Augusta Named the South’s #1 “Mid-Market of the Year” for 2017

Augusta Named the South’s #1 “Mid-Market of the Year” for 2017

Southern Business & Development magazine has named Augusta to the South’s top
honor as the best “Mid-Market of the Year” in 2017, according to the Augusta Economic
Development Authority. In 2015, the magazine named Augusta as one of the “Ten Sizzling
Mid-Market Economies” in the South.
Michael Randle, Publisher of Southern Business & Development, said, “Augusta
garnered the top spot among all medium-sized economic development markets based on their
strong recruitment efforts for new jobs and investments.” Randle continued, “Throughout the
South, there are communities on the move, where cities’ economic growth and development are
outpacing the rest of the country. Augusta is one of these cities, with the Augusta Economic
Development Authority leading the way. Their overall ranking was impressive.”In Randle’s state-by-state summaries, “It was a nice year for Georgia, with its highest
point total in several years. A nice mix of industries and service projects. Augusta had a year
like no other to win “Mid-Market of the Year”.
The magazine points to recent Augusta locations of Unisys, EdenCrete, Jacobsen Turf,
Textron Specialized Vehicles and the CyberSecurity Command at Fort Gordon, along with
expansions at Automatic Data Processing, Standard Aero, Starbucks, and Solvay as reasons
for the top honor.
The remainder of the top five mid-markets after Augusta’s first-place showing was
Brevard County FL, Durham-Chapel Hill NC, Montgomery AL and Spartanburg SC. Other top
performances after the top five were Northern Kentucky, Gulfport/Biloxi MS, Kingsport/Bristol
TN, Roanoke VA, Corpus Christi TX, Huntsville AL and Lexington KY.
The rankings are based on a point system for expanded and new manufacturing, service
projects and military-related projects. Retail, lodging, entertainment, office buildings and
industrial parks are not eligible in the totals.
According to Randle “It should be noted that there is a new industry sector listed this
year that shows the performance of each sector over the last six years. Cybersecurity has
never been listed as a sector in any SB&D list, simply because there were not enough cyber
deals to post. Yet, with eight big deals this year, cybersecurity made it onto the list for the first
time. As that industry matures, look for plenty of projects coming out of Northern Virginia and
Augusta, where the new Army Cyber Command is being built at Fort Gordon.”
Southern Business & Development is recognized as the top economic development
publication for southern-based recruitment efforts in fifteen southern states, from West Virginia
to Florida to Texas and Oklahoma.

Author: Walter Sprouse/ Executive Director/ Augusta Economic Development Authority
Source: Press Release