Georgia companies announced roughly $35.2 billion in new investments over the past fiscal year, creating an estimated 25,300 new private-sector jobs, according to state officials. The figure marks another record for economic development investment in the state, with approximately 75% of the 436 supported business expansions and new company locations landing outside the 10-county metro Atlanta region.
The numbers, covering projects announced between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, were reported by WSB-TV's Sabrina Castro, citing Governor Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Kemp said the state is celebrating a second consecutive year of record-breaking investment, according to the outlet's report. The total represents an $8.9 billion jump, or roughly 33.8%, over the previous fiscal year's $26.3 billion mark, according to Georgia.org.
Manufacturing and Rural Georgia Lead the Charge
Manufacturing accounted for 67% of the new jobs announced during the fiscal year, per the same WSB-TV report, while automotive, life sciences and food processing manufacturing made up 27% of total job creation. Expansions overall — as opposed to entirely new company locations — generated $24.7 billion in investment and about 15,370 new jobs, the station's report notes.
Two of the year's marquee projects landed far from Atlanta. Walmart announced plans in August for a $1.3 billion next-generation fulfillment center in Carnesville, in rural Franklin County, bringing 1,000 new jobs, according to Georgia.org. That same month, German industrial technology corporation Siemens announced a $185 million investment to build a 550,000-square-foot manufacturing plant near Pendergrass in Jackson County, expected to create 1,400 jobs, as reported by WABE.
Foreign Investment Doubles as Global Ties Deepen
International companies accounted for more than 9,350 new jobs and more than $7.8 billion in investment during the fiscal year, per the WSB-TV report — with international company job creation more than doubling compared with the previous fiscal year. South Korea, Italy, Belgium, Canada and France were the top international sources of job creation, the outlet reported.
Those international ties build on Georgia's existing global trade footprint. The state generated $198.7 billion in international trade across 222 countries and territories in 2024, supported by logistics infrastructure including the Port of Savannah and Port of Brunswick, Hoodline previously reported in its coverage of Governor Kemp's economic mission to Panama. Southeast Georgia's automotive sector also loomed large this year: Hyundai Motor Group announced a $2.7 billion Phase 2 expansion of its Metaplant America campus in Bryan County in September 2025, adding 3,000 future jobs to its existing electric vehicle assembly operation, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Metro Atlanta Still Draws Billions, but Rural Sites Get State Help
Metro Atlanta is expected to receive more than $5.3 billion in new investment despite capturing a minority of overall projects, per the WSB-TV report. Companies planning to relocate or expand headquarters in Georgia announced more than $225 million in investment, and corporate headquarters, software, technology and other support-service projects are expected to create more than 3,790 new jobs, the outlet reported. The state also retained more than 90,000 existing jobs and reported record levels of investment and job creation in medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturing compared with the previous decade.
Behind the rural share of the growth sits a specific state grant program. Between fiscal year 2025 and June 2026, Georgia awarded $28 million across four rounds of Rural Site Development Initiative grants through the OneGeorgia Authority to prepare industrial sites in rural communities, according to a state announcement. The grants fund site studies and infrastructure work needed to attain Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development certification, helping smaller counties compete for projects like the Walmart and Siemens plants.
A Business Climate Built Over Years, Not Months
The state's pitch to corporations also leans on Georgia Quick Start, a workforce training program administered by the Technical College System of Georgia since 1988 that provides customized, free training to qualified expanding or relocating companies. The program operates specialized regional centers covering advanced manufacturing, biosciences, and mobility technology, according to the Technical College System of Georgia.
That long-term infrastructure has helped Georgia earn recognition as the No. 1 state for doing business in the United States for 12 consecutive years through 2025, a ranking compiled annually from survey responses of national corporate site selection consultants for Area Development magazine. Between 2016 and fiscal year 2025, under Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson, the state secured more than 3,400 economic development projects representing over $128 billion in capital investment and 270,000 new jobs — a run spanning both the Nathan Deal and Kemp administrations.
Even with the record dollar figure, the jobs-per-investment ratio tells a different story than past boom years. Fiscal year 2023 yielded 38,400 new jobs from $24 billion in investment, a notably higher jobs-to-dollar ratio than this year's $35.2 billion producing 25,300 jobs — a shift reflecting heavier investment in automated manufacturing, technology infrastructure, and large industrial facilities rather than a slowdown in overall growth.
