One company's investment will help create more Atlanta manufacturing jobs in the life-sciences industry.

Animal Health & Sciences Inc. recently announced its plan to invest $9.1 million and hire 100 employees in Thomaston, a suburb of Atlanta. The company makes chemicals for animal shampoos, as well as anti-pest aerosols for dogs, cats and horses.

The company will receive several incentives, including $5 million in job tax credits during the next five years and $400,000 in sales tax savings from the Georgia Department of Economic Development, as well as $250,000 from Thomaston.

"A lot of people don’t realize how much of an animal health presence we have here in Georgia," Charles Craig, president of Georgia Bio, a nonprofit organization promoting the bio-tech industry, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "(This) is just another example of Georgia's attractiveness as a destination for bio-science industry development."

More than 60,000 workers are directly or indirectly employed by Georgia's life-science industry, which produces a yearly economic impact of about $16 million, according to the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth.

There are currently 300 life-science companies throughout Georgia, with the majority bringing in revenues below $10 million, and 40 percent employing fewer than 10 people. The local industry primarily focuses on bio-engineered medicines, foods, fuels and agricultural products.

The University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention perform ground-breaking bio-tech research throughout the state. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture operates a research center in Athens.

Labels: Atlanta manufacturing jobs