State of the County highlights the growth of Fulton County
Fulton County’s annual State of the County address took place on a cool Tuesday morning.
This year’s State of the County took place at Flourish Atlanta by Legendary Events in Buckhead. The venue’s main ballroom was full of the city’s political and business leaders, including former United Nations Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, current Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, and business owner Pinky Cole, to name a few.
Before Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts took to the stage to give his speech, the fourth of his career as chairman, several business and community leaders spoke about the growth of Georgia’s largest county.
Along with Develop Fulton Chairman and former Congressman Kwanza Hall, Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority CEO Jevon Gibson, Stormwater Planning Manager Katherine Atteberry, and Amazon Head of Community Affairs Atlanta Teretta Rodgers spoke about how Fulton County is growing in many ways. Rodgers, a graduate of Clark Atlanta University, spoke about the amount of support Fulton County leadership has given Amazon, which in turn has helped the global retail leader provide thousands of jobs within the county and throughout metro Atlanta.
Hall, a former Atlanta Mayoral candidate, talked about the half-billion-dollar residential and business real estate development projects taking place around Fulton County.
“We’re looking forward to more international projects as well,” Hall said.
Hall also mentioned several upcoming projects that will have major impacts in East Point and on the city’s Southside.
Atlanta Beltline, Inc. President and CEO Clyde Higgs took a moment to announce that 85% of the Atlanta Beltline will be complete by the time the FIFA World Cup comes to Atlanta in the summer of 2026.
“We can definitely say we can completely finish the Beltline by 2030 like we promised the community,” Higgs said.
Higgs credited the work of several Fulton County organizations for helping make the progress on the Beltline possible.
Pitts’ address followed a brunch of chicken and waffles, and focused on how unique Fulton County is. During his speech, Pitts referred to Fulton County as, “the most vibrant, creative, and most thriving county not only in Georgia, not only in the Southeast, but in the United States of America.”
Job availability, opportunity, and growth were also mentioned during Pitts’ speech.
“We are ranked fourth in the nation for the number of Fortune 500 companies,” he said.
Transportation, education, healthcare, quality of life, and election integrity were topics of the address. A controversial topic, the Fulton County Jail, was also mentioned.
“The jail is the single costliest issue facing us at this time,” he said.
