General Electric recently announced that it will locate the company's $15 million Smart Grid Center of Excellence in Cobb County and create 400 new high-paying jobs. The project is part of a move to establish the metro Atlanta area as a focal point for the green energy industry.

The new employees will conduct research and development, as well as application engineering. The SGCE will be home to the world headquarters of GE's new Digital Energy business, a smart grid engineering laboratory, and an exhibition area showing how a smart grid works.

The project is being funded by two U.S. Department of Energy grants - $649,903 to GE and $647,368 to Georgia Tech - as part of $100 million in funding to a group of companies and colleges to develop programs and train future employees, such as engineers, in smart grid technology.

"This is not just another headquarters," Hans Gant, senior vice president of economic development for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It is a headquarters for a new industry that could really position Atlanta and Georgia as a leader in that sector nationally and worldwide. "

GE will benefit from Georgia's quality jobs tax credit and will be eligible for $9 million in tax credits during the next five years. The company already has a presence in the area, with about 2,300 employees in metro Atlanta and about 5,300 employees throughout Georgia. GE Energy and GE Technology Infrastructure are both headquartered in the state.

A smart grid is used to create a more direct and efficient digital technology system that distributes electricity to consumers. Advocates say such a system can better regulate power demand and supply, and offers benefits, such as quicker restoration of electricity after outages.

Long-term, smart grids may allow consumers to choose their power source from traditional and alternative fuels, and allow motorists to refuel electric vehicles overnight. In addition, any unneeded power would be returned to the system for future use.

State and local officials hope that more companies in the smart grid sector will want to locate in Atlanta because of GE's presence and because of local support for the industry's suppliers, vendors and competitors.

"(The center) supports our state's strategic growth as a global leader in the energy sector," Gov. Sonny Perdue said. "The solutions that will be developed at the Smart Grid Technology Center of Excellence not only benefit GE Energy’s customers, but will also serve as a model for smart and responsible energy production throughout this industry."

Check out this recruiting video for GE:

The Technical College System of Georgia experienced record enrollment this fall. The system's 28 campuses enrolled a total of 110,254 students, a 24 percent increase from last year. The school's previous record was 91,838 students during 2003.

The State of Georgia reported that technical colleges saw an 8 percent increase in traditional students, or those under 21-years old, meaning the majority of enrollment growth came from adults looking to change careers.

"Our enrollment is growing at a record pace because the word is out that a Georgia technical college education is the most direct route to a great job and a long-term career," Ron Jackson, commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "If there's an upside in this down economy, it's that the state's technical colleges are helping tens of thousands of Georgians learn highly marketable skills and find their new place in today's changing workforce."

Technical colleges in the Atlanta area that saw increases in enrollment from fall 2008 to fall of this year include:

• Atlanta Technical by 47 percent
• Chattahoochee Technical by 96 percent
• DeKalb Technical by 21 percent
• Gwinnett Technical by 25 percent

Chattahoochee Technical saw the biggest increase in enrollment as a result of the school's merger with Appalachian Technical College and North Metro Technical College earlier this year. As a whole, the technical college system in the Atlanta area saw a 24 percent increase in enrollment.

The eventual addition of these workers could help the declining economies in Atlanta and Georgia as a whole begin to recover.

During September, Georgia's unemployment rate remained unchanged from August at 10.1 percent, which is slightly higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent. This is a change from August, when the state saw its unemployment rate decrease from 10.3 percent to 10.1 percent.

The state had a total non-farm employment of 3,838,100 workers during September, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 3,853,600 workers during August and a 6 percent decrease from last year.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta area had a total non-farm employment of 2,270,000 workers during September, which is down from 2,280,000 workers during August and a 5.9 percent decrease from last year.