Macon is “the Heart of Georgia,” located centrally in the state and within Georgia’s third largest Combined Statistical Area – a region that has been described as a transportation hub for the entire state. Despite its strategic location, which could serve as a key economic and community development asset, Macon currently has a high unemployment rate and a crime rate “significantly higher” than that of Georgia and the nation. Those statistics could possibly change in a more positive direction as a result of development and investment in the Middle Georgia area during the past three years, which is drawing employers and new jobs from sectors outside the area’s leading industries of “manufacturing, aeronautics, medical and tourism.”

The region has long had a reputation for attracting manufacturing and industrial plants, but now other sectors and areas, such as the historic downtown, are starting to heat up. In the last three years, Bibb County has seen more than $323 million in investments and 3,464 new jobs. The area’s latest “economic development successes” includes Korea’s Kumho Tire announcement in January 2008 that it would build its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Macon to employ 450 with an investment of over $240 million.

In an effort to “bridge the digital divide,” the city of Macon announced plans to make available excess capacity on its new public safety network available to residents and visitors via 40 Wi‐Fi hotspots in downtown Macon. The priority for city officials was establishing a public safety network that would enable broadband communications and data retrieval for police officers, with public access being “a nice additional perk.” At the time the network in downtown was announced, the city also said it eventually plans to “expand the network, creating an entire city‐wide cloud for public access.” City of Macon Information & Technology Officer Tom Tourand, however, said that, due to financial limitations, “The original deployment may become [the City’s] entire effort in this area.”