Atlanta’s economy, from inside a downtown ballroom, looked promising Thursday. Outside, on the street, it remained dismal.
Coca-Cola Enterprises CEO John Brock announced during a luncheon that the Metro Atlanta Chamber had helped recruit 66 companies and 5,832 jobs to the region this year, a 10-percent uptick over the previous year.
“We are at a turning point,” Brock, outgoing chairman of the Chamber’s board, told more than 1,000 business and community officials. “Our No. 1 priority at the Chamber is jobs, jobs, jobs.”
No mention was made, though, of the thousands of metro Atlantans who’ve been laid off this year, contributing to the region’s 9.9 percent unemployment rate. Wendy’s, as if on cue, announced Wednesday that 170 more Atlantans will lose jobs as the burger giant consolidates operations in Ohio.
Earlier in the week, the University of Georgia predicted that it’ll be 2020 until the state returns to pre-recession levels of employment.
“Until we create more jobs at the lower- and middle-wage groups, we’ll see more folks walk up to our doors,” said the Rev. John Moeller Jr., president of Action Ministries, an Atlanta nonprofit that helps the hungry, homeless and jobless. “A lot of people moved here for jobs and opportunities, and they didn’t materialize. Folks with opportunities leave.”
Moeller attended the Chamber’s 152nd annual meeting at the Marriott Marquis. Brock relinquished the chairmanship to Carol Tome, the CFO of Home Depot. Both spoke optimistically of an economic recovery in 2012 and of Atlantans' approval of next year's transportation referendum.
Earlier in the day, the Chamber announced that a Norwegian biotech company selected Alpharetta for its North American headquarters. Ten to 20 well-paying jobs should follow within three years.
Georgia’s manufacturing sector may have finally turned the corner, posting significant upticks in orders, production and inventory last month, according to Kennesaw State University.
“Hopefully,” said Don Sabbarese, director of the school’s Econometric Center, “this one-month turnaround is sustainable.”
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