ASA Cuts More Pilots

A regional carrier for Delta Air Lines is cutting more of its workforce. Atlantic Southeast Airlines is furloughing an additional 56 pilots this fall. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the layoffs go into effect September 1st, and its on top of the 80 laid-off earlier this year. The cuts are the first in the history of ASA. It was last month that Atlanta-based Delta announced it would be making deeper cuts to its capacity to help weather the economic downturn.

Shaw Closing Two More Plants

There are another two plant closings on the horizon in Georgia. Officials with Shaw Industries say its facilities in Calhoun and Valdosta will close, leaving about 600 workers without jobs. The struggling economy is cited as the reason. The Dalton-based carpet manufacturer says the layoffs will begin in the next five to six weeks. Shaw is the world’s largest maker of carpets.

Perdue: FY 09 Budget Focuses on 'Core Services'

Governor Sonny Perdue's signing of an $18.9 billion budget that includes property tax break funding already promised to Georgia homeowners, slashes about two billion dollars in state spending to close a huge budget hole.

"This is a budget that focuses on the core services of government," Governor Perdue said in a statement released from the Governor's Office Friday.

"We have made effective use of federal stimulus dollars and the state’s rainy day fund, which we worked so hard to build up, to lessen the impact of this economic downturn and plan for next year’s budget. Through sound management by our agency leaders and wise decisions by lawmakers, Georgia will endure a challenging economy and emerge ready to prosper."

The budget contains $625 million in federal stimulus dollars for Medicaid and education. That federal cash helped the state fund some $428 million in homeowner tax relief grants, which translates into about $200 to $300 per household. That money was already included in property tax bills. But the relief could disappear next year because a new law will link future grants to the state's economy.

The budget covers the fiscal year that ends June 30th.

Click here for more details on the budget: www.legis.ga.gov

(AP)

Top Atlanta Law Firm Slashes Staff

King & Spalding, one of Atlantas oldest and largest law firms, has laid off 37 attorneys and 85 staff.

Chairman Robert D. Hays said Friday that the continuing decline in the U.S. and global economies made the move necessary.

Hays said a severance package was being offered to the laid-off workers.

King & Spalding spokesman Les Zuke, based in New York, would not say how many of the firms cuts were from the Atlanta office. King & Spalding has 13 offices. King & Spalding was founded in Atlanta in 1885.

Its clients include Georgia blue chip companies, from Coca-Cola and Home Depot to SunTrust, as well as General Motors and Ernst & Young.

(AP)

Governor Reduces 2010 Budget

Today Governor Sonny Perdue reduced the 2010 state budget by $1.6 billion . Earlier, the Governor projected 3% growth over this year in state revenue, but with the economy continuing to decline next year's budget will be flat. Perdue is asking state employees to pay 5% more of their health insurance costs. He is also banking on %1.1 billion in stimulus money and the Governor has agreed to take all the available federal stimulus funds for state unemployment benefits. He says it would add $150 million to Georgia's unemployment trust fund. Regarding state employee furloughs, he says he will leave that up to state agency heads.

More Jobs Coming to Columbus, Norcross

Two companies have announced in recent days that they would soon add several hundred jobs in Georgia.

YesVideo, a company that converts home movies and videos to DVDs and other digital formats, will bring 300 jobs to Norcross next month.

The Santa Clara, Ca.-based firm says they have has 30,000 retail locations including Walgreens, Costco and CVS.

"Metro Atlanta is well-centered, geographically, to service the entire eastern seaboard, Midwest, and south central areas with cost-effective ground logistics," YesVideo Chief Operating Officer Gregory Ayres said.

On Friday, Kodak announced that they were ramping up a third production line at their Columbus plant.

Kodak officials say the just-completed $15 million dollar investment will add another 50 jobs in coming years, bringing the total staffing to 300.

The facility makes digital plates for the printing industry.

On the red side of the employment ledger, however, JP Morgan Chase says they plan to close a credit card customer service center in Kennesaw by mid-2010, eliminating 730 jobs.

The center primarily worked with the now defunct electronics retailer, Circuit City.

Chase didn’t say when the cuts would begin, but says employees will be eligible to apply for other jobs in the company.

(The AP contributed to this report)

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Georgia's economy.

KIA, Suppliers Promise Fall Rollout, Despite Sluggish Economy

Kia Motors’ HR chief Randy Jackson says the Korea-based automaker is still on track to open their 2-million sq.-ft. West Point facility in late ’09.

“We’re still hanging our hat on that launch date late this year,” Jackson told GlobalAtlanta.

The company is working closely with Georgia’s Quick Start to train and qualify some 2,500 production line workers to build SUV’s at the $1.2 billion facility, as well as more than 6,000 employees for a number of tier-one suppliers.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Kia car plant.

Lanier Gets Return of Some Fishing Tournaments

For the first time in awhile, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is accepting applications for fishing tournaments at Lake Lanier. It’s a sign that the north Georgia reservoir is rebounding from historic low water levels.

Lanier has risen more than five feet since early December. So now the Corps is issuing permits for daytime fishing tournaments, 90 days or less in the future.

The return of at least a partial schedule of tournaments is a relief for nearby fishing equipment and bait shop owners. Candy Hammond runs Hammond’s Bait and Tackle in Cumming. She says that while her business has weathered the drought and economic downturn relatively well, others around her have not been so lucky.

"There’s some places that have closed the doors, there’s some people that are trying to hang-on. It’s just here and there, it just depends on where they are in proximity to different ramps."

Now, she says renewed optimism is taking hold for businesses nearby Lanier.

Fishing in Georgia is typically a nearly $2-billion economic engine for the state. And state officials late last year announced a national tournament to be held at Lanier in 2010--expected to spark $20-million in financial impact for Georgia.

Cagle: Expect a 'Painful Session' Over Recession

Show us the money.

That'll be the refrain when Georgia's Legislature returns to Atlanta on Monday and lawmakers will grapple with a massive budget shortfall that will color nearly every decision that's made under the Gold Dome.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has already ordered most state agencies to slash their budgets by 8 percent. State workers have been furloughed. Fees at public colleges are rising. Health benefits for the poor are being scaled back.

And the cuts could go deeper if the economy continues to worsen. Tumbling state revenues have ripped a deficit in the budget that's expected to top $2 billion for the current fiscal year. It comes as the recession pumps up the demand for government services like Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment benefits.

At the same time, Georgia is wrestling with vexing - and costly - infrastructure needs to keep up with booming growth in metro Atlanta. Roadways are clogged with traffic. Additional reservoirs are needed to quench the region's fast-growing thirst.

"It's going to be a painful session," predicted Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

Tax increases to fill the budget gap appear to be off the table. Republican legislative leaders have been cool to proposals that would slap new levies on strip club patrons, cigarettes or groceries.

Instead, they're talking about capping the rate at which home assessments can rise, a move that would hobble the ability of cash-strapped local governments to raise revenue.

Conservative Republicans cast the budget woes as an opportunity to "right-size" state government and get back to basics.

"It gives us the chance to really prioritize and figure out what government is here for," said Kelly McCutchen, vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, an Atlanta-based conservative think tank.

The first salvo in the budget battle will come Wednesday when Perdue unveils his spending plan. He's pledged to include an aggressive bond package to kick start the state's economy by borrowing to fund road projects and school construction.

Legislators will be able to tinker with how the money is spent. But they won't be able to change the overall amount the state may spend. The governor has the sole authority to set that figure and the state is constitutionally prohibited from running a deficit.

The latest news from state money managers was bleak. On Friday, they reported that tax collections plunged 8.9 percent for December from the same month the year before. For the fiscal year that began July 1 revenues slumped by 2.7 percent, dragged down by sluggish sales and income taxes.

Already, advocates are jockeying to shield their pet issues.

"We are extremely concerned about how these budget cuts will affect Georgia's children," said Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia's Children.

David Blanchard, who lobbies for Georgians with developmental disabilities, summed it up this way: "We're bracing for the worst."

"The state is not meeting the needs (of the developmentally disabled) today. The idea that we would go backward really does make so many people nervous," Blanchard said.

The focus on the budget meltdown is likely to mean other legislation will take a back seat this session.

"I think everyone is so focused on the budget, that I really don't expect this to be a banner year for new legislation," said state Sen. Cecil Staton, a Macon Republican. "I don't hear a lot of people talking about lots of new bills."

Of course, there will be some exceptions.

A plan to fund transportation improvements could move quickly this session after falling just short of the needed votes last year. The plan would likely allow local governments to band together to assess a one-cent sales tax to fund road improvements.

School vouchers could also emerge as a politically charged brawl. State Sen. Eric Johnson, a Savannah Republican, has said he wants to give parents in failing school districts more options.

But the top Democrat in the state Senate predicted "the nuclear fight over universal vouchers will be more explosive than the Republican budget crisis."

"After years of deliberate underfunding, Republicans have severely weakened our public schools," said state Sen. Robert Brown, of Macon. "Now, they are aiming to drive a stake in the heart of our children's future with universal vouchers."

But for the most part, it will be a session focused on the state's pocketbook.

"It's going to be a legislative session of making cuts where it hurts the least," said state Sen. Don Thomas, a Dalton Republican.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the Georgia Legislature.

(AP)

GA colleges helping Albany tire co. workers

Several schools in the Technical College System of Georgia are offering to waive application fees for the some 1,300 employees at Albany's Cooper Tire plant, set to close this year.

Officials estimate that, including secondary suppliers, the closure will affect an estimated 5,000 jobs in south Georgia.

South Georgia Technical College in Americus is offering free enrollment for their winter quarter, commencing Jan. 7 to workers who want to learn new professions and trades, in the wake of the shutdown.

Financial aid and scholarships are available, according to the Cordele Dispatch.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the plant closure.

Georgia ports traffic hit by economy

The Georgia Ports Authority is reporting a seventh consecutive month of declines in imports while exports declined for the first time in the current economic slump.

The November import-export numbers underscore the deepening recession and its impact on global shipping, a big driver of economic activity in Georgia. Total tonnage for November was down by about two-percent. A Georgia Ports spokesman, however, is stressing calendar year figures, which are up by 1.6 percent for 2008. Projections have most other major U-S ports down by an overage of seven-percent in tonnage this year.

The spokesman says, that difference between Georgia and other major ports represents an increase in market share, which will be critical for when the recession ends.

Columbus job-seekers swamp job fair

Roadside sign welcoming job applicants, and car buyers at the former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus, Georgia, on Dec. 10, 2008. (Dave Bender)

State Senator Emanuel Jones is reopening a flagship Bill Heard auto dealership in Columbus, as a controversial 15 billion dollar federal bailout for automakers hangs in the balance.

Jones hopes to welcome car buyers into his showroom by Christmas. To do that, he'll need staff and mechanics. On Wednesday, close to 1,000 job seekers packed the showroom.

Torrential rain pounds down on the giant marquee, that reads in moving red letters: "Come Back To Your Legacy – Job Fair Today!"


Close to a 1,000 applicants tried out for 100 positions at the former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus, Georgia, on Dec. 10, 2008. (Dave Bender)

10 job seekers for every spot at the dealership took that advice.

Department of Labor officials say they're expecting close to a thousand to show up, vying for 100 positions.

Scarlet Barker of Columbus has been out of work since August, but worked at Bill Heard in the past. She wonders, however, if that's to her benefit:

“I know almost all of them, because I worked here for years; I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I know most of them that are in here."

Many of them were among the several hundred laid off when Heard shuttered its doors in September.

The chain was 11th largest in the country, with over a dozen lots scattered throughout the southeast, Arizona and Nevada.

But Heard filed bankruptcy after a quadruple whammy of high gas prices, poor sales, a credit crunch, and a state lawsuit charging Heard with 16-years of deceptive sales practices.

Emanuel Jones and Georgia Department of Labor team during the intake of new applicants at the former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus, Georgia, on Dec. 10, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Jones owns two other dealerships, and says he isn't fazed the prospect of General Motors going bankrupt:

"One thing that I know: General Motors is as big a part of America as any other corporate entity, and there's no doubt in my mind that Chevrolet and Cadillac as a brand will always be here."

Jim Hunsinger of the Georgia Department of Labor says he values Jone's optimism.

Georgia Department of Labor's Jim Hunsinger and staff signing in applicants at former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus, Georgia, on Dec. 10, 2008. (Dave Bender)

He's here with a team from the DOL streaming hundreds of applicants into private interviewing booths:

"We appreciate the senator taking that chance in a dire economy."

Jones says there'll be another wave of hiring before a grand opening on December 19th.

Meanwhile, as the line of applicants slowly snakes forward, the rain washes the dust off hundreds of still-unsold cars that fill the parking lot.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of unemployment issues in Georgia.

Perdue: Georgia can lead economic recovery

For the past three days, state lawmakers have been going through a policy boot camp of sorts. Today that camp turned off the lights and shut the doors as the 26th Biennial Institute for Legislators concluded. Lawmakers got an earful about tough issues waiting for them when they meet in January. Governor Sonny Perdue says the most difficult issue will be the budget. Taking a page from the national scene, Perdue called on legislators to help him with an aggressive infrastructure plan:

“I intend to use the good balance sheet and the good name and the good credit rating of Georgia to do our own stimulus package for the state of Georgia. And I hope you’ll assist us with that.”

Of course, unlike the federal government, Georgia can not run an annual deficit. However, Perdue thinks the state is positioned to lead the country to economic recovery. Perdue says long-term education and transportation funding here in Georgia is crucial to this proposal. President Elect Barack Obama has proposed a similar package which Governors discussed with him.

“We’ve encouraged him to look at our country’s long-term needs, investing in projects, not one-time fixes for budgets that may or may not have been well managed. Simply doling out money to states to fill budget gaps, is no different than handing it out to companies with
flawed business models.”

Obama says any infastructure spending directed towards the states will needed to be spent quickly or the government will take it back. In Georgia, revenues were still down 1.3 percent overall for the fiscal year. The Governor said it’s likely that Georgia will have to cut more than the 6 percent reductions already underway in state departments and agencies.

Experts, officials weigh-in on state economy

The recession in Georgia will last a year and a half, with a recovery not arriving until late next year--so says a top state economic forecaster. Robert Sumichrast, Dean of the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business forecasts the state’s economy as "dreadful" for the first half of 2009. He says there will be a doubling of unemployment, and continued falling housing prices.

Meanwhile, Governor Sonny Perdue tried to sound the optimistic tone for the state. He told a gathering in Atlanta at the Annual Georgia Economic Outlook luncheon that he will take the lead in reducing the state’s budget, while growing business in Georgia.

Planning board offers new way to boost region

A so-called mega-region concept would help spur business development and lead to solving major problems in Georgia and neighboring states--so says a regional planning commission.

The proposal pushes the idea that different cities and communities can find more economic and problem-solving success by selling themselves as a group instead of individually. The Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion would include communities from North Carolina through parts of Georgia into Alabama.

The concept comes from the Atlanta Regional Commission, a planning group for the metro Atlanta area. ARC chairman Sam Olens says this approach can make it easier to attract international business. And with a down economy, it’s even more critical.

"When you’re in a bad economy, instead of sulking about the economy, let’s make the plans so when the economy improves we’re in fifth gear maximizing that potential strength. So now’s the time to in fact create those partnerships so you get out of the starting gate faster."

Olens says a good example of an area with name recognition is Raleigh-Durham’s Research Triangle.

He says the mega-region concept could also lead to solutions for Georgia’s transportation and water resource problems.

Franklin pitches cities bailout plan

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin says a bailout plan for cities that she pitched -- along with mayors of Philadelphia and Phoenix -- was not just a plea for those cities.

Franklin says it's also a request for help for local governments across the country struggling in the strained economy.

Franklin, Philadelphia's Michael Nutter and Phil Gordon of Phoenix lobbied Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a joint letter sent Friday. They asked for a share of the proposed $700 billion bailout.

In it, they made the case that dwindling revenues have led to layoffs and cuts in services, and dried-up sources of credit have made it hard for cities to get bonds for infrastructure projects that could provide jobs.

Franklin said in an interview this week at City Hall that lending to cities could help the country climb out of economic crisis -- or contribute to its continuing decline.

(AP)

"Stabilized" state revenue figures come with concern

New state revenue figures show improvement out of October. But that good news comes wrapped with strong concern for the coming months.

Georgia tax collections dipped only slightly over a year’s time, down 0.1 percent--or just over a million dollars. It follows good revenue figures out of September.

But those numbers mostly reflect the state’s economy BEFORE the bulk of the national market-meltdown struck and resulting trickle-down effect. Kenneth Heaghney is Governor Sonny Perdue’s fiscal economist:

"We’ve seen the national economy show signs of entering this significant recession, and that certainly creates concerns that Georgia will follow, and that revenues will follow as well."

Heaghney points out sectors within the construction industry had begun to moderate, but that again was before the market collapse.

The state has lost about $1.1 million dollars since the new fiscal year began July 1st. Perdue already has directed state agencies to tighten belts by six-percent, but that could increase if the economy worsens.

Carrollton losing 150 jobs

Nearly 150 jobs will be lost in Carrollton with the closure of a plant that makes heavy construction equipment. Bobcat will close its west Georgia facility in late November--the reason is the hard-hit construction industry. The Carrollton plant has been making Bobcat attachments since 2005.

Albany included in nat'l poverty study

A national study examining concentrated poverty nationwide includes a glimpse of Albany. The Brookings Institution detailed its findings Friday in "The Enduring Challenge of Concentrated Poverty in America," a two-year study that profiles 16 high-poverty communities. The study included larger cities, like Miami, down to smaller areas like the eastern region of Albany. The report describes an area with no major commercial or real estate development and few social services, where 90 percent of the money made is spent outside the region, and where year 2000 statistics showed a 45 percent poverty rate. The report says signs of improvement include new subsidized housing - though some national housing experts blame public housing enclaves for concentrating poverty.

(Associated Press)

Credit crisis hammers Aflac, Synovus 3Q numbers

Columbus-based Aflac Insurance and Synovus Financial Services are both reeling from the nationwide economic crisis.

Just-released third-quarter statements by both firms showed massive losses in investments and income from the same period last year.

Synovus's net income nosedived 85-percent to $66 million dollars over loan losses and defaulted mortgages.

Similarly, Aflac's net income tumbled 76-percent to $100 million dollars.

The insurer had close to 400 million dollars in shares in Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual and Ford Motor Company, among others.

Click here for more GPB business news coverage.