Cessna Grand Opening

(L-R) Ron Alberti, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain, Evelyn Turner Pugh, Mayor Pro Tem, Seerley Lowery,  General Manager, Cessna Aircraft Company, and Russ Carreker, Chair of the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce cut the ribbon to open the new Cessna facility Aug. 27th creating more than 200 jobs.

Cessna opened their new $11 million, 100,000-square-foot facility on a 40-acre site at Muscogee Technology Park Aug.27th. Cessna's newest building in Columbus was designed by CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene of Atlanta and built by Batson-Cook Company based in West Point, Ga.

Cessna will spend up to $13 million over the next five years to add machinery for increased capacity and to introduce new technology at the three Columbus buildings. The company's existing two buildings totaling 241,500 square feet will continue operation on the 30-acre site they occupy at Columbus East Industrial Park, three miles from the new building.

Russ Carreker, Chair of the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce, receives an enhanced investor check from Seerley Lowery, General Manager, Cessna Aircraft Company.

Cessna Columbus employees manufacture detail parts and assemblies for Cessna's line of single engine pistons, Caravans and business jets. Additionally, employees here design and manufacture high quality propellers under the brand McCauley Propeller Systems. Each year, Cessna's Columbus facility produces more than 3,500 propellers, assembles about 11,750 control surfaces, cabins/tail cones and empennages, and fabricates an estimated 1.7 million detail parts for single engines, jets and Caravans.

Textron Aerospace Products' Columbus facility became a division of Cessna Aircraft Company in 1996. Roughly, 412 are production workers and approximately 168 are support staff. Since 2001, Cessna has paid Columbus employees more than $107 million in salaries. Average tenure for employees in Columbus is 5.16 years. Since 1998, Cessna has paid more than $125,000 in tuition aid for Columbus employees, predominantly at local institutions.

Buildings rising from the ground on Fort Benning prove that the single largest economic development project in Alabama and Georgia is well underway. Over $2.9 billion will be invested in new construction at Fort Benning in preparation of 10,000 direct jobs resulting from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decision to relocate the U.S. Armor Center and School from Fort Knox, Kentucky. Combining the Infantry and Armor Centers to create the Maneuver Center of Excellence, requires wholesale restructuring and a dramatic transformation that is unlike anything Fort Benning has seen since it was first established in 1917-1918. The population surge and huge waves of economic opportunity will begin to hit the Chattahoochee Valley like a Tsunami in mid-2010, coinciding with the timeline for completion of facilities on post.

Including spouses and children, BRAC growth is expected to bring 30,000 new residents to our region over the next three years. The demand for housing, schools and teachers will be enormous and will challenge all of us. BRAC growth will generate secondary, indirect growth that creates more jobs and new economic opportunities. The staff of the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Partnership is working feverishly along with Fort Benning and many stakeholders throughout the region, to ensure we are ready to successfully meet the challenges of such unprecedented growth. We are strategically involved in preparing for this growth through two federally funded grant programs: 1) The Fort Benning Regional Growth Management Plan (RGMP), funded by a $3.3 million grant awarded by the Office of Economic Adjustment. This office is an agency of the Department of Defense and is charged with helping BRAC-affected communities adjust to the impacts of mission changes at military installations, and; 2) The Chattahoochee Valley Workforce Development BRAC Demonstration Grant of $3 million from the Department of Labor and the Georgia Governor's Office of Workforce.

Over $350 million has been approved for a replacement hospital.

The Regional Growth Management Plan is a major planning effort that encompasses a 10-county study area, including Columbus-Muscogee, Cusseta-Chattahoochee, Harris, Marion, Talbot, Taylor and Stewart counties in Georgia, and Barbour, Lee and Russell counties in Alabama. The project will identify what growth will occur, where it will occur, the impacts on the local communities, and will also provide action plans to prepare for the growth. The result will be individual growth management plans for each county in the study area, as well as for the region as a whole. For more information, visit: www.FortBenningandtheValley.com.

To see a larger version of the pictures and diagram shown above, download this PDF.

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New voter registration is at an all time high. It is anticipated that the November 4 election will set new records for turnout. That means that there will be long lines and long waiting times to complete the voting process. Not only will this cause inconvenience to the voters it could create significant downtime for the majority of employers who give their employees time off to vote.

There is a solution to minimize the effects of this problem. Encourage your employees to take advantage of early voting the week before the election. Shown below are the locations and hours for the early voting opportunities. An extra hour during the lunch period that week could pay big dividends’ on November 4th.

Locations and hours open:

• West Wing of the Consolidated Government Building M-F 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Open Oct. 27-31

• Public Library on Macon Rd 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Cunningham Center 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• Frank Chester Super Center 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

The Columbus Employer Committee and its partner, the Columbus Region, a division of the Georgia Department of Labor was presented the statewide award at the statewide conference. They were awarded for various activities to include: 

The Committee and the Columbus One-Stop Career Center staff worked in tandem on numerous projects during the year resulting in improved labor exchange functions in Columbus and the eight county service delivery area. As a result, Career Center goals of 2,000 direct placements and 2,000 job orders (398 of which were posted by Committee members) were met. The Committee played a big part in five major job fairs this year. Nearly 8,500 job seekers received job search assistance, direct exposure to employers and, with 60 employers from the Committee participating, exposure to the Columbus Employer Committee.

The "Evening with Santa" event, which evolved over five months, involved nearly 150 volunteers, and succeeded due to extensive public/private partnerships. As a result, over 200 children were provided a Christmas meal, exposed to the Christmas Story, and presented with a gift from Santa. Several Employer Committee employers pulled tabs to help raise $27,000 for the local Ronald McDonald House. The Employer Committee members and Career Center staff volunteered their time and money to plan, prepare, and serve meals to the families residing at the Ronald McDonald House with nine (9) teams providing evening meals twice a month throughout the year.

The Columbus division of the Georgia Department of Labor accepts the plaque for its Columbus Employer Committee at the Georgia Department of Labor Awards Gala.

The Columbus Employer Committee received a 5-year Service Pin for their consistent support of the Ronald McDonald House. The Committee was also honored with the President's Silver Award for volunteer service of 250-499 hours. The Committee donated $1,500 to the House of Heroes, $500 toward the Career Center Christmas party and purchased personalized gifts for their retirees. They also purchased two mannequins for the "Dress 4 Success" display. Fully supportive of the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce "Young Professionals" program, the committee paid $450 in dues for six Career Center staff members to join the Young Professionals group.

Air travel statistics from Columbus Metropolitan Airport

The Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce is providing the statistics from the airport so members can see the monthly numbers and see for themselves on time arrivals and cost of flying out of Columbus and out of Atlanta.