Georgia’s metro edge counties showing fastest job growth

Counties on the edge of Georgia's metro areas are showing some of the fastest job growth rates, according to recently released information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The 2007-2009 national recession hit Georgia hard. Between December 2007 and December 2009, more than 8% of jobs in the state disappeared.

As we all know now, since then, the state has experienced a strong rebound in jobs, stronger than the nation as a whole. Since December 2009 through the end of December 2016, the state has gained more than half-a-million new jobs, more than offsetting previous losses.

The story of job growth in Georgia since the recession has been the increasing urbanization, as employment growth concentrated in the state’s metro areas, especially in the Atlanta and Savannah metros.

What is less obvious is that some of the strongest post-recession growth has been not in the core counties in these metro areas, but in their so-called “edge counties”, those counties at the periphery, but still included in the metro areas.

These counties have a host of advantages including lots of lower price land that can be developed at lower cost, along with lower taxes, while still being in commuting range of urban centers.

And this story isn’t just about the Atlanta metro area. Non-core counties are showing remarkable job growth in a variety of metro areas around Georgia.

The job numbers speak for themselves (December 2009-December 2016):

• Twiggs County (Macon MSA): Added 1,317 jobs (+133.4%)
• Burke County (Augusta MSA): Added 4,570 jobs (+77.0%)
• Jackson County (Atlanta MSA): Added 9,745 jobs (+59.1%)
• Echols County (Valdosta MSA): Added 230 jobs (+45.1%)
• Bryan County (Savannah MSA): Added 2,415 jobs (+42.9%)
• Oconee County (Athens MSA): Added 3,199 jobs (+40.6%)
• Jones County (Macon MSA): Added 1,329 jobs (+40.2%)
• Forsyth County (Atlanta MSA): Added 20,033 jobs (+38.0%)
• Monroe County (Macon MSA): Added 1,871 jobs (+32.8%)
• Troup County (Atlanta MSA): Added 9,816 jobs (+32.7%)

For the most recent time frame (December 2015-December 2016), the story remains the same, with Twiggs, Burke, and Oconee counties showing the highest percentage job growth for Georgia counties in metro areas, followed by Meriwether, Murray, and Jackson counties.

Here are the county job growth numbers for the top 10 metro counties between December 2015 and December 2016 (most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics):

• Twiggs County (Macon MSA): Added 1,156 jobs (+100.7%)
• Burke County (Augusta MSA): Added 3,533 jobs (+50.7%)
• Oconee County (Athens MSA): Added 1,092 jobs (+10.9%)
• Meriwether County (Atlanta MSA): Added 422 jobs (+9.7%)
• Murray County (Dalton MSA & Chattanooga MSA): Added 880 jobs (+9.6%)
• Jackson County (Atlanta MSA): Added 2,115 jobs (+8.8%)
• Lee County (Albany MSA): Added 491 jobs (+8.1%)
• Walton County (Atlanta MSA): Added 1,520 jobs (+7.2%)
• Paulding County (Atlanta MSA): Added 1,531 jobs (+7.0%)
• Oglethorpe County (Athens MSA): Added 107 jobs (+6.9%)

Admittedly, many of these counties start from a low employment base, which makes it easier to reach the high percentage increases, but consistently, these high job growth counties share one common feature: They are located in a metro area, but are not the core county for that area.

The fast growth of these “edge counties” calls into question earlier reports that people were abandoning the suburbs in favor of urban cores.

Judging from the data, it appears that while Georgia is participating in the general trend towards urban areas over rural ones, many citizens of the state are increasingly able to find work not in the urban core but at the outer edges of these increasingly metro areas.

New bioscience training center opens in Social Circle, Ga.

State officials formally marked the grand opening of a new $14 million Georgia Bioscience Training Center on Sep. 10 in Newton County.

Located directly across from the site of Baxalta’s $1 billion biomanufacturing facility in Social Circle, Ga., the training center is designed to meet Baxalta’s workforce training needs and includes flexible space to accommodate the training needs of additional life sciences companies that choose to locate or expand in Georgia. The training center is owned by the State of Georgia and operated by Georgia Quick Start, a division of the Technical College System of Georgia.

“A skilled, professionally trained and qualified workforce is essential for Georgia to usher in a new era of bioscience industry,” said Gov. Nathan Deal. “The BioScence Training Center is a showcase destination where biotech prospects and industry groups can see the level of support and training expertise Georgia can provide. Operated by Quick Start, the No. 1 workforce training program in the country, this first-of-its-kind training center offers companies a great opportunity to secure a qualified workforce and offers Georgians resources and support to ensure their success in these high performance jobs.”

“Our employees are the core of this mission,” said senior vice president and head of global operations of Baxalta John Furey. “With Georgia Quick Start’s help, we will continue to attract and train top-talent in the area to join our Baxalta team.”

The facility features custom-made technology that simulates Baxalta’s biomanufacturing processes such as centrifugation, chromatography, nanofiltration and aseptic filling. It also has space for the aseptic production of pharmaceutical-grade clinical samples. Additionally, the training center is equipped to deliver training on a wide range of advanced manufacturing technologies including mechatronics, metrology and process controls.

“This is a significant milestone in Georgia’s growth as a premier location for biomanufacturing, and solidifies the state’s commitment to the life science industry,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Chris Carr. “To be able to offer biotech companies access to customized training and one-of-a-kind equipment gives us a major competitive advantage in the global marketplace.”

Baxalta was spun off from Baxter International in July. It is currently fighting attempts by Shire PLC, which launched a takeover bid in August.