Georgia Counties available for viewing:

Cobb, Dekalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett

Appling

Athens-Clarke

Atkinson

Augusta-Richmond

Bacon

Baker

Baldwin

Banks

Barrow

Bartow

Ben Hill

Berrien

Bibb

Bleckley

Brantley

Brooks

Bryan

Bulloch

Burke

Butts

Calhoun

Camden

Candler

Carroll

Catoosa

Charlton

Chatham

Chattahoochee

Chattooga

Cherokee

Clarke

Clay

Clayton

Clinch

Cobb

Coffee

Colquitt

Columbia

Columbus

Cook

Coweta

Crawford

Crisp

Dade

Dawson

DeKalb

Decatur

Dodge

Dooly

Dougherty

Douglas

Early

Echols

Effingham

Elbert

Emanuel

Evans

Fannin

Fayette

Floyd

Forsyth

Franklin

Fulton

Gilmer

Glascock

Gylnn

Gordon

Grady

Greene

Gwinnett

Habersham

Hall

Hancock

Haralson

Harris

Hart

Heard

Henry

Houston

Irwin

Jackson

Jasper

Jeff Davis

Jefferson

Jenkins

Johnson

Jones

Lamar

Lanier

Laurens

Lee

Liberty

Lincoln

Long

Lowndes

Lumpkin

Macon

Madison

Marion

McDuffie

McIntosh

Meriwether

Miller

Mitchell

Monroe

Montgomery

Morgan

Murray

Muscogee

Newton

Oconee

Oglethorpe

Paulding

Peach

Pickens

Pierce

Pike

Polk

Pulaski

Putnam

Quitman

Rabun

Randolph

Richmond

Rockdale

Schley

Screven

Seminole

Spalding

Stephens

Stewart

Sumter

Talbot

Taliaferro

Tattnall

Taylor

Telfair

Terrell

Thomas

Tift

Toombs

Towns

Treutlen

Troup

Turner

Twiggs

Union

Upson

Walker

Walton

Ware

Warren

Washington

Wayne

Webster

Wheeler

White

Whitfield

Wilcox

Wilkes

Wilkinson

Worth

INCENTIVES

Georgia provides a wide variety of statutory and negotiated incentives to help eligible businesses realize their goals. As an active and interested business partner, Georgia will work with your company to provide the most attractive incentive packages, commensurate with project needs and determine resource availability.

Lower taxes and a lower cost of living enable you to do more with the money you make and maintain a higher standard of living. Home prices, energy rates and office space all index below national averages for comparable areas of the country. But the incentives for doing business in Georgia go far beyond your quality of life. Georgia’s strategic location, transportation infrastructure, agreeable climate and logistics network all make Georgia a better place for you to do business.

Georgia’s outstanding livability coupled with a variety of attractive incentives makes doing business here a pleasure and gives companies a distinct advantage.

Financial Assistance

Businesses are nurtured by Georgia’s vast resources and services, designed to speed and sustain economic growth and market success. In Georgia, you can transform a prospective business venture into a thriving enterprise by utilizing the state’s many financial incentives.

Small business start-ups and Fortune 500 companies alike can utilize Georgia’s many tax credits, designed to speed financial prosperity and enrich their workforce. Establishing or relocating your headquarters to Georgia may qualify you to receive a headquarters or new manufacturing facilities job tax credit for establishing jobs. You can also benefit from the tax credits designed to accelerate economic growth in Georgia’s competitive industries and for those meeting specific business needs for manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, processing, telecommunications, tourism, and research and development firms.

Small business companies can also thrive in Georgia with the help of programs designed specifically to meet their unique needs. Your small business can improve its bottom line and become more fiscally competitive as a result of tax credits. Programs developed in conjunction with the University of Georgia’s Small Business Center, Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center and the Georgia Department of Economic Development's regional offices are all available to speed your success in a regional, national and global marketplace.

Your employees will also find Georgia to be a place for personal growth and enrichment. Ongoing workforce training opportunities, supported by the Employer’s Credit for Approved Employee Retraining, include a proactive retraining of employees to help them learn the new skills required in a changing competitive environment. The low-cost of living across the tate, lower energy costs and valuable tax credits all translate into savings and better quality of life for you and your employees.

Economic success is a common goal for all businesses, and forward-thinking incentives, training programs and customized resources will continue the momentum of Georgia’s thriving business climate. No matter the size or the industry, the state of Georgia will continue to be proactive in creating innovative programs to meet your needs for growth and competitive success.

Location

By air, by road, by rail and by water, Georgia’s ideal location helps move your business. The state is at the doorstep of the international marketplace; its location provides you with unparalleled access to the world.

Your business will stay connected to the world through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which hold the distinction of being the world’s busiest commuter airport. International flights depart daily from Georgia’s capital to 45 cities in 30 countries, including non-stop service to the world’s major business capitals. As the state’s economic development prowess flourishes, so do its airports. Hartsfield-Jackson plans to spend an impressive $5.4 billion towards its 10-year development program to maintain its foothold as a global air hub. Georgia boasts 110 other public airports, offering you flights to business centers throughout the country.

On the ground, Georgia's 1,244 miles of interstate highways link you to neighboring states and beyond. The state is served by a total of four major interstate highways, ranking Georgia 10^th in the nation for such superhighways. In addition, two of the nation's seven most important north-south transcontinental interstate highways pass through Georgia. Nearly 5,000 miles of railroad across the state give you business transportation alternatives and the flexibility to move your goods efficiently and cost effectively.

Georgia’s deepwater ports empower your business to stay ahead of the competition by moving cargo faster. Orchestrated by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), the state continues to invest in the development of leading-edge technology and marketing and operational strategies to make this happen. Since 1945, Georgia’s ports in Bainbridge, Brunswick, Columbus and Savannah have served as magnets for international trade and investment.

Transportation

Georgia believes in making business easier for you. Whether you doing business by land, air or sea – Georgia has what you need to get your goods to the right location on time and on the money.

You’ll find that getting you or your goods to Georgia by air couldn’t be easier or more convenient. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest passenger airport, with more than 2,000 daily flights to locations all over the world. Hartsfield-Jackson allows you to reach the majority of U.S. markets within two hours by air.

If transporting goods by sea is what your business needs to stay on course, then Georgia is your answer. Everything from automobiles to grain moves through Georgia’s state-of-the-art deepwater ports in Savannah and Brunswick. With Savannah, doing business in Georgia gives you direct access the largest foreign commerce port on the south Atlantic coast. The Georgia Ports Authority is also here to help with your shipping needs and maintains offices in Atlanta, Savannah, Brunswick, Chicago, New York, Buenos Aires, Oslo, Athens and Tokyo – for true global convenience.

In addition to excellent air and sea business options, all roads lead to Georgia with four major interstates and 20,000 miles of federal and state highways. Georgia’s proximity translates into two truckload days or less from 82 percent of the nation’s industrial market and 79 percent from the country’s largest consumer markets. Throw in the fact that Georgia maintains the lowest fuel tax in the United States for carriers and you’ve got one more reason why it’s advantageous to travel both in and out of Georgia.

If shipping by rail is what you need, Georgia tracks have you covered. Both Norfolk Southern Corporation and CSX Transportation can provide your business intermodal rail service throughout the state.

Georgia has the transportation infrastructure you need to keep your business on the move.

Climate

Georgia has a strong, vibrant business environment that’s on the move globally. We’re at the center of a progressive, ever-growing region and serve as an international gateway to the world. Our dynamic location can help make you and your investments a financial success.

Our state tax rate is very competitive nationally and state law mandates that the state keep a balanced budget. Georgia is a right-to-work state with a highly skilled workforce and world class universities. As of August 1, 2005, Georgia had a steady Standard & Poor’s rating of AAA, a Moody’s AAA credit rating and a Fitch AAA rating.

Georgia is home to some of the world’s most recognized corporations including homegrown companies such as Coca-Cola, CNN and The Home Depot, as well as these other well recognized names:

• The Home Depot (World Headquarters)
• Delta Air Lines (World Headquarters)
• AFLAC Insurance (World Headquarters)
• InterContinental Hotels (Americas Headquarters)
• Newell Rubbermaid (World Headquarters)
• Philips Electronics (North American Headquarters)
• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control - CDC (Headquarters)
• Gulfstream Aerospace (World Headquarters

International

With direct market access to the Americas and a centralized location in the fastest growing region in the U.S. Georgia offers your international business the perfect location to grow and make your business dreams reality.

Georgia offers international business partners a thriving community of global commerce and the most culturally diverse environment in the region. Georgia is the crossroads of the Americas by air, land and sea. With the world's largest airport, two deep water ports, and the most extensive surface transportation network in the country, Georgia can provide you access to over 80 percent of the U.S. industrial market within a two-day truck haul.

Georgia can also offer you access to a growing global business community that includes 52 countries with consular, trade or chamber of commerce offices. In addition, the state of Georgia provides you with a team of experienced business professionals located in key markets around the world to help you expand your business globally. With more than 2,200 internationally owned facilities representing 44 countries, Georgia gives you access to the world.

If you're looking for a place to grow your international business in the region, the U.S. or the Americas, you need look no further. If you're searching for quality Georgia products, we have exactly what you need. Or if you're a Georgia company trying to increase your export sales or expand into new international markets, you'll find the tools and resources you need to realize your dreams.

Georgia understands the international marketplace, and we’re here to help. We have the international contacts and innovative trade programs that can help you grow and reach your international business goals.

Trade Programs

If you’re a Georgia manufacturer or professional service provider looking for new markets, you can start or expand your international trade efforts with the support of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

In Georgia, we know companies that sell overseas grow an average of 18 percent faster, and their workforces are typically 10 to 15 percent more productive than those that don’t. International sales volume lowers overall production costs and leads to increased profitability. So, when you partner with the GDEcD’s Global Commerce Division, you gain access to research, online assistance, training, financial opportunities and, the in-country market assessment you need to succeed. By working with the GDEcD you’ll also receive assistance with trade shows, international trade missions, in-country matchmaking appointments, connections with international buyers and trade opportunity alerts.

The GDEcD’s development program sells Georgia to international markets and hosts international trade forums and visits from foreign delegations. This program also coordinates with Hemisphere Inc., which is leading efforts to locate the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in Atlanta, and the state’s three Foreign Trades Zones in Atlanta, Brunswick and Savannah.

Additionally the GDEcD gives you access to TradeRoots. Sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, this program includes customized workshops in seven communities – Columbus, Douglas, Gainesville, Rome, Savannah, Thomasville and Tifton – to educate companies and economic developers on the benefits of free trade agreements, the differences and similarities among these agreements, and how trade serves as an economic development tool.

To help smooth the way in new markets, the state’s Office of Protocol Services serves as the main point of contact for the Atlanta Consular Corps, foreign consulates, trade offices and chambers of commerce. It provides information and exceptional services to help make your time in Georgia – whether for a business trip or relocation – run smoothly.

Fifty-two governments throughout the world have consular offices and/or trade representation in Atlanta. To learn more about these offices and what they can do to help you promote your business internationally, visit our Consulates or International Offices.

At the GDEcD, we’re here to make your life easier. Take advantage of the resources, assets and know-how of our Global Commerce Division and transform the way you do business.