State's Growing Economy Recognized By Area Development Magazine

ATLANTA, June 8, 2011—The state of Georgia has won national recognition for its work to attract high-value investment projects that result in job creation and economic growth. Georgia was one of nine states awarded the 2011 Silver Shovel Award by Area Development magazine, an influential trade publication.

Area Development highlighted Georgia's emerging renewable energy sector as an instrumental reason for the award, including SKC's new facility in Covington for producing film for solar panels. The facility is experiencing a $100 million, 200,000-square-foot expansion that is expected to create 120 new jobs. In addition, Georgia BioMass, LLC, was noted by the magazine. The company will build a $150 million biomass facility in Waycross, manufacturing wood pellets for power plants overseas.

'This Silver Shovel award is a testament to all of the hard work done by our project managers and partners,' said Chris Cummiskey, commissioner for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. 'Of course, the real success of our work is measured by the number of jobs we help create in the state. That number was more than 19,000 last fiscal year, thanks to companies like these.'

Other projects that garnered the state recognition include the GE Energy Smart Grid Technology Center of Excellence in Marietta, Systemax in Jefferson, De Wafelbakkers in McDonough, MAGE SOLAR in Dublin and Pilgrim's Pride in Douglas. The magazine also featured the expansion of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation in Savannah as a major economic development project.

Area Development selected the winners after collecting information from all 50 states about their top10 job creation and investment projects. The weighted score is totaled after evaluating the number of jobs created, the combined dollar amount of investments, the number of new facilities and the diversity of industries represented. The top three are awarded the Gold Shovel, while runners up are chosen from population-based categories. Georgia won the Silver Shovel for states with a population greater than nine million.

Area Development has acknowledged Georgia as a leader in economic development in four of the past five years, awarding the state the Gold Shovel in 2007 and the Silver Shovel in 2009 and 2010.

About GDEcD
The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. For more information, visit www.georgia.org.