atlanta MSA. The Georgia Ports Authority's decision to build an inland port in the Gateway Industrial Centre in Hall County improves the long-term prospects for the MSA, especially with respect to manufacturing, distribution, and logistics. The cost of living and doing business are below average, migration trends are very favorable, and the housing market is strengthening. Weaknesses include low per capita incomes, the lack of high-wage jobs, and a relatively small percentage of high-tech jobs. The area's industrial diversity is low, but that is to be expected for a metropolitan area that consists of a single county. Low industrial diversity can result in relatively high employment volatility, however. Gainesville's economic developers have done an outstanding job encouraging existing businesses to expand locally as well as recruiting new companies. Geveko Markings, Fox Factory Holding, Corp, VDL Group, Elastron, Kubota, Mars Wrigley Confectionary, Jinsung TEC, Alfrex, and Mincey Marble are good examples of manufacturers that decided to expand or locate in Gainesville. The high economic multipliers associated with these projects spread the benefits of these expansions to people working in other businesses. Recent expansions outside of manufacturing include Agile Cold Storage, Tatsumi Intermodal – a logistics/distribution firm, Lowers Risk Group – risk management firm, and ProCare Rx – a healthcare IT firm. The gradual build out of these economic development projects will provide a powerful tailwind to the region's overall economy. The medical sector will be an important economic driver. The Northeast Georgia Medical Center is rated high performing in eight adult procedures and conditions. Gainesville's medical industry will successfully draw more patients from surrounding rural and metropolitan Atlanta counties, becoming true medical service hub. The growth of the medical sector will make Gainesville even more suitable for retiree-based economic development. Gainesville is a major post-secondary education hub, which generates large direct economic impacts. Each semester, the University of North Georgia, Brenau University, and Lanier Technical College add newly minted talent to the supply of workers that businesses need to expand. The economic impacts of these institutions will continue to expand. Lanier Technical College's new campus will allow the institution to offer new and expanded programs. The demographic forces supporting Gainesville's economic growth are very strong: Hall County's record of substantially above-above average population growth supports the expansion of businesses that sell goods and services to households. Gainesville in an increasingly popular choice for workers commuting to jobs in the Atlanta MSA. Going forward, retiree-based economic development will provide even more impetus to economic growth. In addition, spillover effects of strong economic and population growth in Gwinnett County, North Fulton, and Forsyth County bode well for Gainesville-Hall County: One out of every eight employed-residents of Gainesville-Hall County works in Gwinnett County. Gainesville's housing market will continue to improve. As of the second quarter of 2020, existing home prices were 18.8 percent above their pre-Great-Recession peak value. The Gainesville MSA's housing prices increased by 5.9 percent between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2019. Homebuilding will be on the upswing in 2021. Optimism for the region's housing market reflects the ongoing economic recovery, very strong population growth, and very low mortgage rates.