Gov. Nathan Deal has spent much of his re-election campaign touting his business and job creation bona fides, and on the eve of Election Day the governor uncorked three economic development announcements in an anything but subtle reminder to voters.
The Gainesville Republican stood at the state Capitol before a bank of television cameras Monday to announce 700 technology jobs coming to Augusta. Deal also unveiled Site Selection Magazine’s ranking of Georgia for the second consecutive year as the top state in which to do business.
Later in the day, a news release from Deal’s office announced a mobile home manufacturer’s plans to add 200 jobs in South Georgia.
Deal’s most prominent challenger, Democrat Jason Carter, said the announcements distract voters from far less-flattering economic rankings — such as Georgia’s cellar-dwelling jobless rate.
At a campaign stop with U.S. Rep John Lewis, D-Atlanta, at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, Carter said Deal has declared success based on magazine ratings while the state shed 15,000 private sector jobs last month.
“That is not the right direction for our state,” Carter said. “Right now, regular people are still getting left behind in our economy. We are still dead last in terms of unemployment. And the governor doesn’t get it.”
Deal is in a tight race with Carter, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, who has taken aim at the governor’s education policy and funding cuts and for not doing enough to help middle class families.
Deal on Monday was buoyant about the latest expansion plans.
Unisys, a global information technology company, plans to open an IT help desk operation that it said will ultimately employ 700 in Augusta over the next five years. The project will initially serve the enormous intelligence apparatus at nearby Fort Gordon. Unisys will hire about 250 people in the first year of operation and will add more employees and corporate clients, a company spokesman said.
In December, the Army announced plans to move its cyber headquarters to Fort Gordon, including 1,500 jobs – about half expected to be high-paying civilian positons. The command protects the military’s computer networks from spying and criminal threats.
“This 700 is just the beginning,” Deal said during a campaign stop in Albany later in the day.
Unisys qualifies for jobs tax credits, state recruitment aid and training assistance from the Georgia Quick Start program. The tax credits could be worth $10.5 million if the company creates and retains 700 jobs over five years.
Live Oak Homes plans to create 200 jobs over the next two years at a manufacturing center in rural Coffee County. The company opened its first plant in Waycross in 2007.
Live Oak is eligible to receive sales and use tax exemptions for manufacturing, as well as exemption from energy taxes. Jobs tax credits could total $4 million over five years if it creates and retains 200 jobs.
Site Selection Magazine said its annual rankings are based on a number of factors, including total new facilities added per capita in 2013, new projects per capita this year and tax burdens on business.
Editor-in-chief Mark Arend said the magazine has released its rankings on the first Monday in November for at least the 17 years he’s worked for the publication, whether it’s an election year or not.
Though Deal has championed such rankings, Carter and other critics say they gloss over Georgia's drop in national rankings of per capita income growth and state gross domestic product.
Staff writer Jeremy Redmon contributed to this article.
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