Columbus has suffered a major blow to its economic development efforts. It lost Kia supplier DongNam Tech Wednesday, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. The South Korea-based company announced it was being bought by another company, NVH Korea. DongNam would have created 350 jobs in the Columbus area. Kia hopes to open its plant in nearby West Point by the end of this year.
Another Columbus-based company has made a change in leadership. The board of directors at Carmike Cinemas Wednesday removed Michael Patrick as its CEO. The national movie theater operator has struggled financially since filing for bankruptcy in 2000.
Expect the recession to continue well into 2010. That's what Georgia's top ecomonist told state lawmakers Wednesday. State ecomonist Kenneth Heagney told the House and Senate approprations committees that both Georgia and the U.S. are "mired in a fairly deep recession", adding that "we're a long way from getting back to normal. Governor Sonny Perdue projects a decline more than four percent for the rest of fiscal year 2009, and a small growth of less than two percent for next year. Georgia faces a shortfall of more than $2 billion in its budget.
Finally, some rare good economic news, sort of. Macon.com reports that central Georgia's economy hasn't taken the hits that other parts of the nation have. Mercer University economics professor Roger Tutterow says a diverse mix of industries has helped protect the region from the massive job losses that the rest of the U.S. has suffered. Still, University of Georgia Terry College of Business dean Robert Sumichrast warns that the state's economic struggles are far from over. He says that the recession will be "severe rather than mild, and prolonged rather than short".
Remember, you can always with what's going on statewide, anytime, anywhere, at http://georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com.
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