The Economy of Atlanta

Michael G. Morrison

Morrison Marketing

Augusta, Georgia, USA

Report on the Economy of Atlanta

(This Blog is under construction, like all of mine, I am adding to them as they go. If you have details that you would like to add about particular niche areas in this report than I would love to hear it, Thanks, Morrison Marketing)

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Note from Author

     The Economy of Atlanta is the most important economy for the future of America. The growth seen in the city in the past 50 years has been tremendous, but the cities skyline is only half filled. Arguably the most healthy and complete economically metro, Atlanta needs to come to front with its grand economic condition and realize the situation it is in to realize its full potential and future planning.

     Atlanta is the capital of the SouthEast, the largest economic region in the United States and is a entry/exit for America to much of the world. The services and expertise found in Atlanta are invaluable to the rest of the Southeasts future growth and the same is reciprocal for Atlanta's benefit. Being a leading city in America, Atlanta is a representation of our country to many outside of it. Being the result of a perfect storm of economic factors the result is of many variables being just right. The cities young atmosphere, the entrepreneurial spirit and a high immigrant population make this city a bustling example of international business.

     The growth seen  in Atlanta has been at breakneck speeds. The construction represents modern designs, architecture and planning. Atlanta has had growth problems such as crime, sprawl, infrastructure and strains on other public resources and how the city handles them in the future will be a much larger factor in its future growth. The cities economy is about the same size as Iran, but is larger than Denmark, Israel and even Malaysia.

     The growth taken place begets more growth. The atmosphere of other entrepreneurs drive others. The drive to beat the next competitor and the desire to "make it" makes Atlanta a high energy city. Being a new market, Atlanta does not have many established and well rooted businesses like New York, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago. It is ready for anybody with enterprise to conquer it and it is free ground. Atlanta is a "New Money" city, one driven by energy and the desire to succeed. The knowledge of this, by many entrepreneurs thinking of coming to Atlanta, drives them tremendously to succeed, as they believe there work is more meaningful and that it is a fair race in Atlanta. The cities young atmosphere, the entrepreneurial spirit and a high immigrant population increase the bustling feeling of fairness in the race of business. There are over 700,000 foreign born citizens in Atlanta, making it one of the most diverse cities on earth, but most with a collective pursuit of growth that unites them.

     The amenities and standard of living possible in Atlanta draws many of the best residents from the world and pushes it to the forefront of this competition. Many residents choose Atlanta, over similar sized metros like Boston, Austin, Philadelphia and San Francisco because of its entertainment scene, which is more comparable to New York, London and Tokyo.

     Research drives the worldwide pursuit of knowledge and Atlanta participates in the scientific discussion comparable to Boston, Geneva, the "Research Triangle" (3 North Carolina universities), Edinburgh, Shanghai, Tokyo or Vienna. Ideas are manufactured in Atlanta and exported to the world.

     Atlanta's negative association with the old south is absolutely and forgotten. The city has branded itself as a city "to busy to hate" and this has rewarded it well. Atlanta has left the Old South of racial division and leads the New South.

     Atlanta is driving the South East and America as a whole into the 21st century. We are lifting the roof of domestic trade and commerce and entering, with Atlanta being an entrance into this new matrix, inaccessible realms by many other economies. Pioneering these markets we can change the world and the activity and decisions going on in Atlanta will affect every human. Many cities are competing to be the leaders of world activity, Atlanta is standing toe to toe with New York City, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai and countless others wild cards. The globalization of the world is yielding fruit to the victors, the competition is fierce. Atlanta will accept and surpass these challenges, setting new standards and bars that will push us to the forefront of Worldwide growth and human progress.

Thanks, Sincerely, as a proud Georgian,

Michael Morrison, President
Morrison Marketing
Augusta, Georgia, USA

History

     Atlanta started in 1837 with the striking of a zero mile post. The city is relatively early to be in one of the original 13 colonies. Sherman's march was probably the start of the modern Atlanta. With the destruction of the city and the states transportation system there was a need for something new. Walking the rubble and scared land must have struck chords with those who have influence in the first years of Atlanta formation. The severity seen in the war and in the disconnection of the union inspired a city to be built that would "Rise out of the ashes" the city was to be reborn and the population here was receptive to change.

(1887, one of the most historical years in Us history and just as crucial for Atlanta, above is the city center)

     It is important to understand this part of Atlanta's history. The city was to be rebuilt. there would be no competition to speak of and the best real estate was open, the prices cheap and banks were more than ready to lend once the political environment steered clear of any possible 2nd war or disturbance. The mindset of many of these people must have been like those traveling West after World War 2 to Los Angeles or people traveling now to North Dakota. they came, generally, in pursuit of a better life, and that means money and the ability to do the line of work they enjoy.

(The Flatiron building, the tallest building in Atlanta from its completion in 1897 to 1901 where it was surpassed. Atlanta is very competitive and the rapid rise to the sky shows this. Skyscrapers are meant to show power, not to be purely economical)

     Atlanta went through turbulence and growth like nothing seen sine Chicago in the Railroads pioneering days. the city jumped from a small railroad junction to one of the metropolises of the New South. Atlanta took the competition in stride and focused itself on making it competitive and better than others. Memphis, New Orleans, Charlotte, Charleston, Columbia, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Birmingham, Mobile, Little Rock and others were beat to every by the fast and brutal city. To compete against Atlanta fro attracting businesses to your city would be a formidable task. he attraction of the smartest and most talented African Americans made Atlanta a bustling town of enterprise in that fashion also, despite not being able to vote in the earlier years. 

(A Journal in France showing the Atlanta race riots of 1906)

     The average citizen in Atlanta is very much like that of a New Yorker in their competitive nature for their job and in their materialistic pursuit of goods. Atlanta developed its feel of busy-bodies during this time. To the rural Southerners who never even seen a skyscraper, it was the closest thing to Chicago or New York 

they would know. 

     Many figures emerged from this time period who led Atlanta through the fog and mist. The list of notable citizens could go on forever, and many are still unknown to history. The common theme seems to be the same cultural aspect I have been outlining. The businessman strive to get somehting done. Atlanta is a city where procrastination cannot exist in the heart. The air prevent non-action. 

(Martin Luther King Juniors house on Auburn avenue in Atlanta, this man was easily the best orator from America in the 20th century)

     As the information age came abound Atlanta continued its growth and evolved easily to meet the new economy. The focus on change and on always being dynamic allowed Atlanta to shift out of the older industries that were losing fast. The businessman in Atlanta saw the trend of declining manufacturing, of more importation of goods and an emphasis on high value adding service sector jobs being the crux of the economy in the 2000's. The Olympics boosted this greatly in 1996 and put Atlanta into the world spotlight. It was felt to truly have made it into the big times. The whole of Atlanta's existence seemed to be waiting for that moment. The images of the small railroad junction come to mind and excite grandeur for how far the journey has been taken. The story of Atlanta is that of Rome, Sparta, Athens or Carthage, it is full of people who make things happen, it is important, it is worthy of thought, attention and admiration. 

(Asa Candler, one of my favorite businessman, he made Coke what it is today, served as the 44th mayor of Atlanta and he presided over a time of rapid growth on a national scale, but in Atlanta also. He made sure that Atlanta was growing faster than the other competition in the southeast, his foresight would enable Atlanta to have the competitive advantages that it has today, he also donated the land that Emory University sits on)

Politics

     

(City Hall in Atlanta, the mayor, 12 councilmen representing geographic areas of Atlanta and 3 at large councilmen work out of here. The building itself is very controversial for aesthetic appeal. I think it is a city hall that does not full reflect the power of Atlanta, but that is my opinion and I am not a taxpayer in Atlanta. This is located Downtown, where the majority of governmental services are located. The area around it is gentrifying and some employees who work here may very well be the ones moving into the neighborhoods surrounding Atlanta)

     Local government is changing as the Federal Government is increasingly becoming inept and gridlocked, resulting in mayors having to take heed of the genuine needs of government that are not met on a federal level. The fiscal shape of the Federal balance sheet also makes the future a dim one for help financing deals at previous paces and will make them a much smaller player in city issues. The growth of Atlanta in the future will need a lot of decisions and guidance provided by a mayor, whom must think of the city as a business competing with other business. The globalization of the world has concentrated wealth and creation into smaller and smaller regions, making them more and more influential in national policy. If Atlanta can capitalize on this trend and take over areas that the federal government so often fails us, it will continue its amazing growth.

     The surrounding towns of Atlanta will keep it on its toes, as they provide a diversity of choices for both residents and companies. Atlanta will also have to work better on a metro perspective with these smaller border towns of Atlanta.

     With the ease of setting up a new town in Georgia, there is genuine risk for growth with blatant attempts to bring all of the tax producing assets and to leave out the economic liabilities in a city. This can result in cities not being able to form organically and naturally, in proportions. It also makes it easy for another city to annex key assets and turns into a race to make a new city, simply bounded by the richest producing assets. The metro works best with a mix of cities, but for long term planning and growth, there needs to be coordinated efforts by each entity. While there is still considerable cooperation between cities in Metro Atlanta, there are plenty of efforts to concentrate the wealth and resources that is accumulated by the whole metro acting together.

Urban Living

     Atlanta is the center of the Southeast, the fastest growing region in America. The city life reflects this in being fast paced. Being in the biggest city in the Southeast draws a lot of talent and creativity that make city life very cultural. Atlanta is the hip hop capital right now and this shows in the many hip hop clubs that dot the city. Food and drinks are very cheap compared to larger cities and many places stay open until about 2AM, which is when most places that serve alcohol have to close.

     The amount of entertainment at your hands in Atlanta is amazing. You can go to the world of Coca Cola, visit and walk the campus of one of the many Universities, you can go to a dance bar, a strip club and a 5 start restaurant all in an a night and have a great choice of places to pick from. Nightlife in Atlanta is very fun and has "turned many out" who come here thinking that they have seen parties. Atlanta is party central more so than it is the business capital of the Southeast. Many of the young professionals and Entrepreneurs want to let their hair down and party some. They have cash to spend and the bars themselves are very efficiently run. The rent, electricity, labor and the amount the entrepreneur expects to make (In economics terms, normal profit) are all quite low in Atlanta. This helps the economy through bringing a lot of non-ATliens (A resident of Atlanta) money into the city. Many people travel to Atlanta just to go out and party and the city, its hotels and restaurant/bar/club owners all enjoy it and looking at Atlanta from a Mercantilism viewpoint it is important to have people come here and decide to spend money. Viewed as city Vs. city, Atlanta is earning money from other cities all over America. Atlanta must have quite a large tourist surplus in this field, as people in Atlanta will most likely go to these cities for a night out. This is an important field because it is so hard fro competition to even form. Atlanta is a big bully and can really beat up anybody else in the Southeast just on diversity of entertainment offered. If another city improves, they still will not be anything to Atlanta.

(Centennial Park in Downtown Atlanta, an example of a nice modern day urban park)

Museums

• High Museum of Art

• Atlanta History Center

• Carter Center & Presidential Library

• Martin Luther King Jr. Center

Performances

• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

• Atlanta Ballet

• Fox Theatre

• Chastain Park Amphitheater

• Music Midtown

Attractions

• Georgia Aquarium

• CNN Center

• World of Coca-Cola

• Zoo Atlanta

Festivals

• Atlanta Dogwood Festival

• National Black Arts Festival

• Many neighborhood festivals

Dining & Shopping

• Always a new restaurant to try

• Zagat-Rated restaurants

• Regional malls

• Boutiques 

Parks

• Centennial Olympic Park

• Piedmont Park

• Stone Mountain Park

• Chattahoochee River Parks

Sporting Events

• 8 professional sports franchises

• NCAA Collegiate Sports 

•Chick-fil-A Bowl

•The Tour Championship 

• Peachtree Road Race 

Recreation

• Golf – more than 100 courses

• Tennis – largest tennis

association (ALTA)

• Running –2nd-largest running

organization (Atlanta Track Club)

• Water sports – Lake Lanier & Lake Allatoona

• Hiking/camping – North Georgia mountains; Appalachian Trail 

Children’s Activities

• Sports leagues

• Community centers

• Youth groups

Tourism



(World of Coca Cola- A permanent exhibition showcasing Coca Colas history and spread through the world. It is a truly rare example, for Coca Cola is only a beverage company, yet influential to the point of having something of this caliber. This is a world class exhibit and is one of the first things people who go to Atlanta recall. There are strong feelings for Coca Cola and this is the physical representation of over 100 years of collective advertising into the nations conscious)



(The CNN Center, a stop for many tourists to see how news is made. The live studios seen by many in the tour groups are the first time they have seen a live broadcast. The amount of technology and information going on in this building is unfathomable. The constant stream of the worlds constantly changing conditions are shown in physical form and the glossing over of modern marketing to make it tourist friendly have earned this place a high rank on the list of stops, it is situated in the heart of the city and is a good place of origin for a day of sight seeing)



(The Atlanta Botanical Gardens is set in the lush setting of Georgia. Zone 8 for climate and heavy rainfall produce a plethora of flaura to show off here. You can grow almost anything in Georgia, the atmosphere matches the liking for many Chinese, Korean, Japanese, African and Indian plants. The southern culture places an emphasis on gardens. The majority of native Georgians in Atlanta have came into contact with small pocket gardens, farms and most are a generation from it, the amount of care and importance Atliens take in supporting this institute is appalling and indicative of this love of horticulture. This place also attracts some of the best gardeners in the world and serves as a balance of outdoor to a trip to the big city of Atlanta)



(A sky walk in the Botanical Gardens allowing people to view a rare sight, an urban forest. This will undoubtedly be one of Atlanta's iconic sights)

Civil Rights Tourism



(The Civil Rights Museum in Atlanta and "Sweet Auburn", The neighborhood which was home to many of the nations leading black businesses, congregations and social organization. Sweet Auburn was the birthplace of many Civil Rights era leaders, namely Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His house still stands at 501 Auburn Avenue)



(The "Underground" shopping area)

Shopping



(The Mall of Georgia is the largest shopping mall in Georgia and one of the largest in America. It is 3 stories and has over 200 stores. The selection and diversity of shopping in here is paramount to a modern experience. The goods here come from all over the world, you can find pretty much anything you want in this mall and it serves a purpose as a tourist attraction solely in its selections. The hedonistic value of shopping is enhanced greatly by this kind of mall that can provide many of the appeals and benefits to consumers that individual and flagship retail stores cannot do, but are feasible with a shared cost structure, like cameras in the parking lot or repaving the parking lot)



(Lenox Square Mall is home to many high end retail in the wealthy city of Atlanta. There is a large amount of demand for luxury goods in this region and this mall was made to fill that need in the Atlanta shopping mall market. It has over 250 stores on 4 floors. The image and customer profile of this mall is important to maintain and that has been threatened lately with criminal elements moving in. Lenox Mall is mentioned in many cases as the mall for drug dealers around Atlanta's massive drug scene. The shops here are generally a little more high end then other in this list, this is the Rialto Bridge of Atlanta)



(European fashion brands that are adorned and appreciated around the world are available for sale here in Atlanta and in the Lenox Mall. It takes an amazing consumption power tot attract these companies and to be such an important store in their international portfolio. Atlanta is a testament to the future cities of the world by being portals to receiving these amazing products. They are without a doubt huge boosts to the local tax base simply by adding a lot of sales tax. The items here are some of the most capital intensive in the world for the amount of material put in and they are also a long term testament to humans commitment to the highest possible quality. The items in here may seem vastly overpriced, but they are greatly appreciated by their consuming class for what they are and are worth the money in their eyes)

     This is a less obvious portal into the world through Atlanta and Lenox Mall is a retail source for many of these designers. When the largest entities in the fashion industry make movers, they not only consider Milan, Paris, Florence, New York and London, they also consider New York, Chicago and Atlanta. The competition to get to this pointy has been fierce and Atlanta's retail establishments will face fierce future competition in other tourism heavy centers. 

The driving factors behind the success and growth of these stores have been the large airport, the growth of emerging markets consumption. with tax rates and other peculiarity in other countries sometimes making these items even more expensive (France, U.K and Italy to name 3 countries where like luxury items are the same). Shopping vacations are a common occurrence, with many people having been exposed to Atlanta on route to another city in proves travels or through word of mouth. 

Being one of the few new cities in America with a 5 star retail experience, Atlanta has gave many of these retailers the new shopping center that they need for growth. Luxury brands like to stick together and stay in the same area. By definition these exclusive brands cannot be in every city and there are certain circumstances that they look for, relative to other cities and absolutely, like growing importance in world travel, a brand itself as a place of shopping and a long term viability as a global powerhouse. The sheer size of a market is not enough and the growth is not enough by itself, there has to be a large market, growing immensely and forming in such a way that mesh's well with fashion. Atlanta's rapid growth in the past 50 years, the international aspects of that growth and the image of Atlanta as a place of culture have yielded a rare mix that these luxury companies need. 

With one of 2 tenants, there is a flurry of followers. As luxury companies pile into on each others lands, the smaller and less luxurious stores come to fill in blanks.the shock wave is felt into even smaller and less well known brands looking to start in a city and begin their international branding of the world. For a small entreprenuer with a new fashion line, they are faced with an immensly hard decision in where to place there busienss to appeal to the world markets. While Atlanta is not in the top statosphere of retial, it is an excelletn place to open your 2nd or 3rd shop. 

Some of the cities that Atlanta is trying to pierce in the ultra top tranche of 

Top tier shopping cities

• Paris- Champs-Elysees shopping district
• New York- 5th ave
• Tokyo

Medium tier shopping cities

Dubai- The Dubai Mall is the world’s largest shopping mall (based on total square feet). With over 1,200 retail outlets, 160 food and beverage outlets, and even an indoor ski resort

• Los Angeles’s- Rodeo Drive is probably the most expensive 3 blocks of shopping in the world. This glamorous stretch is where the stars shop
• Milan
• Atlanta
• Madrid
• Buenos Aires
• Kuala Lumpur
• Chicago
• Moscow

Low Tier

• Austin
• Philadelphia

Medium tier luxury items

Atlanta is a destination for luxury, but is also a great place to buy medium tier luxury items at much cheaper prices than other cities, or other brands. Atlanta has a vibrant upper middle class consuming class that are young, have plenty of discretionary income and are wan the feel of luxury with a lot more value. The land and diversity of fashions seen in Atlanta enable the traditional shopping experience of getting clothing and furniture. 

Regular consumption

Atlanta is a consuming giant, when looking at all of its tiers together. the city is a large shopping district to many and there is a sense of business unmatched by any but New York. The cost of doing business are extremely low for lower end retailers and the consumers themselves live in a cheaper place to live than most people and this allows more discretionary income. There are larger houses here in Atlanta than many other cities that compete and the sprawl encourages geographic markets to conquer for each company. It is not urban dense cities on the East Coast, many of which have a few retail locations to cover most of the consuming power, in Atlanta (similar to Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Charlotte) there are many more areas to set up shop. The proper filling in of cities is a tough decision, as you run risk of cannibalizing your own stores, setting up in an where competition is more determined to capture and undeserving an area and missing customers in between gaps of service. It is, in a sense, like setting up cell phone towers to cover an area. 

With large companies like Wal Mart driving a lot of consumption, it is crucial to find a way to grow sales in saturated America. With smaller stores like this one, they can cut costs on carrying non-essential items, rents, energy costs and even theft. They will be essential to filling in small areas in Atlanta, a great example of sprawl and trying to put stores in the absolute best location. 

(Atlanta has a much higher average of residents living in their own house. Families who live in a home like this spend more than apartment renters. They make long term investments into the property of their house, enabling the retail sector of home improvement, which an Atlanta company, Home Depot, has a tight grasp on. The larger square footage in living space allows furniture to be bought, enabling a larger than normal furniture retail sector. With more furniture bought, there is less emphasis on the luxurious and more importance on buying more furniture, this is a style of consumption that is common and unique to Atlanta, and what separates it from many other cities on the East Coast, Mid-West and West Coast. The Southwest consumes in this manner also)

     The following is a list of public housing that has been demolished in Atlanta. the desire for investable real estate, concerns of business owners and the larger benefit of Atlanta for freeing up the hundreds of acres of land inside the city to market forces. The movement of poor people is bettered by leaving these places and they are killing each generation that lives there. It was never the governments job to give people a house anyway. I would have preferred that the city of Atlanta instead just sign over every unit to the families there and let them do as they please. They would undoubtedly sell it, but they would A) be compensated for being sucked into such a swindle anyway and B) To give them money to find another place to stay. Many may end up in a neighborhood bordering the old one. This will keep population density high, supposed diversity and a sense of community. The intermingling of the inhabitants is not guaranteed in any case though and some of the former project residents will want to move out of Atlanta completely  The amount of families that will be right back into poverty may exceed 80%, but if 20% can escape that is freeing up so many liabilities for us non-residents. More importantly it is bringing more of the population into the main stream. It allows the 

• • Capitol Homes
  • Carver Homes
  • Eagan Homes
  • East Lake Meadows
  • Grady Homes
  • Harris Homes
  • Harris Chiles
  • John Hope Homes
  • McDaniel-Glenn Homes
  • Perry Homes
  • Techwood/Clark Howell
• • Antoine Graves
  • Bankhead Courts
  • Bowen Homes
  • Englewood Manor
  • Herndon Homes
  • Hollywood Courts
  • Jonesboro North
  • Jonesboro South
  • Leila Valley
  • Palmer House
  • Roosevelt House
  • Thomasville Heights
  • University Homes
  • U-Rescue Villa

1996 Olympics

     Atlanta emerged from the Civil war, burned and ready to be re-born. The selection as the site of the Olympics gave it an opportunity to again partake in something audacious enough to spark the same kind of growth. Atlanta competed against Toronto, Athens, Manchester and Melbourne. Atlanta won with the emphasis the city had on change and progress. The city was ready to take a much larger role in the developing Southeast, national and international economies.

     The city had to expand its sidewalks, public parks, electric grid, restaurants, gas stations, hotels and many other business that would open specifically for the Olympics as a catalyst to ensure a good and healthy start. In short, they prepared for a massive crowd and a massive temporary influx of money, the businesses thrived and survived after everyone left. Atlanta is very new in many areas, compared with other cities in the original 13 colonies.

     Funds were drawn from about every corner of the earth and this was a truly good gain for Atlanta. The magnet like attraction of capital gave Atlanta the investment that was so crucial to help keep its growth well fed.

     It is interesting to note the sprawl of Atlanta and the reporters who were coming from ll over the world to Atlanta commented on the traffic and the burdening density, over 100k people in a city with about 400k.

     This left Atlanta with a positive impression on the worlds mind. The city could no longer be called small and it had gradually, but quietly, carried the load and responsibilities of being a world city. The pedestrian improvements, renovation of many apartments and the tearing down of many vacant and derelict housing pushed Atlanta to the position it leads the Southeast from today.

World Trade

     With world markets increasingly seeing a drop in geographic bounds and borders fro trade there are numerous opportunities for new players and money to be made. The explosion in world growth and Heath over the past 10 years are just showing a sliver of the potential growth and commerce for the future. The pursuit for efficiency and innovation will never stop. Atlanta is an area with a long term grasp on the trade and growth in the world and is at the forefront of this activity. Everyday links are made in Atlanta that secure American trade and growth with other nations. Atlanta is the capital of NAFTA trade and has representatives form every South American country, Mexico and Canada. The complexity of worldwide trade is simplified by talking to a person, whos job it is is to get you to sell stuff to their country. 

With over 2,700 foreign owned businesses and the 130,000 foreign employees Atlanta is a point of contact for every corner of the world. There are over 17,000 immigrants annually, with many more coming here illegally. 

Georgia's top import/export markets are China, Germany, Mexico, South Korea, and Japan. Most of this physical trade is clothing, consumer electronics and vehicles for aircraft's/spacecrafts, machinery and wood pulp. Atlanta facilitates this trade by providing the operation headquarters, hosting one of the largest cargo airports and being located near the Port of Savannah, one of the largest ports in the world. Many foreign companies use Atlanta as a regional distribution hub, due to all these features, plus the low cost of living and the future growth.

Most investment facilities in Atlanta, by country

Germany- 578 (24,073 employees)
United Kingdom- 563 (35,055 employees)
Japan- 378 (19,878 employees)
France- 354 (14,914 employees)
The Netherlands- (261 18,701 employees)
Canada- 260 (8,997 employees)
Switzerland- (138 8,412 employees)
Sweden- 107 (7,512 employees)
Italy- 82 (1,990 employees)
Ireland- 75 (6,148 employees)

(Sao Paulo, Brazil)

     Trade between America and Brazil is facilitated largely through Atlanta. Brazil still has a notable agriculture sector, which feeds many of Atlanta's citizens. The farmers trade their goods and in exchange purchase Atlantan services, such as purchasing derivatives to provide hedging for price volatility or for an education for the farmers children. Both places are playing off to their strengths and maximizing the total goods produced. The Brazilian economy, with its abundantly rich soil and liberal sunlight hours received, is in even better condition for agriculture than 90% of the world. 

     It is important to realize how fast this trade is growing. Many have a completely ignorant perspective to how much trade will be facilitated in the coming years if current trends do not slow significantly. Brazil is growing very fast, beings one of the BRIC countries and Atlanta will benefit immensely off of this explosion of wealth in Brazil. The growth of a consuming class in Brazil has opened more markets for Atlanta goods and services, and if played properly, should yield Atlanta her best single city trading partner.

(Coffee beans being traded for education is one way to view Atlanta-Brazil trade)

     Whilst the growth of Sao Paulo will steal market share of many advanced services trades that we see for manufactured goods/commodities.agricultural goods, there will be a heavy sense of collaboration between the cities and a fostering of the trade between the two. In this sense the cord between Atlanta and Sao Paulo is very much a reciprocal one, much more important than the others on this list. 

(Atlanta has the engineers and architects to build pretty much any building and Brazil has the lumber necessary to build them)



(Investors in both countries can rest assured in having more diversity of choices to place Real Estate. The large Brazilian investors can balance out some risk in their portfolio by adding positions in large and supposedly safe American cities like Atlanta and Atlanta investors, hungry for yield, can achieve a higher growth rate in their investments, if they already have enough safety and stability, but lack any growth. This is a very common scenario, where many Brazilians buy their first home, not in NYC, but here in Atlanta, whilst many Atlanta financiers will fund projects in desperate attempts to control a growing market. Many times the Brazilian who will benefit off of major real estate developments like this will live part time in Atlanta and vice-versa, increasing exposure to other investment opportunities between countries and creating a whole new market of business travelers. It is a cycle of business begetting more business as strings are lain and reinforced, making both cities economies stronger and the ultimate objective of the most value created and most efficient way of creating that value are sought)

Ways Atlanta and Brazil work with each other

• Atlanta provides Brazil a source of capital that taps into American finance markets and American investors. This gives Brazilian sources who utilize this resource a extremely cheap form of financing that will drive out domestic financiers. Atlanta is providing the finance and Brazil is providing a great rate of return, above and beyond what local American investments could yield. 
• Brazil provides a plethora of students who can compete on par within Atlanta insitutues of education, this gives Atlanta a service in educating the youth and the youth will return to Brazil with a much superior education than what they could have received in Brazil. 

(Mexico City)



(Lima, Peru)



Gentrification


(Tech-wood Homes, it is weird to see such small buildings in the core of Atlanta, they look like they belong in my city of Augusta, Georgia. These apartments are very nice to live in now compared to there former days. This was the first "project" in the nation and the ensuing social problems were a forerunner here before other projects in Atlanta. The level of crime was horrendous at one point and made it the spearhead of an effort to eliminate or renovate the cities housing projects. The mixed use development now leads the example of public housing. This is probably the most famous housing project in America, and certainly along the names of Magnolia, Calliope, Ike homes, Nicker-son Gardens and Pork & Beans in crime)

     Gentrification is seen as so many things and has so many definitions  In this report Gentrification is the secular and general trends of a housing stock increasing in price, rising in average income and having a high amount of new population, capital and housing stock coming to and fro.

     Atlanta is by no means a city to go by the old playbook and the movement into public housing was equally met with a movement out of them. At one point Atlanta had more of its population in projects than any other city in America. The segregation of the masses was so prevalent and strong that I think there may have been purely racial motives for this on some scales. The density and pulling affects of the projects and the efective "management" of the poor was a conduit to the commerce, not in the legal sector, but in the underground economy. 

(Bowen Homes, another exceptionally horrible neighborhood that was contributing far past its fair share of criminals. The existence of places with crime rates like this act as conduits fro further crime, in the same sense that New York provides the advanced services that benefit the rest of the American economy. Places like this were home to the largest drug dealers, the most viscous gangsters and most strung out crackheads. The amount of time the police spent here must have been a singular feature of the begetting of more crime by lack of police presence in the area around Bowen Homes. The frequent moving between projects also made this a lasting impression and often the catalyst that pushed the marginal criminals over the edge. To live here and move anywhere else may make you the most "savage" in your new place of residence  which is a good trait for selling drugs, which is usually violent in nature and requires an eroded sense of breaking the law) 

     The city started its major gentrification and renovation efforts in preparation for the 1996 Olympics  The bulldozing and razing of whole blocks was achieved with the promise of new structures, jobs and a better tax base. The locals were of course reluctant, and some were genuinely exploited in the obtainment of the property. In another manner, this freed up many people from the urban ghettos that were turning the projects into factories for criminals. The State prison population was overwhelmed with Atlanta's hardened criminals. The city was also around this time, very dangerous, even more so than the regular bloody South and drug based I-95 corridor from Floridian cocaine. Atlanta, Memphis and New Orleans just "Have some voodoo with them, some old curses and some superstitious stuff", the best description  have heard from a lady who lived in all three places. 

     This culture of "Voodoo"  (Voodoo means ignorance, violence, curses, evil, hate, envy, jealousy, destruction and other negative connotations. Another word that is synonymous is Backwoods demons. This came about, in Georgia, with husbands with mental diseases that are secluded from the world and therefore abade their suffering onto the immediate family. This may seem kind of weird in a report about the econoym of Atlanta, but it is important to try and understand this aspect of these 3 cities 

Housing 

     Being in the South gives you a lot of square feet, Georgia itself has very low construction costs and low regulations that add other costs indirectly. you can get a lot of house for your dollar here. The housing stock around Atlanta is massively the result of the Federal Reserves cheap money from Greenspan and the Deregulation of the mortgage market and forcing of minorities to make loans. Atlanta represents this to a glove. The outer suburbs were shoved with cheap Mchouses that dotted the landscape far away from civil services, jobs and societal interaction in general. Low income people generally need to be close to the urban core to access resources due to usually not having a vehicle or transportation. 

     to live in a new apartment development that is already decrepit due to poor construction material and due to the ownership of the neighborhood and not be able to interact with the rest of society is a recipe for criminality. The housing market is very much related to this and Atlanta proves to be a n interesting example. It is not a "cool" or "Hip" thing, it has very minor race elements, as it is practiced everywhere by every society and people and has strikingly similar circumstances. 

     On the other note, Atlanta has to offer some of the worlds finest living if you have the money. The wealth here has left behind mansions foregone for bigger ones, huge houses that developers have a temporary abundance of and other situations to snatch a good house for cheap. 

     The zoning laws in Atlanta allow real estate to not greatly exceed the cost of construction and the general profit allowed in the market. the competition to underbid your developments are always abound and constantly keeping the price at this point, the land being bought out and out of the city is the margin, 100 acres here, 70 acres here, 35 acres here, 80 acres. The raw value of the land (Adam Smith explains this in his section on rent very clearly) gets cheaper as you get away from the core of the city, the land is in less competition with market participants who need, or rather, prefer to live close to the city for transit reasons. The land is also, bound by geometry to be in a great proportion as you continue out from the focal point. The radius of a circle grows exponentially, to move 10 miles out from the city will yield you many many points then 9, so for 8 and 7 and until 1, where there is but one point, the one you are standing on. 

     Atlanta is the best case for studying this, along with London, Paris, Tokyo and the sprawl king of the world, Los Angeles. 

     Inside Atlanta the sphere of influence can be said to be the Bank of America building, for hypothetical reasons. That sphere could be a radius which is stronger ins some portions, but also interacts and engulfs other spheres. Each point and each economic unit on this is actually interacting, engulfing and forming each other. This is the idea and concept of connection in the economy. To look at it from a aerial view will show that Atlanta's sphere are spread and equalized to a greater degree than many other places. In simple terms, the wealth seems to be everywhere in Atlanta. As one of my friends said coming back from the Falcons Thursday night game Vs the Saints in 2012, "Even the homeless people got money in Atlanta".

Neighborhoods

South Atlanta 
East Atlanta
Downtown
Midtown
Buckhead


Financial Services





(Bank of America tower in Atlanta, They employs slightly more people than Sun-trust at around 7,045. Bank of America is headquarter in Charlotte not to far from here and to be a large participant in the Atlanta market is necessary for a presence in the Southeast. Bank of America fills the gap for the most basic and ordinary loans. They have basically a zero cost of capital and they have the economics of scale to make loans that many in the economy of Atlanta cannot. They are also large and have the loaning power needed for large projects in Atlanta. This building is the tallest outside of New York and Chicago inside America, showcasing both Bank of Americas presence and the progress of Atlanta)



(Left-to-Right- Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando. Sun-trusts Banks, the 7th largest bank in America.It is mainly centered in the Southeast and has a stronger presence there than any national chain. They employ 30,000 people and 7,000 of those in Atlanta. The bank is quite conservative refraining to heavily from the derivatives and investing world and focusing instead on core banking an solid growth through moderately complex financial instruments and services, which is much larger than very complex, risky and competitive sub-fields that many  banks now compete in, Sun-trust is still a real bank, not a bank only in name)



(While Wells Fargo is closely locate din Charlotte and many of the banks that it had merged and acquired over the years had branches in Atlanta is finds itself in a very saturated market. Bank of America is in a very similar situation and has already done what it had to get a larger share of the Atlanta market. Well Fargo still finds some business to do in Atlanta though, it is the most fiscally sound bank int he nation and reflects in its loans given out very reluctantly during the housing crisis. Wells Fargo fills the void of Atlanta's banking need in the retail sector. They can make loans in small amounts and to small businesses. they provide the small financing gap that seem to be the lattice of the greater economy. They provide great discipline, skill and help in their banking with consumers and this on individual levels helps the economy of Atlanta greatly. There are a lot of customer who could benefit off of having Wells Fargo to go to for their financial services needs. This also brings more financial service jobs and adds to the atmosphere by pulling in the basic banker that we envisioned as a child, loaning in small increments for either a house, business or car, nothing fancy)



(The Federal Reserve, Atlanta Branch)



(This is the city of Buck-head: the wealthiest suburb in the Southeast. Many of the buildings below are major financial market participants from around the world and every sort of service imaginable. There are representatives from almost every company and nation involved in the Southeast here. This is one of the epicenters of financial activity outside of a Downtown and is truly a city made for itself and very new. This plays a crucial role in the economy of Atlanta by providing a second place of great financial activity. To be a consumer of financial services in Atlanta must be very good due to the competition and the atmosphere of employers and labor must provide an atmosphere itself that is of value)



(Deloitte consulting, one of the world leading consulting firms and an example of modern day know how. They help to grease the wheel of the knowledge based economy and do well to make Atlanta a well run city. The constant questioning and emphasis on solving problems is the business of the people in this building  but the influences they make help many other Atlanta institutions and pull a lot of resources to the city by simply existing. These are the areas in which the world market is growing in. If Atlanta can maintain a sizable consulting sector it will be very beneficial for the trade of the city. There is little input into the final product of consulting and the bring the high wages it carries home to Atlanta is advantageous for the Economy of Atlanta, but also wherever they consulted will also be improved  You need a large population center like  Atlanta for Consultants and many of the smallest cities in Georgia benefit indirectly off of sectors like this, in the least through the tax revenue created. This is an example of the benefits of living next to a behemoth that it Atlanta)



(Hong Kong)



(Frankfurt)



(Geneva)

Corporations

     The corporations operating inside Atlanta are the world leaders. most of the worlds GDP is driven by a few cities and Atlanta is succumbing to that with its absolute juggernaut that is the corporate sector. Besides being logistically perfect for meetings, technical and low costs for operations, corporations choose Atlanta as an asset to add to their company. To be able to tap into the market of Atlanta is an advantage that can push a medium sized company into the big leagues. 

     The size and depth of the labor market in Atlanta is quite attractive to corporations. The low cost of everything from taxes to electricity to construction is cheaper. To invest into Atlanta feels eerily like an emerging market in price and opportunity. The long term separation between the Northeast and their urban powerhouses to the South and its rural fields has converged in Atlanta. The built up pressure from all sides booms Atlanta as a place to put your corporation. 

     The corporations themselves beget more corporations. To have a very special skill and to switch jobs is an increasingly common occurrence. It is not as easy as it once was to recruit and maintain the same skilled labor. Corporations now want individuals with a lot of experience and a lot of roundness to them. the division of labor is still the best way to more productivity, but the liberal arts concept of corporations is a way to add the very stubborn steps of productivity that many companies hit after doing all of the simple steps to grow, be more productive and more efficient. 

     The labor force of Atlanta is very much educated. to be in the South and in Georgia is to be associated somewhat with ignorance and there forms of stupidity. Atlanta has shed this feeling, just like racism, and it has done wonders for its economy. To collectively come together as a people and to drop this ignorant culture is worth study of itself, but Atlanta did it, while almost every other city in Georgia

Wal Mart

     Wal Mart is the 2nd largest employer in the area with about 26,000 jobs. this reflect the amount of retail and consumerism available in Atlanta. Cheap transport systems, good jobs and relatively low costs of living had made Wal Marts very profitable to have down south in cities such as Atlanta. The abundance of population insures a steady workforce and they themselves add to the economy of Atlanta in indirect ways by complementing the higher income jobs with diverse needs and a maximization of each individuals situation. The poor and wealthy benefit off of having Wal Mart employ those who need their first job or a part time job in Atlanta. It provides a first step on the ladder that is crucial for pushing others up into the higher income groups.

AT&T 

     AT&T is a large employer in Atlanta and does well to boost the information sector of Atlanta's economy. The information tech sector is important for future growth and having a position in it now will yield immense benefits later. I think that the further deterioration of manufacturing and the comparative advantage America has in it will lead to places like this building producing a lot of GDP for the nation. It is important to see also that the large concentration of IT workers contributes to innovation and discovery among the employees. You meet and see so many people in Atlanta in a day and there are plenty here to strike a conversation about things like 4G and of broadband connectivity for rural schools or whatever invariably complicated and diverse subjects they must talk of

Home Depot

     Atlanta has some really nice houses and a huge market for construction and home improvement. There are plenty of new faucets and ceiling fans that needs to be places in the construction boom that is Atlanta. The relatively new age of all of the structures and the still hungry market despite the massive glut of inventory. Home Depot was started in Atlanta s a very risky enterprise. It was undertaken by Arthur Blank, a philanthropist in Atlanta and today is a very competitive player in the industry. The emphasis on customer service was a case study example in college for me. The headquarters being here will at least remind the HQ employees what they are working on, which is do it yourself home improvement. 

CNN

     CNN is a world wide provider of news for many different formats. It is the only main stream media source that is outside of  the typical powerhouses of America, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles to a lesser extent. Atlanta is both a good spot for all of the guests and celebrities to appear on set but also for bringing all of the employees and crews from around the Southeast. The natural geography of Atlanta as a point of movement of people again must have been a heavy reason for this corporation emerging and prospering so well here. If CNN was based in Miami, it would not be as big, in Texas, not as close to Washington and DC, in Nashville, way to small. Atlanta and CNN were meant to be. There is a worry among the industry of main stream media. They have lost half of their viewers in a year at one point and many have questioned their honesty in reporting the news without a bias. They have not busted any of the major news stories and it continues to have to be done by the alternative media. CNN will have to adapt to meet new demands or face declined revenue. 

     Otherwise this is the solidification of Atlanta's reputation as a huge city. They have a major news source. This is the newspapers of the day and CNN is something like a collection of our thoughts. It shows what we find important. You have this building where people from all over the world come to and talk of the most random and deep subjects, even though the superficial lens of the media. This brings so much culture to Atlanta and not to mention many 5 star hotel stays, plenty of tax money in payrolls for the state and the city and constant free advertising every time they show the "Atlanta, Ga" for their broadcasting base.  

Coca Cola

     Coca Cola is one of the largest companies in the world with a Market capitalization of 180 Billion and of 7/7/2013. The company serves ore countries than there are in the UN and they may be the most diverse body of association of individuals on earth. The model of coca Cola is attractive to merchants and has been simple from the start. the best marketing ever done by a company, coupled with a naturally excellent product and a growing city in Atlanta and industry in soft drinks around the world, made it was it is today. 

     Coca Cola brings many highly paid executives to the city and brings many migrants from the world. Think of this tower as a reception point from radar signals that it sends out. Workers come and see the city of Atlanta, they are welcomed to Georgia. I imagine many of them will love to be here and decide to live here accordingly. They buy houses and sometimes move generations of wealth into the city. Coca Cola is usually a career for these people and they are more stable on average to stay then the people coming for CNN, or maybe even for a higher turnover industry like financial services. 

     The plethora of middle management also builds strong suburbs for Atlanta. For all of the executive jobs there are multiple jobs that pay slightly above then national, Georgia and Atlanta average. They are among some of the most productive of their kind in the world and they push one of the best companies in the world. Coca Cola has also been one of the prime examples of good marketing and they have brought so to Atlanta. You have many marketeers who live in Atlanta that make Cokes advertising and specialize it for other regions and cultures. This brings a lot of creative people to Atlanta to make the corporate sector from resembling to close the busybody New York Wall Street Fat Cat, which is also present in parts of Atlanta, and in which nothing is wrong with being. 

Southern Company

     Southern Company is the largest electric public utility company in America. It is provides electricity for 4.3 million customers in Mississippi, Balsam, Georgia and Florid. The company has about 25,000 employees with its HQ in downtown Atlanta and another office in Birmingham, Alabama. This company overalls brings a very secular protection to the economy of Atlanta. This company is on the pushing edge of generating energy, they draw electricity from almost every possible commercial source. They own nuclear power plants, biomass farms, coal plants and renewable sources. The cost of electricity is very competitive with other national electric utility companies. Southern Company is one of the most talked of and respected dividend stocks among friends who work in equities. Atlanta does well to have some of these engineers, technicians and energy experts that can add their knowledge in indirect ways for Atlanta's energy sector. It is also important to be good in this field as energy is paying off well in many other cities economy. Atlanta is not a place of energy production, but it is the seat of the corporate aspects of energy production. It is competitive with Oklahoma city and Texas cities due to its logistic and access to customer in the energy sector.

Sun-trust

Suntrust banks is a young bank (formed 1985) has about 175 billion on their balance sheet, operates over 1,600 branches in every state in the South. This bank acts as a provider of banking, finanical services, underwiritng and asset management to the South in General and is reflective of the regions health. This banks fills a void in the finaicng market of the South and Atlanta in taking on smaller and riskier loans that the large abnks avoid. the personl touch with the small branches and the focus on simpler forms of abning made the company a good choice for obtaining finance in the booming Atlanta metro. The bank did not participate in derivatives, structured products or other taks that could haev drawn their resources from traditional banking. This is also Atlantas and Georgia contributinn into the banking world. There are not a lot of banks in the South that can compete with the big 4 and there associates, in New York, San Fran, Charlotte and Chicago, but suntrust is leading the way and taking market share from these older banks. Suntrust is a good working option for mant Atlantians and acts as a buffer to first rounds of cuts in the finaical service indusry, as Atlanta is the headquarters and the workers here have the most seniority and control over their carrerr.




(Sun-trust locations)

AT&T

AT&T is involved in the exchange of information. The employees here are trained in computers, electronics, research and development and have the corporate culture of high efficiency and hard work. AT&T is in a growing industry and the placement in Atlanta gives it a platform to do business with the rest of the world and to have a central place for the Southeast. These employees have good options for moving to other parts of the century and other AT&T employees can move, or more likely get promoted, to the Atlanta office.



Bank Of America



The Home Depot



Georgia Pacific



Georgia Pacific is a paper, tissue and pulp provider. They are privately owned as an LLC and have worldwide operations on both the supply and selling side of the operations. This is a large employer with over 40,000 employees worldwide and one of the leading edge American manufacturers. The quality and branding of the companies products meets the worlds needs for just about anything paper. The economy of scale and worldwide network is a strong advantage and the company has a good chance to displace foreign competition in this field. The headquarters being in Atlanta brings in people from all over the world for meetings and promotions. The sheer size of the company is enough to be felt in Atlanta labor market, as expansion or contraction of the employee count worldwide has to eventually lead to more employees here to manage them. The company is owned by the Koch brothers, which comes with controversy, but they are independently managed and they do not participate in the operations. The company does have protection on a federal level with owners being so well connected, especially concerning the environmental concerns of manufacturing. The company was orginally founded in Augusta, Georgia, my hometown in 1927.

Chick Fil A

Chick Fil A, a healthy chicken sandwich, upper scale fast food restaurant chain. The company operates in 40 states, at 1,700 locations and has an emphasis on mall and larger conglomerated areas for stores, as opposed to the drive through free standing locations popular with the larger chains. Chick Fil A contributes to the professional class in Atlanta by providing diversity in the beliefs of corporations, as a Christian based company they attract the slice of the labor pool of those who prefer to work in such a place. This is a company that has a likely chance of growth, I believe. There restaurants are well places, seldom opened on speculation and always clean. The lines are executed fast and the orders are filled at comparable speeds, the service is generally friendly from a prolonged collective atmosphere of the company's foundations and from just good all around management. This company is well positioned for international expansion, and if so, the chicken sandwich market is a large one worldwide. 

Earth-link is a consumer and business IT service provider in just about anything that is information exchanging. They offer solutions to security, maintenance, installation, cloud, large bandwith users and many other unique problems in the emerging fields of Information Technology. The company jas about 3,000 full time employees and contributes to Atlantas title as the most wired city in America by having a combined 30,000 route fibre miles. They also have 90 metro metro fibre rings and 8 secured Data centers

(Equifax is a company that operates around credit service reports. They make money on monitoring your credit report and providing you with detailed information about it. The company also offers some identification verification services and many other associated features of a credit report. The comnay was suprisingly founded in 1899 in Atlanta. They now operate in many Central and South American countries and Spain. This company adds to the financial services of Atlanta in some of the simpleset of services, but also in financial information technology, a notabley emerging field in the worlds largest finance centers)

 

First Data is a payment processign company. They make sure the money is moved succesfully and the information si right on transactions that involve creidt cards, checks and other non-currency payments. They sale POS (point of sale) items and information tracking services in keeping, maintiang and retrieiving data. The comany employs 24,000 worldwide and contributes to the international sector of Atlantas economy by having ties in 35 countries. 

(International Continental Exchange is a new entry onto the exchange market, but has fast grown into one of the most valuable in the markets infrastructure. The company operates in energy and commodity future and acts as a clearing house for derivatives in its New York subsidiary. This company has operations in all major financial centers, including Tokyo, London, Singapore and New York. They merged with the New York Stock Exchange in an effort to achieve more efficiency, greater compliance and more international networks that benefit exchanges. There is serious potential to grow here in Atlanta with the cost of operating being so  low. This office is much cheaper to work out of then a skyscraper in Manhattan. The combined exchanges leaves ICE in much better position against the CME (Chiacgo Mercantile Exchange), its main rival in America.

Invesco

 Below is a list of the most notable companies that were founded or have their corporate headquarters in the Atlanta metro area.

Aaron's, Inc. Acuity Brands AGCO Corporation  AGL Resources AirWatch Alston & Bird American Cancer Society American Megatrends  Arby's Arcapita Asbury Automotive Group AT&T Mobility The Athlete's Foot Atlanta Bread Company Atlantis Plastics Beazer Homes USA BlueLinx Holdings CNN Chick-fil-A  Church's Chicken The Coca-Cola Company Coca-Cola Enterprises Cox Communications  Cox Enterprises Cox Radio  Delta Air Lines

EarthLink Elavon Equifax Exide ExpressJet Airlines  First Data Focus Brands Foundation Financial Group Gentiva Health Services Genuine Parts Georgia Gulf Georgia-Pacific Global Franchise Group Havertys HD Supply The Home Depot  Hooters of America, Inc Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) InterContinental Hotels Group (Americas Headquarters) Internap Invesco Ltd.  Kabbage King & Spalding Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (in Marietta) Longhorn Steakhouse MaggieMoo's Ice Cream and Treatery Marble Slab Creamery Merial Mirant

NAPA Auto Parts NCR  Newell Rubbermaid New Vision Television North American Electric Reliability Corporation Novelis Popeye's Porsche AG  RaceTrac Roark Capital Group Rock-Tenn Rollins/Orkin Scientific-Atlanta  Simmons Bedding Company  Sony Mobile  Southern Company Spanx Spectrum Brands  SunTrust Bank Troutman Sanders Turner Broadcasting UPS  Vision Airlines  Waffle House  The Weather Channel  Wing Zone World Airways  YP Holdings

• 1 Delta Air Lines 27,000
• 2 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 26,000
• 3 Emory University / Emory Healthcare 23,872
• 4 DeKalb County Government & Schools 20,405
• 5 AT&T 18,000
• 6 Publix Supermarkets 17,765
• 7 Cobb County School District 14,027
• 8 City of Atlanta Government & Schools 13,628
• 9 United States Postal Service - Atlanta District 10,324
• 10 The Coca-Cola Co.2
• 9,000
• tie The Home Depot 9,000
• 11 Southern Company3 8,777
• 12 WellStar Health System 8,583
• 13 UPS (United Parcel Service) 8,369
• 14 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 8,300
• 15 Clayton County Public Schools 7,500
• 16 Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company 7,420
• 17 Bank of America 7,000
• 18 SunTrust Banks Inc 6 906
• METRO ATLANTA
• TOP EMPLOYERS
• SunTrust Banks, Inc. 6,906
• 19 Cox Enterprises 6,864
• 20 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. 6,700
• 21 Northside Hospital 6,670
• 22 Piedmont Healthcare 6,113
• 23 Children's Healthcare of Atlanta 6,033
• 24 Georgia Institute of Technology 6,005
• 25 Southwest Airlines / AirTran Airways 6,000

Logistics



(Harts-field Jackson international airport, the busiest airport in the world for moving people. It is also growing with freight and cargo and will hopefully soon give Memphis a better run for their business in that sector. If Atlanta could get some more logistic deals from international companies it could reap further economies of scale. this airport runs a flight every couple of minutes and is truly an anthill of business in peak hours. From here you can reach anywhere in the world it is one of the most efficient airports in the world and much better ran than the large NE airports)

Research

     The center for Disease Control is based in Atlanta and is one of the largest and most paramount of medial research facilities in the world. It rivals the likes of John Hopkins, UK and Japanese medical research faculties. The harboring of so many people in the most divisive skilled medical professions not only bring many fat payrolls into the city, but brings a lot of visitors and people on an educational or business trip. The Center also inspires a whole feeling of being on the cutting edge of technology. There is not much history in Atlanta and this is an example of the hunger felt in Atlanta. The high activity and businesslike pace of places like this exurbanite outwards and onto others. The interaction with Emory and Georgia tech are both highly advantageous also. It is not Boston, but very much close and much more hungry than Boston. The research they do here is mainly preventive measures, but also deals with outbreaks, like if zombies took over, and they had a contest of zombie scenario videos to prepare for it, humorously, Atlanta is referred to as the zombie capital of America. I imagine there is some very important research being done here with no knowledge for us of it. 

     Some of the jobs at the CDC include the most advanced fields of science and Medicine. Dentist, Physicians, Chemists, Biologists, Epidemiologists, endocrinologists, Pediatricians, Researchers, Librarians, Economists, Public Health Adviser, Toxicologist, Computer Scientist and a large and highly paid administrative sector. These are some very productive jobs that give Atlanta, in part, its luxury and wealth scene. Many of these people come from wealthy families and from other world capitals of power. The benefits of attracting them to Atlanta are innumerable. The CDC

Area-I, a Kennesaw firm with about 10 employees, has developed an unmanned aircraft that looks like a small-scale version of a Boeing 737. Developed with NASA funding and known as PTERA, the vehicle weighs in at less than 300 pounds and is used to test technology for manned aircraft.

Guided Systems Technologies, of Stockbridge, which makes unmanned helicopters for military use and has participated in tests for other uses. Adaptive Flight, in Marietta, makes autopilot systems and customized unmanned helicopters for law enforcement.

The government has granted 35 waivers that currently allow drone use in research by Georgia universities or university partnerships.

DeKalb-Peachtree Airport director Mike Van Wie said any hobbyist should seek permission to operate within five miles of an airport, and he has granted a couple of requests.

In Georgia, one of the biggest potential customers for commercially-used drones is expected to be farmers to scan crops for disease or other problems. A special camera on the drone would be able to detect plant diseases -- a job that now requires painstaking human inspection.

After test flying over corn, cotton and peanut fields with Guided Systems in South Georgia last summer, Justice said plans are for an exhibit in October at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie to educate farmers and the agricultural sector, and possibly some demonstration flights.

---------------

Georgia Tech researchers have created a tool to monitor the accessibility of Web pages around the world that can be installed by adding a single line of code to a web page. The tool, Encore, runs when a user visits a website where the code is installed and then discreetly collects data from potentially censored sites.


The technology, developed by a Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) team, is aimed at myriad applications in military, commercial, environmental, healthcare and other areas.
An array of sensors uses carbon nanotubes and other nanomaterials to detect specific chemicals, while an RFID (radio-frequency identification) capability informs users about the presence and concentrations of those vapors wirelessly, according to a statement.

Higher Education

• 57 colleges & universities in the metro Atlanta region enroll more than 250,000 students each year
• 7 technical colleges enroll more than 60,000 students each year

Universities and Graduate institutions

• American Intercontinental University- This is you typical Degree mill offering online courses and an expensive on campus option. I would not look to much into this "University"
• Clark Atlanta University- This is one of the historic black schools of America started in America following the civil war and it provided the community feel, the association and resource of banding together in an educational environment. The University, for a long time, had its back to the wall and was fighting hard for every dollar for education. The commitment to education was one followed from the Anglo style of education, who has an immense emphasis on educational attainment. Clark would put out many productive black citizens, but now faces competition that all HBCU's face. Personally, I think they are outdated and not good for an education. To go to an all black school is to immerse yourself into nothing bu the culture your most familiar with (If your black, of similar income and other features to the average attendee of these schools. Clark Atlanta should make a good target for a Merger of another university. The usual problems include the faculty running the college for their benefit and this has not been unnoticed, many students who could go to Clark notice the bureaucracy and respond to it in the best manner possible, by not doing business with them. It will be interesting to see Clarkes place in the future for Atlanta. 

• DeVry University- Typical Degree mill that loads students on debt and pumps them out brainwashed and feeling like they actually have an education, very dangerous scenarios and the responsibility of the mass intelligentsia we see prevalent among the lower ranks of college attendees. 
• Emory University- Emory is one of the most prestigious learning institutes (From your childhood, Emory is seen as a Georgian Harvard) in the south and is a major research center for health  

(Emory University, Georgia's connection into the world of academia research and the choice for the wealthiest of Georgians. the school has an interesting emphasis on sustainability and takes an active role by trying to minimize its own impact through localized sourcing for food and discouragement of print-outs)

• Georgia Institute of Technology- Georgia Tech is one of the most challenging and invigorating campuses and group of students to talk to. the amount of work and competition these students are constantly faced with mans them up fast. The graduates are some of the best in the world and I was taught by one, Mr. Kevin Ward at Augusta Tech, a graduate of Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech is engaged in, bar none, the most important research going on in the world. From the realms of physics, chemistry, biology to things that we do not know anything of and will not be relevant to us until the great inventions and patents that flow from here are procured. 

(Georgia Tech is not a small school, it is one of the largest bastions of a representation of our learning in America. This is our academy, it does not get any better than this, is what I thought while walking around this campus. There is not a better place on earth to learn about architecture than here, and it is in Georgia, this makes me so proud of my state and is definetley worth flaunting. Ours is better than yours!)

• Georgia Gwinnett College- This is a regular old 4 year school, nothing important or exceptional.
• Georgia State University- This is the smaller research brother to Emory and Georgia tech. Georgia state is more interested in general research, while the other two are very technical and scientific. The research that goes on at GSU is more likely to be economical, psychological or whatever does not take place in the confides of the great UGA. Overall it is a great college for its tuition and should yield many talented kids. 
• Interdenominational Theological Center- A small bible school, not economically important beyond the cultural contribution,
• John Marshall Law School- This is a professional school that enrolls only Juris doctorate students. I imagine it is highly selective and mainly a mill for father to son transitions of businesses, wealthy students living in Atlanta and of a few students who are there to be a lawyer straight off of the streets. 
• More-house School of Medicine- This is the African American school of medicine for a long time for Doctors in the black community. Here in Augusta we have the Medical College of Georgia and I do not think they admitted blacks in less receptive times. The existence of this school is outdated and will have to provide an exceptionally good education if it wants to stay true to its African American customer base, but may taper off onto a general audience, with no discrimination (The better policy), in a more likely scenario
• Oglethorpe University- An average 4 year college on the perimeter of Atlanta. They are noted for a small emphasis on Shakespeare and for a decent study abroad program
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• Clayton State University (Morrow)- Another average 4 year university
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• Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw)- Another average 4 year school, this one has over 20,000 students though
• Savannah College of Art and Design (satellite campus)- The SCAD is one of the most prestigious art schools in the South and the Atlanta campus does well to add to the vibe of both the city and the College. Savannah is only so large a city and this allows the SCAD to reach a much larger market
• Southern Polytechnic State University (Marietta)-  This is a large technical school similar to Georgia Tech, but not nowhere near as elite in caliber. This school must have always had to compete with Tech, I imagine they both have very tied faculty and areas of interest. This school serves a major purpose for the economy of Georgia by providing engineers and architects at a cheaper cost that Tech. The role of the university is much more in line with today's demands than others on this list. 

Colleges

• Art Institute of Atlanta, Atlanta College of Art, Bauder College, Christian College of Georgia, Chamberlain College of Nursing, Gwinnett College, Gwinnett College - Sandy Springs, Herzing College, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College, Spelman College, The Salvation Army Evangeline Booth College, Agnes Scott College (Decatur), Ashworth University (Norcross), Atlanta Christian College (East Point), Georgia Gwinnett College (Lawrenceville), Laurus Technical Institute (Decatur and Jonesboro)

Community Colleges

Atlanta Metropolitan College, Atlanta Technical College, Chattahoochee Technical College (Marietta), Georgia Perimeter College (Decatur), Gwinnett Technical College (Lawrenceville), North Metro Technical College (Acworth)

Green energy

Atlanta - #3 City for Energy Star Certified Buildings – EPA, 2011

Atlanta Beltline - Largest Sustainable Urban Redevelopment Project underway in 

the U.S.

Interface Showroom – First LEED platinum certified commercial interior

• Philips Arena – First LEED Certified Sports Arena in the world

• Emory University – First LEED Certified existing building in the U.S.

• Gables Midtown – First ENERGY STAR qualified high-rise building in the 

Southeast

• Atlanta Motorsports Park - First green, sustainable motorsports facility and 

country club of its kind

High Arts


Film



Music

     Atlanta is the music capital of the world. the amount of music coming form Atlanta is rivaled by no other city. there is no city that has more dance clubs and such tied directly to the performance of music. The existence of music in your night club is necessary for any kind of business. The competition for the dollar of many consumers in this case is attracted more so by this feature than equal in other cities.

     I think that Atlanta shares the culture of a love of music from a variety of sources that came together to make the blend that is the hottest city in the world for music right now. You have the traditional folk music brought over by the Irish and the Scot's, this would be sung while doing work and is familiar to the second kind of music original to this area. Slave hymns and other African based musical poems and stories were prevalent throughout the South. In major trading posts such as Atlanta a plethora of hymns, songs, poems and such could be intermingled. With the heavy institution tat was the Southern Baptist Independent feel and it choir being the only form of musical entertainment, and entertainment in general on many boring hot days.

     The mix of this folk music, slave music and later blues was familiar to some other cities in America. Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles all had a musical scene, they all had entertainment and groups of people trying to influence the game from whatever role they play in it. The thing that set Atlanta apart from these other Northern and Western cities is simply the drive and desire. Atlanta people felt as though they would not be taken serious. Most of the population and power in America, up until very recently, has been in the stretch of property in between Boston and Washington DC. To be from Atlanta was like being from another country. It was like being from Scotland and going to London, it was like being from Hokkaido and going to Tokyo. The acceptance was not there of course and many artists did not even bother to appease the other cities interests through big deals and such. Many made their own market without going to New York and now Atlanta itself is the dream of many New York musicians. The tables are turned and musicians from Georgia have an huge advantage in finding their big shot, Atlanta is close by and the opportunities it has are there for Georgians to grab.

     Below, in alphabetical order, is all of the rappers from Atlanta. some on this list are no names and not famous even in Atlanta,a but most on here are known all through Georgia and some on this list through the world. Georgia exported this culture to others as music and they enjoyed it. The vibe here is a product itself. Think, all of these rappers spend some money in Atlanta and bring a entourage and encourage heavy spending. the consumerist feel of just being in the presence of these musicians must have an effect on the cities consuming psyche.

List of hip hop entertainers from/Associated heavily with Atlanta

2 Chainz, Akon, Alfamega, Kilo Ali, André 3000, B.o.B, Baby D (rapper), Big Boi, Big Gipp, Big Kuntry King, Bone Crusher (rapper), Boyz n da Hood, Kandi Burruss, Cash Out, Bobby Creekwater, Crime Mob, Cyhi the Prynce, Roscoe Dash, Dem Franchize Boyz, Diamond (rapper), Dolla (rapper), Polow da Don, Drumma Boy, Jermaine Dupi, Fabo, Erica Figueroa, Freak Nasty, Future (rapper) Goodie Mob, Gorilla Zoe, Cee Lo Green, OJ da Juiceman, Chris Kelly (rapper), Khujo, Killer Mike, Kris Kross, Lecrae, Lil Jon, Shawty Lo, Lisa Lopes, Ludacris, Lumberjacks (group), Gucci Mane, Christopher Massey, Kyle Massey, Mike Ryan (music video producer), The Mr. Move, Mullage, Outkast, Jazze Pha, Pill (rapper), Rich Homie Quan, Stat Quo, Rasheeda, Shawty Redd,Rocko (rapper), Big Rube, Lil Scrappy, , Slick Pulla, Slim Dunkin, Chris Smith (rapper), Sonny Digital, Soulja Boy, Bubba Sparxxx, Speech (rapper), Supreeme, Taurus (group), T.I., TLC (group), DJ Toomp, Travis Porter, Travis Porter discography, Trillville, Trinidad James, Pastor Troy, Unk, V.I.C., Waka Flocka Flame, Xscape (group), Ying Yang Twins, Young Dro, Young Jeezy, Young Scooter, YoungBloodZ, Yung Joc, Yung Wun, Yung L.A