Johnson believes Atlanta possesses the human, intellectual and investment capital and infrastructure investment required to be a forerunner in hard-core technology development. The money mix Atlanta appears to have adequate local capital to raise its homegrown companies. But local money is not all that's needed for long-term success, Johnson said. The best thing is always going to be a mix. I think Atlanta is very healthy from a local investment community perspective, as well as being able to attract national investment.
National investments increase opportunities for companies to expand beyond the Atlanta market.
While Atlanta certainly will not be immune to a broad economic downturn, industry experts are optimistic that the city will remain a viable national player in technology development. California has always been looked at as the place. And this city is conducive to it, which is good. That pragmatism prevented Atlanta from getting too deep into dot-coms. As much as folks in Atlanta may think there has been a downturn, in reality, Atlanta is going to be a lot less affected than other areas like San Francisco or Seattle where there was much more of the dot-com craze.