Engage Gwinnett

Much of Gwinnett’s future lies in the hands of 42 people who are involved in the citizen-led initiative called Engage Gwinnett: Citi­zens Committee for the Future of Gwinnett County where they will spend approximately six months looking at the community’s needs for current and future government services and proposing funding strategies to pay for those services over the next five years. The Engage Gwinnett Citizens Committee, which includes representatives of 30 stakeholder groups and 10 self-selected citizen leaders, will prepare budget recommendations to be presented to the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners in early spring 2010. Co-chaired by busi­ness leaders McKenna Long & Aldridge’s Michael Levengood and Cisco’s Bill McCargo, Engage Gwinnett could be one of the most im­portant initiatives Gwinnett has ever undertaken.

According to McCargo and Levengood, the county is in good hands. “As I observed the process at the first public forum, I was very impressed with the level of discourse among the attendees,” said Le­vengood. “They were respectful of their neighbors and they listened to each other.”

Commenting on the committee and the first public forum held on September 9, McCargo said that he was excited about the diver­sity of people who attended as well as those who were selected to serve on the committee. “The people who were selected by their peers to serve on the committee are strong leaders who are engaged in the community in a variety of ways.”

Now that the committee has been formed, the task at hand, ex­plained McCargo, is to decide what services the county should pro­vide and at what level.

“Engage Gwinnett is an opportunity to inform county citizens about how the county budget works, including revenues and mandat­ed expenses, and get their views on how government should prioritize county services and spend tax dollars,” said McCargo. “Our objectives are to serve as a collaborative group targeting both broad-based and specific constituency groups and audiences to offer a means to help citizens understand complex problems and engage those who normally don’t become involved in policy debates. The constitu­ency or stakeholder groups were identified as a ‘broad stroke’ attempt to ensure that the committee was a general reflection of our community. Now that we have the publicly self-selected members, we feel good about beginning our educational and citizen-led public involvement process.”

Part of the mission of Gwinnett County is to “deliver supe­rior services in partnership with our community” and included in its vision is a “commitment to partnering with others in our community who share a dedication to making life better for our citizens.” The Engage Gwinnett process will be an effective tool in accomplishing those objec­tives.

“We believe that Engage Gwinnett will prove over the next several months to be an impressive piece of democracy,” stated Levengood. “The com­munity input we gained from the first public forum - what our citizens think about how Engage Gwinnett should go about doing its work and assuring the public that its recommendations are reasonable and fair - was invalu­able. To observe citizens groups select their committee represen­tatives was truly inspiring and gave me even more confidence that Gwinnett citizens do have a sense of shared responsibility in planning for the future.”

Praising the efforts of Gwinnett County’s leadership and staff, McCargo commented that “Gwinnett County is an ex­ceptionally well-run county government. You don’t get a triple AAA bond rating by accident. It is something to appreciate when a job is done well.”

“Engage Gwinnett is an attempt find out what we can do now to maintain our world-class quality of life in Gwinnett while providing Gwinnett County’s leadership and staff with the opportunity to succeed with our limited resources,” contin­ued McCargo.

Levengood added that the staff at Gwinnett County has done a great job under difficult circumstances. “Engage Gwin­nett will serve to provide recommendations of what services the citizens want that can be provided under these circumstances.”

For those who are not serving on the committee, McCargo encouraged those interested to attend the committee meetings which will be open to the public and will be held at Gwinnett Center. In order to provide Gwinnett residents with the oppor­tunity to follow the process at their own convenience, materials and presentations given to the committee will be made available to the public on the Web at www.engagegwinnett.com and on TVgwinnett, the County’s government access cable channel. The Engage Gwinnett Web site also feature Facebook and Twitter links as other ways to follow the process.

The general public will have opportunities to provide input online during certain times throughout the process. Engage Gwinnett will also host several more public meetings during the next six months to give the community an opportunity to review preliminary committee findings and offer feedback.

“We have asked the stakeholders and the citizens serving on the committee to keep an open mind and to listen to each other and to our citizens so that Gwinnett can achieve its full potential,” said Levengood. “In addition, we are determined to do the best job we can to reach out to public.”

“I look forward to listening to the committee members’ thoughts, dreams, and aspirations for Gwinnett County. I am especially looking forward to learning from them,” con­cluded Levengood.

Getting More From Your Web site

This morning Giant Impact Metro Atlanta Council for Entrepreneurship (MACE) Strategic Partner, Network Solutions, conducted an interactive and informative presentation on the best practices for your Web site. The discussion provided many insights that small businesses can use in order to address the ever changing world of the Internet. There were five key categories to enhancing Web site, so start taking notes…

Domain Name- This is the first identifying mark of any company. The domain name creates the branding for your company so you want to make sure it gives the right message. Two helpful tips…register multiple domain names and extensions, this way you can stop the competition from encroaching on your territory. Tip two; register your domain name for multiple years because it makes you more credible to search engines like Google.

Hosting- This is when you need to be prepared to answer questions like where is your file server going to be located? How much space will you need? How graphically intense will your Web site be? How many visitors will the site be able to handle? Helpful tip, try a hosting company for a month to make sure that they have incredible customer service, support and reliability. If your Web site ever crashes you will be glad to have them on your side.

Web site Design- Of course, great website design is the most important aspect of any Web site. Four seconds…that is all the time you have to sell somebody to continue looking at your website. Better make it good! How do you keep people’s attention then?

Don’t try to entertain. People do not want to be bombarded with sounds, flashing lights, videos and graphics flying over the screen. Keep it simple. Show that you are credible and trustworthy. Provide clear and organized information in a pleasing easy to read format.

People do not want to hunt down information. Make sure that any information is only four to five clicks away from the home page. Also, make sure there is an easy way to get to the home screen and other important screens at all times. The most important tip is to keep it easy, simple and engage the public.

Purpose- The purpose of the Web site should be decided on long before the Web site is live. Make sure that the “Call to Action” is front and center. This is what the entire Web site is for, so do not make it hard to find.

Marketing- There are two primary methods to marketing your Web site. The first method is search engine optimization and the second is pay-per click advertising. Search engine optimization is the most effective method because you can control the process and it is free. However, you will need to do successful work in encoding keywords throughout your Web site.

The key is consistency and repetition. Uniformity in the title tag, description tag, keyword tag, headline, alt text, body copy and even in links will increase your search engine results. A helpful tip in keywords is to make sure they all target the end of the buying cycle. This means make the keywords as specific as possible.

Links are extremely important. Seven out of 10 reasons for rankings on search engine result sites are because of how many links a Web site had. Links that are rich in keyword anchoring are the most effective.

Remember that you are not against the search engines, but against your competitors. So keep a watchful eye on their Web sites and make sure to stay one step ahead of them. If you have any additional questions you can ask them at events@networksolutions.com. Now take all these tips and make your Web sites stronger and more effective.

Sorry you missed this incredible event! To learn more about MACE, so that you don't miss out again, visit http://www.atlantaentrepreneurship.com/.

GWINNETT COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN TO PRESENT SPECIAL MID-YEAR STATE OF THE COUNTY ADDRESS

Chairman Charles Bannister to Give Community's Outlook at September 16 General Membership Meeting

The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and Presenting Sponsor Rocket IT will be hosting Chairman Charles Bannister and the Board of Commissioners for a special mid-year State of the County Address on September 16 at 11:30 a.m. at Gwinnett Center. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear the Board of Commissioners' vision and plan for partnering with the business community, citizens, and public sector partners to achieve the best solutions to collectively accomplish our long-term goals and keep our community competitive and among the best in the nation to live, work and play.

After experiencing a challenging year financially in 2008 and a rocky start to 2009, in the middle of a difficult recession, Gwinnett County is at an important crossroad.

Considering the economic hurdles faced by the County, Gwinnett remains a strong, dynamic county that has maintained a top-notch AAA credit rating for 11 years with roads, parks, libraries and public safety facilities built by the special purpose local option sales tax or SPLOST. When the nation climbs out of the recession, Gwinnett County has the opportunity to build on its history of success while maintaining the world-class quality of life that attracts thousands of new residents each year.

"Together we will weather this recession. I'm confident that life in Gwinnett will return to normal, but it will take some time and effort," said Bannister. "I look forward to coming together as a community to tackle these touch issue head-on and looking at the best ways to collectively accomplish our long-term goals."

With declining revenue streams and public opposition to both millage rate increases as well as cuts to popular services, Chairman Bannister will be discussing Engage Gwinnett: Citizens Committee on the Future of Gwinnett. The initiative is designed to bring the community together and intentionally and strategically involve stakeholder groups in making informed recommendations to the Board of Commissioners on desired county programs, services, revenues, and spending for the next five years.

"The challenges facing Gwinnett County are not unique. Communities across the nation are facing the same historic problems. But it's how we deal with these problems that makes Gwinnett unique," said Jim Maran, president & CEO, Gwinnett Chamber. "Gwinnett has a celebrated history of coming together as a community to tackle tough issues head-on. That's the secret to our success. Joining with our citizens and public and private sector partners through this committee is the best way to collectively accomplish our long-term goals."

The 2009 mid-year State of the County Address Presented by Rocket IT is also sponsored by Platinum Sponsor Gwinnett Medical Center; Gold Sponsor Merrill Lynch-David Cross; Silver Sponsor Olympus Media, LLC; and Media Sponsor Gwinnett Daily Post.

To learn how Gwinnett County will manage the enormous historic challenges brought about by the biggest economic crisis since World War II and to learn how you can help, reserve your seat at the Mid-Year State of the County Address by visiting www.gwinnettstateofthecounty.com.

In addition, for the most up-to-date information on Engage Gwinnett, citizens can visit www.engagegwinnett.com and follow Engage Gwinnett on Facebook and Twitter.

Show Emory University Hospital They Are Wrong to Block Gwinnett Medical’s Open Heart Program

This Monday, September 14th, in the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Building (GJAC) auditorium, at 10:00 AM, Senator David Shafer and Rep. Clay Cox have called for a joint Gwinnett Legislative Delegation meeting to hear comments from involved parties in the current legal battle relating to the Certificate of Need for Open Heart services at the Gwinnett Medical Center. We need a strong showing of Chamber members at this meeting willing to speak out for Open Heart surgery in Gwinnett.

As many of you know, the Georgia Department of Community Service granted this certificate which would have allowed the hospital the authorization to build a practice in concert with St. Josephs to perform open heart surgery at GMC. At this point of the process only Emory Hospital has filed a petition to legally stop this process and the decision will come from a Fulton County judge likely in early January. Originally Piedmont Hospital filed a petition to protest this decision as well, but earlier this week they officially withdrew this filing and are no longer involved.

Emory is basing their argument in that there is not enough "need" in Gwinnett County to have an open heart hospital. The purpose of this delegation meeting is to draw attention to the absurdity of this argument and to draw visibility to the overall process for this CON. Representatives from Emory, Piedmont and the Gwinnett Medical Center have been invited to participate. The delegation would like a strong showing of support from members of the business community and all Gwinnett residents who are supportive of this CON to attend the meeting. We expect there to be a media presence.

Please join us Monday, September 14 at 10 am at GJAC for this critical issue.

Jim Maran
Gwinnett Chamber President & CEO

Engaging All of Gwinnett for a Better Future

By Jim Maran

Last month, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners asked the Gwinnett Chamber to create a special committee of business and civic leaders that will spend the next six months studying the county's five-year funding needs and gaps and ultimately present consensus recommendations in a final report to the county. Co-chaired by business leaders McKenna Long & Aldridge's Michael Levengood and Cisco's Bill McCargo, the initiative is called Engage Gwinnett: Citizens Committee on the Future of Gwinnett County and it could be one of the most important initiatives Gwinnett has ever undertaken.

What is the purpose of this committee?
With declining revenue streams and public opposition to both millage rate increases as well as cuts to popular services, Engage Gwinnett is designed to bring the community together and intentionally and strategically involve stakeholder groups in making informed recommendations to the Board of Commissioners on desired county programs, services, revenues, and spending for the next five years.

Why is this initiative so important?
Gwinnett County has been very successful historically (we're one of only a handful of counties with a AAA rating by all major rating agencies)and continues to attract new businesses and residents because we've always planned well for our future needs and made this a great place to live.

But the current economic crisis has hit our local governments hard just as it has our families and businesses. Historic negative circumstances that include a historic plummet of $1.4 billion in property tax values and recent acts by the cash-strapped State that removed another $20 million from county revenues have hit the county especially hard and resulted in cuts that reduced service levels to those of 2003-04.

The Gwinnett Chamber believes that continued investment in our infrastructure and services like public safety, transportation, libraries and recreation, economic development, health and human services and more are essential to maintaining a world-class quality of life. This leads to job creation which in turn leads to increased wealth for our citizens and an expanded tax base for our public partners.

The recent combination of drastic cuts and lack of appropriate revenue to fund needed services jeopardizes our world-class quality of life and we cannot let that happen.

How can you help?
To ensure an unbiased, objective analysis can be obtained by the public, we have contracted with the consulting firm of Civic Strategies to manage the decision-making process. Anyone interested in serving on the committee should join us for our first public self-selection meeting on September 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm in the auditorium of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration building. You may also join us for a special Mid-Year State of the County Address from Chairman Charles Bannister at 11:30 am on September 16 at the Gwinnett Center. Visit www.gwinnettstateofthecounty.com to reserve your seat.

Finally, you may also donate financially to the Engage Gwinnett effort to help us get the word out and facilitate the ongoing process. For more information or to contribute, visit www.gwinnettchamber.org/engagegwinnett.

The challenges facing Gwinnett County are not unique. Communities across the nation are facing the same historic problems. But it's how we deal with these problems that makes Gwinnett unique. Gwinnett has a celebrated history of coming together as a community to tackle tough issues head-on. That's the secret to our success. Partnering with our citizens and public and private sector partners through this committee is the best way to collectively accomplish our long-term goals.

GWINNETT CHAMBER LAUNCHES SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN 2.0

Second Wave of Social Media Tools to Extend the Chamber's Reach, Value, and Ability to Serve Members

Duluth, GA – The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the official launch of its social media 2.0 campaign designed to extend the Chamber's reach, value and ability to serve members more effectively and more completely than ever before. Through the Gwinnett Chamber's involvement with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and the Chamber's blog, Chamber members will experience enhanced capabilities for networking, staying informed on Chamber activities, and growing their businesses.

The Chamber first began using social media in its job recruitment efforts in 2008 and has already received national recognition for its implementation of social media as an effective communication tool.

"Our economic development department has really been a pioneer in the use of social media and job creation efforts," said Gwinnett Chamber Vice President of Communications and Public Policy Demming Bass who has also served as the National Chairman for the American Chamber of Commerce Executives' Communications Division. "At national conferences across the U.S. and in blogs and message boards related to our industry, the Gwinnett Chamber has been held up time and again as a model of the effective use of social media. Now we are taking it to the next level."

In a recent article by the Gwinnett Daily Post, the Gwinnett Chamber was referenced as a leader in Gwinnett in using social media tools as means to network and keep the community informed.

"When we started using social media around February 2008 – for the purpose of externally marketing Gwinnett – we could not have predicted the effect it would have," said Lisa Sherman, marketing & pr director for Gwinnett Chamber Economic Development and Partnership Gwinnett. "From heightened SEO [search engine optimization] exposure to increased attention from nationally-recognized and highly-respected media outlets like USA Today, the concept of social media has quickly become one of the important aspects to our overall marketing strategy."

The Gwinnett Chamber currently manages a LinkedIn group offering members the opportunity to connect and interact with one another in an online, professional format. The Gwinnett Chamber created a page and a group on Facebook where the business community can stay informed on the Chamber's activities, network and build relationships. Local businesses can follow the Gwinnett Chamber's blog to stay informed on issues that are relevant to their companies and in an effort to enhance the benefits of members, a Gwinnett Chamber Member News & Events Blog was also created. The Gwinnett Chamber and Gwinnett Chamber Economic Development have a YouTube channel that is used as a platform to engage with members using the power of video. Finally, the Chamber is using Twitter to provide members with short, timely bytes of information impacting local businesses.

In addition to the Gwinnett Chamber Twitter account, several Gwinnett Chamber staff members have Twitter accounts providing specific information on the Gwinnett Chamber and local business activity. For up-to-date information on overall Chamber initiatives and efforts as well as public policy affecting local businesses follow Vice President of Communications and Public Policy Demming Bass. To stay informed on the Gwinnett Chamber's Economic Development activity follow Vice President of Economic Development Nick Masino, Economic Development Director of Public Relations Lisa Sherman and business development managers Melanie Brandt (Technology), Lauren Salas (Corporate Office) and Alison Nalley Starnes (Trade & Logistics). Follow Vice President of Membership Services Vince DeSilva for the latest information on Chamber member businesses. For exclusive access to the Gwinnett Chamber's Focus newsletter before it hits the newsstands follow Communications Manager Delaine Gray.

"The Gwinnett Chamber prides itself on being a progressive chamber and recognizes the importance of innovation and using a variety of tools to communicate with members, including social media," said Bass. "In addition, one of the most significant benefits that the Chamber of Commerce offers is networking. By engaging in social media the Gwinnett Chamber is able to take networking to the next level for member businesses."

For more information on the Gwinnett Chamber, visit http://www.gwinnettchamber.org/.

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BIG Expo & Job Fair Coming Aug. 20

If you haven’t heard about the BIG Expo & Job Fair yet please take one minute and tune in! The 2009 BIG Expo & Job Fair is coming up on Thursday, August 20 at the Gwinnett Center. This event has two sections. One section is the business expo where businesses and organizations showcase their product or service. The second section is a job fair where people actively searching for employment can network with companies looking to hire. As an attendee, it is an ideal place to network and form new relationships with other businesses. There are also FREE business seminars that anyone can attend. Some of the seminars this year are “Effective Prospecting In Hard Times” and “Search Engine Optimization.” This event also features a networking event called Business After Hours. This is a face to face, handshaking networking event with great food, drinks and live music. Be sure to bring your business cards! Admission is free to the entire event and you do not have to register. Just show up!

As an exhibitor at the BIG Expo & Job Fair you will EXPOse your organization to over 7,500 attendees. This is a wonderful branding opportunity and allows you to continue to get your business in front of potential clients. Exhibitors are also encouraged to attend FREE business seminars and the Business After Hours.

If you are interested in attending or exhibiting, please visit www.bigexpoandjobfair.com for more information. The 2009 BIG Expo & Job Fair is the place to be!