Georgia Sinks in Business Rankings Under Kemp

Kemp’s Extreme Policies Damaging Georgia’s Ranking for Business

Today, CNBC released its annual study, America’s Top States for Business, which shows that under Gov. Brian Kemp, the Peach State sank in the rankings from number six in 2021 to number ten in 2022. The decline in Georgia’s ranking for business comes as Kemp is running for re-election and pushing extreme, unpopular, and dangerous policies that:

• Make it easier for criminals to carry concealed handguns without a background check

• Attack kids’ education by censoring what can be taught in classrooms

• Ban abortion before most women even know they’re pregnant

After Kemp signed his extreme abortion ban in 2019, he said it was “fine” for businesses to leave the state and blatantly mocked industry leaders instead of taking action to protect Georgians’ jobs.

“These new rankings are bad news for our state — the result of failed leadership from a governor who cares more about imposing an extreme political agenda to please his base than protecting Georgians’ jobs. It’s clear that Brian Kemp’s disastrous policies are hurting Georgia’s business atmosphere, and it’s crucial that voters take notice and take action at the ballot box to elect a new governor like Stacey Abrams who will right the ship,” stressed Max Flugrath, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Under Kemp, the Peach State has also fallen in nationwide rankings of best states to raise a family. Georgia ranks near the bottom of all states on issues such as health and safety (46th), education and child care (39th), and affordability (42nd).
 

Read more from CNBC: America’s Top States for Business 2022: The full rankings:

• To rank America’s Top States for Business in 2022, CNBC scored all 50 states on 88 metrics in 10 broad categories of competitiveness. Each category is weighted based on how frequently states use them as a selling point in economic development marketing materials. 

• We developed our criteria and metrics in consultation with a diverse array of business and policy experts, and the states. We use data from a variety of sources to measure the states’ performance.

GEORGIA SCORE AND RANKING

CATEGORY	2022 SCORE	2022 RANK	2021 RANK	2022 GRADE
WORKFORCE	297	3	8	A+
INFRASTRUCTURE	233	11	6	B+
COST OF DOING BUSINESS	136	38	29	C-
ECONOMY	253	7	6	A-
LIFE, HEALTH & INCLUSION	111	39	45	F
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION	162	12	22	B+
BUSINESS FRIENDLINESS	88	32	22	D+
EDUCATION	108	10	24	B+
ACCESS TO CAPITAL	30	13	10	C+
COST OF LIVING	47	4	8	A-
OVERALL	1465	10	6

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