An expanding service sector.
The diverse industrial base includes production of medical products, pharmaceuticals, golf cars, chemicals, industrial tools and textiles.
At the center of the technology-based employers is the Savannah River Site, a U.S. Department of Energy facility, which, with more than 13,000 employees, comprises a majority of the Metropolitan Statistical Area's economy.
The facility's mission is to reduce nuclear danger by transferring applied environmental technology to government and nongovernment entities cleaning up the site, managing the waste and forming economic and industrial alliances.
SRS has a significant economic impact across the two states, affecting more than a dozen counties.
The current annual budget of SRS is $1.6 billion, including a payroll of about $900 million.
Westinghouse Savannah River Co. is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the nuclear facility.
Other major contractors on the site include Bechtel Savannah River Inc., Babcock & Wilcox Group and British Nuclear Fuels Limited.
Health care is another technology-based industry in the region, employing more than 25,000 medical professionals.
The Medical College of Georgia is ranked as one of the top 20 medical schools in the nation and is Georgia's health sciences university.
MCG has schools of Dentistry, Allied Health Sciences, Nursing and Graduate Studies, Medicine.
A pioneer in telemedicine, MCG has received national recognition for its efforts in the field.
MCG serves patients from throughout the Southeast, with more than 80 clinics centrally located within one building.
More than a dozen other major medical facilities are located in the region.
The U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, the largest communications electronics training center in the world, round out Augusta's technology-based economy. The center has advanced communications technology, adapting the telephone to military use by incorporating satellite communications and computer technology.
Fort Gordon is also home to the Army's Computer Science School and to a joint services intelligence organization that supports the Department of Defense.
The teaching facilities at Eisenhower Army Medical Center serve as a regional tri-service medical center serving five Southeastern states and Puerto Rico.
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