Gross Reality's Jan 20 Show w/ Jim Blair: Economic Development in Georgia – Establishing or Developing a Business Presence

On the January 20th broadcast (below) of "Gross Reality," Steve Gross discussed opportunities and incentives for doing business in Georgia with Jim Blair, International Project Manager in the Global Commerce Division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the state agency that assists companies in establishing or expanding a business presence in Georgia.

Steve Gross is the executive director of Business Builders Team and a founding partner of HLB Gross Collins. His radio show is dedicated to helping businesses and individuals survive and prosper in good & bad economic times.

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James Blair is the International Project Manager in the Global Commerce Division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the state agency that assists companies in establishing or expanding a business presence in Georgia. Mr. Blair works with Canadian and European executives whose companies require a business presence in the Southeastern USA. In this role, Mr. Blair coordinates the full range of business location services (facility or site selection study, community recommendations, introduction to professional service providers, introduction to local authorities, business incentives, etc.) in collaboration with other Georgia economic development partners.

Mr. Blair was Director of Georgia’s European Office in Brussels before returning to Georgia in 2005. For 18 years, Mr. Blair led Georgia’s economic development efforts in attracting European corporate investment to Georgia, as well as supporting existing European investors in their Georgia expansion plans. Mr. Blair has represented Georgia as a guest speaker at a number of prestigious US investment conferences organized by “Capital” magazine in Germany, KBC Bank in Belgium, the German Chamber of Commerce in Germany, The Flemish Trade and Investment Office in Belgium, the Paris Chamber of Commerce in France and the Longueil Development agency in Canada.

In 20 years of working in the field of economic development, Mr. Blair has helped locate approximately 120 European projects in Georgia whose subsidiaries today employ some 6,000 persons. These include large companies like JCB, Porsche, UCB, Randstad and Saint Gobain, as well as smaller companies like Balta Carpets, Hansgrohe, Knapp Logistics, Perkins Engines and WIKA Instruments.

The son of a US Army officer teaching at Kansas State University, Mr. Blair was born in Kansas, lived in Alaska, Washington and Kentucky and Blair attended public schools in South Carolina starting at the age of 13. Mr. Blair has an international MBA from the University of South Carolina.

Mr. Blair taught public high school in Anderson, South Carolina, and then worked for Citizens & Southern National Bank (now Bank of America) in Atlanta where he was responsible for European corporate relationships. Functional responsibilities included lending, business development and customer relations. Mr. Blair joined Georgia Economic Development in 1988.

Mr. Blair serves on the Boards of the French-American and Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce; he serves on the Advisory Board of the “Transatlantic Studies Program” of the Georgia university system and is a member of the Georgia Economic Development Association.

Mr. Blair has an international MBA from the University of South Carolina and speaks German, Dutch and French.