The Masters does more than put Georgia at the center of the sports universe for a few days every spring. The renowned golf tournament is also a pivotal moment for the state’s economic development recruiters.
For more than 50 years, the Georgia Chamber, the state and other business groups have used the legendary championship to woo top prospects for big jobs deals with a trip that begins at the governor’s mansion and ends with VIP digs at Augusta National Golf Club.
It’s called the Red Carpet Tour. Sharp-elbowed negotiations are set aside; this is about building relationships.
Guest list names are a tightly-guarded secret. Major jobs deals like headquarters and factories are highly-coveted by states, and Georgia officials don’t want to give away their prospects’ identities. The hosts don’t even like to reveal past business recruits during the Masters.
But executives from automaker Volvo, which is scouting the Southeast for a factory, are expected to join this year’s group for face time with state leaders. The group is also expected to include a mix of international and domestic prospects in manufacturing, logistics, technology and other sectors.
“It’s been very successful,” Gov. Nathan Deal said. “And I have expectations that we’ll be able to get more business from those going on the tour this time.”
‘It was never close’
The tour started with Atlanta business leaders eagerness to dispel backwards notions of the Deep South during the 1950s.
Corporate boosters organized an all-out push to reintroduce the region in 1959 and the local papers called it a “red carpet” tour. A few years later, organizers wrapped the tour around golf’s most prestigious event. That trip attracted 44 executives.
A tradition was born.
The Georgia Chamber estimates that attendees have created more than $3.2 billion in revenue for the state and more than 15,000 jobs, though The Atlanta Journal-Constitution could not verify those figures. Chamber president Chris Clark said the jobs and investment totals are “awfully low” because the organization did not track jobs and investment figures from every year of the tour.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes quickly learned not to underestimate the tournament’s appeal. Barnes, not exactly the biggest golf fan, called it the silver bullet in Georgia’s recruiting arsenal, particularly to some Asian executives who “thought I had allowed them to enter Valhalla.”
“The other governors in growth states would offer to take the economic development prospects hunting for deer, elk or something like that,” said Barnes, a Democrat who was governor from 1999 to 2003. “I would tell them, ‘Would you rather sit in the cold and wait for something coming along to shoot, or go to the Masters?’ It was never close.”
This year’s event started Wednesday night with a gala for about two dozen targets — er, executives — at Deal’s Buckhead mansion. They were to be at Thursday’s opening round of the Masters at Augusta National. Friday, the group is scheduled to return to Atlanta with a session on potential business opportunities and meetings with metro area recruiters.
They’ll also tour Atlanta attractions, such as the College Football Hall of Fame and the Georgia Aquarium, before returning to Augusta and the third round of the Masters on Saturday.
Cutthroat negotiations aren’t on the agenda. Those will come later.
‘Not about the hard sell’
“This is about relationship building,” Clark said. “This is not about the hard sell.”
During the 2006 tour, Clark’s wife was pregnant and he said he bonded with a Georgia-based prospect whose wife recently had a baby. When Clark’s wife gave birth, he said gifts came from a senior executive at automaker Kia — which announced its factory in West Point that year — and from the Georgia executive, whose company later grew its business in Georgia.
Clark has participated in numerous tours as a local economic developer, as one of the state’s top recruiters and now as leader of the Georgia Chamber.
“There’s no way our little communities could have this kind of access to big executives like this,” he said.
Take it from Woody Woodside, president of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce. He said he’s been peppered in past meetings during Masters week about quality of life, schools, the ports and the local economy.
“We’ll give them a flavor of the coast and all we have to offer,” he said.
The event is organized by the chamber and supported by the state, the public-private marketing venture Georgia Allies and the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce.
State Rep. Ron Stephens calls it the first impression to end all first impressions.
“This is a big deal. There’s no arm-twisting,” said Stephens, a Savannah Republican who is considered the Legislature’s go-to on economic development. “You only get one shot. And the tour is all about making the most of that first shot. There’s no telling, but I can guarantee you that the first impression will go a long way.”
Stephens, who has played a part in more than a few red carpet tours, describes an exclusive scene. The day after an elegant meal at the Governor’s mansion, executives are ushered into a fully-stocked air-conditioned tent at the Masters for more hobnobbing.
“They get to walk the greens of the Augusta National,” he said. “They’ve got to be thinking, ‘Not bad.’”
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