Local business leaders are optimistic about Statesboro's economic future, despite facing national headwinds. Cal Evans, Synovus Senior Director Investor Relations & Market Intelligence and Brooke Blackwell, Synovus Market Intelligence Manager shared their insights on the region's economic conditions on Thursday, April 5, 2025 during the Synovus annual economic update. Their detailed economic presentation highlighted both opportunities and challenges for our region.
Chad Wiggins, Market President, Synovus Statesboro welcomed Evans and Blackwell to Statesboro and praised their expertise.
"Part of the strength of Synovus is having great people here locally that serve our clients faithfully day in and day out. Another great part is having resources like Cal Evans to bring insight and knowledge to our communities," said Chad Wiggins, Market President, Synovus Statesboro. "He and his team work to gather data throughout Synovus’s footprint to give our company insight on how our clients are doing financially and what industry sectors are performing well or may not be performing as well. Our goal at Synovus is to be the best advisor we can to our clients. Cal coming to our market and sharing his knowledge and insight is an important part of us working to create value for our clientele."
Grice Connect caught up with them after their morning presentation, which included an extensive overview of the national and regional economic climate, to get more insight on how they feel about the state of the Statesboro and Bulloch County economy.
Evans emphasized the unique diversity of Statesboro's economy, noting its balanced mix of agriculture, manufacturing, government (anchored by Georgia Southern University), and healthcare. "It's a fairly diverse economy, and it's got proximity to ports, infrastructure, all that stuff," Evans stated, pointing to the city's strong foundation for growth.
The arrival of Hyundai and its supplier network presents a significant opportunity for the region. Evans believes the influx of workers, coupled with Georgia Southern's strong talent pool, creates a "winning recipe" for Statesboro. "This general region has a fairly affordable, easily trainable labor," he added, suggesting that rising living costs in Florida may further drive workforce migration to the area.
However, the rapid growth also brings challenges, with housing affordability at the forefront. Evans highlighted the critical role of interest rates in the current market. "We think it takes a 5% mortgage rate to really get the market moving," he explained. "We've got about a 15% increase in the home price and a 50% increase in the mortgage costs" since the start of the current economic cycle. This drastic increase in mortgage costs, relative to home price increases, is severely impacting affordability.
The experts at Synovus are seeing the real world impacts of these interest rates. "This disparity makes homeownership increasingly difficult, pushing more people towards rental options," Evans said. This has led to the prediction that, "I think what you're going to see is more workforce-oriented rental housing," Evans predicted, suggesting a rise in build-to-rent projects and townhomes. He also noted a trend towards renovating older homes as a more viable solution for workforce housing.
The effect of the high intrest rates are compounding the problems. It is not only making new home purchasing hard, but it is also locking current home owners into their current homes. Because those home owners have low intrest rates, they are unwilling to sell, therefore lowering the available housing inventory.
National economic pressures, particularly tariffs and inflation, pose additional challenges. Evans expressed concern about the impact of tariffs on small businesses, stating that many cannot pass increased costs onto consumers. "Somebody's going to get hit, and that puts small business at risk," he warned.
Inflation, especially regarding materials, goods, and labor, is another significant red flag. "That's the number one thing that we hear from our customers is that small business operators could potentially boost their revenues, but they can't do it without additional labor. And they cannot afford labor that's currently on the market," Evans explained. He suggested that businesses may need to invest in automation and efficiency-enhancing systems to mitigate these pressures.
Despite these challenges, Evans and Bagwell remain optimistic about Statesboro's long-term prospects. The region's diverse economy, strategic location, and growing workforce position it for continued growth, provided it can navigate the current economic uncertainties. The strong growth of the medical sector, and Georgia Southern University also provide strong economic indicators.
"I think in the aggregate, though, it really plots a great path forward for Statesboro, given what you've got in place," Evans concluded.
