Wilkinson County is states newest designated Entrepreneur Friendly community
ATLANTA, December 21, 2006 - Central Georgia's Wilkinson 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. Wilkinson County is the 32nd community in the state and the fourth this month 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. Wilkinson County also completed a one 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 Wilkinson County's present environment for small businesses.
"The designation process showed us how we can better support our entrepreneurs and small business owners,' said Farrah Senn, director of the Wilkinson County
Development Authority and Chamber of Commerce. 'The interviews indicated the need for community and local businesses needed to be involved in the educational system, a desire to establish a 'buy local' program, and the need for small business education workshops on certain topics. We hope these lessons will help us create an environment of encouragement and support for small businesses and entrepreneurs in Wilkinson County.'
Small businesses are 89 percent of Wilkinson County's total number of businesses.
'Wilkinson County has taken a proactive approach to supporting 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 steps necessary to ensure its small businesses will thrive and thus play an active part in Wilkinson 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.