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)

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Albany gets infusion of nearly 400 jobs

Dougherty County is getting a big boost for its' economy, as nearly 400 jobs over the next few years are coming to Albany.

Senior Life Insurance Company announced it will establish a multipurpose complex in Albany. By the time of its' January 1st opening of next year, about 100 jobs will have been created, with 300 more following over three years.

Southwest Georgia has seen a decline in agriculture and manufacturing jobs in recent years. Two major companies also recently left the area. That makes this news so exciting for Dougherty County Commission chairman Jeff "Bodine" Sinyard:

"Everyone is winning, and most of all the citizens of southwest Georgia are winning...we're starved for jobs in southwest Georgia and this announcement is an incredible good injection for all of us...it's a real shot in the arm for everybody in southwest Georgia".

Sinyard says the key is that these are quality jobs with good benefits packages for future workers.

Seinor Life is based in Thomasville, but company officials say it can meet its growing needs in Albany.

NCR To Relocate, Bring 2-K Jobs To Georgia

Official word has come this morning that a Fortune 500 company is moving to Georgia, bringing with it more than 2,000 jobs. The automated equipment firm NCR will move its corporate headquarters from Ohio to metro Atlanta’s Duluth. In addition, the company will also build a manufacturing plant in Columbus. The move will spur 1,250 jobs to the metro Atlanta area, and bring 870 fresh jobs to west Georgia. NCR has strong ties to Georgia already, with hundreds of workers in the metro Atlanta region currently, and another 900 jobs to be created with a facility in Peachtree City. NCR makes cash registers and bank ATM’s among various produced equipment.

Businesses Opening in Columbus, Norcross

Two digital imaging companies have announced plans to bring several hundred jobs to Georgia over the next few years.

YesVideo is hiring 300 people for a regional plant set to open in Norcross in Gwinnett County next month.

The Santa Clara, California-based firm converts home movies and videos to DVDs and other digital formats.

Steven Bush is the city's economic development manager. He says the jobs are quality positions:

"They are going to be a lot of tech jobs; a lot of jobs that require some training.”

Bush says salaries will be in the mid-40's. He also notes that the conversion service is available at 30,000 retail locations, including Walgreens, CVS and Costco.

The firm is the second high-tech company to open its doors in Norcross recently: Solar powercell maker Suneva opened a $75 million dollar plant in Norcross late last year.

Meanwhile, in west Georgia, Kodak is adding on a third production line at their Columbus plant.

A Kodak spokesperson says they'll add another 50 spots to the current 250 jobs over the next three years.

The plant makes digital printing plates for the packaging and printing industry.

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Coke to slash jobs

Coca-Cola plans to cut up to 125 jobs by year's end. All the jobs will be in North America. The Atlanta-based company says it’s part of a reorganization designed to spur growth and boost profits. Coke says employees who lose their jobs will be offered severance packages.

Also today Coke announced plans to help build a $45 million plastics recycling plant in South Carolina. The company will also expand other initiatives as part of a new goal to have every bottle it sells in the United States recycled or reused.

Coffee County Gets Needed Jobs Infusion

The announcement of a construction products-maker bringing jobs and investment to south Georgia may be the start of a rebound for an area recently hard-hit by layoffs.

GreenTech Manufacturing will set up a facility in the city of Douglas in Coffee County. The company, which makes environmentally-friendly construction products, is expected to generate more than 300 jobs and $20-million of investment for the area.

It’s badly-needed good news in the face of the recent announcement that a Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in the rural county is closing, putting 900 people out of work.

But Governor Perdue spokesperson Bert Brantley says the state may be only weeks away from finding a replacement buyer to keep at least some of the chicken growers, and perhaps laid-off plant workers in the region, employed:

"If we can get at least something moving forward and some of these growers with a place to send their product hopefully when the rebound comes and the growth returns we’ll be in a position to take advantage of that and grow even faster out of it."

For now, Brantley says applications and resumes for jobs with GreenTech are being accepted.

Verizon Creates Additional 600 Georgia Jobs

A major wireless communications company is expanding its operations in the state, bringing more investment and jobs to Georgia. Verizon Wireless will open a new customer service center in metro Atlanta’s Alpahretta. Jeff Mango, president of Verizon's Georgia/Alabama region, says the move brings 600 news jobs and $27 million in investment to the area:

"That brings us over 90 facilities across the state of Georgia. And these 600 employees, is added to our existing Verizon Wireless employess of 4,000 across the state."

Mango says recruiting and hiring for the jobs will continue through May. Training for all 600 new employees would be complete by early next year.

Air Force deal means jobs for Ga.

The U.S. Air Force’s $40 billion contract to build a new fleet of air tankers may soon fuel a boom of new jobs in Georgia.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting Northrop Grumman, the California-based defense contractor that received the deal, could create 4,200 jobs in the state.

The company has manufacturing outlets in Vidalia, Atlanta and Milledgeville and subcontractors in Dublin and Chamblee.

The contract award has been controversial. U.S.-based Boeing Company and several U.S. lawmakers have protested plan, saying Northrop Grumman and its European partner company would send too many tanker production jobs overseas.

Clayton Schools To Cut Jobs, Salaries

Clayton County will cut 200 teaching jobs from its school system and effectively slash salaries for administrators and other employees. 100 staff members are also slated to lose jobs, although a county official says the hope is to trim jobs through attrition.

The action for the county just south of Atlanta will save more than $20 million from next year’s budget. Clayton already knows it will get $23 million less in funding from the state next year.

Clayton's school board voted 8-0 Monday night to approve the plan.

North Georgia attracts new jobs

Governor Sonny Perdue’s trade mission to Europe is paying off. Today the Governor announced that German power supply company Transtechnik is adding 45 jobs in Cherokee County.

The company opened its facility in Ball Ground last March, and hopes to have 100 employees by 2009. The new jobs will range from $12-an-hour manufacturing positions to engineering jobs averaging $55,000 a year, as well as administrative positions.

Governor Perdue is in his second week of a 10-day trip to Europe that he calls an economic and development mission.

Savannah River Site Could Get Up to 3000 New Jobs

The economic stimulus could bring employment to the nuclear industry.

The stimulus would provide nearly $2 billion and up to 3000 jobs to the Savannah River Site, which is near Augusta.

"These are shovel ready jobs that have been identified and hopefully will make a big difference not only for environmental management in the area, but also create new jobs for the area," says Seth Kirshenberg, director of the Energy Communities Alliance, a national organization of counties and cities where sites operated by the U.S. Department of Energy are located.

However, there's been no official announcement yet.

The DOE will get about $6 billion in federal funds for environmental clean up at its sites.

The Savannah River Site refined nuclear materials for weapons during the Cold War. But employment numbers there dropped afterward, ever since the site's mission changed to cleanup efforts.

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Public defender's office cuts jobs and budget

Due to a smaller budget than originally expected, the state public defender's office says it will have to cut jobs and many expenses. Four-and-a-quarter million dollars in cuts was voted-on by the Public Defender Standards Council to get within the 35.4 million dollar amount granted by the Legislature for the next fiscal year.

Officials say the majority of the cutbacks will result in the elimination of 41 full-time positions, and all part-time jobs. To also meet the tighter budget, across the board cuts in operating expenses is expected.

Gwinnett County to cut jobs

Gwinnett County is cutting 93 positions from two government departments as part of a plan to slice $35 million out of its budget. County officials announced the cuts Thursday. The county plans to cut 79 jobs from the planning and development department and 14 jobs from water resources division. A Gwinnett County spokesperson said employees will be offered retirement packages and workers must decide by November 21 if they will take the offer. It’s expected the cuts will save about $10 million over the next two years.

(Associated Press)

Delta to Cut More Jobs (Again)

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will cut twice as many jobs as it planned when it offered voluntary severance payouts in March. A spokeswoman says about 4,000 people took the package, and Delta willaccept all the volunteers. Delta is among several major airlines in recent months to announce cuts in domestic capacity, defer plane orders or shed jobs because of record fuel prices.

Jobs could be lost as GA realigns computer needs

Governor Perdue has announced a plan he says will make Georgia a more modern and well managed state. It would also affect over a thousand state jobs. The plan calls for consolidating and outsourcing computer operations which state agencies use to process information like driver's licenses, welfare and child support payments. Governor Perdue says such a move is necessary, because the state cannot guarantee the safety of its current technology. "This is a confession. Today, I can't even assure Georgians that we have the basic essential security and disaster recovery levels worth of a 24-hour operation serving the needs of over 9 million Georgians." Private contractors will handle day-to-day operations of the state's information technology, meaning that more than a thousand people could see their jobs eliminated or shifted to the private sector. The Georgia Technology Authority will oversee the plan.

Georgia Unemployment Rate In Double Digits

Nearly a half a million Georgians are out of work. The Department of Labor released its June unemployment figures today. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is at 10.1 percent—the highest ever recorded in the state.

"We are continuing to see lay off in construction, manufacturing, really across all sectors," says Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, "except of course health care and education."

In June, 483,394 Georgians were looking for work.

Thurmond calls on Georgia leaders to engage the private sector to create jobs. He also encourages the unemployed to seek more education and training to prepare for future jobs.

"Green jobs is a growing industry, ways to save energy, maximize potential in that arena," says Thurmond. "I think manufacturing, but with a more highly skilled work force will create employment opportunity in the future."

Right now about a third of jobless Georgians receive unemployment benefits from the state. Georgia's unemployment rate is worse than the nation's. It's at 9.5 percent.

Kia Plant an Example of Jobs, Job Losses

Kia Motors assembly plant and new access road, along I-85 between West Point and LaGrange, Ga., December, 2008. (Dave Bender/file)

As state unemployment rates soar to the highest in a quarter-century, west Georgia is seeing both business development -- and recession over the new Kia auto plant under construction at West Point.

KIA and state officials unveil Now Hiring! sign at ceremony at West Georgia Technical College, Jan. 8, 2008. (Dave Bender/file)

The Latest Georgia Department of Labor statistics say almost 400,000 Georgians are looking for work.

Jobless numbers for December doubled to over eight percent since the same period the previous year.

In Columbus, a prospective Kia supplier is canceling a planned facility after changing owners. That plant would have brought 350 jobs to the city to make car parts.

Despite the gloomy figures, Mike Gaymon of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce says west Georgia will weather the recession better than much of Georgia:

"Within the next couple of quarters, you'll see the economy in our region start to come out quicker than the state; which will probably be followed sometime later on in 0-10. So, based upon all the primary jobs that will be coming into play, over the next several months, and within the next six months to a year, our economy we think is poised to be a bright spot in our state and in our region."

One signpost of that recovery is the announcement by another Kia supplier, who plans to open a seat-belt plant in West Point, that will employ 50 people.

Kia officials say the assembly line is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of '09.
Signs of the times in west Georgia. (Dave Bender)


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Jobs and investment on the way to Troup County

250 jobs and nearly 28-million investment dollars is on the way to Troup County. Sejong Georgia LLC is a leading and longtime Kia supplier, and will set-up a facility in LaGrange. The Korean company in this plant will make muffler and exhaust systems for Kia Motors. This announcement is another of several in recent months that supports Kia. Other plants and jobs are on the boards for West Point, Meriwether County, and other locations in west Georgia.

Savannah Nets Jobs

150 jobs are coming to Savannah. Modular interior manufacturer DIRTT has announced plans to open a new assembly plant there come spring. Executives of the Canadian-based company said the new plant could add up to 150 jobs in the next two years. The company makes modular walls and floors. DIRTT is an acronym for "Doing It Right This Time."

(Associated Press)

Study says dropouts cost Georgia billions

A new study shows Georgia is losing over $24 billion and 200,000 jobs a year because of its high school drop-out rate. The study conducted by Georgia Southern University's Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development shows just how much it hurts the state's economy that over 17% of residents 25-and-older don't have a high school education.

The study's author Jeremy Hill says, if Georgia's graduation rate were the same as the nation's, Georgia's economy would gain about $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the state.

"If we were able to do that not only could we get more people employed and in better paying jobs directly, creating wealth, it would create other jobs indirectly," he said.

Study figures are from 2005 and do reflect an improvement over previous years, when drop-out rates were higher. This year, the state is hiring graduation coaches for every high school to boost graduation rates.