On any given afternoon, the crosswalks of Downtown Macon fill with people headed to lunch, to work, to the next appointment. What keeps those streets busy, according to one economist, is the steady arrival of good-paying jobs that bring families to town and keep them there.

Greg George, director of the Center for Economic Analysis at Middle Georgia State University, said Audi’s announcement that it plans to bring about 4,500 jobs to Central Georgia could do exactly that, and not only for the county where the plant would be built.

“You bring in good paying jobs for workers just getting started in their careers, and they bring their families here,” George said. “That helps the school system. It helps the tax base. It helps everything.”

George said the benefit would not be limited to one community, even if the plant starts in Peach County.

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