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.

• Keeping an eye on Gwinnett’s safety
• Unleash your company’s potential

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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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Jim Maran, Gwinnett Chamber president and CEO

by Jim Maran, president and CEO, Gwinnett Chamber

On July 31, 2012, Gwinnett County residents will join voters across metro Atlanta to cast ballots on a regional transportation referendum – one that that offers a viable solution.

With just one penny invested in transportation, Gwinnett and metro Atlanta can be on the way to less traffic, allowing commuters more time at home and much needed jobs.

Not convinced? Let’s consider the facts on what this investment means. For every $1 billion invested in transportation, 44,000 new jobs are created. In addition, one penny can save metro Atlanta drivers an average of 127 hours that they currently spend traveling to and from work each year – translating into more than three business weeks spent in traffic.

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Front-line employees are not responsible for fostering and nurturing trust – that job falls to leadership.

An environment of trust and empowerment create synergies within an organization that can propel it to unimaginable heights.

Following are 10 ways business leaders build trust.

1. Keep promises

   Pay close attention to what you say and do what you promise.
2. Acknowledge mistakes

   Own up when you falter and apologize for any fallout.
3. Loosen the leash
   Allow employees to experiment, make mistakes and fail without the fear of repercussions.
4. Inspire loyalty
   Give loyalty to and demand it from your employees by demonstrating, at all times, a deep sense of allegiance to the organization and each other.

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The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and Gwinnett Technical College recently hosted international visitors, showcasing Georgia’s successful approach to technical education and workforce development.

The TCSG Office of Global Initiatives hosted the Honorable Professor Margaret Kamar, Kenya’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MOHEST). The Honorable Professor Kamar; her personal assistant, Ms. Bartoo Perpetua Jerono; and Mr. Benard Islambo, MOHEST Chief Technical Education Officer met with Commissioner Ron Jackson; Deputy Commissioner Dr. Josephine Reed-Taylor, and Assistant Commissioner Dr. Sanford Chandler.

The group toured Gwinnett Tech with GTC President Sharon Bartels and the college’s executive leadership team, visiting the college’s Life Sciences Center, skilled trades division and on-campus Hudgens Early Education Center.

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Graduate students at Clark Atlanta University (CAU) find this renowned school gives them plenty of reasons to stay.

CAU is one of an elite group of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) designated a ‘research university’ by the Carnegie Foundation. Graduate programs were first established in 1929 at Atlanta University that later became part of CAU. Atlanta University offered the first advanced degree programs among HBCUs in the U.S. Because of this legacy, CAU was offering graduate degrees to African American students long before many majority institutions in Georgia. CAU now looks to market their graduate programs to all the State’s citizens.

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Together with Presenting Sponsor Jackson EMC, Partnership Gwinnett and the Gwinnett Chamber held its third annual Sustainability Summit at the nationally recognized LEED Gold facility – the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center in Buford, Ga. Click here to view video news report.

The Summit – focusing on Gwinnett as an emerging hub for sustainability – featured key speakers from local organizations such as Coca-Cola, Service Foods, Suniva, and Meggitt Training Systems. These organizations showcased profitable best-practices being implemented for sustainability in their respective organizations. Attendees garnered knowledge from the event on how sustainability practices, methods and technologies can provide economic benefit for businesses and enhance the quality of life in Gwinnett County and metro Atlanta.

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Jackson EMC Board Chairman Otis Jones (left of check) and Randy Dellinger, Gwinnett District Manager, Jackson EMC (right of check) join Gwinnett Tech health science students and President Sharon Bartels (center back).

Jackson Electrical Membership Corporation (EMC) has donated $5,000 to Gwinnett Technical College, supporting the college’s Legacy of Lives Campaign.

Gwinnett Tech’s Legacy of Lives campaign unites business, healthcare and civic leaders to support the education and training of the healthcare professionals needed for the region. GTC’s new Life Sciences Center, opened Fall 2011, is a vivid example of strong partnerships between business and education and the resulting quality of life benefits for the community.

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(L-R) Mark Cole, CEO, The John Maxwell Co., Kevin Myers, senior paster, 12Stone Church, Norwood Davis, CFO, 12Stone Church and John C. Maxwell, founder of EQUIP and The John Maxwell Co.

The new John C. Maxwell Leadership Center will be a 70,000 square-foot facility serving as the new Sugarloaf campus for the 12Stone Church while also functioning as the headquarters location for John C. Maxwell’s training organization EQUIP. Partnership Gwinnett, the Gwinnett Chamber and a host of organizations and leaders participated in the early May groundbreaking ceremonies to mark this momentous occasion.

“Leadership is a defining aspect of Gwinnett that sets our county apart from all others,” said Jim Maran, president and CEO, Gwinnett Chamber. “We are truly honored that this dynamic institution has chosen to call Gwinnett home.”

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In its annual celebration to recognize Gwinnett’s small businesses and entrepreneurs as pivotal to America’s economic growth and stability, the Gwinnett Chamber hosted the 2012 Pinnacle Awards on April 27.

The event, themed by growth, success and community engagement, named the Overall Small Business of the Year and honored dozens of successful small businesses and entrepreneurs for extraordinary achievement. Click here to watch the video news report.

ProCare Prosthetics and Orthotics Owners Stephen A. Schulte and Mariamne Schulte were awarded the 2012 Overall Gwinnett Small Business of the Year Award and were also the winner of Gwinnett’s Small Business of the Year for the 10 to 99 employee category. Additional Small Business of the Year Awards were presented to Scott Satory with Service First Roofing for the one to – nine employee category and A.C. Myers III with The Myers Group for the 100+ employee category. Twenty-two additional small businesses were awarded Pinnacle Awards and named among the prestigious ‘Pinnacle Top 25’ for demonstrating unprecedented growth and contribution to the community.

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