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The Butler Center for Research and Economic Development - Columbus State University

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Turner College of Business & Technology

The Butler Center for Research and Economic Development

We Serve With Care.

The Butler Center is dedicated to implementing the Turner College of Business and Technology mission by deploying our intellectual capital and engaging with the community. The Butler Center's main goal is to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the Columbus Area and inform public policy and business decision-making. We have been an invaluable resource for businesses, non-profit organizations, local governments, and the Chamber of Commerce to find opportunities, bring new business and investment to the area, make effective data-driven decisions, and optimize returns on public spending for the workforce and economic development. The Butler Center's comprehensive economic impact study has played a vital role in helping the city of Columbus bring professional baseball back to the Chattahoochee Valley in a $300 million economic development project. In promoting economic sustainability, the Butler Center has helped prospective businesses in the Columbus area make critical business decisions by providing objective and thorough economic studies.

The Butler Center works on informing local governments and the business community of recent regional and national trends. We collect and analyze economic and demographic local data, generate accurate and informative economic reports, and communicate the findings to non-profit and government agencies, the business community and other stakeholders.

We believe that the wealth and income gap is created mainly by a knowledge and education gap. The Butler Center is working with our prospective regional partners to disrupt the intergenerational poverty cycle by spreading financial literacy and economic education to help individuals make vibrant economic decisions and achieve a better future.

Aware of the technological revolution and the ongoing structural changes in the labor market, we work to prepare our community to overcome structural unemployment resulting from rapid technological advancement and automation. The Butler Center is working on conveying the value of education, communicating human capital development to the disadvantaged population, and helping them embrace education.

Recognizing the current business need for technology consultancy in a rapidly evolving environment, The Butler Center connects our business community to our computer science faculty expertise to provide a wide range of data science services including data management, exploration, and analysis. Our TSYS School of Computer Science faculty developed prototype solutions for two systems at Fort Moore as a part of the Smart Installations Community Dashboard (SICD) project, a $350,000 project our faculty accomplished in the summer of 2023.

Contact Us


Dr. Fady Mansour


Fady Mansour, Ph.D

Director of The Butler Center for Research and Economic Development
Sarah T. Butler Distinguished University Chair of Business & Finance
Associate Professor of Economics


Mailing Address:
The Butler Center for Research and Economic Development
Turner College of Business and Technology
4225 University Avenue
Columbus, GA 31907-5679

Phone: 706-507-8596
Fax: (706) 568-2184

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