Nov. 7--The recession and state budget cuts certainly have not made the Georgia Department of Economic Development's job of helping create new jobs any easier.

"We're like any business. We're trying to do more with less," Commissioner Ken Stewart said during a break at the quarterly meeting of the department's board of directors, which was held Friday morning at Mercer's University Center.

The department is tasked with marketing the state and its communities to prospective industries.

"The competition is more intense during times like these," said Stewart. "It's been a very, very busy time. During down times or a downturn, companies tend to look for the next opportunity."

Stewart told the board that visits by industrial prospects during the last quarter were up 85 percent compared to the same time in 2008.

"The pipeline is not as full as we would like for it to be," he said, "but we have some healthy things in there."

The department saw a 15.5 percent cut to its budget last year and could see about a 20 percent cut this year, said John Moffatt, the department's director of administration. One board member questioned the wisdom of cutting the budget of a state department charged with creating new jobs.

"In the business community, when times are tough, the ones that are successful are the ones that invest and market themselves," remarked Brian Foster of Savannah. "We get out of the recession due to the jobs you create."

The board's quarterly meetings are periodically held outside Atlanta in different areas of the state. Chip Cherry, president of the Macon Economic Development Commission, and Pat Topping, vice president, welcomed the board to Macon and gave a presentation outlining some of Macon and Bibb County's recent success stories.

Since 2004, more than 4,000 new jobs have been created here through 43 projects involving new and existing industries, they said. Of those projects, 14 were from the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Topping said.

"We know economic development is a team sport, and there are a lot of team members that go into making this effort a success," he said.

Cherry and Topping left the meeting after their presentation to meet with two prospects in town for visits.

Stewart declined to say what projects might be in the works for Macon and Middle Georgia, only that Macon "continues to be a go-to place in our state."

"We feel very good about our projects," he said.

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