A day after the release of a disturbing report that showed metro Atlanta lost more jobs in last year than any other area in the country, the region got some positive employment news.
Greenway Medical Technologies, a fast-growing provider of electronic health records software and services to health care providers nationwide, plans to add 400 jobs over three years at its corporate headquarters in Carrollton, where it will undertake a $12 million expansion, Gov. Nathan Deal announced. Better still, nearly 300 of the new jobs are slated to be higher-wage information technology positions.
Government officials quickly hailed the announcement which followed news from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday that the Atlanta region has lost 30,800 jobs since August 2010, nearly three times the number of jobs lost during that time by the next worst market, Kansas City. Most major cities actually gained jobs over the last year. Those numbers deflated hopes that Atlanta might be emerging from the aftereffects of the recession.
Chris Cummiskey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, noted that health information technology, "is one of our state's emerging areas of leadership." He added, "The health IT sector is rapidly growing around the nation and particularly here in Georgia, considering the increased focus on finding ways to make health care more affordable and efficient."
Deal said, "I am encouraged by this expansion and am confident that Georgia will continue to lead in this industry."
State officials said Georgia has more than 100 health IT companies and research institutions and that the state leads the nation with more than $4 billion in revenue generated by those companies annually.
Privately-held Greenway, which was founded in 1998, services more than 33,000 health care providers. It employs more than 450 workers at its existing facility in Carrollton and more than 500 overall. The addition of two new buildings will create a five-building corporate campus.
Greenway has benefited from the move by doctors' offices, clinics and hospitals from paper to electronic record keeping and from the government's economic stimulus plan, which is providing $50 billion over five years for the medical profession to go electronic. The move is expected to improve accuracy, efficiency and speed, while paring costs.
The project will receive $7.55 million in state job tax credits as well as a $126,000 state sales and use tax break.
Hiring information was not immediately available.
