CATOOSA COUNTY INDUSTRY

With open space embraced by graceful North Georgia mountains, Catoosa County offers the ideal environment for industry. Equidistant from Birmingham, Nashville and Knoxville, Catoosa County lies north of Dalton, Ga., the carpet capital of the world, and is within one day’s drive of half the country’s population.

Catoosa County is a great place to live and work, offering lifestyle and work choices from rural, small towns to metropolitan areas within a small distance. Properties for business and living are plentiful and diverse. Real estate prices and taxes are lower than those in most comparable areas of the country.

Because of the pro-business climate, Catoosa County is one of the fastest growing regions in the state. It is experiencing exceptional industrial, commercial and residential influx with a population that is projected to grow almost 20 percent to around 53,000 between 1990 and 2000. Building permits have skyrocketed since 1997 as young families with children entered the area.

Since 1995, more than 1,800 new jobs have been created and capital investments are reported at more than $96 million. The labor market draws from the Chattanooga metropolitan service area of surrounding Tennessee and Georgia counties from a population of more than 700,000 people. About one in every five Catoosa employees comes from Tennessee. The annualized unemployment rate has averaged less than five percent over the past five years. Residents do not perceive state or county lines as barriers, but have a regional perspective toward employment and believe that good companies benefit all areas.