In the six months since he became governor, Nathan Deal has already been to Germany, England and Canada on state business.
Following in the footsteps of predecessor Sonny Perdue, who traveled abroad 13 times between 2007 and the end of his term last December, Deal and the Georgia Department of Economic Development are hunting for jobs with big salaries — the kinds often found overseas.
A U.S. Department of Commerce report earlier this month said the nation imported 5 million jobs over the past decade and that, on average, those jobs paid 30 percent more than other jobs.
Last year, 23 percent of the new jobs created in Georgia were for foreign companies with offices in the state, said Chris Cummiskey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. The number is expected to grow as some nations’ economies rebound faster than the United States’.
Deal is expected to travel to South Korea and China in October. Cummiskey plans trips to Singapore and Dubai.
There is a downside. Like most business relocations these days, the state often entices with incentives costing millions of dollars at a time of tight budgets. Cummiskey said the incentives are slightly higher for foreign companies.
Some of Georgia’s competitors, such as Texas and North Carolina, have deeper pockets. To compete, the state emphasizes its infrastructure, chiefly Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the Port of Savannah, Cummiskey said.
“I want to know if they are doing a cost-benefit analysis,” said Michael Williams, a board member of the Georgia Tea Party. “I mean, what is it costing the state and are we getting a good return?”
British companies employ the most Georgians, followed by Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and France, the state said. Japan has the greatest investment in the state while England has the largest number of facilities.
Cummiskey said Georgia has attracted jobs in aerospace, alternative energy and automotive. Many pay above typical industry salaries because they do advanced manufacturing that requires skilled labor.
“A lot of the jobs we have lost in manufacturing, like textiles, are low-wage jobs that will not be coming back to the United States anytime soon, if ever,” he said.
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