The_Executive_Q1_Winter_2012

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You may have heard that
“Everybody‘s PROUD to
be Somebody” in Snellville.
To the Snellville Office of
Economic Development,
this is more than a slogan.
It reflects the values
present in our economic
development strategy and
in our community. We
believe that people are our
best resource, and we strive
to give the businesspeople
of our community every
opportunity to succeed.
The City is cultivating a community
identity around the volunteerism and
civic engagement of its businesses and
citizens that makes us all proud. This bold
engagement by our businesses and citizens
includes an award winning farmers’ market;
a budding community garden; a blooming
Southern Gwinnett Community Arts
group; and a flourishing innovative and
entrepreneurial business environment.
Building this kind of environment
requires engagement from new and
established businesses. To this end, we work
with our local schools to develop programs
which support innovative thinking in our
youth. And because we value the businesses
we have in Snellville, we work with them
to offer opportunities to grow and expand
through our small business development
initiatives and our business retention
program.
Entrepreneurship – and innovation –
are keys to economic development and job
creation in our changing economy. More
jobs are created annually by new firms
than by large existing firms, especially jobs
in technology and light manufacturing,
which tend to be higher paying. Economic
gardening is the economic development
practice of encouraging and
providing technical services
to entrepreneurs rather than
solely recruiting large firms
through incentives. The
Snellville Entrepreneurship
Council (SEC) supports
entrepreneurs in our
community. The SEC
is in the process of
designing small group
programming to enable
entrepreneurs to come
together to support each
other in their business
ventures and provide
free one-on-one mentoring for both start-up
and existing businesses.
Another initiative, the South Gwinnett
High School Entrepreneurship Alliance
aims to empower the next generation of
Snellvillians to create their own businesses
and make their ambitions a reality. The
program consists of 53 students from ages
15-18. Students are guided through the
process of defining a business concept and
writing a business plan. Their curriculum is
augmented by speakers from the local and
regional community who are entrepreneurs
or who work with entrepreneurs. The
mission of this project is twofold. From an
educational perspective, the program instills
tactical skills that students can use in their
businesses and their lives. From an economic
development perspective, the program
will create new businesses in the city and
create a nurturing community for budding
entrepreneurs.
The City is also focusing on small
business development activities including
a business retention program. The Office
of Economic Development staff is meeting
with local businesses to understand ways
they can help them achieve their business
goals. The conversations include gaining
an understanding of the business owner’s
stability and/or growth plans.
The City is working all of these initiatives
in concert to encourage entrepreneurship,
promote innovation, and provide a series
of solution-oriented strategies accessible to
every business owner. We continue to seek
answers to the question, how can the Office
of Economic Development continue to do
better, thereby helping our local businesses
to do better tomorrow.
Everybody’sPROUD to beSomebodyin ThanaSlogan for CityBusinesses
Eric G. Van Otteren, Economic Development Manager , City of Snellville
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THE EXECUTIVE – WINTER 2012
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