No city is more hospitable -- or better at selling itself -- than Atlanta, as it recently demonstrated to the site-selection committee for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Its Chamber of Commerce is probably the most energetic in the U.S., and the state-run training program Quick Start can't be beat. If you call the Greater Atlanta Chamber and say you're interested in setting up a business in the area, you'll shortly hear from the Quick Start people, who develop training materials, provide instructors, and pay for them.

When General Mills built a cereal plant near Atlanta, Quick Start's software designers wrote computer programs simulating production lines, and 88 General Mills employees received 30 weeks of instruction in such disciplines as statistical process control, the economics of the cereal business, and team building. "We were very surprised at the high quality," says plant manager Patrick McNutly. "If we had gone out and hired someone to do this training, it would have cost us over $1 million."

Largely because of Quick Start, Georgia has been one of the states most successful at attracting Japanese companies. One newcomer, the Japanese office equipment company Ricoh, is using the program to train some 2,000 workers over the next five years. Koichi Endo, who is just finishing a term as president of Ricoh Electronics in the U.S., says that the manuals and videos that the Quick Start staff created for trainees are so sophisticated that he ordered his managers not to let them out of the plant for fear competitors might get a hold of them.

Which city will provide a company with the optimal work force? Naturally that depends on many factors. But remember that the best cities aren't just those with the best people, but also places like Atlanta that try hard and make the most of what they have. Keep an open mind -- and remember that a company who puts worker quality among its top criteria when locating operations won't go far wrong.

Reprinted with permission of The Time, Inc. Magazine Company. FORTUNE is a registered mark of The Time Inc. Magazine Company. ©1990 The Time, Inc. Magazine Company. All rights reserved.