Jorge Fernandez, vice president of global commerce for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, plays a key role in marketing the city. He fielded questions about Atlanta’s worldwide reputation.
Q: Why do some consider Atlanta the business hub of the Western Hemisphere?
A: It's all about access to the market, and certainly we offer that to the major cities in Latin America and the U.S. If you are a foreign company, you don't want access to one or the other. Atlanta offers both.
Q: Who are our competitors?
A: [Dallas and Charlotte] are formidable competitors, but we have a lot of assets they wish they had. One of those assets is the airport. We focus on what we can offer companies from our perspective: the availability to find talent, cost of living, quality of life and the economic vibrancy of the city. A foreign company wants to be in a cosmopolitan city, and we are the largest city in the Southeast. We just don't sell Atlanta. We sell Georgia and the Southeast. Atlanta has been the economic engine for that region.
Q: What's the role of the global commerce division?
A: We market Atlanta to our key markets, talk to companies to recruit them here or to set their affiliations in the United States in Atlanta, and we create a network to help Atlanta markets grow overseas. You need awareness and you need foreign investment here, but you also need growth for local companies. An international market place is a great place to do it.
Q: Where does the city have a strong foothold?
A: Our No. 1 investor is western Europe. If you take the top 10 investors in Atlanta, eight are western European. The only non-European countries in the top 10 are Japan and Canada. We focus on high-priority markets. From India, we have seen a tremendous amount of growth in technology companies in Atlanta. We just don't focus on a region or a city; we also focus on core industries that are strong here and that we want to grow.
Q: What are the core industries?
A: Basically, technology — a lot of Internet companies, security, software. Health sciences is another area. Atlanta is becoming a hub for health technology. There are the traditional industries: logistics, supply chains and management companies. We are a top distribution center in the United States, a combination of airports, railroads and roads. We focus on industries in overseas markets that are conducive to growing our core industries.
Q: What does global economy mean?
A: You may say you only sell in Georgia, but I guarantee you, some of the components or parts you buy come from foreign sources or are bought overseas. It doesn’t matter whether you are a big or small company, you are part of the global economy.
Q: How can Atlanta remain a global competitor?
A: A company wants to be in an area that continues to grow. Economic vibrancy is important. We need to ensure that our economy continues to prosper, and quality of life is a big part of that.
