ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
FORECAST 2022 23
Cobb continues
attracting high-quality
jobs and investment
By: Chart Riggall
If folks in the business world didn’t know
about Cobb County before last year, they
sure know it now.
For that, we have the Atlanta Braves to
thank, said Dana Johnson, the Cobb Chamber
of Commerce’s head of economic development.
During the 2021 World Series broadcasts,
“they showed a picture of the stadium and
had Cobb County, Georgia listed on every
single television across America,” Johnson
recalled. “I had the biggest smile across my
face that you could ever imagine.
“We could not have ever paid for any better
marketing for our community than what the
Braves helped deliver us by getting in and
winning the World Series,” he added.
at new burst of publicity will help Cobb
continue to be a leader in economic development,
said Sharon Mason, the chamber’s
CEO. Last year was the county’s most successful
yet in attracting new business and
encouraging existing businesses to expand
their operations here.
One of the biggest of those “project wins”
was the expansion in Marietta of Vanderlande,
a Netherlands-based logistics company.
e rm announced in August it
would be putting an additional $59 million
in spending into its North American headquarters
and adding 500 new jobs, bringing
its total workforce in Georgia to more than
1,250 people.
“Supply chain and logistics is a growing
industry in Cobb County, and Vanderlande’s
expansion in Marietta is a great example of
how our county is attracting high-quality
continued on page 27
From le, Gov. Brian Kemp, rst lady Marty Kemp and Rod McLean, vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
and general manager of the company’s Marietta facility, pose for a photo in front of a C-130J during the governor’s
tour of Lockheed facilities on Aug. 26, 2021. - Special — Courtesy Lockheed Martin, inh D. Nguyen