Downtown Atlanta’s labor draw encompasses all of Metro Atlanta’s 5 million population and beyond. Being the most central of the employment clusters, Downtown has 360 degree access to the region’s workforce.

Workforce Development

The Quick Start program provides free customized training to businesses expanding or relocating into Metro Atlanta and elsewhere in Georgia. Delivered statewide in 33 area technical colleges (nine in Metro Atlanta), the program emphasizes entry-level job skills. With the Georgia Department of Labor, Quick Start coordinates a comprehensive employee screening and hiring program. For more information, call 404-679-1700 or visit www.georgiaquickstart.org.

The Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (ICAPP) is the University System of Georgia economic development program. It links the state university system’s expertise to businesses and assists with workforce development and shortages. It is a one-stop portal for to the state’s 34 institutions including the state’s R&D facilities. This program allowed 2,400 Georgians to further their education and created 6,600 new jobs between 1996 and 2000. For more information, please call 404-656-2275 or visit www.icapp.org.

Small Business Development and Outreach Centers (SBDCs) are co-founded by the state and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Seven small business development and outreach centers operate in the Metro Atlanta area, providing free managerial and technical consultation, management training and research assistance to new and developing small businesses. The Downtown SBDC is located at Georgia State University. For more information, call 404-651-3550 or visit www.gsu.edu/~wwwsbp.

Labor Costs

Competitive labor costs, along with favorable state-tax incentives contributed to Atlanta ranking as the least costly place to do business among 23 U.S. cities/locations with populations exceeding 1.5 million, according to a study by KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm. Cost index figures were created by measuring the combined impact of 27 cost components that are most likely to vary by location, such as, labor, facility, transportation and utility costs, as well as income taxes.

KPMG's 2006 COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVES STUDY (U.S. Cities with population of more than 1.5 million) Cost Index Rank Atlanta, GA 96.4 1 Tampa, FL 96.5 2 Indianapolis, IN 98.5 3 Milwaukee, WI 98.5 4 Northern Virginia (Metro DC) 99.8 5 Portland, OR 100.5 6 Chicago, IL 100.8 7 Phoenix, AZ 101.1 8 Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX 101.2 9 St. Louis, MO 101.9 10 Providence, RI 102.4 11 Detroit, MI 102.7 12 Philadelphia, PA 102.8 13 Houston, TX 102.9 14 San Diego, CA 103.2 15 Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 103.3 16 Las Vegas, NV 103.6 17 Minneapolis, MN 103.8 18 Seattle, WA 104.4 19 Newark, NJ 107.7 20 Boston, MA 107.8 21 San Jose, CA 108.5 22 New York, NY 112.6 23

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Higher Education

The University System of Georgia stands as the fourth largest university system in the nation with 34 institutions, including four research universities, 15 regional and state universities and 15 two-year colleges that enroll more than 200,000 students statewide. The majority of enrollment for this university system lies within the metro Atlanta area, which includes 39 colleges and universities, public and private, and four junior colleges.

Metro Atlanta’s eight University System schools include the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Clayton College and State University, Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State University, Atlanta Metropolitan College, the State University of West Georgia and Georgia Perimeter College.

Metro Atlanta is also home to the nation’s largest consortium of African-American private colleges, the Atlanta University (AU) Center; four of its six member schools were founded during the mid-to-late-1800s. The AU center enrolls more than 13,600 students a year.

Educated Workforce

More than 80% of metro Atlantans agree: "Atlanta area colleges and universities meet the job-related educational needs of working adults in the region.” The Atlanta metropolitan statistical area (MSA) ranks third in the nation among the 10 largest MSA’s in terms of full-time enrollment and sixth among all 60 MSA’s in total degrees conferred. For more information on higher education in Atlanta, go to the ARCHE (Atlanta Regional Consortium of Education) site at www.atlantahighered.org.

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