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THURSDAY. DECEMBER 22. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3B
Economists see mild, short recession
ahead for Georgia, nation
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat
News Service
ATLANTA - Georgia’s economy will
enter a mild, short recession early next year
that should only persist for about six months,
the dean of the University of Georgia’s Terry
College of Business said Friday.
The downturn will be prompted by the se
ries of interest rate hikes the Federal Reserve
board has ordered this year to curb inflation,
rising energy prices brought on by the war in
Ukraine and hits to personal wealth including
a down stock market, Ben Ayers told a lunch
eon audience at the Georgia Aquarium in
downtown Atlanta in early December.
Georgia, however, is better positioned
than other states to weather the recession be
cause of its strong labor market and several
major economic development projects that
will pour investment into the state and create
jobs, Ayers said.
As a result, Georgia’s Gross Domestic
Product is only likely to experience a “slight
dip” of 0.2%, less than the national average,
he said.
“We will continue to outperform the na
tion,” he said. “Growth will slow, but growth
will not stop.”
Ayers said the state’s labor market should
remain strong, adding jobs in health care, ed
ucation, tourism, and government.
“Employers will be slow to lay off work
ers,” he said.
But Ayers warned losses are likely in
some job sectors, including construction, fi
nance, and manufacturing.
Ayers said housing in Georgia will suffer
more than other economic sectors, with hous
ing construction slowing significantly due to
higher mortgage interest rates. Prices of ex
isting housing are expected to decline by
12% next year, he said.
The good news, Ayers said, is that the
housing market isn’t expected to crash to the
extent it did during the Great Recession of
the late 2000s.
“We do not expect a repeat of the housing
bust,” he said.
Ayers said an economic recovery is likely
to begin late next year. For one thing, the Fed
probably will begin phasing out interest rate
hikes in 2023 as inflation tapers off, he said.
Flousing should rebound quickly once the
Fed stops raising interest rates. Ayers said the
increasing number of Georgians now work
ing from home will boost interest in home
construction.
Nationally, low- and middle-income fam
ilies will be hit hardest by the recession, said
Mark Vitner, founder and chief economist at
North Carolina-based Piedmont Crescent
Capital.
Those income groups will have a particu
larly difficult time coping with higher food,
energy, and rent costs, Vitner said.
“For half of the country, the inflation rate
is essentially doubled, 18% to 20%,” he said.
“Real purchasing power has been wiped
out.”
While Vitner held out hope the U.S. economy
will experience a soft landing from the com
ing recession, he said it’s more likely there
will be a series of “rolling recessions” such
as persisted during the 1980s.
Vitner said the only solution to the reces
sion lies in getting inflation down. Still, he
agreed with Ayers that the coming downturn
won’t be as steep as the Great Recession. Fie
said the approaching recession likely will be
followed by slow growth during the next two
to three years.
“This is going to be a challenging eco
nomic environment in the coming year,” Vit
ner said. “Recessions aren’t fun. ... [But]
they’re the exception, not the ride.”
This story is available through a news
partnership with Capitol Beat News Service,
a project of the Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.
Robotics manufacturer to build North
American headquarters in Canton
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat
News Service
ATLANTA - A German
robotic machinery manufac
turer specializing in individ
ualized robotic equipment
will build a manufacturing
plant in Canton to house its
North American headquar
ters, Gov. Brian Kemp an
nounced Monday.
Becker Robotic Equip
ment will invest more than
$30 million in a project ex
pected to create 137 new
jobs in Cherokee County.
“Georgia continues to at
tract global companies like
Becker to our ever-growing
automotive industry,” Kemp
said. “We’re grateful for
Becker’s decision to locate
their North American head
quarters in Georgia and look
forward to their expanding
impact on the Peach State.”
Fleadquartered in Dul-
men, Germany, Becker was
founded in 1993 to supply
accessories and integrated
automated systems, mainly
for the automotive industry.
“The investment in Georgia
builds on our previous suc
cess in the state and enables
us to bring about a new
phase of growth for our high-
tech manufacturing opera
tions,” said Johan
Broekhuijsen, Becker’s CEO
for global project manage
ment. “Georgia’s business
environment, particularly re
garding e-mobility, has been
critical in this regard. The
available workforce, busi
ness environment and sup
port on all levels drove the
decision to remain in the
state.”
Pat Wilson, commissioner
of the state Department of
Economic Development,
said Georgia has been a cen
ter for the automotive indus
try since Kia set up shop in
West Point in 2009. The au
tomaker has 3,000 employ
ees and has drawn more than
40 suppliers responsible for
12,000 more jobs, Wilson
said Monday at the Biennial
Institute for Georgia Legisla
tors, a three-day orientation
session for newly elected
lawmakers at the University
of Georgia.
“Automotive is a major
driver of our economy,” he
said.
Becker is looking to hire
sales and applications engi
neers, automotive project
managers, non-automotive
project managers, inside
sales support staff, project
engineers, office administra
tors, HR generalists, manu
facturing technicians, and
customer and service techni
cians. Interested individuals
can reach out directly to hir-
ing-us@becker-robotic.com.
The state economic develop
ment agency worked in part
nership with the Cherokee
County Development Au
thority, Georgia EMC and
the Technical College Sys
tem of Georgia’s Quick Start
program on the Becker proj
ect.
Highland Rivers - 2022 in review:
growth, grants and a bright future
By Melanie Dallas
CEO of Highland Rivers
Behavioral Health
It would be an understate
ment to say 2022 was a year
of unprecedented change and
growth for Highland Rivers
Behavioral Health (not least
of which was adding the
word ‘behavioral’ to our
name, both to clarify and in
crease awareness of the type
of healthcare we provide).
Along with the name
change, we completed the re
branding of our agency with
a new logo and tagline, new
signage at all of our facilities,
and a new agency website
with a new URL, www.high-
landrivers.org.
The impetus - and oppor
tunity - for this change was
the consolidation of two
other agencies into Highland
Rivers. On January 1, Haral
son County Behavioral
Health Services became part
of our agency, and on July 1
we welcomed Cobb County
Community Services Board
into the Highland Rivers
family as well.
The addition of these
agencies makes Highland
Rivers Behavioral Health
one of the largest Commu
nity Service Boards in Geor
gia - with a 13-county
service area that includes
nearly 18% of Georgia’s pop
ulation, a workforce of more
than 900 professionals, and a
budget of approximately $75
million.
Although the 20,000 indi
viduals we serve annually
may sound like an impres
sive number, as we transition
to a Certified Community
Behavioral Health Clinic
(CCBHC) operations model
- another change we began
planning for this year - we
expect the number of indi
viduals we serve to increase
significantly.
In addition to the expan
sion of our service locations
- the consolidations added
two day program centers for
individuals with intellectual
developmental disabilities,
another crisis unit, a second
women’s residential sub
stance use treatment pro
gram, as well as a residential
substance use program for
adolescents - grant funding
is helping us expand our
services further.
We are in the second year
of a partnership with More
house School of Medicine to
support opiate education and
prevention in Fannin, Gilmer
and Pickens counties.
Veterans continued to be a
priority for Highland Rivers
in 2022. In May, the High
land Rivers Foundation
hosted Reveille for Hope, a
fundraising breakfast for the
Green Zone Veterans Com
munity Center we are plan
ning for Cherokee County.
We also held our fourth an
nual veterans recovery cele
bration - and were thankful
to be able to hold it in person
this year after two years of
hosting it virtually.
Finally, in September,
Highland Rivers was
awarded a $750,000 grant
from the Veterans Adminis
tration to enhance suicide
prevention among veterans
and their families in Chero
kee and Pickens counties. As
part of this grant, we are
partnering with Cherokee
County Homeless Veterans
Program, Marietta Vet Cen
ter, and the Center for the
Advancement of Military
and Emergency Services Re
search at Kennesaw State
University to create a cohe
sive and rapid response to
veterans in crisis.
Of course, all of this
barely scratches the surface
of everything that happened
- and all we accomplished -
in 2022. None of this could
have happened without the
outstanding team of High
land Rivers employees, as
well as the wonderful part
ners and local leaders we
have in every county we
serve. On behalf of Highland
Rivers Behavioral Health, I
wish you happy holidays and
a happy and healthy New
Year.
[Melanie Dallas is a li
censed professional coun
selor and CEO of Highland
Rivers Behavioral Health.]
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Electric vehicle battery manufacturer in
Bartow County will employ 3,500
Capitol Beat file photo
The EV battery plant in Bartow is expected to open in
2025 and will eventually create 3,500 new jobs.
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat
News Service
ATLANTA - The new
Hyundai electric vehicles
plant being built near Savan
nah will partner with a key
supplier on the other side of
the state.
Hyundai Motor Group
(HMG) and SK On have se
lected a site in Bartow
County for a new EV battery
manufacturing facility to
supply Hyundai’s EV plants
across the country, Gov.
Brian Kemp announced in
December
The battery plant will
create more than 3,500 new
jobs through an investment
of $4 billion to $5 billion.
“Hyundai Motor Group
and SK On are valued part
ners and key players in our
state’s ever-growing auto
motive industry,” Kemp
said. “Since day one, my ad
ministration has been fo
cused on bringing jobs and
opportunity to communities
across the state that may
have been overlooked in the
past. SK and HMG share
this goal.”
SK On was established
just last year as the lithium-
ion battery subsidiary of SK
Innovation, South Korea’s
largest energy company,
which currently employs
more than 2,000 Georgians
at a battery plant in Com
merce. The new facility in
Bartow County is expected
to begin operations in 2025.
Not counting Thursday’s an
nouncement, EV-related
projects in Georgia since
2020 total about $17 billion
in investment and account
for more than 22,800 new
jobs.
“We’re creating a fully inte
grated supply chain for auto
motive [manufacturers]
while also connecting bat
tery manufacturers with re
cyclers to close the loop on
battery manufacturing,”
Georgia Commissioner of
Economic Development Pat
Wilson said. “We’re excited
for the jobs of the future this
will create for Bartow
County and Northwest
Georgia.”
The state Department of
Economic Development’s
Global Commerce Team
worked in partnership with
Georgia EMC, the Develop
ment Authority of Bartow
County, the Cartersville-Bar-
tow County Department of
Economic Development, and
the Technical College Sys
tem of Georgia’s Quick Start
program to land the project.
The huge Hyundai EV
plant being built near Savan
nah in Bryan County is the
largest economic develop
ment project in Georgia his
tory, a $5.5 billion
investment expected to cre
ate 8,100 jobs when fully
built out.
Good Samaritan
HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER
Restoring Health. Saving Lives.
All kinds of care for all ages.
All types of payments.
All under one roof.
Medical • Dental
Behavorial Health • Pharmacy
Open Monday - Friday.
Call 706-253-4673 for appointments.
75 Samaritan Drive • Jasper GA 30143
goodsamhwc.org
We accept a wide variety of insurance: Blue Cross Blue Shield,
Cigna, United Healthcare, plus Medicare, Medicaid & Veterans
Choice. Plus, we have a low-cost sliding fee scale for
ndividuals without insurance.
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