Georgia's drought causes problems for state's businesses
The Associated Press(ROME)
The current drought has posed problems for Georgia's agricultural and manufacturing centers, prompting losses estimated to be in the billions of dollars...
The state's landscape industry has tallied $1.2 billion in losses...
All Georgians are hoping for rain just to save their lawns, but they may not fully consider that rain may be needed to save their jobs," said Michael Thurmond, Georgia's Labor Commissioner.
"Rain is a necessity in terms of economic growth."…
Georgia's agriculture, mainly in terms of hay and livestock, suffered a $782 million drought-related hit, said state agriculture commissioner Tommy Irvin on Friday.
Nurseries and landscaping companies across the state have lost 13,800 full- and part-time jobs since May, according to an Oct. 11 report by the Urban Agriculture Coalition…
The drought has forced Georgia Power to spend at least $3 million to build 42 cooling towers to lower the river's temperature in order to protect fish from the hot water discharge…The MeadWestvaco paper mill... The cereal box and frozen-food packaging maker may be forced to slice production, and jobs, by 25 percent...
And the drought may give Georgia and other drought-stricken states a disadvantage. "States compete intensely to grow jobs and attract new business and industry," said Matt Murray, an economics professor at the University of Tennessee. "The current drought situation will be used against Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama."
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