Economic Development Strategic Plan

INTRODUCTION

The City of South Fulton was incorporated from previously unincorporated land in Fulton County, Georgia in 2017. The newly established City issued an RFP for an Economic Development Strategic Plan in October 2018. In March 2019, the City commissioned BAE Urban Economics to prepare the South Fulton Economic Development Strategic Plan that would provide a framework to increase the City’s tax base, enhance the local business climate, promote entrepreneurship, and help create high-paying, high-quality jobs. The study scope, as prepared by BAE, includes the following elements:

• A demographic and economic conditions assessment
• A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis informed by community input
• An industry sector analysis informed by business and resident surveys
• Strategies, goals, and recommendations in an Economic Development Strategic Plan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This comprehensive study provides a strategic, actionable plan for the economic development of the city of South Fulton. Our approach to developing recommendations involves using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This report is organized into three main sections. The first section details the existing demographic, economic and real estate market conditions in city of South Fulton and provides projections for future growth. The second section provides the analysis of our multi-faceted approach to community input, including a summary of a resident survey, a business survey, business interviews as well as focus group and ‘SWOT’ analysis sessions with community members. Findings from our analysis of the data describing existing conditions and trends and our analysis of community input serves as the basis of the action plan, which is the third and final section of this report.

Economic Development Strategic Plan