The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has toured the state meeting with local chamber leaders and members. The final stop was yesterday in Augusta.
Chris Clark, Georgia Chamber President and CEO, said the New Georgia Economy Tour (NGE Tour) was to outline where the state stands currently and looks at the biggest challenges in the future.
“We just find it’s important to get out and talk to business leaders, academics, local elected leaders, to let them know what’s happening in the economy. Because, quite frankly, if we’re not coordinated, if we’re not talking from the same playbook, we’re not going to have the right outcomes at the end of the day,” he told ABD. “This is just an opportunity to get together, share that data, share that information, and to keep the dialog going.”
Clark said the state chamber created the Hub Chamber Council two years ago to give smaller cities, like Augusta and Macon, the ability to balance out Metro Atlanta’s level of influence.
“So much more policy, regulatory engagement is happening at the local level. And so, for Augusta Chamber to be able to talk to the Albany Chamber, for the Columbus Chamber, be able to talk to the Savannah Chamber, share data, share input, share what works, what doesn’t work. It’s just going to strengthen our business communities and, quite frankly, our hub and economies all over Georgia,” he explained.
Georgia has had five years of record economic growth, as well as being named the number one state in which to do business for ten straight years. But Clark said to hold on to that edge, the state must create a new formula for economic success, breaking it down into three primary categories: economic competitiveness, infrastructure of the future, and the war for talent.
“Economic competitiveness means a lot of things, but it really comes down to the business climate that we create for small businesses and new companies and expansions in Georgia, which part of that is to make sure we’ve got the right tax benefits, the right economic development policy,” he said.
Infrastructure, particularly in regard to transportation, is a major concern.
Clark said, over the next 25 years, Georgia’s population will grow by 2.5 million people and the workforce will create more than three million job openings. It will take $84 billion to improve and upgrade transportation infrastructure to handle that growth and transport goods and services.
“The value of our freight right now is around $675 billion; that will more than double, almost triple by 2050. Almost every sector that you can imagine in Georgia’s economy, from agriculture to manufacturing, will grow at double to triple-digit growth, putting more demand on your roads and railroads and so we’re going to have a lot more truck cargo than you see right now,” Clark said. “Unfortunately, our engineers 40 years ago, didn’t really think about how to move that level of product in and around the state, and we’re paying for that right now to the point that Georgia right now has two of the top five bottlenecks in the country.”
Clark said, in addition to improving the roads, Georgia must make better use of its railroad system. This includes reauthorizing the use of rail lines that are currently out of service. Trains that used to be a mile long now stretch three miles on existing tracks. Some rail carriers are using double-deck trains, but those aren’t feasible in many areas because bridges and overpasses are too low.
The third category, the war for talent, is one Clark has spoken about frequently over the past year, including what he sees as the looming “demographic cliff.” He said over the next six years, as more “baby boomers” retire, there will be a shortage of people trained to fill the jobs.
“Because of those retiring baby boomers, almost any economic sector you can imagine is going to see double-digit growth, nurse practitioners, 75% growth, 40% of all skilled craftsmen, builders, plumbers, electricians, will retire by 2030 because we told the last two generations that they had to have a four-year degree instead of a technical college degree, and so there’s no one left to fix your plumbing and fix your deck,” he said.
Clark said businesses must find the key to communicating with the next generations of workers, Gen X, and Millennials, in the immediate future and prepare for the generations to follow, each with its unique expectations for an employer, work ethics, and communication skills.
In the short term, Clark pointed to pools of talent currently underutilized, people who are looking for work.
“There are men and women in your community that want to work that you’re not talking to and you’re ignoring because it’s may be a little bit harder,” he said. “Right now, in Georgia, I have 610,000 veterans that are working age. Many of them have not figured out how to make that transition. We have 2.2 million Georgians with disabilities; 2,600 refugees move to Georgia every single year. If you hire a refugee, 90% retention rate; 11,000 foster kids roll off our roles every year and are dumped with no support systems into your communities. And 4.6 million Georgians have a criminal record, and you say, ‘I don’t want to hire any of them.’ Well, that’s half the workforce. I have 1.8 million seniors that are looking to work part-time. What are you doing to reach out to them and bring them in?”
During the presentation, attendees were asked a series of questions about current and anticipated future needs.
“We’re building a new strategic plan for the Georgia Chamber and Georgia’s economy for the next 25 years. And as we travel the state, we’re surveying thousands of Georgia business leaders, academics, and elected leaders, so that we know what’s important to this part of the state, what’s important to southwest Georgia, and we’re building out the most robust economic strategy humanly possible,” Clark said.
Clark anticipates releasing the final plan at the 2025 Eggs and Issues Breakfast held at the beginning of the legislative session.
