Commerce secretary brings strong economy message to Georgia

<p>Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez brought the Bush administration's strong economy message to Georgia during a meeting Thursday with executives from area companies and a walkthrough of a Home Depot store with the chief of the retail chain.</p><p>"I came down to get a feel for the economy beyond just the numbers we see in Washington," Gutierrez said in an interview after his tour with Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli. "They confirm what we see in the numbers. We have a very strong economy."</p><p>Earlier in the day, Gutierrez met with about a dozen executives from Atlanta area companies, including The Coca-Cola Co., Chik-Fil-A and shipping giant UPS Inc. The airlines were not represented in the meeting, he said.</p><p>The subject of the plight of the airlines did come up during the meeting, however.</p><p>"I don't want to minimize the effect of that," Gutierrez said, adding that he is aware of the job losses in the airline industry. "That's not an easy decision that CEOs make. It's unfortunate when that happens and we can never minimize that."</p><p>But, he said the overall economy is strong.</p><p>"I will say that for every company that has had to do that (job cuts), there are companies that are adding jobs and creating growth," the commerce secretary said. "Unfortunately, the American people hear a lot about the companies that have had to restructure and they don't hear about the success stories."</p>