Burke County is states newest designated Entrepreneur Friendly community

ATLANTA, June 30, 2006 - Burke County has joined the state's ranks of 'Entrepreneur Friendly' communities, an official designation indicating the community is developing an environment conducive to small business and entrepreneurs. Burke County, located in east-central Georgia, is the 21st community in the state to earn 'Entrepreneur Friendly' status from the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD)'s Entrepreneur and Small Business Office. 'Encouraging and supporting our homegrown businesses and entrepreneurs will help create quality jobs for Georgians,' said Governor Sonny Perdue. 'By helping local communities support the growth of small business, we ensure prosperity and opportunity throughout the state.' An Entrepreneur-Friendly community must complete a program instituting guidelines and strategies that build a local environment and culture to support entrepreneur and small business development. Burke County also completed a two-day assessment by a review team that identified strategies to implement entrepreneur and small business development programs. Additionally, county leaders asked local entrepreneurs and small business owners to evaluate Burke County's present environment for small businesses. Ashley Long, executive director of the Burke County Chamber of Commerce, says the process of qualifying for the program was one of discovery. "Plenty of our businesses are thriving, and even plan to expand and hire more employees. However, we found an overwhelming need for marketing assistance," said Long. 'Burke County is committed to including entrepreneurs and small businesses in our economic development strategies. We will focus on workshops and seminars, and create a small business roundtable to discuss business issues and growth opportunities.' An estimated 95 percent of the combined business licenses of Burke and the city of Waynesboro are held by small business owners. 'Burke County is energetically reaching out to its small businesses,' added Chris Clark, chairman of the Georgia Entrepreneur and Small Business Coordinating Network and GDEcD's deputy commissioner of Global Commerce. 'We congratulate the community for taking the necessary steps to ensure its small businesses will thrive and thus play an active part in Burke County's strategy for local business development.' The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, video and music projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. For more information, visit www.georgia.org.