Is the Bay Area finally losing its stranglehold on the tech industry?
For 20 years, Silicon Valley has been the hot location for anyone interested working in a high-tech career, and while it remains the most powerful tech center in the country, a recent Forbes story has named Atlanta as one of five up and coming tech meccas.
Talented techies have drifted across the country and some of them are making their way to the Southeast. It helps that the metro area is actively courting technology minded individuals and businesses.
Atlanta's tech community is relatively small and tight-knit, but tech jobs such as software developer, software programmer, and computer support roles, have grown faster than the national average by 46.7 percent since 2010 which is about 20 points above the national average.
The city has made it clear that it encourage this type of growth. In 2015, the city of Atlanta offered $15 million in tax incentives to the developer of Georgia Tech's second phase of technology square which is expected to open next year.
Beyond the city limits, Alpharetta rules the technology roost going by the name "Technology City of the South" for the more than 600 tech based companies based there. In 2012, the city created the Alpharetta Technology Commission, made up of the leading small and large technology companies. Members of the commission identify and pursue investment opportunities and policy decisions for the city's tech companies and the industry overall.
While Silicon Valley is still the place to be for easy capital and no shortage of networking, many investors and tech companies nationwide are now viewing Atlanta as a growth market.
The Forbes story also listed Salt Lake City, Denver, Portland and Seattle as cities to watch for their growing presence in the technology industry.
