Tride a exist arties не деп res, it Bened during prising then to Iready parent g from red t ent of period SPTE Georgia Tech's industrial development branch, the State department of education, the Georgia Power Co.'s areas development division, and various units of the University of Georgia participated in the study. The Georgia Municipal Association and the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia acted as sponsors with the Senate Government Operations Committee serving as coordinator. It was found that a critical need exists for early action to assist hard-pressed counties in their search for new sources of income. More than 42 percent of the State's counties-a total of 68-actually lost manufacturing employment between 1947 and 1958. An additional 19 gained less than 100 new manufacturing employees during the same period, making a total of 55 percent of our counties which we consider to be greatly in need of new industrial payrolls. It is our considered opinion that unless the recommendations enumerated below are implemented at the earliest possible time that within 5 years a number of counties will have suffered such great population and other losses that it will be virtually impossible for them ever to rebuild their economies. With these sobering facts before us, we urgently recommend that the following steps be taken: 1. The limited amount of research now being done on the auditing and analysis of the State's industrial potentials should be rapidly increased by expanding the industrial development research program of Georgia Tech's Engineering Experiment Station. Also, the various units of the University of Georgia which naturally lend themselves to economic development should be evaluated and research programs strengthened where necessary in order that full practical advantage may be taken of the peculiar and valuable services offered by the university system of Georgia. 2. A statewide industrial extension service should be established in conjunc tion with Georgia Tech's industrial development research program to provide to local industrial development organizations the same breadth of technical assistance and research long available to Georgia's farmers and to organizations concerned with agricultural development. It is further recommended that such an industrial extension service can best be implemented through the establishment of a statewide network of field offices or branch stations of the engineering experiment station, as authorized by house bill 745 passed unanimously during the 1960 session of the general assembly. 3. Industrial arts training programs should be expanded as rapidly as possible to make such training available throughout the State. Industrial education and area industrial vocational facilities should also be provided on a broader basis in order to insure that our young people are better prepared for the nonfarm jobs which now provide the vast majority of new job opportunities. 4. The advertising and promotional program of the department of commerce should be expanded, both to strengthen promotional activities concerned with the State as a whole as well as to make it possible for the department to provide support and technical assistance to local development agencies in their promotional programs. It is further recommended that the department of commerce be put on a basis to insure that the very best professional personnel will be attracted to the department and will be kept through succeeding State administrations in order that adequate programs may be properly developed and perpetuated in the most progressive manner. Only through such bold steps do we feel that it will be possible to meet the needs of the many counties in Georgia which are economically hard pressed and have an urgent need for new payrolls. Project progress has just begun and this is a preliminary report, only. For the project to be fully successful it must be carried on year after year in each of the participating counties, until all of their resources and economic potential have been audited and a blueprint for progressive development is complete. Once the blueprint is complete, there must be a continuing effort on the part of the local people to carry it out to the most fruitful conclusion with the assistance of the agencies. |