State program helps communities be Entrepreneur Friendly

If you're a sole proprietor, an owner of a small shop or a self-starter with a new business idea, you're in the right place. Georgia has the welcome mat out for small businesses.

"There are over 500,000 incorporated businesses in Georgia; 95 percent of them have under 50 employees," said Greg Torre, division director of small business and innovation for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. "Because of the sheer numbers, small business is Georgia's economy."

Historically, the state centered its economic development efforts on recruiting new companies. In 2002-03, it made a strategic change.

"We began focusing on helping the companies in Georgia grow and stay here," Torre said. "[Gov. Sonny] Perdue started showcasing and helping small businesses. Out of that effort came the Entrepreneur Friendly program, which he launched in 2004."

The Entrepreneur Friendly program helps communities develop environments in which entrepreneurs and small businesses can flourish throughout the state. The Economic Development Department's regional representatives call on small companies to get to know them and on local chambers or county development teams to explain the value of the Entrepreneur Friendly program.

"It's very gratifying to meet small-business owners and direct them to resources to help them grow," Torre said.

A six-step process helps counties gather information, raise awareness and create more favorable environments for small businesses in their areas. First, the community identifies an organization or champion who will lead the development of new entrepreneur strategies. Then county leaders work with Economic Development Department representatives, members of the Governor's Entrepreneur and Small Business Office, and other state and federal agencies that have stakes in small-business development.

The process helps communities discover the challenges facing start-ups or small companies and how they can help.

"We don't tell a community what to do; the ideas come from them. We're just there to help find their strengths. They have started some amazing programs, from youth entrepreneurship programs to small-business expos," Torre said.

Coffee County revamped an industrial park to serve entrepreneurs. Houston County holds lunch-and-learn sessions for small-business owners with the Georgia Small Business Development Center. Miller County created an arts incubator for "artrepreneurs" (artists) and a professional services directory. Turner County started a community foundation for small-business development.

Once a community meets the requirements and is designated an Entrepreneur Friendly community, a second phase of the program helps it implement its strategies, discuss best practices with other communities and find more ways to foster small-business growth.

One benefit of becoming an Entrepreneur Friendly community is that qualified business owners and entrepreneurs are eligible for customized market data, such as demographic and business information, to give them a competitive edge. Another is that counties may apply for matching grant money to implement programs through the Entrepreneur Friendly Implementation Fund. Grants worth about $140,000 were awarded in fiscal year 2007.

DeKalb County recently became the 50th Entrepreneur Friendly community in Georgia, and there are about 80 more in the pipeline to earn the designation. The Economic Development Department estimates that, by 2008, more than two-thirds of Georgia's counties will have integrated Entrepreneur Friendly strategies into their economic development plans.

"The Entrepreneur Friendly surveys [that we conducted] indicate that DeKalb will grow 100,000 jobs through small businesses over the next two years," said DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones. "Technology has leveled the playing field for small business, and we need to focus on this area of growth."

As one of the first Entrepreneur Friendly communities, the Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce has been doing just that.

"If someone walks through the door and says they want to start a business or need help, we can help them. Not every chamber can say that," said Fred Boscarino, president and CEO.

He's proudest of the chamber's Opportunities for Promoting Entrepreneurship and Networking (OPEN) program.

The six-week course, which costs $195 and is offered twice a year, pairs 22 small-business owners and wannabes with successful entrepreneur instructors, who share knowledge about planning, marketing, operations and common pitfalls.

"About nine out of 10 start-ups don't make it, so even if someone has a good idea, he needs to know what he's up against," Boscarino said. "This program is going gangbusters and fills every time. We have 100 graduates."

The chamber also offers free consultations with local and national experts for entrepreneurs and has printed a 50-page guide to starting and growing a business in Conyers/Rockdale County. The guide includes legal, zoning, utilities, tax and financial information for small businesses.

Entrepreneurs and small-business owners also can find answers to their questions at the chamber's resource center, which includes books, pamphlets, a computer, a list of Web sites and databases, and a printer.

"Our programs are simple, but we have a lot of happy people out there who have used them. The bottom line is that we're helping businesses survive, and that's what a chamber should be doing, as far as I'm concerned," Boscarino said.

Carolyn Taylor, a nurse and owner of Choice Nursing Services in Conyers, feels fortunate to be able to grow her business with chamber support. She's a recent graduate of the OPEN program.

When Taylor was laid off from a home health agency, she decided to start her own.

"I had grown my number of patients from nine to 27 with my previous employer, and everyone at the hospitals and insurance companies knew me. Families said they would support me if I started my own service, so I founded Choice Nursing Services in 2005," Taylor said. "It was a business born out of necessity."

Taylor employs 19 certified nurse assistants and another nurse to provide nursing, personal care and housekeeping services to patients in their homes. Her focus is on quality care and slow growth so that there isn't a high turnover of patients or staff.

"I've only lived in Conyers three years. I wanted to know the lay of the land better and let people know I was here. I also wanted some ideas to grow my business," she said. "I was reading the local paper, and there it was: an ad for the OPEN program, which was really valuable to me."

The Georgia Small Business Development Center Network has been a strong partner for the Entrepreneur Friendly program and a key resource for entrepreneurs and small businesses in Georgia for 30 years.

"We're involved continuously in the day-to-day routine of helping people start and manage businesses. Communities refer individuals to us, and we provide resources to them," said Ron Simmons, director of the University of Georgia SBDC in Gainesville.

Georgia always has been a leader when it comes to entrepreneurship, Simmons said. The state established one of the first SBDC networks in the nation. Its 18 offices provide classes to about 9,000 people a year and one-on-one counseling to between 5,000 and 6,000 people. His office helps about twice as many clients as it did 10 years ago, thanks to technology. Because of information from the Internet, many are farther along in the start-up process when they come in.

"In northeast Georgia we're seeing a continuous resurgence of small manufacturers, service companies, retailers and a lot of construction activity," Simmons said.

About two-thirds of his clients are small-business owners, and the other third are planning to start ventures.

"Georgia has a very entrepreneurial climate, with a knowledgeable population, money, good transportation and large companies that need small-vendor support," he said. "People like to start their companies here and stay put because of the quality of life."

He believes that the Entrepreneur Friendly program makes communities evaluate the importance of small businesses, which create the majority of new jobs (65 percent or more) in the country. It raises awareness of best practices and promotes solutions.

"The governor's program has done a real good job of opening dialogues between all the service providers. I think, as a state, we're doing a pretty good job of assisting small business," Simmons said.

Georgia is among the five states with the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity, according to the 2006 Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. Among the 15 largest U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, Atlanta has the second-highest rate.

"The [Entrepreneur Friendly] program came along at the right time to play a part in those numbers," Torre said. "We wanted to make sure that the program had lasting value. It's becoming a model for other states."