Tag Archives: February 2012

GBJ Staff

How to choose a janitorial service

Photo credit: Stephen Coburn

Hiring a janitorial cleaning service can be very cost effective for small businesses that don’t have enough work to justify employing a janitor.

The trick is to nail down your most important issues before beginning your quest.

Then take your time and follow these steps to find the right fit for your company and facility.

  1. What specific cleaning services do you need? Separate your ‘must have’ list from a ‘nice to have’ list.
  2. How often and what time of day will you require these services?
  3. How much are you willing to pay?
  4. Look for a company that will maintain the philosophy and professional image of your business.

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GBJ Staff

Five R’s of conflict management

Tensions are high. Mistakes abound. Clients are screaming. Cue the management team.

Workplace conflict is often the result of one person stirring the pot and creating controversy. Others get suckered into the fray and before you know it chaos ensues. Regaining control of a situation is tiresome, messy, distracting and extremely non-productive – and the job of leadership.

Mediating conflict among personnel to get work processes back on track is a fact of life for any organization. However, many leaders do not address these situations head on. A festering wound weakens the organizational unit and saps productivity. In extreme cases, unresolved conflict may lead to legal action and the result is far more damaging to both the business and leaders involved.

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GBJ Staff

Chamber to honor Gwinnett’s unsung heroes

Jim Maran

by Jim Maran, president and CEO of the Gwinnett Chamber

Each year the Gwinnett Chamber hosts a series of quality award programs that celebrate and recognize the individuals and initiatives that make a significant impact in the Gwinnett community. These everyday people – the small business owners and entrepreneurs, the healthcare professionals, the leaders of non-profits, and the public safety professionals – are the unsung heroes of Gwinnett that have more impact on our lives and quality of life than most of us realize.

In December, for the very first time, the Gwinnett Chamber honored our healthcare professionals at the inaugural Healthcare Excellence Awards. This unique program allows us to celebrate an industry that is a vital component to our community’s long-term sustainability and growth. The Healthcare Excellence Awards also gave us the opportunity to celebrate Gwinnett’s solid reputation for quality healthcare that enables the wellbeing of our citizens and provides further opportunity to attract new business, create jobs, and ultimately afford a strong and well-rounded quality of life. But most importantly, the program allows us to celebrate the deserving individuals and organizations within the healthcare community. This is our night to say, “Thank you,” to show gratitude and demonstrate the respect we have for our healthcare heroes and all they do to contribute to Gwinnett’s overall success.

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GBJ Staff

Breakthrough science hinges on economics

Scientists and engineers working at public universities and medical schools produce almost 60 percent of all basic research in the U.S. and 75 percent of articles published in scientific journals. These statistics are cited in a new book written by Paula Stephan, an economist in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. In How Economics Shapes Science (Harvard University Press, 2012), Dr. Stephan offers a persuasive vision of a more productive, more creative research system that would lead innovation and benefit the world.

In this publication she presents the historical perspective on research costs and the incentives that produce scientific research in public institutions. For example, the U.S. spends between 0.3 and 0.4 percent of its annual gross domestic product on research and development in public universities and medical schools, which in 2009 represented almost $55 billion, Dr. Stephan writes.

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GBJ Staff

Eight Gwinnett executives in Bulldog 100

The Bulldog 100 is a program that annually honors the 100 fastest growing businesses that are owned or operated by University of Georgia alumni. Among the 2012 honorees are the following Gwinnett executives.
• No. 18 – Richard Sampler, 1984, Fine Line Technologies in Norcross
• No. 36 – Scott Evans, 2003, Evans, Simpson & Associates, Inc. in Snellville
• No. 37 – Travis Reid, 1995, Jane Reid Higdon, 1999, Square1Art in Norcross
• No. 41 – Bonnie Shuman, 1980, Stratix Corp. in Norcross
• No. 48 – Rodger Breda, 1973, Breda Pest Management in Loganville
• No. 58 – Billy Stone, 1984, Dacula Pharmacy in Dacula
• No. 77 – Scott Hester, 1993, Asa Carlton, Inc. in Buford
• No. 86 – Phillip Bount, 1974, Phillip Blount and Associates, Inc. in Lawrenceville

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GBJ Staff

Derail scammers

It’s a sad fact. Times are tough. The American way is to use ingenuity to find work, earn money and stay afloat financially. It’s also an unfortunate reality that a bum economy inspires some folks to cheat, lie and steal. Among this lot is the scam artist who tends to take us by surprise or prey on the vulnerable and naïve in our midst.

Lilburn Police Chief Bruce Hedley offers this friendly reminder, “Anyone selling door to door in Gwinnett County is required to wear a solicitor’s badge-with-photo.”

Chief Hedley shares characteristics of a decades-old scam that has recently re-emerged in Gwinnett communities. An older gentleman is on your doorstep. He says he has been doing work in the area and has extra supplies. For a minimal charge, his crew will (take your pick)…pave the driveway…paint the house…repair the fence…cut down a tree…replace the roof…fertilize your lawn. You’re lured out of the house – a diversion that allows other members of the crew to go inside and take valuables. The ruse may take other forms, many of which seem on the surface to be quite professional.

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David Greer

I’m networking with an 8-year-old

I’m in the marketing business and run a couple of regional lifestyle and business publications. We’ve been front and center at networking functions, breakfast, meetings and symposiums of all kinds for years.

On the home front I’ve got kids spread across decades. My oldest, a SCAD graduate of 2011, has just taken a job in New York City. My middle son is in his second year at Clemson and then there’s princess Gracie who rules the roost in the second grade.

When the boys were younger, we juggled business and work best we could. We got in the soccer games and field trips like families across the country do every week. And then in a flash, one day I woke up and the boys were driving, self sufficient and well on their way to becoming responsible young men.

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GBJ Staff

Gwinnett officials comment on SDS settlement

Four new service districts will be established by January 2013 and the consent order outlines the funding mechanisms for Fire and Emergency Medical Services; Police Services; Loganville Emergency Medical Services; and Planning, Development, Zoning and Code Enforcement Services.

Chief Superior Court Judge David Barrett of the Enotah Judicial Circuit signed a consent order approving the settlement reached by Gwinnett County and Gwinnett cities on Feb. 7, 2012. This action marks the end of the Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) litigation and finalizes a SDS agreement that is required of all 159 Georgia counties and their respective cities.

“The issues involved in funding and operating a major metropolitan county with 15 cities are incredibly complex,” said Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash. “I would like to thank everyone who had a role in resolving these issues – all of the mayors, council members and city staff, as well as our district commissioners and County staff. Without their commitment to resolving these issues, a settlement could not have been reached.”

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GBJ Staff

SBA loans benefit commercial lending in Gwinnett

How are Asian-owned auto manufacturing plants in Georgia and neighboring states impacting small business growth in Gwinnett County? Just ask Steve Walker, NOA Bank senior vice president and chief lending officer.

“Eighty percent of NOA Bank’s commercial real estate lending is to owner-occupied small businesses,” says Walker. “We have seen a steady rise in the numbers of our clients who cater to the auto industry as parts suppliers, scrap metal recyclers and the like.”

Walker reports that NOA Bank is a good resource for companies ranging from supplier-type companies and retail businesses to medical clinics. Predominantly, these businesses qualify for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and are either looking to purchase property upon which they will operate or to refinance existing loans. In its three-year history, NOA Bank in Duluth has steadily increased its customer base of owner-occupied small businesses with growth coming mainly from referrals.

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GBJ Staff

Gwinnett home to top supply chain firm

Tom Beaty, president and CEO of Insight Sourcing Group

Norcross-based Insight Sourcing Group was recently named Supply Chain Company of the Year by the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC).

The MAC Supply Chain Forum and Awards were created to recognize outstanding individuals and companies in metro Atlanta whose actions have advanced the state of the supply chain industry and promoted its continued growth.

“It was an honor to be recently named Supply Chain Company of the Year,” said Tom Beaty, Insight Sourcing Group president and CEO. “We started the business in 2002 in Atlanta and moved to Gwinnett County in 2005, which contributed to an 1,100 percent growth rate from 2005 to 2007.  In 2011, we grew over 50 percent in terms of revenues and employees, with all of them based in our Norcross offices.”

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