2010 Trends Give Good Economic Outlook for 2011

1:57 p.m. Meeting concludes with JDA Chairman James Jarrett adding it's important for the community to be ready when the recession ends.

1:55 p.m. In a question-answer session, Lemmon said the Water Wars may actually be a good thing for Bartow, a metro Atlanta county with water to offer — both quality and quantity. Cartersville Mayor Matt Santini and Commissioner Clarence Brown said the community is in good shape as far as water is concerned.

1:40 p.m. Lemmon said the outlook for 2011 includes some good and bad news:

• Bartow unemployment will likely remain above the state average for much of 2011 and slowly decrese.

• Opportunity Zones in Cartersville and Less Developed Census Tracts in the county will begin to have a positive influence.

• Although the county will retain a lot of empty industrial buildings, there could be build-to-suit opportunities.

• Other good signs include Georgia Highlands expansion and the proposed sports complex in Emerson.

• Construction and housing will likely recover more quickly than other communities.

• Logistics, telecommunications, logistics, manufacturing and tourism will slowly grow.

• There could be some good news for Bartow from the plastics, aerospace and automotive industries. 

1:38 p.m. Manufacturing jobs created in 2010 were 1,501 compared to 208 in 2009. Those types of jobs lost last year were 229 compared with 761 in the previous year.

1:33 p.m. Positive short- and long-term impact on Bartow's tax digest is a total of $2,682,144, 500 in new capital investment, including $77,754,500 in Cartersville.

More than 5,000 new manufacturing or tech jobs are expected with 784 of those in Cartersville.

1:32 p.m. More than 1,501 jobs are expected to result from those announcements, including 278 in Cartersville. A total of $955,600,000 in new capital investment is also expected, including $15,300,000 in Cartersville.

1:31 p.m. From those 60 inquiries and past interest came 17 commitments, including 12 expansions, two new manufacturing companies, two warehouse/distribution outlets and one other business.

1:30 p.m. Economic development in 2010 had 60 serious inquiries, 49 for buildings and 11 for greenfield sites. 20 were from companies, 16 from state partners, 15 from brokers and 9 from other sources.

1:27 p.m. 24 industrial buildings were leased or sold in 2010 versus 11 in 2009. The square footage to those buildings in 2010 was 1,533,258 compared to 201,339 in 2009.

1:22 p.m. Those 12 expansions come from nine companies. Lemmon said one company has three new projects, which will be announced publicly at a later date.

1:20 p.m. After discussions on strategic goals and objectives, Lemmon said 12 existing industry expansions occurred in 2010, which are expected to create 1,141 jobs and more than $925 million in capital investment.

1:08 p.m. Ecomonic Development Director Melinda Lemmon said Bartow County has seen some challenges, but trends in 2010 give 2011 a positive outlook.