Partnership Gwinnett helped land 40 business relocations or major expansions in Gwinnett County, accounting for 2,900 jobs in its first year, according to the group's first annual report, released Thursday.

"Even in this economy, Partnership Gwinnett has been a huge success," said county economist Alfie Meek, who works with chamber officials on economic development projects.

Chamber officials held a half-day summit at Gwinnett Tech on Thursday to celebrate their successes and talk about what's ahead in the next year.

The chamber conceived Partnership Gwinnett as a way to attract top-notch corporate and small-business talent to the county, create 65,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in the county. It also seeks to improve education, transportation and other services seen as critical to economic development.

It was founded amid a "creeping sense" that the fast-paced development that sustained the county's growth and financial success for so long was nearing an end, said Alex Pearlstein, a consultant with Market Street Services who helped create the initiative.

That's turned out to be true in many respects, Meek said. Building permits and retail sales are down substantially, and foreclosures in the county this month alone are expected to approach those recorded in all of 2000, according to Meek.

At the same time, chamber and county officials used Thursday's event to tout the county's advantages and successes —- everything from its area-leading carpooling rate to the relocation of the Richmond Braves minor-league baseball team to Gwinnett.

Also included in the slick 18-page report: decisions by solar-energy startup Suniva Inc. and Meggit Training Systems to locate in Gwinnett County, bringing more than $150 million in investment and more than 500 new jobs to the county.

Both projects won tax incentives from the county, and Meek —- whose office must sign off on such projects as being good for the county —- said numerous other projects are on the horizon.

Commission Chairman Charles Bannister used brief remarks at the outset of Thursday's program to praise chamber officials for their hard work.

"The labor and conscientiousness of those who are involved in this effort are paying off," he said.

Pearlstein later said that no matter how remarkable the program's first-year success, county economic development officials shouldn't rest on their accomplishments.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," he said. "Maybe you're at mile marker three or four."

PARTNERSHIP GWINNETT BY THE NUMBERS

40: Number of companies that relocated to Gwinnett or announced major expansions in Partnership's first year

2,900: Number of jobs attributed to those deals

$8.15 million: Pledges or leveraged funds committed to Partnership's 5-year, $10 million fund-raising goal

10: Number of economic development workers hired by the program in its first year, making it one of the largest economic development programs in the region, according to chamber officials