VALDOSTA – The Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce hosted its 12th Annual Business Outlook Breakfast, sponsored by Citizens Community Bank at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College.

Local, state and national economists shared their forecasts for economic growth in 2022, chamber representatives said in a statement.

Speakers included Dr. Cynthia R. Tori of Valdosta State University’s Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business, Dr. Jeffrey Humphreys of University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and Dr. Roger Tutterow of Kennesaw State University’s Cole’s College of Business.

Glenn Copeland, chief executive officer of Citizens Community Bank, opened the morning presentation commenting on the continued challenges businesses face during the pandemic.

Tori shared information on the economic outlook of the local community, starting with COVID-19 impacts and detailing information on the Valdosta labor force.

“The five economic headwinds we face include COVID-19, inflation, stock market correction, federal policies and regulations, and labor availability,” Tori said.

She forecasts that South Georgia will see continued growth in 2022, which may begin to slow down near the second half of the year. However, state COVID-19 policies, the desire for businesses and individuals to locate to the area and integrations of new technology are believed to help with that growth.

Humphreys followed with detailed information on Georgia’s economic climate, predicting 3.2% job growth and 4.3% GDP growth for 2022.

“Georgia has hit it out of the park in terms of economic developments,” Humphreys said. “This is the eighth year in a row that Georgia has ranked as the best state to do business in by Economic Development Site professionals.”

Touching on the state housing market, Humphreys discussed how the home is more important than before the pandemic and expect to see a 4-6% increase in home prices in Georgia this year.

Tutterow, the event’s final speaker, focused on three big challenges that he feels the nation faces – supply chain disruption, the current labor market and inflation.

“The labor force is aggravating supply chain distribution,” Tutterow said. “We are seeing manufacturing inventory rising but that’s not the case in wholesale or retail.”

In terms of the labor market, Tutterow reminded listeners that 22 million jobs were lost in two months at the height of the pandemic. Currently, 11 million jobs are going unfilled.

Discussing the current inflation rate, Tutterow urged business leaders to benchmark their business performance comparable to where they were in 2019.