Georgia Power Celebrates Economic Development Week 2022

May 9-13, 2022, is designated as Economic Development Week, created by the International Economic Development Council in 2016 to increase awareness of local programs that create jobs, advance career development opportunities, and improve the quality of life in communities everywhere.

For almost a century, Georgia Power has been helping communities across the state grow and prosper. In fact, since 2015, we have helped to bring or retain more than 120,000 jobs to the state and supported the addition of nearly $33 billion in capital investment.

Georgia Power’s Economic Development team has worked continuously to create new job opportunities and help small and local businesses thrive. 2021 was a record-breaking year for jobs and investments in Georgia. The outcome was over 18,000 jobs and $7 billion in investment resulting from projects Georgia Power’s Community & Economic Development team worked on with state and local partners in helping businesses recruit to and expand in Georgia. Tracking comparable projects in 2022 show the year is off to an outstanding start with 7,000 jobs and $2.9 billion in investments tracked in the first quarter.

“Every year we look forward to celebrating Economic Development Week – a week dedicated to sharing how economic development teams help their communities to grow. This year marks 95 years of Georgia Power supporting community and economic development in the state of Georgia,” said Walt Farrell, Vice President, Community & Economic Development. “Working hand-in-hand with our partners we strive to provide innovative resources to our communities and businesses, as well as working in classrooms to help prepare Georgia’s future workforce. We’re proud to know our daily efforts lead to a more prosperous state for the people who call Georgia home.” 

The Georgia Power Economic Development team recently launched two exciting new initiatives to strengthen the local business community:

• Grow Georgia is a platform to accelerate the growth of minority-owned and small businesses. With over 38, 000 minority-owned businesses in Georgia, growgeorgia.com creates a digital hub of resources on topics such as funding, expansion support, networking and more.
• The CREATE (Cultivating Rural Entrepreneurs and Transforming Economies) Program is a 2-year cohort program developed in partnership between Georgia Power, Main Street America, and the University of Georgia Office of Public Service and Outreach. Six rural communities were selected to be a part of the program and will have the opportunity to participate in several in-person workshops, while receiving technical assistance, implementation support and seed grants.

Click here to read more about Economic Development Week and the work of our team on Select Georgia.