Mentor Protégé Connection Announces 2010 Class

ATLANTA, January 27, 2010 — The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) today announced participants in the sixth class of the Mentor Protégé Connection.  Formerly known as the Governor's Mentor Protégé Program, this GDEcD-backed initiative partners promising small businesses in Georgia with successful companies to foster enhanced business opportunities.
'The 2010 Mentor Protégé Connection class shows great promise to be key contributors to the growth of Georgia's business community,' said Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.  'We're excited to welcome them to the sixth class and tenth anniversary of the program, and look forward to another productive year for the Mentor Protégé Connection.'

This program creates opportunities for Protégés to benefit from the experiences of well-established, leading Georgia companies.  Small businesses leverage this shared intellectual capital to develop success strategies that can provide them with competitive advantages in the business community.

The formal mentor-protégé relationship lasts for 12 months, during which time the 21 pairs work together to outline and achieve collective goals. As part of the program, Mentor and Protégé companies may take advantage of additional training and technical assistance workshops on a variety of business issues.

Past graduates of the Mentor Protégé Connection have been successful in identifying new markets for global expansion, cutting-edge business practices and strategic growth opportunities.

"The Mentor Protégé Connection is an exciting way to identify new suppliers for the Georgia Power Company, and it's also personally rewarding,' said Melissa Evans of Georgia Power, A Southern Company, a sponsoring Mentor participant.  'The best return for our company was being instrumental in helping a supplier achieve his dreams through this program.'

"Being involved with The Coca-Cola Company has helped our business to focus on strategic growth, marketing and analysis,' said Milton Kirby of Allied Logistics, a past Protégé graduate. 'The relationship we formed through the Mentor Protégé Connection also helped us develop an operations plan that will allow us to grow into the next decade.'

The Coca-Cola Company is a sponsoring Mentor along with GE Energy, Georgia Power, A Southern Company, Hardin Construction, The Home Depot, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Turner Broadcasting System and UPS.

Pairings for the 2010 class of the Mentor Protégé Connection include:

Mentor Protégé

Lockheed Martin Aerospace Fabrications of GA, Inc. (Dallas)   Hardin Construction Circle D Enterprises, LLC (College Park) GE Energy Database Mining Lab, Inc. (Alpharetta) The Coca-Cola Company Divine Management (East Point) The Home Depot Key Logistics Solutions, LLC (Duluth) Georgia Power, A Southern Company Liberty Steel Fabricators (Flowery Branch) GTECH Corporation Lottery Services of Georgia, Inc. (Atlanta) Georgia Power, A Southern Company Metals & Materials Engineers, LLC (Suwanee) Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Mindspan Systems, Inc. (Norcross) AT&T Pencilworx Design Group, LLC (Atlanta) UPS Pepi Food Services (Bainbridge) Skanska USA Building, Inc. Pinnacle USA, Inc. (Athens) Hardin Construction RLSS, Inc. (Marietta) Wachovia River 2 Tap, Inc. (Roswell) Van Winkle and Company Rubber Wholesalers, Inc. (Ranger) Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Sojo, Inc. (Alpharetta) The North Highland Company  SBC Fulfillment, Inc. (Atlanta) Benning Construction Southern Heritage Woodworks, Inc. (Sylvester) Cox Communications Syntellus Dataworks, LLC (Atlanta) Heery International The Epsten Group, Inc. (Atlanta) Citizen Trust Bank The Ian Thomas Group, LLC (Atlanta)

About Georgia Department of Economic 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, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. For more information, visit www.georgia.org.   # # #