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ALBANY, GA -- Albany sits in Georgia’s tenth region but it's the first stop for Governor Nathan Deal on his trek for job growth in the Georgia.

“This is a kick off to our competitiveness initiative that we have launched across the state,” said Gov. Deal.

Georgia's Competitiveness Initiative is a multi-department state effort aimed figuring out how at getting business to come to and stay in Georgia.

“That's what this is all about, to make sure Georgia has got the best competitiveness strategy of anywhere in the southeast, or anywhere in the U.S. and that we are tackling the issues that might come up, so we can stay on the leading edge and be a great place to do business,” said Chris Clark, President of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

“We have a great infrastructure. We have a great workforce. We have a great tax system that keeps the burden on corporations low, but we are making sure that we keep on the competitive edge to make sure we are always doing more to bring more jobs to Georgia,” said Chris Cummiskey, Georgia’s Economic Development Commissioner.

“This is a competitiveness initiative that's asking some of the best business leaders throughout the state of Georgia what they see that they would recommend that we do to do things differently,” said Gov. Deal.

For the governor this isn't just about making a promise or throwing out a plan. He says he really wants to listen to what business leaders and employers have to say about make Georgia a better place to do business.

“I think when you hear from the people that literally are on the front lines. The ones that are trying to run businesses, the ones who are trying to keep people employed they are the ones who understand what impediments exist,” said Governor Deal.

The governor office also launched a website for people to track the initiative and job growth in the state which can be viewed at http://www.georgiacompetitiveness.org 

Governor Deal's visit comes at a time when unemployment is up in Albany.

New numbers for May show 10% of people in Albany are unemployed. That's up from 9.8% in April. State wide unemployment is still at 9.8%.

Governor Deal says he hopes to have a plan to get more people back to work by late this year.

“The assembly has the goal of making recommendations to the general assembly by the end of the year. And if it requires legislative action hopefully it will be available to be acted on in the upcoming early legislative session, early next year,” said Deal.

Nationally the unemployment rate is at 9.1%.