Members of the Business Attraction team were busy in February and March focusing on communicating with leaders in two key industry sectors: mobility and Health IT. Senior VP of Economic Development Kevin Johnson traveled to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry. Randi Mason, Invest Atlanta’s Economic Development Director, attended the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Florida.

Both Johnson and Mason focused on gaining a better understanding of these target industries, as well as communicating Atlanta’s strengths to the global business community. The value these trips provide is evident in the large amount of investment mobile and Health IT companies have made and are planning to make in the city.

This year, Mobile World Congress welcomed 108,000 attendees representing 208 countries. Given the global audience, Johnson made sure to tout the geographic advantage Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport provides along with the city’s strengths in mobility. He also talked about how Atlanta is home to some of the biggest technology marketers in the world (AT&T Mobility, The Coca-Cola Company Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, InterContinental Hotels and UPS), consumer content leaders (Turner and Cox Enterprises), as well as 14,000 technology companies employing nearly 189,000 workers. Metro Atlanta is also a leader in FinTech, with companies like NCR calling the city home, and NerdWallet recently ranked Atlanta as the #1 mobile-friendly city in the U.S.

To build on the connections made in Barcelona, Johnson plans to attend the upcoming Mobile World Congress America this fall in San Francisco.

Mason joined more than 40,000 health IT professionals from the around the world at HIMMS. The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Innovation Crescent Regional Partnership, and 13 Health IT companies hosted a booth at the convention touting the state’s role as the nation’s health IT capital. Georgia is home to over 225 health IT companies, part of a growing global industry valued at $55 billion.

Invest Atlanta has helped Health IT companies like Anthem and athenahealth bring offices to Atlanta, and looks forward to working with more companies from this sector in the future.