August 2014 Features

  • United Way Kicks Off Annual Workplace Campaign with Live Webcast

    August 29, 2014

    United Way stepped outside the box and kicked off its 2013 workplace campaign yesterday with a live web broadcast showcasing how the nonprofit is working to improve lives across their 13-county region.

  • Looking at Your Personal Financial Health; Buzz Law, President of Creative Financial Group

    August 28, 2014

    For Buzz Law, president of Creative Financial Group, it was love at first sight. “I’ve spent my entire 30-year career at Creative Financial Group,” Buzz says. With childhood memories of his father working alongside his own financial planner, and having studied business with a focus on finance at the University of Georgia, Buzz knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life.

  • Quitting Your Day Job to Start a Business? Take This Test First

    August 27, 2014

    Unlike popular business myths, not everyone should start their own company. In fact, it is not the path to happiness and wealth for most people. Unfortunately, most of these people that make the jump to quit their day job are making one of the biggest mistakes of their lives. Take this test before quitting your day job.

  • How to Stop Corporations from Fleeing U.S. Tax Laws

    August 26, 2014

    Recently, there has been a surge of corporate expatriation transactions in which a U.S.-resident multinational corporation combines with a smaller foreign business to become a foreign-based company. Examples include Mylan Laboratories (MYL), Medtronic (MDT), and AbbVie (AABV).

  • Deal Leads Community Groundbreaking Celebration of Kroger’s New Distribution Center

    August 25, 2014

    Governor Nathan Deal led the August 19 groundbreaking celebration of Kroger’s new distribution center at Gillem Logistics Center in Forest Park. Kroger, one of the world's largest grocery retailers, will open a state-of-the-art distribution center on the nearly 1,000-acre Fort Gillem property, a former U.S. Army base.

  • Venture Capitalists Now Search Crowdfunding Sites for Opportunities

    August 22, 2014

    When crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo began taking off, some thought they would make venture capitalists obsolete. That has not been the case so far. And crowdfunding sites have actually served as an opportunity for professional investors to easily find new startups to fund.

  • Q&A with Gretchen Corbin, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Community Affairs

    August 21, 2014

    On August 1st, Commissioner Corbin celebrated her 1-year anniversary of being at the helm of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. While she feels that a lot was accomplished in her first year, she has no plans of slowing down and is dedicated to making an even bigger splash—with the help of her great team—in year two. We chatted with Ms. Corbin about adjusting to her role and what else she has up her sleeve for Georgia’s economic development.

  • 2014 Blanchard Leadership Forum Kicks Off Next Week

    August 20, 2014

    A lineup of nationally prominent entrepreneurs and leaders come to Columbus next week to show how they have seized their own opportunities and turned them into tremendous success stories. It’s all part of Columbus State University’s Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum 2014, starting Monday evening the Columbus Iron Works and Trade Center.

  • Atlanta Marriott Marquis is Reimagining Meetings

    August 19, 2014

    Marriott is redefining the way meeting planners plan and host meetings and events at multiple locations worldwide. Atlanta Marriott Marquis is proud to be the first hotel in Atlanta to launch Meetings Imagined, the new attendee-focused way to organize meetings. Marriott works with meeting planners to plan and host meetings that inspire social, mobile, collaborative and productive work.

  • How Good-Natured Humor Can Enhance Your Personal Brand

    August 18, 2014

    You should have humor as part of your personal branding – but make sure your humor fits the situation. Choose the right time and place to use suitable, relevant, and brief wittiness. Still, if in doubt, go for it. Good people will be grateful for your attempt to put them at ease.

  • 8 Business Expenses You Should Stop Paying For?

    August 15, 2014

    In the excitement of starting up, it can be tempting to invest in things you don’t really need. When was the last time you took a step back, examined your business expenses and figured out where your money could best be used? We asked eight entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneurs - “What’s one business expense that your company decided to stop paying for recently and why?”

  • Pellicano Construction Continues Georgia Expansion

    August 14, 2014

    Pellicano Construction recently opened its fourth office location in Macon on June 2nd. Currently, Pellicano is managing projects across the Southeastern and Midwestern United States to a broad base of clients in the retail, hospitality, healthcare, industrial, corporate commercial, restaurant, entertainment, automotive, assisted living, and faith-based market segments.

  • Georgians, Some Unconventional Health Advice: Maybe You Need a Vacation

    August 13, 2014

    Is a vacation good for your mental health? And if so, is that a good enough reason to take one? Most people enjoy out-of-town excursions. Lots of people take them annually. But as another summer begins to fade, many workers may be wondering if a vacation is worth the trouble and expense — especially in a time of high gas prices and airfares.

  • Daniel Titus on What Small Business Owners Need to Know About Web Design

    August 12, 2014

    Working on designing websites for many different types of businesses, Web Designer Daniel Titus often comes up against the same issues. Regardless of the industry, there are a few things that every small business owner needs to know about their company website. The way he sees it, these things break down into four areas: Form, Function, Format and Information.

  • 7 Tips to Get More Customers, More Often

    August 12, 2014

    We all claim to want more customers more often, but are we doing what it takes to get that done? I asked Sarah Reilly Engel, VP of Merchant Success at Belly, a loyalty rewards company for retailers, to share advice with us.

  • Helene Gayle & Muhtar Kent to be Inducted into Robinson College Business Hall of Fame

    August 11, 2014

    Helene D. Gayle, president and CEO of the poverty-fighting organization CARE USA, and Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, will be inducted into the Business Hall of Fame of Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business on Thursday evening, September 18th at the St. Regis Atlanta.

  • Atlanta Region Sees $1.1B in Construction Projects Released for Bid in Q2 of 2014

    August 08, 2014

    The Atlanta metro region saw more than 600 construction projects released for bid in the 2ndquarter of 2014, with a total contract value of $1.1 billion, BidClerk data showed. This represents a 10% increase compared to the 2nd quarter of 2013.

  • 8 Things to Ask Your Employees Before They Leave for Vacation

    August 07, 2014

    Summer vacations are a great time for employees to relax and recharge. However, it does leave your team in the office short staffed. Luckily, with the right systems in place your office can continue to run just as smoothly in their absence.

  • Film Industry Generates $5.1 Billion in Economic Impact in Georgia

    August 06, 2014

    Gov. Nathan Deal announced that Georgia-lensed feature films and television productions generated an economic impact of $5.1 billion during Fiscal Year 2014. The 158 feature film and television productions that shot in Georgia spent $1.4 billion during that time.

  • Georgia Native Returns Home as Filmmaking Rises in Savannah & Atlanta

    August 05, 2014

    In the news as of late have been Medient Studios and the dismissal of its founder and CEO, Manu Kumaran, and the legal action he has been taking against the company’s new leadership. There has been the exposure of early mismanagement and the rapid devaluation of the company’s stock and then the reinstatement of trading under Medient’s new leadership.

  • Time of Change and Crisis in the Hospital World

    August 04, 2014

    The financial turmoil rocking Georgia’s hospitals shows no signs of fading. Just this past week, Emory-Adventist Hospital announced it would close by the end of October. By doing so, the Smyrna hospital would become the fifth Georgia hospital to close within the past two years. And unlike the previous four, it is in the affluent Atlanta suburbs, not a struggling rural area.

  • 4 Ways To Boost Traffic To Your Tradeshow Booth

    August 01, 2014

    You have to do something special to stand out from the competition at tradeshow booth. From the decision on upgrading your old display to hand-picking the best relationship oriented sales people to man your show booth. There are so many options to improve your visibility at your next show exhibition. We look at four tips to boost traffic at your tradeshow booth to get more customers and expand your brand identity.