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Economist sees full recovery for Georgia next year

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Georgia’s economy will bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic next year, despite inflation and the latest COVID-19 variant, the dean of the business school at the University of Georgia predicted Monday.

“We’ve made tremendous progress getting back to normal,” Benjamin Ayers of UGA’s Terry College of Business, told an audience of about 475 business leaders at the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta.  “By late 2022, Georgia’s economy will fully recover from the COVID-19 recession.”

In fact, Georgia’s forecast economic growth rate of 4.3% next year will outperform the predicted increase in the nation’s gross domestic product of 4.0%, Ayers said during Terry College’s annual Economic Outlook luncheon.

Continue reading at: GPB

Georgia Tech delivers $4 billion in economic impact to the State of Georgia

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Roughly 275.  That’s how many jobs the company Stord has brought to the state of Georgia since it opened its doors in 2016.  The startup was one of the first to go through Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X incubator, offering cloud-based software that has since revolutionized the supply chain sector.  And as the company continues to grow, it has no plans to leave Atlanta.

“One of the best things we’ve done to give back to Georgia is the way Stord has accelerated the overall technology ecosystem, mostly as it pertains to venture, and beyond that, just bringing more capital to the market,” said Sean Henry, CEO and co-founder of Stord.

It’s not just Stord that’s giving back to the state. Georgia Tech’s economic impact on the state of Georgia was $4 billion in fiscal year 2020, according to data recently released by the University System of Georgia.

Companies like SalesLoft, Greenlight, and Pindrop all graduated from Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) — the state’s oldest technology incubator — and have stayed headquartered in Atlanta, infusing millions in capital and thousands of jobs into the state economy.  Other startup programs on campus include VentureLab, ENGAGE, and the Global Center for Medical Innovation, to name a few, helping students and faculty set up companies based on creative ideas and technological innovation.

Continue reading at:  Georgia Tech News Center

Research, sponsored activity awards top $1 billion at Georgia Tech

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Research, economic development and other sponsored activities at Georgia Tech passed a significant milestone during the fiscal year that concluded on June 30, recording more than a billion dollars in new grants, contracts and other awards.  The record amount comes from federal government agencies, companies, private organizations, the state of Georgia and other sources.

The growth in new awards for sponsored activity allows Georgia Tech to take on complex and significant challenges involving multiple disciplines and collaborating organizations that bring together teams of researchers with a broad range of specialized expertise, noted Chaouki Abdallah, Georgia Tech’s executive vice present for research.

“Tackling society’s most pressing challenges requires multidisciplinary teams of scientists, engineers, business experts, policymakers and humanists, crosses multiple areas of specialization and often necessitates involvement from more than one research organization,” Abdallah said.  “This level of funding allows us to participate in and lead more complex, more important and more impactful research projects.  We are grateful to our research collaborators and to the state of Georgia for the confidence they have placed in us by providing these resources.”

Continue reading at:  Georgia Tech News Center

Georgia Tech’s economic impact on Atlanta clocks in at $3.3B in 2018

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The Georgia Institute of Technology’s impact on Atlanta’s economy grew 8.5% between 2017 and 2018, according to a new analysis released August 20.

All told, the Institute was responsible for more than $3.35 billion in direct and multiplied spending in fiscal year 2018.  That’s the highest of any University System of Georgia school, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

Overall, the 26 public colleges and universities in Georgia created nearly $17.7 billion in economic activity for their communities.

“The annual state economic impact report highlights just how vital University System of Georgia institutions are to communities throughout the state through the multiplier effect,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson.  “When you add in the impact of graduates in the community, the value is priceless.  In addition, Georgia Tech is honored to contribute through research collaborations, innovation neighborhoods and partnerships throughout the state, as well as through programs to strengthen Georgia’s STEM workforce.”

Continue reading at:  Georgia Tech News Center

Georgia Tech: A driver of economic development

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A crowd of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and political leaders gathered at The Biltmore Wednesday afternoon for an economic development forum, looking at the role Technology Square has played in the state’s economic growth and what it will take to continue expanding.

Geoff Duncan, lieutenant governor of Georgia, welcomed guests to “Georgia Tech: A Driver of Economic Development.”

“Being an entrepreneur is unscripted. It’s just in you,” Duncan said.  “As lieutenant governor I want to look for ways to harness and cultivate that potential here in Georgia.”

He acknowledged the role of education and thanked Georgia Tech’s leaders for striving to make Georgia the technology capital of the East Coast.

Continue reading at:  Georgia Tech News Center

Karen Fite to lead Enterprise Innovation Institute as Interim Vice President

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The Georgia Institute of Technology has named Karen Fite interim vice president of its economic development unit, the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2).

Fite, who is EI²’s associate vice president, will lead the 12-program organization while Georgia Tech conducts a national search for a permanent vice president to succeed Chris Downing, who retired in June after 31 years of service.

EI2 is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development.

Fite, who also is director of EI2’s Business & Industry Services group of programs, has more than 26 years of economic development experience at Tech.

Continue reading at:  Georgia Tech News Center

Chris Downing, vice president and director of Enterprise Innovation Institute, announces retirement

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Chris Downing, VP of EI2

Chris Downing, who has led the Georgia Institute of Technology’s economic development efforts as vice president and director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), is retiring after 31 years of service.

Downing, who has led EI2 since 2016, leaves behind a decades-long legacy of leadership experience at Georgia Tech in technology-based economic development, university outreach and technical assistance, entrepreneurship and start-up support, and program management.

His retirement is effective June 1, 2019.

“I feel very fortunate for such a diverse and challenging career and to have shared so many good years with the Georgia Tech family, and I am very appreciative of the many faculty, staff, and students who have made my time at Georgia Tech so interesting and inspiring,” Downing said. “Although I am leaving my full-time duties, I look forward to staying connected to Georgia Tech and supporting its mission of progress and service.”

After leaving IBM where he was a mechanical facilities engineer, Downing joined Georgia Tech in 1988 as a senior research engineer with the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

In 1996, he joined EI2 — then called the Economic Development Institute (EDI) — as the Griffin regional office manager and provided industrial extension and economic development services to the south metro Atlanta region.

Two years later, he was named group manager of technology services for the Economic Development Institute, where he was charged with overall management of technology deployment and information technology services to more than 200 EDI staff and associates located both on campus and in 12 regional offices across the state. In addition, this group provided technical research services for EDI clients in industry, business, and community economic development organizations.

In 2005, he was tapped to lead EI2’s Industry Services group, which included several key outreach programs: the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), the Energy and Environmental Management Center, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC), the Southeast Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SETAAC), and the Georgia Tech Regional Office Network.

Downing was named EI2’s associate vice president in 2013 and vice president in 2016.

In that time, he spearheaded the three-fold expansion of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and created the Venture Center space that has helped to attract several Fortune 100 corporate innovation centers to Technology Square.

His technology-based economic development efforts helped Georgia Tech and the EI2 win the prestigious “2014 Innovation Award” from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the “2014 Outstanding Research Park Award” from the Association of Research Parks.

Most recently, Downing led the feasibility study for the expansion of Georgia Tech’s second research park, Technology Enterprise Park, into a broader life sciences and technology innovation district.

“Chris has been a tireless champion and supporter of our economic development initiatives, working to maintain strong partnerships across the state while creating new collaborations,” said Georgia Tech President G. P. “Bud” Peterson. “We appreciate his leadership role as Georgia Tech partners with the state to strengthen Georgia’s economy.”

Downing is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering.

Georgia Tech names new leadership for ATDC

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John Avery is the new director of Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC).

The Georgia Institute of Technology has named John Avery as its next director of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC).

Avery, a serial entrepreneur who was involved in four startups, assumes his position Nov. 6. Most recently, he was engineering group manager of Panasonic Automotive Systems’ Panasonic Innovation Center at the Georgia Tech campus.

A unit of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), Georgia Tech’s outreach and economic development arm, ATDC works with more than 800 technology startup entrepreneurs each year across Georgia. Founded in 1981, ATDC has become one of the most successful, longest-running, and largest university-based startup incubators in the country.

The announcement follows a comprehensive, four-month national search for a new leader at ATDC following the departure of Jen Bonnett, who left in June 2018 to become the Savannah Economic Development Authority’s vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship.

In taking the permanent appointment, Avery will lead a team of 26 full- and part-time staff and advisors who run ATDC’s various initiatives, including its financial, health, and retail technology verticals, support statewide activities such as the ATDC @ program, and coach technology entrepreneurs in Georgia.

Avery will report to Chris Downing, EI2 vice president and director.

“John is an outstanding leader and successful entrepreneur who understands the startup journey and commercialization process, with vast relationships in the startup and business communities,” Downing said. “We’re pleased to welcome him to EI2and see him bring ATDC, one of the nation’s premiere technology incubators, to even greater success in its mission of helping entrepreneurs build great companies here in Georgia.”

At Panasonic, Avery oversaw the innovation center’s development projects in next-generation automotive systems including, infotainment, bio-sensing, machine vision, deep learning, and heads-up displays.

A tech startup veteran with broad experience in data and wireless voice technologies, Avery was co-founder and chief technology officer of Convergence Corp., a maker of software that connects wireless devices to the Internet. Amazon acquired the company in 1999. Following that acquisition, he joined Amazon as engineering manager.

In 2001, Avery became an early employee of Mobliss, a mobile applications and messaging solutions company in the entertainment space. He later became the company’s chief technology officer. Japan’s Index Corp., a developer of mobile phone content and information and other media services such as video on demand,acquired Mobliss in 2004 for $15 million.

He holds six patents and owns Onboard Now, a developer of software for embedded devices such as smart phones, Web-enabled cameras, and industrial controls.

Avery, who sits on the board of the Midtown Alliance, is a familiar presence at ATDC, having served as a mentor to its startups since July of 2018.

“I am deeply honored to join ATDC and lead this amazing team,” Avery said. “ATDC’s work has resulted in the creation of great, disruptive Georgia companies in health, financial services, hardware, and numerous other sectors. I look forward to continuing ATDC’s momentum of success and legacy of impact.”

He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Georgia Tech.

About Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2)

Comprised of a dozen programs, including the Advanced Technology Development Center, Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. Through its philosophy of innovation-led economic development, EI2serves all of Georgia through a variety of services and programs designed to create, accelerate, and growGeorgia’s tech-based economy. For more information, please visit, innovate.gatech.edu.

About the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising more than $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/11/05/georgia-tech-names-new-director-for-advanced.html 

Ports Authority, Georgia Tech, and Center for Innovation sign MOU to tap into advanced logistics planning

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The Georgia Ports Authority, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on July 31 at the Port of Savannah that creates a new relationship aimed at supporting the state’s logistics industry in economic development, research, and education.

“For years, Georgia Tech has been honored to work together with the Ports Authority, Governor Nathan Deal’s office, and business and government throughout the state in logistics, transportation, manufacturing, and education to strengthen our State economy and create jobs,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “We are pleased to further solidify this partnership to benefit Georgia’s transportation and logistics industry.”

The Georgia Ports Authority, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Tuesday (July 31) at the Port of Savannah that creates a new relationship aimed at supporting the state’s logistics industry in economic development, research and education. Pictured are from left, Griff Lynch, executive director, Georgia Ports Authority; U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Georgia; G.P. “Bud” Peterson, Georgia Tech president; Jimmy Allgood, Georgia Ports Authority chairman; and Matt Markham, director of the Center of Innovation for Logistics.

The goal of the MOU is to bring advanced research, evolving global logistics trends, and analysis from the world to Savannah. By tapping into the hands-on expertise at GPA and the Center of Innovation for Logistics — as well as the high-tech analysis and research at Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain and Logistics Institute — cargo owners and third-party logistics providers will gain superior insight into everything from when and where to build infrastructure to improved efficiency in cargo routing.

“Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain & Logistics Institute has established logistics improvement partnerships in global trade hubs such as Rotterdam, Singapore, Shenzhen, and Panama,” said GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood.   “I am delighted to announce that for their first such agreement with a port authority in the Western Hemisphere, they have chosen an organization that is in their own state of Georgia.”

Georgia Tech’s Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering has been ranked No. 1 in the country for the past 28 years, and Georgia Tech is recognized as one of the leading research universities in the world.

Matt Markham, director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, said the collaborative effort further strengthens the state’s position as an economic development leader.

“Most companies that choose Georgia as their home depend on its world-class logistics for their success,” Markham said. “Our new relationship builds on our center’s goal of providing company-specific analyses and facilitating connections between logistics providers and potential clients.”

The multi-modal network is designed to combine ocean, truck, rail, and air transportation to create optimal conditions for an easier and faster network. GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch said the initiative will allow the Georgia Ports Authority to continue growing its service area across the U.S. Southeast and beyond.

“We are excited to enter into this agreement between our organizations,” Lynch said. “The MOU leverages the Institute’s predictive analytics and supply chain optimization, the Center of Innovation for Logistics’ network of connections, and the GPA’s experience in the field as an industry leader.”

ABOUT THE GEORIA PORTS AUTHORITY:

Since 1945, Georgia’s ports have served as magnets for international trade and investment, enriching the state’s economy to benefit all Georgians. The Georgia Ports Authority is dedicated to providing customers with the most efficient, productive port facilities in the nation, and to creating jobs and business opportunities to benefit more than 9.7 million Georgians. The GPA is committed to maintaining its competitive edge through development of leading-edge technology, marketing and operations to move cargo faster. And, the Authority is working hard to identify what must be done today to sustain growth, performance and security for tomorrow.

ABOUT THE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY:

The Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, is one of the nation’s leading research universities — a university that embraces change while continually creating the next. The next generation of leaders. The next breakthrough startup company. The next life-saving medical treatment. Georgia Tech provides a focused, technologically based education to more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Georgia Tech has many nationally recognized programs, all top-ranked by peers and publications alike, and is ranked in the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News and World Report. It offers degrees through the Colleges of Computing, Design, Engineering, Sciences, the Scheller College of Business, and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech has more than 100 centers focused on interdisciplinary research that consistently contribute vital research and innovation to American government, industry, and business.

ABOUT THE CENTER OF INNOVATION FOR LOGISTICS:

The Center of Innovation for Logistics facilitates innovative logistics solutions that leverage Georgia’s superior business climate and enhance cargo-owing companies’ competitiveness. Exclusive to Georgia, the Center collaborates with companies that currently ship to or from Georgia, as well as those looking to locate in Georgia to deploy the world’s best multi-modal logistics for supply chain success. With targeted efforts to engage its unique position in state government with partnerships in the logistics industry, the Center provides impactful forums for companies to network, address industry issues, and share knowledge.

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2018/07/31/gpa-georgia-tech-center-innovation-sign-mou 

Disaster preparedness help available to manufacturers on Georgia’s coast

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The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) is seeking eligible manufacturers to participate in a disaster assistance program designed to help companies that are located in the state’s coastal areas assess their preparedness and develop operational solutions to minimize the impact of future hurricanes and other natural disasters.

The $173,859 grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) funds the GaMEP’s Manufacturing Disaster Assistance Program (MDAP), which was developed to address the needs of Georgia manufacturers.

The funds for the two-year effort are specifically designated toward assisting manufacturers with operations in Coastal Georgia in Camden, Chatham, Charlton, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh counties. It also includes Coffee County, which is not on the coast, but was also severely impacted by flooding during 2017’s Hurricane Irma.

The counties are home to 408 manufacturing facilities that employ 23,000.

The MDAP creation follows a devastating 2017 hurricane season in which Hurricane Irma led to a mandatory evacuation of the coast’s nearly 540,000 residents and business owners, and resulted in estimated damages of more than $670 million. That’s on top of a 2016 evacuation of the Georgia coast following Hurricane Matthew, which caused more than $500 million in damages.

The goal with this tailored approach to help manufacturers on the Georgia Coast is two-pronged, said Ben Cheeks, GaMEP’s coastal region manager.

“First, we want to assist as many manufacturers as possible and get them operating at pre-Hurricane Irma levels — that includes employment and fully contributing to the regional and state economies,” Cheeks said. “The second part of this effort is to help them develop plans that they will already have in place to address future hurricanes and other natural disasters so they will positioned for as little disruption as possible in resuming operations.”

As part of the offering, GaMEP will leverage its expertise and resources at Georgia Tech, as well as its local, state, and federal economic development partners, including the Technical College System of Georgia and the MEP network, among other organizations, Cheeks said. Pooling resources at all levels ensures maximum impact for the affected companies and communities, he added.

The MDAP initiative will include assessments of the manufacturers’ needs, helping prioritize opportunities for sustainability and growth. It also will incorporate the development of pre and post-natural disaster protocols that address challenges manufacturers will face following hurricanes and other natural disasters, such as supply chain and infrastructure disruption, labor displacement, and financial constraints.

“We’re taking a 360-degree approach with this effort,” Cheeks said. “It’s designed to help position our coastal manufacturers proactively and ahead of the likely after-effects we will see in future storms that will affect the Georgia Coast.”

Eligible manufacturers are encouraged to email Ben Cheeks, GaMEP’s coastal region manager at ben.cheeks@innovate.gatech.edu.

Source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2018/01/30/manufacturing-disaster-assistance-program-help-georgia-companies-prepare-natural 

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