Jobs in Atlanta Created by General Mills

One well-known food distribution company is helping to create new jobs in Atlanta.

General Mills recently announced its plan to construct a $42 million distribution facility, a move that will create 112 jobs in Walton County. It took the company 18 months to select a site for the new project. General Mills considered more than 175 miles of space throughout 24 counties.

General Mills is the world's sixth-largest food company and makes such products as Cheerios, Betty Crocker and Haagen-Dazs. The company, with the assistance of Doughtie, Nichols and Schnur, chose the Rockefeller Group for the development asignment.

"It is my understanding that this new built-to-suit facility will be one of the largest distribution centers ever built in the United States that meets the LEED certification standards for a green building," Doughtie said. "It is certainly the largest LEED certified distribution building ever built in the Atlanta market and in the Southeast."

The City of Social Circle, Walton County and the State of Georgia worked together to bring the new project to Atlanta. The project will help the area's declining construction industry and increasing unemployment rate.

During April, the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta area's unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent. The area had a total non-farm employment of 2,322,100 workers during April, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 2,323,800 workers during March and a 5.1 percent decrease from last year.

The construction industry employed 107,100 workers during April, 108,800 workers during March and a 17.9 percent decrease from last year.