ECONOMY OVERVIEW
Atlanta 2019 An in-depth review of the key issues facing Atlanta’s economy featuring the exclusive insights of prominent industry leaders
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DeKalb County: As the fourth most populous and the second most affluent county with an African-American majoirty in Georgia, DeKalb is adept at attracting both residents and businesses. It has a booming life sciences industry and a thriving real estate market, as well as excellent schools, convenient transit options, abundant greenspace and a wide variety of cultural institutions to suit every taste. DeKalb is also capitalizing on Georgia’s film industry, which generates $2 billion a year for the county. Whether you’re looking to live, work or play, DeKalb is the place to be.
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The place to be: DeKalb County is a thriving community offering excellent schools, abundant outdoor activities, arts and culture and a quality way of life In metropolitan Atlanta, DeKalb County boasts connectivity, diversity, Fortune-500-headquartered companies and a rich history. The county is the fourth most populous in Georgia, with more than 740,000 residents, and offers award-winning school systems, transit, bike paths and trails, cultural institutions and greenspace. DeKalb is on the cutting edge of the life sciences industry and is home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the world-renowned Task Force for Global Health. There are also more than 1,000 commercial properties in DeKalb that are ready to be used for business development or expansion. On the residential side, home prices range from $90,000 to $12 million, meaning there is somewhere for everyone to call home in DeKalb. Whether you are looking to live, work, play or learn, DeKalb County is the place to be. Making history DeKalb’s rich history is worth delving into in more detail. The county was named after Baron Johann DeKalb, a hero of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. DeKalb was incorporated on December
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9, 1822, out of land formerly belonging to Henry, Gwinnett and Fayette counties. The incorporation of Fulton County in 1853, and the subsequent rise of Atlanta, came about due to DeKalb County’s historic decision not to serve as a railroad hub. Consequently, Fulton was formed out of the western half of DeKalb, and Atlanta was made a railroad terminus instead. DeKalb played an important role during the Civil War as a primary site in the Battle of Atlanta and the starting place of Sherman’s March to the Sea. Later, the United Daughters of the Confederacy commissioned a carving on the face of Stone Mountain, a quartz monadnock that rises 825 feet above the surrounding land. Taking decades to complete, the carving is the largest high-relief sculpture in the world, measuring 90 by 190 feet, and depicts Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. When DeKalb decided against being a railroad hub, it turned its focus to the agricultural industry for the better part of 100 years. The turning point for transitioning into a suburban county came in 1947, when General Motors selected Doraville as the site of its new plant, which manufactured Buick, Oldsmobile ( )
DEKALB COUNTY INTERVIEW
A new day How DeKalb County is becoming reconized as a leader in economic development across the Southeast thanks to its connectivity and effective leadership
Michael Thurmond CEO – DeKalb County
How is Dekalb County focused on economic development that extends beyond the metro area? We believe that a new day has dawned in DeKalb County. We are quickly becoming a leader and economic juggernaut, not only in the metro area, but also in the state and the southeast United States. One of the key metrics that drives economic development, whether it’s commercial or residential, is proximity to mass transit. We were the first suburb to truly embrace mass transit and center our growth on our many transit stations. In addition, we have the second-busiest airport in the state, DeKalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK) and five major interstates and freeways that run through this county. We are very proud of our recently passed SPLOST referendum, which will inject more than $660 million toward infrastructure improvements throughout the county for the next six years. DeKalb citizens will see hundreds of miles of roads resurfaced, sidewalk and multi-use trail improvements and investments in parks, libraries and public safety. This investment, along with a robust capital improvement program of water and sewer lines, provides a foundation to sustain the growth of DeKalb. What are some of your strategies to attract, expand and retain businesses within the county? The diversity we have in DeKalb is unmatched. We have a phenomenal K-12 school system and amazing colleges and universities, both of which are producing a welleducated and talented workforce. We are also a central focus of the booming movie industry in Georgia, with 300 applications for new projects awaiting approval with our entertainment commission. Most importantly, we are dedicated to increasing access to transportation and creating an environment where it is easy to work, live and play in DeKalb.
What are your goals for the future of DeKalb County? My first goal is to make sure that this organization is running at maximum efficiency. We cannot have continuous economic development without a government that is effective, efficient and transparent. We are in a unique position as a leader in public transportation to attract major companies to relocate here. PDK houses aircraft of Fortune 500 companies and is central to their headquarters and offices, allowing CEOs and VIPs to avoid the hassle of commercial travel. We now have expansion plans in place for as many as nine additional hangars. We also are closely working with the new Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport administration, as well as city and state officials, to make sure our regional transportation stays top shelf.
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DEKALB COUNTY OVERVIEW
Katerina “Kat” Taylor President & CEO – DeKalb Chamber
Our focus for growth in DeKalb is on entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs and small businesses make up a significant portion of our membership. The chamber and the rest of the Atlanta region understand that our future workforce will be employed by small businesses by as much as 80 percent, so we created capacity-building programs that allowed businesses to address, at no cost to them, customer service, workforce plans and revenue strategies. We see ourselves as a solution-based partner for businesses. When our members come to us with a problem, we like to be part of the solution, and the only way we are able to discover our members’ concerns is when they are engaged with us.
( ) and Pontiac cars. In the 1960s, Atlanta’s prosperity began to spill over into DeKalb, and urbanization accelerated. Farsighted leadership in 1971 successfully led the county to approve a regional mass transit system with the creation of Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and funding with a onecent sales tax. Today, DeKalb is making new history on the cutting edge of healthcare research and education thanks to the presence of organizations like the CDC, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Task Force for Global Health and Emory University. Strategic growth There is a wealth of economic opportunity in DeKalb County for both businesses and individuals. The county
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is the second-most diverse and most affluent county with an African-American majority in Georgia. Specifically, the county’s population is 54 percent black, 29 percent white and 8.55 percent Hispanic. Additionally, 19.4 percent of its residents speak a non-English language. The median age in the county is 35.4, indicating a younger population, and the median income is $56,109, with a growth rate of 3.8 percent annually. This diversity leads to a strong job market, as is evident in the fact that DeKalb is home to 372,074 employees and an annual job growth rate of .99 percent. DeKalb County is adept at attracting and retaining businesses through a series of ambitious economic incentives and strategic plans. The county’s first Economic Development Strategic Plan was adopted in
DEKALB COUNTY OVERVIEW
Stephanie Freeman President & CEO – Dunwoody Perimeter Chamber
The business climate in Dunwoody is all about opportunity. There are currently over 2,500 active business licenses in the city with new construction on the rise. Dynamically, we are not only seeing growth for larger companies but also with that of smaller businesses. Both sets are taking advantage of the great amount of co-working space available in the market. As we strengthen our partnerships, we will work with the DeKalb SBDC to provide education and mentoring for large and small businesses alike as we continue to support the businesses we serve.
2014. The extremely in-depth plan spans three separate documents and aims to not only attract big business but also facilitate entrepreneurship and small business development and innovation. The strategic plan also aims to revitalize and utilize underdeveloped areas of the county through rezoning, development incentives and private-public partnerships. Finally, the plan includes undertaking cultural and aesthetic improvements, such as reducing crime and making major corridors more appealing. In furtherance of this strategic plan, DeKalb enacted an Economic Development Incentives Policy on March 22, 2016. The incentives policy consists of a tiered benefit structure based on the taxable value and job creation prospects of a project. Benefits range from a 50 percent permit discount on general contractor fees and a $1,000 cap on business occupation taxes for one year at the lowest tier, to permit discounts of 100 percent on general contractor fees and a cap of $1,000 on business occupation taxes for five years at the highest tier. The county also offers a matching funds incentive for water and sewage infrastructure projects. This approach appears to have been successful, as more than half of the Fortune 500 companies in Metro Atlanta operate in DeKalb County. In addition, the financial health of the county, as indicated by real estate values, appears to have improved steadily over the last decade. DeKalb County’s record for countywide gross digest was set in the 2008 fiscal year at $27.9
billion, and after weathering the financial crisis of 2008, the county broke that record in 2017 with a gross digest of $28.3 billion. Booming market DeKalb’s real estate market is booming, especially considering that the county was one of the hardest hit areas in Metro Atlanta during the housing crisis. There are countless real estate development projects in the pipeline or already underway throughout the county, ensuring that the huge influx of new residents expected over the next couple of years will have somewhere great to live. One of the major developments that has been proposed is Hybrass Properties LLC’s 214-singlefamily-home development in Lithonia. These homes would sit on 95.5 acres that previously comprised seven large tracts that were foreclosed on back in 2009. The new homes, occupying average lots of 8,900 square feet, would put the land back to productive use. An additional 102-lot development has been proposed by Arrowhead Investors LLC in Decatur on Valley Brook Road. 26 of the lots would be reserved for detached cottage-style homes with a minimum square footage of 1,950. The other 76 lots would be used for attached townhomes with a minimum of 1,650 square feet. An additional 25 townhomes have been proposed for a site just southeast of Decatur by Grandview Residential
DeKalb County broke its record for county-wide gross digest in 2017 with a gross digest of $28.3 billion.
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LLC. The development will sit on 2.4 acres at 1473 Columbia Drive, with 10.5 units per acre. Each unit will be at least 20 feet wide, have a two-car garage and will boast community greenspace and a dog park. Each townhome is projected to cost between $240,000 and $275,000. Another exciting residential development being proposed in DeKalb is the construction of two sevenstory apartment buildings adjacent to the Kensington MARTA station. The developer, Kensington Station LLC, also wants to construct a six-story parking deck to accommodate residents of the apartments and believes that the entire development will induce additional high-intensity residential use and investment opportunities in the Memorial Drive Overlay District. However, the developer will need to succeed in having the plot rezoned for high-density residential before the project can move forward. On top of all this planned growth of residential real estate, there is yet another fantastic benefit coming to residents of DeKalb County: property taxes are dropping. For the next six years, homeowners in the county will receive approximately $110 million every year in property tax cuts. The cuts came about thanks to the Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax (EHOST) and the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). EHOST lowers property taxes, while SPLOST increases sales taxes. This results in a rare condition of rising property values throughout the county (with a median value of $181,000 and an annual increase of 40 percent in Lithonia, 16 percent in Druid Hills Kirkwood and East Lake and 11 percent in Clarkston), decreasing property taxes and a county flush with funding to undertake capital improvements. Additional relief for DeKalb residents comes in the form of the Department of Housing and
DeKalb County’s real estate market is booming, and property values are on the rise.
Urban Development (HUD)’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. The Housing Authority of DeKalb County (HADC) uses the program to preserve assisted housing for various at-risk communities, including senior citizens, and to ensure that such housing is modernized, accessible and affordable. HADC used the program to convert all of its affordable housing leases to long-term, project-based Section 8 housing
Christopher Sanders Executive Director – East Metro CID
Public safety and beautification are the areas our board members and property owners want to focus on because of the issues — which are well known — of east and south DeKalb not being as developed from a commercial standpoint as other parts of the county. We are hoping to use the East Metro CID as a mechanism to spur these developments. We have several partners, from DeKalb County Government to GDOT, that are all focused on improving the area. For example, there are major I-20 reconstruction and I-285 express lane construction plans that will impact our CID.
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contracts. This ensures stability and affordability for residents and also attracts private capital for improvements and preservation. Finally, on the commercial side, the aging North DeKalb Mall is set to undergo a renovation and upgrade project that aims to take it from a struggling relic to a model for commercial modernization and revitalization. The mall, which opened just outside of Decatur in 1965, has struggled in recent years, as the city has turned more toward walkable mixeduse developments and has less of a need for the sort of shopping mall that catered to Americans in the middle of the last century. Therefore, the mall has applied to have its lot rezoned for mixed-use so that it can better suit the present and future needs of residents. The redeveloped mall lot would consist of a 150,000-square-foot Costco, 150,000 square feet of additional shops, a 14,500-square-foot food court and 45,000 square feet of restaurants. The plans also propose moving the AMC movie theater to a new 48,000-square-foot building. In addition to these commercial uses, the complex would also contain a 150-room hotel, 50,000 square feet of office space, 450 multifamily units and 50 townhomes.
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DEKALB COUNTY OVERVIEW
Capital improvements Wishes are becoming reality in DeKalb County due to overwhelming voter approval of a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) that is funding capital improvements. In 2017, DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Michael Thurmond worked with the county’s state delegation, Board of Commissioners and mayors of its 12 municipalities to form an unprecedented alliance that created a referendum for a one-cent sales tax. Funding was allocated for roads, transportation, public safety and improvements to parks, senior centers, health centers and libraries. On November 7, 2017, a large majority of voters — over 70 percent — voted to approve the SPLOST. Over its six-year lifespan, the SPLOST is projected to raise a total of $637 million; $388 million of that will go to the county, while the remaining $249 million will be divided among DeKalb’s 12 municipalities. The county’s number one priority is addressing the approximately 300 miles of roads in need of repair within county limits. To this end, $151 million of the county-specific funds raised by the SPLOST are being allocated to road resurfacing. In addition
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to repairing its roads, the county is also dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of its residents and will be spending $84.7 million on building new fire stations, buying more emergency response vehicles and repairing existing police precincts and fire stations. A joint police and fire training academy is also planned to train new generations of responders. Other county projects include renovating parks, public libraries and various health and recreation centers. On top of the SPLOST funds that the county plans to spend on parks and recreation, an additional $1 million grant from Park Pride will be used to improve parks in Atlanta and throughout DeKalb. Within DeKalb, the focus will be on Briarlake Forest Park, where a circulation trail will be developed and park amenities will be improved; Frazier-Rowe Park, where a pavilion will be built, along with an accessible trail connecting to other areas of the park; Hairston Park, which will add three fitness centers and a nature trail; and N.H. Scott Park, which plans to improve signage throughout the park and implement a community garden.
DEKALB COUNTY OVERVIEW
The Lawrenceville Highway is also experiencing transformation. Matthew Lee, executive director of the Tucker-Northlake CID, told Focus:. “New residential developments began this year, and the 50-acre Johns Homestead Park has a new boardwalk overlooking the marsh and Twin Brothers Lakes. It’s rare to have a park of that size within 1,200 feet of the Perimeter.” Finally, the county will spend $79 million to repair and upgrade its aging sewage system. The repairs are expected to be complete by June 2020 and will consist of repairing structural defects, replacing pipes, improving public education about sewer use and preventing overflows and trying to anticipate and address future issues. Transit matters On top of the infrastructural improvements funded by the SPLOST, a host of other exciting projects related to transportation are on the docket in DeKalb County. First, the county will benefit from $3.6 million in mass transit improvements thanks to a Federal Transit Authority grant awarded to MARTA. The grant is designated for the expansion of bus services on MARTA route 120 in central and south DeKalb. This route runs through the Ponce de Leon Avenue Corridor and is one of the county’s busiest. Specifically, the money will be used to replace DeKalb’s 40-foot diesel buses with 60-foot buses that run on natural gas, thereby reducing pollution and congestion. The county has embarked on a Transit Master Plan to address DeKalb’s mobility challenges, enhance future development opportunities and improve the quality of life for all citizens. The plan is identifying transit service enhancements needed today and expansion opportunities for tomorrow to create a 30-year, cost-feasible vision for transit investments in DeKalb. There are other transportation projects underway designed to make DeKalb County greener and less congested. For example, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) approved $31.29 million in transportation projects throughout DeKalb, all of which are expected to be completed by 2023. Specifically, the projects are the Peachtree Creek Greenway Trail, which will extend the Peachtree Creek Greenway from Atlanta to Druid Hills Road, connecting it to the Atlanta BeltLine Trail; improvements to the I-285/I-20E interchange, with a focus on improving traffic flow and mitigating congestion; improvements to Panola Road, in
Patti Garrett Mayor City of Decatur
Our goal is to provide interconnectivity for our residents. We want to be able to connect every sector of the city in some way with pedestrian and bike paths. We recently adopted a PATH Connectivity Implementation Plan that will guide the city in installing the infrastructure needed for bicycle connectivity. We also installed protected bike lanes on North McDonough Street and eventually will expand bike lanes downtown and through the southern part of Decatur with the goal of connecting to the Atlanta BeltLine. We are coordinating with the City of Atlanta to ensure that we create a seamless connection where our borders abut. Our downtown housing units are walkable and bikeable to MARTA, retail shops, restaurants and office buildings. Our Strategic Plan supports density close to transit stations. The three transit stations in Decatur; our downtown mixed-use developments; the development at the Avondale MARTA station, which includes apartments, retail and senior housing; and the master plan currently underway for the Eastlake MARTA station all support this goal. A new downtown apartment project includes retail and a new Class-A office building and supports our efforts to energize the Trinity Place corridor. Decatur also has one of the largest participation rates in the state for the Safe Routes to School Program. Our students walk and bike to and from school, and we want to support bike and pedestrian safety for all ages, as well as connectivity throughout the city. DeKalb County citizens recently passed a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST). One of the projects approved by Decatur voters is the use of SPLOST dollars to redesign the Atlanta Avenue railroad track intersection to make it safer and to enhance connectivity from the north and south sides of the city. This project represents the last big transportation goal to be funded from our current Community Transportation Plan.
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particular the addition of a center turn lane, bike lanes and sidewalks and the optimization of stoplights; and a redesign of U.S. 278 into a walkable “main street” with improved sidewalks, bike lanes and better crosswalks. “We have a number of truck companies here that cause a tremendous amount of congestion on the roads that could be fixed by the creation of a few strategic changes in controlling traffic flow,” John Kranjc, executive director of the Greater Conley Industrial CID, told Focus:. “Part of our mission is to get studies done about the traffic control efficiency on our roads and how much we could relieve the traffic congestion with a few wellplaced entrance-exit ramps to the interstate highways in our area, traffic lights to reduce accidents and promote better traffic flow and other traffic improvements such as roundabouts where needed. We are hoping the SPLOST initiative passed last November will fund projects to alleviate some of these issues.” Health leader Thanks to a formidable existing healthcare infrastructure, as well as some recent developments, DeKalb County remains an extremely healthy place
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to live. The county is home to the CDC, Task Force for Global Health and Emory University, which puts DeKalb on the cutting edge of medical research and provides a wealth of jobs and healthcare options. In addition, DeKalb is home to world-class hospitals and healthcare facilities. Thanks to a recently approved partnership between Emory Healthcare and DeKalb Medical, DeKalb’s hospitals — including Emory Decatur Hospital, Emory Hillandale Hospital and Emory Long-term Acute Care — now have the advantage of even more resources. DeKalb is also a leader in health insurance coverage, with 82.9 percent of residents currently insured. 56 percent of those insured obtained their coverage through their employers, while 14 percent purchased their insurance directly. 15 percent of the county’s insured are on Medicare, while 9 percent have Medicaid or other public insurance. School days DeKalb is a top destination for world-class education, with prestigious institutions like Agnes Scott College, Emory University, Mercer University, Georgia State University, DeVry University, Oglethorpe University,
BANKING & FINANCE OVERVIEW
Ray Gilley President Decide DeKalb
DeKalb County is home to a number of prestigious higher ed institutions, including Oglethorpe University.
Georgia Piedmont Technical College, Columbia Theological Seminary and Luther Rice College and Seminary within its borders. DeKalb is also home to a renowned school district. The DeKalb County School District focuses on early education and preparing students for success in competitive and employable industries. The school district is planning to deliver an even more superior education to its students by launching a five-year, $561 million education special purpose local option sales tax (E-SPLOST) capital improvements program. “Reel” estate Entertainment is a $2-billion-per-year industry in DeKalb County, and three major film studios already call the county home. This figure comes from the DeKalb Entertainment Commission’s 2016 study on the economic impact of the industry on the county’s economy. The study specifically examined the film, TV, music and gaming industries and found particularly strong job growth in the motion picture and video production sectors for independent writers and artists. Interestingly, the DeKalb Entertainment Commission says the $2 billion impact indicated in its study is conservative, and it expects that number ( )
Can you tell us a little bit about Dekalb Thrives? Dekalb Thrives is an economic and strategic plan developed in 2014 that made more than 100 recommendations that were consolidated to 88 total. Each organization and stakeholder was given their specific part of the plan, including the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, Decide Dekalb, the District School Board and DeKalb County Government. We monitor the progress on a quarterly basis, which allows every organization to evaluate how the recommendations are being addressed or if they need adjustment. We are excited that the strategic plan recommendations were developed, processed and executed. Going forward we look to update the plan with things that might not have existed in 2014, such as some large retail store closings and new industry growth. This gives us a chance for adaptive reuse of the space using that strategic plan update. What are some of your strategies for supporting startups and small business in DeKalb? The University of Georgia has an office in DeKalb that helps individuals clarify their focus or intentions from ideas into viable business plans. Georgia Tech is one of our regional partners, and it offers a manufacturing series with local businesses on how to make their operations more efficient. We also have a county small business loan fund of $30,000 to $50,000 loans for startups. Moving from that startup level, we have strategic marketing partners through the Atlanta Metro Chamber that can help move a business forward into those next phases of market expansion. Themed co-working spaces are the private sector model of the idea of incubators, which used to be government subsidized. We think the most successful model is entrepreneurial driven and private sector driven. It’s important to have an ecosystem where an individual or business can connect with the resources to get to the next level or solve whatever problem or issue they may have.
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Market voices: Mayors’ Corner It feels like it’s in the process of exploding. It was good before, but it was quiet. It was a bit of a well-kept secret, but in addition to gaining Animi, custrum sit ipsae preperiores inventempera secae et ideliqu cityhood we’re in the path of development. We’re on a line between the City iasperumque ventibus dolorat prat apitas porehendam, utatemos dolorrum of Atlanta and Decatur. We have a couple of major arteries running through aruptam ium fugit enisquam si dolorisintio es cus mi, ut is ad maio. Nequam us. We have some big interstates that we’re part of. There’s lots of access. facest praessi offic temosan diatus aut alibus aborempos et od que volor reptate We’re an easy ride to the airport. We’re close to a lot, but we don’t have the nestiorio omnit omniae verios core, none simperi doluptaest, suntotas voluptas Frank Auman downside of horrendous traffic. Our challenge is going to be to balance that, dolupta spelecatur. Mayor develop it and not let it get out of hand. Name Surname Bearci toratem poritem pedisincil ea dolore nimillia qui occulligenis aris exeria City of Tucker Job Title sint, ullant aut litio officatquia nobis cum anit erovidel eicidit iatemod et volupta Company Name que excernatis et hitatquo quiaepe llendunderia simaio te nonsequias aut dolesed quidest, eatquun temporios ra prem non reium sum rati re, volor. I’m a huge believer that technology and advancements in transportation are going to be what help us, along with encouraging alternate modes of transportation, like our trail system. The one thing about traffic is it’s a sign of good economic times. I remember during the recession when gas was expensive and nobody seemed to have a job; you could get around all over town. There were some depressing years there, but it was easy to get around. Eric Clarkson
Mayor Animi, custrum sit ipsae preperiores inventempera secae et ideliqu City of Chamblee iasperumque ventibus dolorat prat apitas porehendam, utatemos dolorrum aruptam ium fugit enisquam si dolorisintio es cus mi, ut is ad maio. Nequam facest praessi offic temosan diatus aut alibus aborempos et od que volor reptate nestiorio omnit omniae verios core, none simperi doluptaest, suntotas voluptas In other cities, governments have spent about $20 million on their dolupta spelecatur. Name Surname downtown, and then $80 in private Bearci toratem poritem pedisincil ea dolore nimillia quimillion occulligenis aris money exeria followed. We want a new Job Title city hall cum builtanit witherovidel privateeicidit investment, the city as the complex’s anchor sint, ullant aut litio officatquia nobis iatemodwith et volupta Company Name In Clarkston, wesimaio consider engagement que excernatis et hitatquotenant. quiaepe llendunderia te civic nonsequias aut to be paramount to the future of ra our community. The more investors in Clarkston are to listen dolesed quidest, eatquun temporios prem non reium sum rati willing re, volor. to the needs of our community, the more successful the investment will be. I Ted Terry think we’ll end up with projects that everyone will be happy with. Mayor City of Clarkston
Animi, custrum sit ipsae preperiores inventempera secae et ideliqu iasperumque ventibus dolorat prat apitas porehendam, utatemos dolorrum Our biggest recent accomplishment is Assembly, the former General aruptam fugit enisquam si dolorisintio es cus mi, ut is ad maio. Nequam Motors (GM) plant. For years, GMium was non-responsive in dealing with the facest praessi offic temosan diatus aut alibus aborempos et od que volor reptate abandoned space. We finally had a chance to share our vision with GM’s real omnit verios core, none simperi doluptaest, suntotas voluptas estate department, and itnestiorio embraced our omniae livable communities initiative, which dolupta spelecatur. is what our citizens were hoping for the future of Doraville. We had interest Name Surname Bearci from toratem pedisincil dolorebut nimillia the poritem Atlanta Falcons to ea casinos, whenqui occulligenis aris exeria Jobfrom Title all kinds of organizations, Donna Pittman sint, ullant aut litio officatquia nobis cum anit erovidel et volupta the Integral Group came along, it really embraced our vision. We knew that was eicidit iatemod Company Name Mayor que Integral excernatis hitatquothe quiaepe who we wanted to work with. haset embraced history llendunderia of the site andsimaio te nonsequias aut City of Doraville dolesed quidest, eatquun temporios ra prem non reium sum rati re, volor. is aware of its regional importance.
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James Tsismanakis Executive Director & CEO – DeKalb Conventions & Visitors Bureau Discover DeKalb We are focusing on branding DeKalb as a destination. Not only do we have five cities, each with its unique offerings, but the county as a whole is an amazing attraction. We have everything from farmers’ markets and festivals to one of only two National Heritage Areas in the state, incredible international food off Buford Highway, museums and, of course, the most visited attraction in the state: Stone Mountain. There is also the economic impact of organizations like Dekalb-Peachtree Airport.
( ) to go much higher in the near future as DeKalb jockeys for a bigger piece of the entertainment pie. One way DeKalb is attracting more film production is by making it easy with a one-stop-shop FilmApp. In the past, production crews had to navigate the permitting and utility hookup process alone, seeking various approvals and information across multiple agencies. Today, production managers use the FilmApp portal to manage the permit process and can even reference and interactive map to find a desired filming location. Bright future As the Metro Atlanta region continues to grow, DeKalb is prepared for an influx of businesses and residents. Millions of dollars have been invested in infrastructure projects to improve water and sewer lines, roads,
sidewalks, parks and senior centers. A commitment to transit, miles of bike trails, connectivity with four major interstates and the second-busiest airport in Georgia offers citizens and visitors alternative modes of transportation to travel in, out of and around DeKalb. From life sciences to logistics, universities to technical programs and film to industrial manufacturing, DeKalb offers something for everyone.
Capital Analytics would like to thank DeKalb County for its contribution in compiling this chapter. To learn more, visit their website: www. dekalbcountyga.gov.
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