Gov. Deal headlines Greater Hall Chamber gala

Gov. Nathan Deal and his wife, Sandra, highlighted the 106th annual Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Gala on Thursday night.

Speaking to an overflow crowd at the Chattahoochee Country Club, Deal thanked local business and economic development officials for their efforts to bring jobs to Hall County.

Deal said 243,000 jobs had been created statewide since he took office in 2011.

"That's a remarkable figure," he said. "We are rapidly closing in on a quarter million jobs."

Deal said the state's decision to hold the line on taxes and to pass other business-friendly legislation is why so many businesses are looking at Georgia.

"We realized the only way to bring ourselves out of a down-turned economy was to create jobs, and we've done that," the governor said.

In Hall County alone, the governor said 33 projects have been announced by either new or existing industries since he took office.

The gala is an annual event held by the chamber to celebrate the group's success and to honor volunteers and other who have served the chamber in the past year and longer.

"We are here tonight to celebrate the year with our business friends and guests," said outgoing chairwoman Dixie Truelove. "We are proud of the work of our chamber. We successfully created new jobs from large and small businesses, new and existing industries and we provided education and leadership opportunities for our members."

"It is a perfect Chamber of Commerce evening on the shores of beautiful