ATLANTA—By now, you've seen the numbers. Atlanta is hitting on all cylinders. Or, as Walt Mercer, executive vice president of SunTrust Banks in Atlanta, likes to say, Atlanta is truly back.
“Last year, we were seventh among US MSAs for job growth, producing 65,000 jobs,” Mercer tells GlobeSt.com. “Companies have moved in or expanded, like Pulte Homes from Michigan or Mercedes coming in from New Jersey or State Farm or Porsche. Georgia is focused on keeping the Delta hub here. You've got corporate investment and a whole bunch of Fortune 100 companies here which continue to expand.”
That job growth is of Atlanta's key drivers. But it's not the only one.
Mercer says it's important to understand that Atlanta is no longer a FIRE-only city. FIRE meaning finance, insurance and real estate. As he sees it, Atlanta has transitioned to an ICEE city market, meaning intellectual capital, technology, education and energy.
“We're not an energy market but we're producing technology jobs in every sector,” Mercer says. “We're now the center of automotive technology with GM and Porsche basing their North American design and the technology groups here. We have communications and transportation hubs. Our airport sees 98 million passengers a year, the largest in the world.”
With all this, Atlanta still has a cost of living that's lower than the national average for large metros. People keep moving to Atlanta because it's affordable and there are good schools and a strong university system, including Georgia Tech, Emory, Georgia State and the University of Georgia, producing an educated workforce with highly-skilled labor.
“The HOPE Scholarship has been a huge success,” Mercer says. “So people not only come out of these schools but they want to stay here and they can get jobs here and they can afford to live here. Atlanta is truly back.”
Of course, Mercer is no Pollyanna. For his take on the less-than-ideal issues that are left in Atlanta, read our last interview: Atlanta: CRE Challenges That Remain.
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