The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the state’s leading business advocacy and research organization, released the results of its annual Executive Insights Survey providing an overview of the state of Georgia’s economic environment and the issues top-of-mind for Georgia’s business leaders.  

Each year, the Georgia Chamber partners with Deloitte Consulting LLP to reach over 1,000 executives from companies of every size and industry to gather critical data on the challenges and opportunities facing Georgia’s statewide business community. The 2024 survey findings represent the collective outlook of business leaders in every corner of the state, ensuring the data provides an accurate and comprehensive summary of the sentiment of the state’s leading executives. 

The 2024 Executive Insights Survey focuses on several key areas:  

1. Economic Outlook: Georgia’s business leaders remain confident in the state’s economic outlook with 77% of respondents feeling optimistic or very optimistic about the forecast of Georgia’s economy whereas only 41% felt the same about the U.S. economy.  

2. Anticipated Growth: The state's executives anticipate continued growth in their companies throughout 2024 with 70% expecting an increase in capital expenditures, 85% expecting an increase in revenue and 70% expecting an increase in full-time employment.  

3. Continued Investment: Georgia businesses are expected to continue investment in research and development with 57% of executives reporting anticipated increases in spending on artificial intelligence technologies.  

4. Top Challenges: When asked about challenges, 62% of executives noted workforce shortages as their top concern. Many respondents cited enhancing compensation and providing increased flexibility in work arrangements as crucial to recruiting and retaining talent with 21% and 17% respectively.  

A critical top challenge for retaining a competitive workforce is homeownership and access to workforce housing with 64% of executives noting a lack of housing as a major concern. This necessitates the implementation of comprehensive policy solutions to the housing crisis.  

Another major concern included lawsuit abuse throughout the state. Among CEOs concerned about Georgia’s lawsuit environment, over half believe the problem will get worse over the next five years. Liability and lawsuit abuse outranked infrastructure, taxation and regulatory environment as business climate issues executives are most concerned about.   

Lack of access to healthcare and affordable insurance is also a growing concern with 63% of respondents citing healthcare as a top issue impacting Georgia’s economic competitiveness. 

“Georgia’s economy continues to prosper and experience record-breaking investment despite uncertainty in the national economic environment,” said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber. “Results from this survey convey our state’s executives’ confidence in the outlook of Georgia’s business climate. We will use these insights to advocate for strategic policies that address the concerns most pressing to our future economic success.”  

To view the results of the 2024 Executive Insights Survey and learn more about the state of Georgia’s business climate, click here.