ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp buried the lead in his speech to an Effingham County group Monday night.

"Y'all may not have heard this but I'm running for reelection," Kemp said, drawing loud, hearty laughs and cheers.

Kemp's witty remark came near the end of what was essentially a State of the State and State of Effingham County address. It was a highlight of an Effingham County Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency.

"There area always challenges with growth but there are also opportunities," the governor said. "I know you all are seeing that. I will tell you that I can't even count how many times that I've been to the Savannah area because of the great things that we have going on in our state.

"You think about the ports, Gulfstream, hospitality, tourism — just the stuff that we have — and all the bedroom communities, which Effingham County is a part of, and also Bryan County and Statesboro now."

Kemp mentioned the Bryan County Mega-Site, a 2,284-acre economic development site in partnership between the State of Georgia and the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority (JDA), which includes the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority.

"I don't want to get too overconfident here but we just have some really good things that we are working on there," Kemp said. "It is one of the single best economic development sites in the country. Everything down there, but especially its people, is what we makes it so good.

"That's what we are selling every single day — the workforce, the quality of life that you have down there. That's why people are moving to the South right now. We keep your community safe, you have a great quality of life and you have a good economic opportunity.

"As parents, (First Lady Marti) and I — we have three daughters —- that's what we want. We want our kids to have that same thing ..."

Kemp bragged on Georgia's economic vitality despite the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. He credited the legislature and Department of Public Kathleen Toomey helping him keep the state open for business.

"I did that because the legislators gave me raw powers — and Dr. Toomey as well — through the Public Health State of Emergency," the governor said. "It's never been done in the history of our state. That's the unprecedented times that we are in right now.

"Because of their leadership, giving us the ability to move quickly and pivot when we needed to, and, unlike other states, having a heavy handedness in (shutting businesses down), we haven't done that. We've used that to stay open so we are protecting lives and livelihoods, and we are reaping the benefits of that now."

The state's unemployment rate is at a historic low 2.6 percent.

"We have the least amount of people on the unemployment roles since post-9/11," Kemp said. "We have the most people (4.97 million) ever working in our state — ever."

Last year, 379 new economic projects worth a total $11 billion started in Georgia, Kemp said.

"Seventy-four percent of them were outside the 11 metro (Atlanta) counties," he said. "Over half the jobs that came with them were outside the 11 metro Atlanta counties and I believe we will break that record this year."

Kemp said the state budget is "going to be good for Effingham County and that part of the state."

"When you think about what we are doing with the ports, transportation, infrastructure, money that we are putting back into K-12 education," he said.

Kemp also expressed pleasure that Georgia students' educational pursuits have continued during the pandemic. He thanked school boards, teachers and administrators for making that happen.

"We've (also) kept our churches and places of worship open, unlike other states," he said.

The governor vowed that the Republican-led state legislature aims to maintain its current course, including supporting law enforcement officers.

"We have a great team working up here at the General Assembly and your local team (House Majority Leader Jon Burns, Rep. Bill Hitchens and Sen. Billy Hickman) is leading it in a lot of ways," he said. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: There will be more Effingham Day at the Capitol stories to follow in the next few days.