Hart County is states newest designated Entrepreneur Friendly community
ATLANTA, May 10, 2006 - Hart 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. Northeast Georgia's Hart County is the 18th 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. Hart 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 Hart County's present environment for small businesses.
'In part, what we have discovered in this process is that our community has many previously unidentified entrepreneurs,' said Hartwell Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Executive Director Patricia Fritz. 'America is known for its entrepreneurial spirit, and Hartwell is no exception. Now we can use the knowledge of willing, successful, local entrepreneurs to assist interested entrepreneurs in bringing their dreams to fruition.'
According to Fritz, the mentorship program will offer professional consultations to local graduates of the Core Four program, which specifically educates students on business acumen.
'The Hartwell DDA and the Hart County Chamber of Commerce have chosen this entrepreneur focus because we want the community to know there are now local support programs and tools readily available to help ensure business retention and growth,' added Fritz. 'In the end the program will benefit not only those individuals who take advantage of Hartwell's entrepreneur initiative), but the local economy.'
In 2005, 661 of the 688 private, single location businesses in Hart County had 19 or fewer employees.
'Kudos to Hart County for actively supporting its small businesses,' said Chris Clark, chairman of the Georgia Entrepreneur and Small Business Coordinating Network and GDEcD's deputy commissioner of Global Commerce. 'A proactive approach is essential to helping small businesses thrive, and ensures they will be an integral component in Hart'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.