columbus 2025 • goals
Three major objectives for a more competitive Columbus by 2025.
We have to tell our story to attract the talent we need to grow jobs and increase prosperity, reduce poverty, and enhance our quality of life.
Jobs
Jobs
Create jobs and attract capital investment.
Economic development looks different than it did 25 years ago. We will create the best economic development program in the state by harnessing technology and innovation to position the Columbus Region as a top destination for businesses in our target industry sectors.
Create a thriving entrepreneur ecosystem.
Entrepreneurial success stories such as Aflac, Synovus, and TSYS, a Global Payments Company all started right here in Columbus. Now our focused entrepreneurship support will position us for what’s next. StartUP Columbus will become a regional leader in entrepreneur and startup support.
Enhance traditional economic development.
Increase recognition as a place for business and talent success, leading to more economic development opportunities, increase jobs and capital investment. Employ available tools and technology to support our economic development efforts to ensure our name on the short list more often through more targeted industry marketing.
Connect the region and foster relationships for working and winning major projects together.
Combat generational poverty and its effects on our community.
Advocate for education and workforce initiatives that support equity and economic mobility for all.
Jobs Goal:
Add 6,000 new direct and indirect jobs resulting in approximately $300M in new annual payroll.
Talent
Talent
Attract and retain talent to grow our population and build our sustainable workforce.
Talent and education are top drivers for increasing prosperity and reducing poverty. In addition, talent creation and retention are key to our region’s growth. All stakeholders, businesses, educational institutions, and community organizations must join together to maximize this opportunity. Our results-oriented approaches will identify, attract, and retain the sustainable workforce necessary to drive our economy into the future.
Attract talent by offering incentives directly to individuals to come back and make Columbus home again.
Align efforts across education and workforce entities from cradle to career, making our region a top destination for talent and jobs.
Cultivate our own highly skilled workforce for this and future generations through programs such as Community Schools United, The Basics Chattahoochee Valley, urban farming, workforce training, career exploration, and pathway development for key industry sectors.
Talent Goal:
Minimum population growth of 4% by 2026.
The current Columbus MSA population is 321,900. If we grow by 12,876 residents with an average annual income of $56,781, we can add $731M into our economy.
Place
Place
Put Columbus on the map with other top-tier southern cities.
For far too long we’ve been Georgia’s best-kept secret, but we do amazing. Now is the time to say so. We’ve engaged professional marketing and public relations firm Jackson Spalding to tell our story, market our assets, and increase our brand awareness to finally get the recognition the Columbus Region deserves. We have an amazing story. Let’s tell it.
Amplify our message and promote our brand to talent, visitors, and business through a widespread marketing campaign led by industry leader firm, Jackson Spalding.
Increase vibrancy by investing in local artists, public spaces, outdoor recreation, trail networks, and events that connect residents and attracts and retains talent.
Place Goals:
Elevate the Columbus brand on a regional and national level.
Increase the number of visitors.
Attract new residents.
Grow the number of conferences.
Attract new businesses.
We strive to increase our third-party credibility by elevating Columbus to the “best of” and “top city” lists such as “Top Millennial-Friendly Cities,” “South’s Best Cities on the Rise,” “Top Places to Live in the South,” and “Best Cities to Live in Georgia.”