General Motors Tech Center in Alpharetta?

General Motors, GM, a prominent car company, announced that they intend to build for four new information technology centers. They currently have announced where two of the four tech centers will be: one in Austin, Texas and the other in Warren, Michigan. Prominent real estate executives in the metro Atlanta area have alleged that GM is looking for a potential site for one of these new tech centers here in the metro Atlanta area. GM is currently looking for a minimum of 100,000 square feet of office space in either Sandy Springs or Alpharetta. The purpose of these technology centers would be to reduce GM’s dependency on foreign firms for technology development.

If GM decided to open a plant here in the metro Atlanta area, it would provide many jobs for the current unemployed workers in Georgia and also college graduates that are looking for their first jobs. GM plans to hire 500 workers at the Austin center and 1,500 workers at the Warren center. If one these centers were built here it would provide hundreds of new jobs for metro Atlantans. In light of the closing of the GM plant in Doraville, the one that you drive by on 285, which put many Georgians out of a job, the addition of hundreds of jobs would at least provide a small boost to our economy.

 

Jobs and the unemployment rate are something that is discussed quite frequently in the political debate and for many are a deciding in factor in whom they will vote for in the upcoming election this November. The presidential candidates have spent two nights arguing over how they plan to encourage growth in the economy. Mitt Romney recently criticized Obama in the last debate for the employment being over 8% for the last 43 months, thereby confirming the unemployment problem. However, what they do not realize is that arguing over policies is not going to encourage growth of the economy. We need companies, large and small, to go out and open up new businesses and hire more people, for that is how we encourage the growth of the economy. The countries needs more companies like GM, that are willing to step up and take risk to grow the economy, not politicians who are all talk and no game.

Bluestein, Greg. “GM Looking at North Metro Atlanta Sites for Innovation Centers.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  AJC.  16 October 2012. Web. 18 October 2012. <http://www.ajc.com/news/business/general-motors-looking-at-north-metro-atlanta-site/nSdb5/>