GBJ Staff

Champion all you hold dear

Special Focus:
Protecting and Investing

If you don’t give a rip, no one else will either. But magic happens when you do care.

Taking personal responsibility is infectious and has a dynamic ripple effect. Deliberate planning and being proactive represent the most direct and obvious ways to your safeguard assets – business, personal and community. In Gwinnett, as with our state and nation, individual and collective actions, or inaction, set the course for today’s opportunities and become the foundation for tomorrow.

Read the following articles to point you in a positive, proactive direction.

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GBJ Staff

Keeping an eye on Gwinnett’s safety

GC&E Systems Group, Inc. Assistant Project Manager Shane Crumbley (left) and Technician Mike Williamson

Special Focus:
Protecting and Investing

Meeting security needs in and around Gwinnett County’s public facilities and commercial enterprise since 1999, GC&E Systems Group, Inc. has recently entered into a new contract with the county. This latest collaboration entails installing and maintaining security cameras in Gwinnett County parks and park facilities – an extension of the Park Smart program started in 2010 – as well as repair and maintenance of existing cameras at county buildings.

Headquartered in Norcross, this firm is a leading provider of specialized enterprise telecommunications operations, maintenance and engineering services for the federal government, and state, local and commercial entities. GC&E engineers serve customers from locations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, offering three areas of expertise: security, communications and electrical services for all types of commercial, industrial and military projects.

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GBJ Staff

Unleash your company’s potential

Special Focus:
Protecting and Investing

by Mark Cole

When company leadership puts value on protecting and growing its greatest asset – its people – these assets return much more to a company than the original investment.

Take Jack Domme, for example. Under his leadership as CEO of Hitachi Data Systems, the company has budgeted money and time the past three years to develop its workforce. Hitachi experienced a 30 percent year-over-year increase in profits. Jack understands that its people unleash a company’s potential!

Make your people an investment priority. Here are three ways to start.

  1. Invest your time: Knowing that you cannot invest the time needed to cultivate every member of your staff or team, the key is to spend time with the group, but invest focused time with the team members who have significant potential. Schedule meetings to walk your team through key decisions and discuss the impact on the business. Your team will gain perspective that equips them to grow and better serve the company.

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GBJ Staff

Benefits decisions can’t wait on the Supreme Court

Special Focus:
Protecting and Investing

by Blake Watts

The Supreme Court’s pending decision on the healthcare debate is an issue weighing heavily on the minds of many small business owners and human resources executives contemplating health coverage for employees. As leaders, you are waiting to see what happens with the healthcare law currently under review, thinking the decision will affect your strategy.

The Court’s decision should not matter. Of bigger concern should be your response to the following questions:

  • •Healthcare costs will continue to climb nine to 15 percent. How are you, as a small business owner, planning for this major expense?

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GBJ Staff

Nine ways to protect everything you own

Special Focus:
Protecting and Investing

by Hillel L. Presser

More than 100 million lawsuits are filed each year. One in three people will be sued in the next 12 months. No one’s immune, but people showing a lot of assets – whether $100,000 or $5 million – are especially vulnerable.

If someone thinks you’ve got a lot to lose – and thus, they’ve got a lot to gain – you become a choice target. Lawsuits have become big business, especially since the economic downturn. They’re a cheap way for people to make lots of money, often with an investment of just a few hours’ time. Consider how vulnerable are you. Would you survive being sued?

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GBJ Staff

Alert businesses can capitalize on housing trends

Special Focus:
Protecting and Investing

As the local housing market continues to take a beating, new opportunities are arising for businesses that are paying attention. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) reveals that homeowners are choosing to personalize their space during a remodel as more people are opting to stay put, rather than move.

NARI National President Dean Herriges, MCR, CKBR, says, “Because many homes have recently decreased in value, people are deciding to stick it out for much longer than they had originally planned.” According to a poll on NARI.org, 26 percent of respondents are planning to stay an additional 16 to 20 years in their homes because of decreases in their home values. Another 23 percent report they are going to stay an additional six to 10 years.

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GBJ Staff

Globalizing Gwinnett to accelerate growth

Special Focus:
Protecting and Investing

by Yelena Epova

The Gwinnett Chamber and the Georgia Department of Economic Development are clearly focused on building a very favorable environment for domestic and international small businesses. Whether yours is a U.S. company expanding abroad or an international company looking for a U.S. home, find peer companies that have already taken this approach, build relationships and swap lessons learned about the process of going global.

Following are four global trends affecting small- to medium-sized business decisions.

  1. Global expansion is a recession buffer.
    Geographic diversity and access to new markets or resources helps lower the risks associated with concentration in one economic region. And while every economy has been affected by the most recent downturn, not every economy has been affected at the same point in time, in the same way or in the same industries. For U.S. companies thinking about exporting, consider whether to form a domestic international sales corporation (DISC) to realize potential tax benefits.

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GBJ Staff

Revitalizing Lilburn’s commercial gateway

June 2012, Lilburn's Lions Club Park will undergo a transformation that will take 11 months to complete.

Special Focus:
Protecting and Investing

Business owners and local residents are hopeful that a revitalized merchant district is about to emerge in Lilburn. Recent collaboration announcements among the City of Lilburn, Gwinnett County and the Lilburn Community Improvement District (CID) may mark the first steps to making the area’s commercial corridor along U.S. Hwy. 29 a greater draw for new businesses to move in and set up shop.

Primarily known as a bedroom community with world-class schools, Lilburn is also one of Gwinnett County’s primary traffic arteries. Thousands of motorists travel through Lilburn each day to reach a major highway or interstate.

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GBJ Staff

People on the move in Gwinnett in May

Meredith Atha, general manager of Sterling Autobody Centers poses with Motorhead Garage co-hosts Sam Memmolo (L) and Dave Bowman.

Have you reached the pinnacle? Newly promoted? Taking on a different role or changing companies? Send details to newsroom@gbj.com and we’ll help spread the word.

Meet the May 2012
People on the Move in Gwinnett

Meredith Atha, general manager of Sterling Autobody Centers poses with Motorhead Garage co-hosts Sam Memmolo (L) and Dave Bowman. Sterling Autobody Centers, with five Atlanta-area collision repair shops, was featured recently featured on a 30-minute episode of Motorhead Garage airing on the Fox Sports Network and filmed at the Centers’ Lawrenceville location.

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GBJ Staff

Risk the short-term for long-term viability

by Leo Wiener

Leasing can be a challenge in this down economy. Property owners who make prudent choices can set themselves up for a big win in the short term and ensure long-term viability for their commercial properties.

When you are trying to fill vacant space, you are often forced to take on additional risks by leasing to tenants that you might not have pulled the trigger on in a bull market. The critical concept to remember is that you will almost always earn more value from a building that has tenants than one that sits vacant.

Also keep in mind that, in a retail center, when your property is unoccupied, you are often still paying common area fees – power bills for the parking lot and other charges that don’t stop simply because a structure is empty. The other factor to weigh when evaluating what direction to take on filling your vacancies is the impact of foot traffic on a fully leased commercial property – an crucial element needed for the health of your anchor stores. That alone can make finding a tenant for an empty property a top priority.

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