Gainesville-Hall moves up on cities ranking

Gainesville-Hall County has jumped several spots in an annual report ranking best-performing cities.

According to the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, Gainesville-Hall County is ranked as the 39th best performing small city in the Milken Institute's 2012 report.

The Milken report is what the chamber calls a data-driven, measure of economic strength through job, wage and technology trends.

According to Milken, commonalities among those on the list included a return to manufacturing, a vibrant tech presence, a stable financial industry and healthy public spending.

Gainesville-Hall jumped 69 spots from a 101st ranking in 2011.

Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Economic Development Tim Evans said, "For us, the job growth has really come on the backs of a lot of small business owners and businesses being very successful in our community."

According to the chamber, Gainesville-Hall County also ranked 2nd for short term job growth. The area is the only Georgia metropolitan statistical area listed in the top 50 best performers.

"Gainesville-Hall County is a regional center for employment, healthcare and professional services," Greater Hall Chamber President and CEO Kit Dunlap said.

"This community has benefited from having a diversified employment base of manufacturing, services, healthcare and retail, and our pro-business climate is certainly reflected in this report."