IEDC Workforce Development, Registration Underway

About the Course: Skilled workers are the backbone of a productive and efficient economy, and a critical decision point in today’s business location decisions. This versatile course explains the essential relationship between economic and workforce development through case studies, practical examples, and current research. Course participants will learn what programs currently leverage federal, state/provincial, and local financial resources to support workforce development. Learn about what you can do through collaborative programs to build the workforce pipeline and upgrade the skills of your community’s existing workforce. Other topics will include: the emerging demand-driven model in workforce development, sector strategies for targeted industry clusters, K-12 development and integration, occupational analysis, talent attraction, and more.

Register Here: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/iedc-workforce-development

Course ID: EDEV 1027P

CRN Start date End date Registration Deadline Location
16470 May 12, 2016 May 13, 2016 May 12, 2016 Atlanta, GA

Register early to save! 

For course-related questions, contact:
Leigh Hopkins, AICP
Phone: 404-894-0933 | Fax: 404-410-6910
Email: ude.hcetag.etavonninull@snikpoh.hgiel

Forsyth County – Fiscal Impact of Sharon Springs

At the request of Forsyth County Board of Commissioners the Center for Economic Development Research (CEDR) at Georgia Tech examined the fiscal impact that the proposed City of Sharon Springs would have on Forsyth County.   In 2015, House Bill 660 was introduced to provide for the incorporation of a significant portion of south Forsyth County into the City of Sharon Springs.  By population, the proposed City of Sharon Springs would be the 17th largest city in Georgia — falling just behind Valdosta, Smyrna, and Brookhaven — and would be nearly 10 times larger than Cumming, the only other city in Forsyth County and the county seat.

Forsyth logo

A report examining the fiscal feasibility of this new city was published in February 2015.  While this report met the requirements of the rules set forth by the House of Representatives Governmental Affairs Committee of the Georgia General Assembly, there were many important questions that the Georgia General Assembly did not ask regarding the fiscal impact that the municipal incorporation of Sharon Springs would have on the county.  For example, will the county lose revenues that currently fund services that will still need to be provided county-wide?  If so, how much of a millage rate increase to ALL county residents will be needed to make up the difference?  To what extent will the county be able to reduce service costs due to the creation of the city? How will capital expenditures be impacted if the new city does not collect the county impact fee?  These are just a few of the questions that needed to be answered in order to get a complete picture of the true fiscal impact of creating Sharon Springs.

It turns out that the creation of the City of Sharon Springs would lower county operating revenue by approximately $6.2 million.  The primary revenue losses would have been in alcohol licenses and excise taxes, business licenses and occupation tax, cable franchise fees, planning and zoning permits and fees, and insurance premium taxes.  On the other side of the equation, the county would save nearly $770,000 in operating expenses in both code enforcement and the planning and development departments.  These savings are primarily due to the reduction of 13-15 positions with the associated salaries, benefits, and other related expenses.  Because the revenue loss is significantly more than the cost savings, the county would have been left with a revenue gap of approximately $5.4 million.  Given the size of the Forsyth County net tax digest, it would require an additional 0.623 mills to recover that amount of revenue.  That is equivalent to a property tax increase of 12.9 percent for ALL Forsyth County property owners.

 

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Economic and Fiscal Impact Study

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Children’s) engaged the Center for Economic Development Research at Georgia Tech to assess their economic and fiscal impact on the State of Georgia. Children’s is the state’s 15th largest employer, and ranks 20th with respect to total payroll. Below is a quick summary of the economic and fiscal impact study.

The economic impact of Children’s represents the difference in the Georgia economy between having and not having Children’s. The focus here is on resources that would likely not exist in the state were it not for Children’s. This includes 1) resources that Children’s brings in from outside the state, and 2) resources that are already in Georgia, but would leave the state if Children’s did not exist. Obviously, many of the services provided by Children’s are available from other providers who would be able to fill in the gap left by Children’s. However, some services are not available from other providers, and some, though available, would not be able to capture all of the demand. A detailed analysis of the services Children’s provides and the alternative providers in Georgia allowed for an estimate of the extent to which Children’s patients would likely seek treatment outside of Georgia if Children’s did not exist. Based on the structure of the Georgia economy, the economic impact of Children’s is $1.5 billion in economic output across the state and the employment of nearly 12,300 people earning more than $700 million in wages, salaries, and benefits.

Fiscal impact analysis takes the above results and estimates how those levels of economic activity influence both the expenditures made by government and the revenues that will accrue to government. When state revenues exceed expenditures, the result is positive net revenue, which is analogous to what the private sector would call “profit.” Using a proprietary state fiscal impact model developed by the Center for Economic Development Research at Georgia Tech, it is estimated that the economic impact of Children’s generates about $75.6 million in revenue for the State of Georgia, and $37.5 million in new expenses. Therefore, the net fiscal impact of Children’s on the State of Georgia is a positive $38.1 million.

The Basic Economic Development Course Begins Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, Tuesday March 8, 2016, is the first day of the Basic Economic Development Course!

In 1967, Georgia Tech offered the first Basic Economic Development Course in the country and continues today to provide innovative education in both fundamentals and new concepts in economic development. In 2016, our Basic Economic Development Course will celebrate 49 years of being one of the first steps in the career of more than 3,000 economic developers.
Join us this year as we welcome Vicki Horton, a nationally-recognized site selection consultant who will kick-off the course, centered around Disruptive Technologies and their impact on economic development. Companies like Amazon, Uber, Zifty, Spotify, and Airbnb have revolutionized the way companies and communities do business. Over the duration of the course, we’ll discuss the impact that Disruptive Technologies hold for regional economies, as well as explore core economic development topics and current trends that are transforming the economic development profession and the businesses and communities you support.

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Check out other courses offered in the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) series! 

For more information, contact:
Leigh Hopkins
404-894-0933
ude.hcetag.etavonninull@snikpoh.hgiel

Investing in Manufacturing Communities in Northwest Georgia

The Center for Economic Development Research at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) continues to play a critical role in the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) initiative in northwest Georgia.

Northwest Georgia is home to the largest concentration of floor covering manufacturers in the world, and boasts production of more than 70 percent of the world’s total floor covering output, valued at over $9 billion. In September 2013, EI2 and the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission (NWGRC) were awarded an $85,000 challenge grant through the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) IMCP initiative to develop a comprehensive strategy focused on advanced manufacturing in the floor covering industry in the 15-county northwest Georgia region.

IMCP is a White House administration-wide initiative that is designed to accelerate the resurgence of manufacturing and help cultivate an environment for businesses to create well-paying manufacturing jobs in regions across the country. IMCP supports the President Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, launched in 2011, and is a critical component of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s “Open for Business Agenda,” which prioritizes trade and investment.

EI2 led the creation of an “Advanced Manufacturing Strategy” for the 15-county Northwest Georgia region, as well as the successful application to become an EDA-designated Manufacturing Community during EDA’s first round of designations in 2014. Since 2014, EI2 has continued to provide implementation services under the Manufacturing Community designation in partnership with the NWGRC that have led to such notable results including the creation of an Advanced Manufacturing Academy at the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy (part of the Technical College System of Georgia), selection into the Aspen Institute’s “Communities That Work Partnership” workforce development program, a statewide apprenticeship program with the U.S. Department of Labor, a new regional inland port in Murray County with the Georgia Ports Authority, a post-consumer carpet recycling technology pilot program in Dalton, and a veteran’s hiring program for transitioning military through Georgia Tech’s VET2 program.

Visit the initiative’s website: www.floor360.org.

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For more information, contact:

Leigh Hopkins, AICP
Sr. Project Manager
ude.hcetagnull@snikpoh.hgiel
404-894-0933