OUTLOOK | APRIL 2020 13
economy and tight labor force.
Over the past several years, numerous efforts to support
area manufacturers have been underway. If measured
exclusively with new investment or reinvestment, the
typical resident may not realize the impact these primary
employers have on local lives.
During the Rome Floyd 2020 Strategic Plan process
this area was difficult to compare with other communities.
Locations off the interstate with
the “education, health care and
manufacturing” sectors were hard
to find anywhere else with the
unique combination. Because of
this, the city, county and chamber
steering committee decided to
compare the community with
aspirational communities – those
larger and higher on economic
charts than otherwise would have
been, according to typical analysis.
Floyd County’s employment mix and property tax
digest is balanced – far better than most counties. The top
five employment categories are: manufacturing, nearly at
17.5%; healthcare and social services, at slightly more than
14%; education and retail constitute above at 10% each;
and accommodations and food services at 8.6% of the total
work force.
Floyd County has a positively balanced tax digest. There
will be further analyses, but the strong Floyd County
digest shows significant highlights: residential $55 million;
commercial $15.8 million; industrial $7.6 million; public
utilities $11.9 million. These are strong numbers especially
when considering that they don’t include City of Rome
property taxes. Manufacturers offset residential taxes.
Manufacturing plants pay property taxes and sales taxes
for schools, even though no students live in a factory.
Manufacturers, as all employers, certainly depend on
education for their work force, so they should pay or
invest. In their case, that amounts to a lot of money.
They pay an average of $14.00 – $18.00 for hourly mean
wage compared to retail $10.00 - $12.00 and most basic
service sector jobs. Many supervisory and managerial
jobs are not included in these wage
rates; neither are higher skilled
jobs. Sometimes when the focus is
exclusively on the entry level, the
actual average wage, bonuses and
benefits are overlooked. Smart Asset
ranks Rome at 15th in the nation for
jobs in manufacturing. In the past
year, manufacturing wage growth
increased 11.6%. Income growth is
a specific ongoing goal.
The more support manufacturers receive the better off
local small businesses are able to sustain themselves.
Thank you Greater Rome Existing Industries Association!
Why does the chamber care and provide programs and
public policy on their behalf? Because they provide a
tremendous positive impact! What’s the answer from
small business people when asked about their needs? The
consistent answer: more paying customers!
The role of GREIA extends beyond the payroll and taxes
they create for the area. Each of the last SPLOSTs and
ELOSTs were supported by existing industry. Consider
the various organizations around the community that
are enabled – The chamber and United Way immediately
come to mind in major ways, plus the numerous charities
that get volunteers and contributions from manufacturers.
City, state and county leaders attend a ribbon cutting for Southeastern Mills’ warehouse and distribution facility at the Floyd County Industrial Park.