North Atlanta Business Post, January 2016

January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

Who doesn’t like chocolate?

Roswell couple helps others create confections. PAGE 30

KSU LEEDing the way

University’s dining hall largest LEED Gold certifited in nation. PAGE 21

Volume 3, Issue 1 • Cherokee • Cobb • Forsyth • Fulton • Gwinnett • Hall • An Appen Media Group Publication

School’s in session

Gwinnett Tech opens Alpharetta campus. PAGE 12

Looking back at 2015 Economic profiles of 5 North Atlanta cities. PAGES 26 – 27

What can’t she do?

Through a record drought, demands on energy and depletion of open spaces, Georgia has been forced to focus on its natural resources in recent years. Can technology and conservation accommodate the state’s future needs? Pictured top: The Nissan Leaf’s biggest market in the nation was Atlanta last year. Bottom left: A record drought placed North Georgia in a state of emergency nine years ago. Lake Lanier in Buford was not immune. Read more, Pages 16 – 20.

PRSRT STD US Postage PAID Atlanta, GA Permit #3592

Meet Kristy Dickerson, woman in business. PAGE 28

WHO HAS THE POWER?

Appen Media Group 319 North Main Street Alpharetta, GA 30009

A L P H A R E T TA C H A M B E R

Gala 2016

January 23

Save the date for the 2016 Alpharetta Chamber Gala at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Alpharetta, January 23.

Learn more, Page 7

2 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

WELCOME

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 3

Letter from the publisher The North Atlanta Business Post is into it’s third year now and we would like to hear from you.

What direction would you would like to see us go as far as content in the publication?

You are the reason that we are publishing The Post and the more we know about what you want or need to read the better we will be able to deliver it.

Email me with your ideas and suggestions, Hans@Appen MediaGroup.com or our production manager, AJ@Appen MediaGroup.com. We are very open to customizing the coverage that we provide for you but you need to let us know what you want.

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CHEROKEE:

Engel & Völkers to market Sweet Briar Farms in Woodstock WOODSTOCK, Ga. – Engel & Völkers Buckhead Atlanta has partnered with Jim Chapman Communities to market Sweet Briar Farms, a new active adult community in Woodstock, on Trickum Road just north of Arnold Mill Road.

Sweet Briar Farms is a gated community of 85 active adult, age-restricted, ranch-style homes, some available with basement, with side-entry garages and a third-car option.

“Woodstock is conveJamie Mock, vice president of nient to Atlanta and has a Builder Developer Services, Enwonderfully vibrant downgel & Völkers Buckhead Atlanta town with top-drawer restaurants and retail,” said Jim Chapman, President of Jim Chapman Communities. “These days, land is harder and harder to find. We have been looking for a long time. We finally found a beautiful 67-acre site that was a former working farm, closed on it in October and are excited to be developing it now.

Model home construction will begin in mid-January 2016 with full-bore home construction starting in late spring and finished home deliveries starting in September 2016.”

HALL:

Gainesville-Hall County Economic Development Council reports top year GAINESVILLE, Ga. – At the conclusion of 2015, the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Council reported the single best year of capital investment on record. Twenty-four new and existing projects announced investment plans for over $320 million and more than 1,100 jobs.

Some of the job creation and investment announced in 2015 has already taken place, but for many companies, like Kubota, those

investment and job creation plans are multiyear commitments that will take place over the next several years.

Other new and expanded businesses in 2015 included Wrigley Manufacturing, ZF Industries, First Fresh Foods, Performance Foodservice, Left Nut Brewing, Academy Sports, Hobby Lobby, King’s Hawaiian, Marel Stork and The Louver Shop.

The Chamber’s business activity for the period accounts for more than 1.7 million-square-feet of industrial and commercial space occupancy and over 1 million-square-feet of new construction.

These capital investments do not include the anticipated construction and development of the new Lanier Technical College Campus on Highway 365, expected to open in 2018.

“The outlook for 2016 and beyond is headed in a good direction for the Gainesville-Hall County metropolitan area,” said Kit Dunlap, president and CEO of the Greater Hall Chamber. “Many of the business expansions announced in 2015 will be hiring in 2016 and 2017, and for consecutive years, unemployment in Hall County has been on a steady decline.”

COBB:

Georgia Hospital Association announces new board members ATLANTA – Candice Saunders, president and CEO of WellStar Health System, Marietta, will continue to serve as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Hospital Association through November 2016.

Other area board members include: • John M. Haupert, CEO of Grady Health System in Atlanta • Carol H. Burrell, president and CEO of Saunders Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville • Matthew (Matt) Crouch, regional vice president of Peachford Hospital in Atlanta • Gregory (Greg) A. Hurst, COO of Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta

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NEWS

4 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

Technology Association of Ga. leader stepping down TAG’s Tino Mantella to serve through 2016 ATLANTA – After 12 years of leading the Technology Association of Georgia, Tino Mantella announced that he will be stepping down as the organization’s president and CEO at the end of Mantella 2016. The news was announced at a recent meeting of the TAG board of directors.

“Since 2014, I’ve shared with our board’s executive officers that my desire was to take on a new challenge, to make the next impact while testing my skills.

Simultaneously, I have outlined a plan in concert with our board of directors to build on TAG’s incredible legacy,” Mantella said.

TAG will continue its drive to make Georgia one of the top five states in America for technology.

“I have asked the board to start the process needed to conduct a national search for a leader who will take TAG to the ’next level’ of success.” Mantella said.

Under Mantella’s leadership, TAG has become the largest state technology trade association in North America with more than 30,000 members, multiple chapters and societies, and a prestigious board made up of more than 60 of Georgia’s leading technology stakeholders.

Prior to joining TAG in 2004, Mantella had amassed 20 years of related experience leading the National Arthritis Foundation and YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.

“Tino has headed TAG during a

period of dynamic and exciting change within the tech industry,” said TAG 2015 Board Chairman Barry McCarthy.

“Because of his expertise and guidance we’ve created a tremendously effective association guided by industry leaders second to none.

“Tino’s leadership has put us in a true position of strength that will only continue to drive us forward,” McCarthy said.

Stacie Hagan, vice president of human resources at Dell SecureWorks and TAG 2016 board chairwoman, thanked Manetella for his service and said she expects 2016 will be a “capstone year” for him and TAG. “The next several months will provide many new exciting opportunities as we roll out TAG’s new quantum growth strategy, and we are fortunate to have the benefit of Tino’s experience and input as we do this,” she said.

Mantella is a member of the boards of Venture Atlanta Coalition Inc., TAG Education Collaborative, the Midtown Alliance, the Tech College System of Georgia’s Foundation and the Chambers of Commerce in North Fulton and for Georgia. He also serves on the advisory board of the Atlanta Metropolitan Chamber.

“Over the years, with the help of the

“I have asked the board to start the process needed to conduct a national search for a leader who will take TAG to the ’next level’ of success.”

Tino Mantella, President and CEO of the Technology Association of Georgia TAG board and countless technology leaders, I’ve been honored to be part of a true transformation that has put Georgia’s technology industry on the map,” Mantella said. “This has been extremely exciting and rewarding and when I leave TAG at the end of next year, I can confidently do this knowing TAG has never been stronger.”

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 5

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NEWS

6 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

Sen. Williams: Sharon Springs city-lite legislation withdrawn Also says need new District 2 commissioner

By KATHLEEN STURGEON kathleen@appenmediagroup.com FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — In a statement released through Facebook Jan. 4, Sen. Michael Williams announced that legislation was officially withdrawn to create the county’s second city of Sharon Springs. Williams also took issue with the county commissioner, who he claims “bullies” the community, and called for a new commissioner to be elected in District 2.

Williams said he’s had many conversations over the past few weeks with members of the Sharon Springs Alliance, a nonprofit comprised of neighbors studying whether the formation of a new city in Forsyth County is feasible.

Williams said it’s abundantly clear that people are frustrated, mad, disappointed and hurt. As a result, Williams said he wanted to shed light on the process that led to the lawmakers’ decision and answer some of the lingering questions many have.

In March 2015, State Rep. Mike Dudgeon introduced House Bill 660 that would initiate a referendum to incorporate the city of Sharon Springs in southern Forsyth County. However, in December at a pre-legislative breakfast, Dudgeon said the delegation decided the bill was “unconstitutional” due to it being a city-light. Williams said at that event that legislators want to regroup and find another way to go about creating Sharon Springs.

Then in his Facebook statement, Williams apologized for the way the withdrawal was announced. On Dec. 14, District 2 commissioner Brian Tam said in a commissioner meeting that he thought the bill would not be moving forward. Williams said in the Facebook statement that he received a call from a Sharon Springs supporter who said how hurtful it was to hear the news from Tam rather than from the SSA or delegation.

“Let’s, for a moment, step away from the mishap of how this was communicated to the public, both [Rep. Mike Dudgeon] and I have acknowledged it was handled wrong and have apologized for it,” Williams said. “Let’s focus on the heart of the matter; the excessive growth in the southern parts of the county. What we will find there is a laundry list of broken promises and double talk by a single county commissioner, Brian Tam.” Williams, who was elected to the state Senate in 2014, represents District 27, which includes Forsyth County. Tam has served as the District 2 commissioner

Williams

since 2004, representing the communities of Big Creek, South Forsyth and Old Atlanta with portions of Windermere. Sharon Springs would have an estimated quarter of the county’s population at about 50,000

people.

Williams continued his Facebook post by saying Tam “is scheming to find ways to drive wedges between the homeowner’s coalition and the delegation, a divide and conquer strategy.

“It is time that someone stood up to Brian Tam on behalf of the citizens of Forsyth County,” Williams continued. “I will no longer remain quiet and watch as one individual bullies, intimidates and destroys our community. He has proven time and again that he will put his own interests above that of the county. Let us focus our attention, our resolve, and our determination where it belongs; electing a commissioner in District 2 that will represent their constituents, not their own personal interests. I am announcing today; I will publicly support a homeowner-centric candidate that will run for District 2 Commissioner.”

In an interview with the Forsyth Herald Jan. 5, Tam responded by saying he would “rather see my state senator working towards trying to secure funding for roads and schools as opposed to criticizing members of the board of commissioners.

“In reading his post, it looks like he knew about this on Oct. 28,” Tam said.

“I’m on tape down at the legislative committee [in April] stating that they should determine whether or not this city-light is constitutional because people are spending time and money and effort on a campaign. So if he knew on Oct. 28, he should have announced it much sooner than in the first week of December. He should have shared that information with the public.”

During this past summer, Williams said a list of possible alternatives to the creation of Sharon Springs began to form that would add transparency to the zoning process and help control growth.

Williams said he was excited to hear this because he believes the issues facing the people in the proposed city of Sharon Springs are the same issues faced by the entire county. “While the supporters of Sharon Springs believe that a city will solve most of their issues, I was looking for a way to solve the issues facing our

NEWS

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 7

SAVE THE DATE! A L P H A R E T TA C H A M B E R

Gala 2016

January 23

6:00pm - 10:00pm Music by

Tickets $125 each Tables $1,500 each (12 seats)

The proposed boundaries for the city of Sharon Springs are East: Chattahoochee River; South: Fulton County; West: Ga. 400 (From Fulton County line to Cumming city limits); North: Bordering Cumming city limits to Ga. 20 down to Samples Road and then Haw Creek toward the Chattahoochee River.

entire county,” Williams said.

Several possible alternative plans were suggested when Williams was in a meeting in September with other members of the delegation, community activists and members of the Sharon Springs Alliance, he said. These plans included annexing the proposed area of Sharon Springs into the city of Cumming, county and city consolidation, countywide voting for commissioners and several other actions that could be taken by the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners that would resolve the issues being faced.

“We also discussed the growing argument that the city-light concept was not constitutional,” Williams said. “At that time, we felt like many of you feel; there were already city-light in existence, there had not been a court ruling that a city-light was unconstitutional and who would be the one to challenge a city-light in court?

At the end of the meeting it was my understanding that the bill was still a viable option and SSA agreed that their concerns would have been addressed if the BOC agreed to all the items on the list.”

More meetings occurred, Williams said, between various groups including commissioners, representatives and other community members. All had the intent to solve the county’s issues, he said.

However, Williams and Dudgeon decided too many side discussions were going on which were leading to misunderstandings among the groups involved.

Williams and Dudgeon called a meeting Oct. 28 with the BOC and delegation members. At the end of this meeting, it was decided that the BOC would create a plan to address the issues, specifically high growth rates and overcrowded schools, Williams said.

Williams continued to talk with other senators to seek guidance on the city-light bill, and all told him the city-light concept would more than likely not pass. Williams said this was when he realized the bill had a zero chance of passing the legislature.

There are questions about the concept of a city-light being called unconstitutional, Williams said. “There has yet to be a court that has ruled them unconstitutional,” Williams said. “But when I, and other legislators, taking the oath of office, we swear to ‘support the constitution of this state and of the United States …’ Therefore, members of the legislature should not attempt to pass bills that they believe are not in compliance with the constitution of the state of Georgia or the United States. Accordingly, when state legislators say that they believe city-light is unconstitutional, they are not implying that a court has ruled it ‘unconstitutional,’ only that they believe that a bill to create a city-light would not be in compliance with the Georgia Constitution.

Furthermore, voting for such a bill would be going against their oath of office.”

To view Williams’ entire statement, visit http://on.fb.me/1PKLfMA.

Event Location:

Contact Kristen at Kristen@alpharettachamber.com for sponsorship information Sponsorship Deadline is December 31st Alpharetta Chamber of Commerce alpharettachamber.com (404) 545-0212

NEWS

8 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

Ga. Dept. of Community Affairs tax credits target housing ATLANTA –The Georgia Department of Community Affairs announced it will award $25.8 million federal housing tax credits to construct or rehabilitate 33 affordable rental housing properties located throughout the state.

The developments include affordable housing for working families, housing for

Georgia seniors and housing for persons with disabilities, and were selected from 75 applications in the annual competition.

The new units are located in both rural and urban areas in the state. They are anticipated to be available for tenant occupancy in late 2017.

Area developments receiving funding in 2015 County

City

Development

Units

Tenancy

Cobb

Marietta

White Circle Phase I

71

Family

Cook

Adel

Bear Creek Village

56

Family

Fulton

Atlanta

Centennial Place Phase III

111

Family

Fulton

East Point

Mallalieu Pointe

60

Family

Fulton

Atlanta

Juniper & 10th High Rise

149

Senior

Fulton

Atlanta

Phoenix House

69

Other

Gwinnett

Duluth

Breckinridge Oaks

88

Senior

Gainesville

240 Atlanta Street Development Phase I

65

Family

Hall

Photo courtesy Immucor, Inc.

Immucor and Sirona Genomics Collaborate on Sequencing Solution NORCROSS, Ga. – Immucor Inc., a global leader in transfusion and transplantation diagnostics, in collaboration with Sirona Genomics, announced the launch of Mia Fora NGS, a high-resolution human leukocyte antigen typing solution that provides accurate, comprehensive coverage of 11 HLA genes. With an efficient work flow that can be uniquely automated or run manually, Mia Fora NGS is now available for research use only in the U.S. and other countries.

Mia Fora, which roughly translates from Greek to “once,” allows HLA laboratories to achieve high-resolution matching with no need for secondary testing to resolve ambiguities – results in one pass.

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 9

RIBBON CUTTINGS

10 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

New businesses in your area

Business: Juice Bar Johns Creek Owner: R.A.D Health Opened: November 2015 What: A “healthy way of life” vegetarian-style restaurant. Serving freshly

Did your business recently cut a ribbon?

Submit it to business@appenmediagroup.com

made juices, smoothies and graband-go snack foods.

Address: 11270 Medlock Bridge Road, Johns Creek Website: ilovejuicebar.com/johns-creek-2

Business: Frontline Selling Opened: November 2015 Owners: Mike Scher, Dan McCann What: Frontline Selling helps companies create predictable pipelines and accelerate revenue with StaccatoTM, their proprietary software and proven

methodology that dramatically increases the number of meaningful conversations scheduled with key decision makers.

Address: 6505 Shiloh Road, Alpharetta Phone: 877-726-7871 Website: frontlineselling.com

Business: LL Massage Opened: October 2015 Owner: Stella What: LL Massage hires experienced massage therapists and train them to provide their customers with the best services.

Address: 9775B Medlock Bridge Road, Johns Creek Phone: 678-417-8786 Website: facebook.com/ LL-Massage

Business: Sport Clips Opened: November 2015 Owner: Brett Gluck What: At Sport Clips, TVs everywhere are playing sports as guy-smart stylists give customers the cuts they

want. No appointments needed.

Address: 10779 Alpharetta Highway, Suite 150, Roswell Phone: 770-557-0733 Website: haircutmen mansellshopsroswellga.com

In memory of Wright’s stillborn son Grant, ten percent of sales go directly to stillbirth research.

Phone: 404-966-7743 Website: www.facebook.com/ designsforgrantlee

pendent/assisted living and memory care with a large mix of innovative technology.

Address: 1070 Hardscrabble Road, Roswell Phone: 678-367-4744 Website: georgianlakeside.com

Business: Josh Minore State Farm Opened: January 1, 2016 Owner: Josh Minore What: Serving the residents of this community near Snellville

Phone: 770-982-7373 Address: 2137 Britt Dr Ste A, Snellville Website: statefarm.com/agent/US/GA/ Snellville/Josh-Minore

Business: Designs for Grant Lee Opened: September 2015 Owner: Debbie Helton Wright What: Designs for Grant Lee makes wooden home decor including frames, trays, chalkboards, signs and more.

Business: Peachtree Planning North LLC Opened: June 2015 Owners: Frank Avrett, Robert E. Mathis What: Peachtree Planning, a leading provider of comprehensive wealth planning and client management

strategies, specializes in providing financial knowledge and strategies to individuals, families and business owners.

Address: 11300 Johns Creek Parkway, Suite 200, Johns Creek Phone: 678-225-6800 Website: peachtreeplanning.com

Business: Georgian Lakeside Assisted Living and Memory Care Opening: Spring 2016 What: The Georgian Lakeside, “Assisted living like you’ve never seen before,” will offer private living suites with accommodations for both inde-

SOUND ADVICE

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 11

MARTA moving north, is that really smarter?

Kathleen Sturgeon NABP Reporter

Ga. 400:

Transaction Alley: Fintech’s golden corridor Brandon Beach Ga. State Sen.

Every time a credit card, debit card or gift card gets swiped, it triggers a set of transactions that, more likely than not, will get processed by a company on the Ga. 400 corridor.

Estimates from 2014 say that nearly $5 trillion in transactions were processed in what is called “Transaction Alley.”

This important sector of financial services companies processes roughly 70 percent of payments for the entire country. It also accounts for a 60 percent share of the global payment processing marketplace.

Georgia is home to more than 80 financial technology – or “fintech” – companies that specialize in payment processing. Georgia has received more than $208 million in investments and 1,570 jobs created in the payments subsector of the fintech industry since 2013.

In Transaction Alley, payment processors like Fiserv, First Data, FIS Global, Priority Payment Systems and WorldPay employ thousands of Georgians. Payment processing generates nearly $34 billion in annual economic contributions, which ranks third in revenue generated by payment processing fintech companies — behind only New York and California.

Collectively, Transaction Alley represents the largest nontrading fintech platform in the country.

Because of the large amounts of money and associated financial data, this payment processing corridor is also one

of the highest priority financial targets in the country when it comes to our cybersecurity.

The growth of these payment processors has aligned with expansive growth in cybersecurity companies in the state.

Georgia now has 115 information security companies, which accounts for more than 25 percent of the world’s IT security sector.

Despite these impressive numbers, the need for a talented cybersecurity workforce will continue to increase dramatically year over year. Georgia has carved out a vital role both in the payment processing and cybersecurity markets.

All of this growth creates a demand for office space, data servers and, most importantly, a talented, tech-savvy pipeline of individuals. People who can continue to improve these services and secure the petabytes of data that flow through their networks.

Through the Department of Economic Development, the technical college system, the university system and industry leaders, Georgia’s training and development pipeline has been analyzed and restructured to adapt to this aggressive growth sector in our state’s economy.

The ability to process and protect the majority of the world’s financial transactions is critical to the continuity of the flow of money around the world.

The holiday season is a great example of how money flows in our economy. Any disruption to the movement of money could create panic or insecurity in the market – at both the corporate and individual levels.

As we move through, and beyond, the gift-giving season, it is the payment processors of Transaction Alley that keep your money going where you want, when you want.

There has been a lot of talk recently revolving around the MARTA rail lines being expanded farther north of Atlanta.

I’ve heard both sides of the argument. Some people are excited about having access to more public transportation, while other people are opposed, citing the possibility of increased crime.

Let me be the first to say that, while I’m not a huge fan of MARTA, I see plenty of positives in expanding public transportation into North Fulton and Forsyth.

Granted, I try to ride MARTA only once a year, when it’s necessary to get home from participating in the Peachtree Road Race on the Fourth of July. Trains just kind of freak me out and make me very nervous. My brain seems only able to focus on the possibility of horrible freak accidents any time I’m on a MARTA train.

That being said, however, I do like the idea of more public transportation.

It would be nice to be able to go into the city – once a year or once a day - without having to drive down most of Ga. 400 to reach the nearest MARTA train station.

It’s also great that people who don’t have access to their own vehicle can use public transportation to get to their jobs. Not everyone has the luxury of owning an automobile.

I believe that is something we are missing up here in North Fulton and Forsyth counties. We have great amenities, but our traffic situation is deplorable. There are countless events happening all around us, but many times we choose to stay home because it’s not worth sitting in traffic.

But with all the opportunities MARTA can bring us, there’s no denying it can also have its bad moments. Just this past week there was a shooting at one of the stations in Atlanta.

A lot of opponents said the shooting was a perfect example of why MARTA shouldn’t move up north.

But that’s a weak argument. If we’re going to eliminate venues or destinations based on whether they have been scenes of shootings, then maybe we should also ban movie theaters, public schools, holiday parties and the old Forsyth County courthouse. There were shootings at all of these places in the past two or three years. However, we still visit, work in and use them

daily.

Crime is just as widespread up here as it is in Atlanta. Granted, there are more concerns within the city, but North Fulton and Forsyth are not immune to delinquency and bad behavior.

Just this past week there were two reports of drug house busts in Alpharetta and Johns Creek. And, a few years ago, a car was stolen right out of a driveway in my own neighborhood.

Thieves aren’t going to go into your homes, steal your TVs and then hop back onto the train. What stops them now from coming up to some of the wealthiest areas in the state and taking whatever they want? It still happens all the time, daily even.

MARTA might bring more crime into our area, but only if we let it.

And don’t the benefits of mass public transportation outweigh the negatives? This is part of how cities like New York, Chicago and London have flourished.

I can’t tell you how many police reports I read each week about things getting stolen out of cars at night or while owners are in a store. And most of the time it was because the cars were unlocked or the items were left in plain sight, beckoning to would-be thieves. The car that was stolen out of my neighbor’s driveway was unlocked and had the keys left right inside.

... North Fulton and Forsyth are not immune to delinquency and bad behavior.

It’s up to us to keep our areas safer.

We should have been practicing this all along, but that just isn’t the reality.

MARTA or no MARTA, it’s a personal responsibility to keep your items and families safe.

If MARTA comes to our region, it’s going to really help our communities.

We will be able to get around more easily and fully enjoy our area. Employees who don’t own cars will be able to get to jobs more easily.

Crime is already here, all around us. That won’t change.

But giving our area the chance to flourish to its fullest capability?

That is something we will all miss out on if we are held back by not having public transportation. Why wouldn’t we want to better our communities?

EDUCATION

12 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

Gwinnett Tech Alpharetta/North Fulton campus greets 1st student Just harbinger of 10,000 students to come

By HATCHER HURD hatcher@appenmediagroup.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The doors of Gwinnett Technical College’s AlpharettaNorth Fulton campus swung open on Old Milton Parkway for the first time Jan. 6.

They admitted students at long last who will learn skills for careers in well-

Inaugural education programs at AlpharettaNorth Fulton campus Gwinnett Technical College’s Alpharetta-North Fulton campus is on 25 acres at 2875 Old Milton Parkway, Alpharetta, on the west side of Ga. 400. Initial program offerings were decided in consultation with North Fulton business and economic development leaders. Students choose from these areas: Computer Sciences • Computer Programming, Game Development, Cybersecurity, Website Design/Development, Networking Specialist, Data Center Specialist Business • Accounting, Logistics, Criminal Justice Technology, Business Management, Marketing Management, Business Technology, Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management Health and Life Sciences • Health Care Assistant (multiple concentrations: Allied Health, Medical Unit Secretary, Patient Care), Bioscience Environmental Lab Tech, Bioscience Regulatory Assurance Tech, Clinical Research Professional Education • Early Childhood Education Criminal Justice • Criminal Justice Technology General Education • Math, English

About Alpharetta-North Fulton Campus • Three stories, 95,000 square feet • 35 classrooms and technology-enhanced classrooms; seven computer labs; three science labs; library; bookstore; two 75-seat lecture halls; Learning Success Center.

paying jobs, and the classrooms and the jobs may not be too far from where they live now.

Getting the doors open at the Alpharetta campus, however, was years in the making. Nevertheless, Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce President Brandon Beach said Gwinnett Tech’s presence on Ga. 400 will be “transformational.”

“Five years ago, we saw the need for a technical school that could fill needs both for our IT community and the growing medical community in the Ga. 400 corridor,” Beach said.

Beach and members of the Greater North Fulton Chamber team — David Seago, Penn Hodge and the then-head of Progress Partners North Fulton Al Nash — approached then-Gwinnett Tech President Ron Jackson to shift North Fulton into the Gwinnett Tech coverage area with the goal of having a North Fulton technical college.

“Once that was accomplished, we got tremendous support from Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones [R-Milton], who got $25 million into the budget for the construction of the school,” Beach said.

Not all high school students are candidates for a four-year college. There is a huge need for technical and medical careers for people here, he said.

“And it is a build-it-and-they-willcome effect. Gwinnett Tech is just the latest tool in our toolbox to add to the many other assets and inducements Ga. 400 provide. It will play a huge role in attracting new and high-paying jobs to the corridor.”

Gwinnett Tech Vice President of Institutional Advancement Mary Beth Byerly said it was a great effort by community leaders to figure out how Gwinnett Tech could best serve the area and, what’s more, find the funds to get it done.

“This community came together and got the capital to build this,” Byerly said.

“It was a time of tight budgets but the leadership was united.”

Indeed, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta and Johns Creek all made bids for the site, but Alpharetta was by far the strongest. Adding a $3 million sweetener which will build the school’s parking deck certainly helped.

Its Ga. 400 location will also serve communities from Sandy Springs to Dahlonega and along the east-west axis of Woodstock to Duluth.

Future plans will triple the size of the campus from one building of 95,000 square feet to three buildings totaling 300,000 square feet and serving 10,000 students.

Alpharetta-North Fulton’s first student an eager beaver Ben Gravitt couldn’t wait to get to school

By HATCHER HURD hatcher@appenmediagroup.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. – It was a crisp, cold Jan. 6 morning when the AlpharettaNorth Fulton campus of Gwinnett Technical College welcomed its first student – and he didn’t even have class that day.

Ben Gravitt, 28, was the first student at 8 a.m. to walk through the campus doors at 2875 Old Milton Parkway.

“No, I didn’t have class today. But I can’t study at home. There’s too much distraction. So I got up and came here,” he said.

That means Gravitt has the distinction of being the first student to cross the threshold of the Alpharetta-North Fulton campus. It is certain he won’t be the last.

A graduate of the Howard School in Roswell, Gravitt is now pursuing a career as a respiratory technician.

“In the respiratory program, I’ll work with people who have breathing problems and administer respiratory drugs. I have one more class to finish and I can start the program in the spring,” he said.

He said he looked at several opportunities to go into the medical field around the state, but chose Gwinnett Tech be-

The campus will also serve students in the Move On When Ready program. Students can take advanced core courses which will also transfer as college credits. Students already in the program have graduated high school with enough credits to enter college as juniors.

Meanwhile, the campus will provide the business community with workforce development courses such as Certified Cisco Network Associate that will make their workers more valuable employees, Byerly said.

“Information security specialist is another two-year or less certification that has an entry level of around $60,000 a year,” she said. “Our programs align with what the community tells us it needs.

Whether that is early childhood education or medical technician.”

It is also more affordable than most college tuitions and Hope Scholarship funds are applicable.

“Using the Move On When Ready program, a student can get the first two years of college and be debt-free,” she said.

Gwinnett Tech President Glen Cannon was on hand the first day of class. He called it a relief to finally to be open.

“We hope to keep the North Fulton

HATCHER HURD/Staff

Ben Gravitt, the first student to walk through the doors of Gwinnett Tech Alpharetta-North Fulton, chats with Dr. Victoria Seals, vice president of academic affairs. cause it was affordable and “the science programs are very good.

“Health science is what I wanted.

I looked at other programs at other schools and they just weren’t the same,” Gravitt said.

workforce growing. We are already the largest supplier of health care workers in this service area,” Cannon said.

That’s not just nurses. It is radiation technicians, EMTs, medical stenographers and more, he said.

The medical profession has a “1-2-7” ratio that Gwinnett Tech tries to fill. For every one doctor, two four-year degreed positions are created and seven associate degree positions.

“There is still a gap in the need versus the supply,” Cannon said. “We are working to narrow that.”

The Alpharetta-North Fulton campus will have its full-blown ribbon-cutting in the spring.

For now staff is working out the kinks and getting faculty in place.

“We are getting ramped up, and we want a seasoned faculty to greet students in the spring,” Cannon said.

They are also getting articulation agreements signed every month with colleges and universities to accept Gwinnett Tech Alpharetta-North Fulton campus credits.

“Technology retools exponentially.

Computer information systems are constantly being updated. It is our job to provide the people who will do that,” Cannon said.

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 13

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ENTREPRENEURS

14 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

Small businesses thrive at Thrive Coworking Startup rides office sharing growth

By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@appenmediagroup.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The nature of business is changing constantly. The Internet, for instance, has made it possible to work in ways unheard of even five years ago. Creativity and a unique product can be all the tools needed to launch a successful business.

But what about office space?

For many new startup businesses, finding the right office is key. However, with many businesses, a permanent office may be too much. Maybe only a desk is needed? Or the occasional meeting space?

One solution is “co-working space” and the guys at Thrive Coworking in downtown Alpharetta specialize in providing exactly that.

With 2,000 square feet of space just south of Smokejack BBQ in Alpharetta, Thrive hosts startups or small businesses that do not need much – if any – office space. Thrive can provide something as small as simply a desk or as large as a conference room, all for monthly rent.

Owners Ramon Gonzalez and Daniel Burnett started Thrive in August 2015 and say that, while they are already filled to capacity with 24 “members,” they are actually looking for a second space to expand their business.

“There are a lot of freelancers who want to get work done but don’t want to work at Starbucks or at home,” said Gonzalez. “Here, they have access to professional facilities and can connect with other small businesses.”

Burnett agreed. “It’s collaborative,” he said.

Members can interact and work with each other while, in the process, striking up professional and social relationships.

“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” he said.

Burnett said that in all of downtown Atlanta, there are less than a dozen co-working spaces. Yet in Alpharetta and North Fulton – quickly becoming hubs of technology businesses and startups – there are now two.

Three, if Alpharetta’s technology innovation center is counted.

“People are beginning to learn what co-working spaces are,” Burnett said. “Alpharetta is very focused on business and business development and is successful with big companies, but it’s also big with small, hightech business.

A byproduct of co-working space, they said, is the community that grows around it.

The members work side by side but may have completely different businesses and experiences. Thrive’s members specialize in everything from accounting to podcasting and interact with each other for fun as well as business. They have created their own culture.

Stefanie Sheehan, who hosts the startup business podcast “Mastermind Your Launch” and rents space from Thrive, said the experience is unique.

“The community they are fostering here is warm and supportive and collaborative. I’ll be working on something and someone will ask for my thoughts on something,” she said. “Everyone here is purpose-driven and passionate about what they do. That has helped me be more productive and I have been able to grow my business.”

A key part of Thrive’s success, said Gonzalez, is loca-

Jonathan Copsey/staff

The guys of Thrive Coworking, Ramon Gonzalez, left, and Daniel Burnett, have started an office sharing company in the heart of Alpharetta. tion. Sitting in downtown Alpharetta, the companies in Thrive can be a part of the buzz around them.

Happy hour is easy, he said. So is shopping or eating during a lunch break. Downtown Alpharetta is just out the door.

“This is more personal, engaging and exciting,” said Gonzalez. “This is the environment we want to be a part of.”

Thrive is located at 52 South Main St., Suite 300, Alpharetta, Ga. 30009. They can be found online at workatthrive.com.

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ENERGY & R

16 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

Plastic separation

SICON’s Polyfloat system separates plastics, such as PE/PP and others to achieve 99.4 percent purity.

Each type of plastic is separated

Output material PE

Output materia PP

Alpharetta firm designs sy to mine resources from scr

By PATRICK FOX pat@appenmediagroup.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. — While North Georgia utilities map strategies to meet the needs for a growing population, one Alpharetta company is designing technology to harvest resources from what has already been used.

SICON, a German-based firm, specializes in designing and building systems to mine metals and plastics from landfills throughout the world. The company also specializes in processes to turn wastes into fuels that run plants and generate electricity.

The company opened its North American headquarters in Alpharetta some four years ago.

“Our main focus has been in scrap metal,” said Jason Silvey, SICON national sales manager. “Where we come into the recycling of municipal and landfill waste began over in Europe where landfill rates are so expensive.”

Silvey said it is far cheaper to recycle waste in Europe than to landfill it. Moreover, the European Union has a directive that 95 percent of scrapped vehicles must be recycled. But the company soon branched out beyond automotive graveyards. It found the same processes employed on old cars can be used on municipal waste, as well.

The process begins by chopping down

“... In states like Georgia and in the Southeast, it’s very cheap to just throw away the stuff, and the cost benefit in the short term makes it easier to just trash it.”

Jason Silvey, SICON national sales manager

and grinding solid waste to nuggets anywhere from 5 to 30 millimeters, Silvey said.

From there, the material can be run through sorters, where all combustibles are removed.

Even the combustibles are later burned in a low-oxygen thermal process to produce a gas which can generate electricity.

Virtually everything can be used, depending on the market for certain materials and the cost of landfills.

“That’s one of the big drawbacks in the states right now,” Silvey said. “In Europe, where landfill fees are very expensive, it

pays to invest in (recycling) technology,” he said. “Over here, especially in states like Georgia and in the Southeast, it’s very cheap to just throw away the stuff, and the cost benefit in the short term makes it easier to just trash it.”

The Northeast is much more attuned to recyclables, Silvey said. Interest in also growing in the Midwest – particularly Michigan and Ohio.

One niche market in the West uses SICON technology to extract metals and plastics from shredded blue jeans. The company takes the remainder and turns it into an insulation sold to companies like Home Depot and Lowe’s.

For the traditional scrap company that sells metal to steel makers, SICON designs systems to extract copper, aluminum and magnesium, because steel producers are required to have a low copper content in the steel they make.

“We’re selling the machinery and processes that pull as much out of that as possible, whether it be sorting via magnets, or via X-ray or an optical sorter,” Silvey said.

“Other machines will cut that material even further, anywhere between half to three-quarters of an inch so it is more easily sorted. That way the scrap producers can sell scrap to the steel producers that has a very low copper content.”

Almost the same system applies to

SICON’s Varisort system uses d ferent sensors, including X-rays and color camera, to separate material.

harnessing energy from landfills. Waste is run through choppers, and the wood and glass is removed. Part of the residue can be turned into pellets that can be sold off.

“Those fines from automotive shred residue, from municipal waste can be used to fire the kilns at cement plants,” Silvey said. “That’s a renewable that saves them money, saves landfills as well.”

Those materials that are not turned into pellets can be used to create a gas that can be made into diesel or some other biofuel.

The company employs 30 worldwide.

RESOURCES with a purity of 99.4% according to individual density setting.

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 17

North Georgia responds to threat of water shortages

By PATRICK FOX pat@appenmediagroup.com

Input material Raw granulate

Output material PVC

al

Output material PO-Compound

ystems rap

difs

Most of the engineers come from Germany, with three salespeople and assistants operating in North America, where projects are underway throughout the United States, South America and Canada.

Silvey said it won’t be long before people begin thinking long term and realize landfill sites are nearing capacity.

“I’ve got a feeling that this technology will be coming to the forefront soon,” he said. “They’re not mining all that waste for the recyclables because, one, the landfills are still cheaper, and, two, the cost of scrap metal has pretty much cratered over the past several years.”

GEORGIA — It has been nine years since a record drought placed the northern third of Georgia into a state of emergency.

Outdoor watering was banned, and Lake Lanier, which provides water to more than 3 million people, was three months from depletion.

Since then, record rainfall has sated thirsty streams and reservoirs, washing away memories of hard times. But the economic impact from the drought has not been forgotten. A 2010 study by Bleakly Advisory Group set the cost to the region at more than $87 million.

So, how is north Georgia poised for another drought?

Pretty well, say officials at the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District.

“Since the district was formed in 2001, the total water use in the Atlanta region has declined by more than 10 percent, and that’s even as our population over that stretch has increased by 1 million,” said district spokesman Paul Donsky.

Moreover, per capita water use has dropped by 30 percent since 2000, Donsky said.

Metro Atlanta currently uses about 560 million gallons a day. Two-thirds or more of this water is treated and returned to area river basins.

Even before the drought of 200608, the district had drawn plans for a major conservation effort throughout a 16-county area of north metro Atlanta, including Cherokee, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and Hall.

The plan went into effect in 2004 with an effort to get all 63 water suppliers to structure uniform rates that encourage conservation, particularly among singlefamily residences.

The plan included 18 other measures to curb water use, including a toilet rebate program, offering rebates for homeowners who switch out old toilets with newer models that cut water use by as much as 75 percent. More than 2.4 million gallons of water a day is saved because of the program, Donsky said.

Another initiative has been to encourage utilities to track leaks.

“Some are even using sonar to detect leaks,” Donsky said. “A lot of water was lost through leaks that are now getting fixed.”

The plan has also required car washes, one of the biggest commercial users of water, to install systems to recycle water, he said.

These initiatives have proven so successful that the district has revised its forecast for water use in the region.

In 2009, the Metro Water District

projected the region would use 1.2 billion gallons of water per day by 2050.

But, just this fall, the district revised that forecast, lowering the region’s expected water use to between 862898 million gallons of water per day in 2050 – a 25 percent reduction – even as the region adds nearly 3 million new residents.

Metro Atlanta cities and counties draw most of their water from two sources, Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River. One city that has stepped out of the traditional supply chain is Roswell, which took the initiative to drill its own well some five years ago.

Although most residents still receive water from Fulton County, the city’s efforts have put a dent in the market and now provide municipal water to about 7 percent of its 94,000 residents.

“Water is an essential resource to survive, and we didn’t want to be at the mercy of Fulton County or someone else without having a voice in the game,” Roswell Mayor Jere Wood said.

Roswell has one well, but the city is attempting to tap another.

The city performed a survey recently to determine the best site at which to drill for a new well.

The first test came up empty, but the second site was a huge success. But the best prospects were on land owned by Fulton County, and the county would not consent to the city using the site for municipal water.

“It’s interesting that the state is worried about drought and water supply, but Fulton County up till now has not consented to us drilling a test well on their property because they’re selling us water,” Wood said. “We’re trying to renegotiate it now, and hopefully they’ll see clear to letting us do an exploratory well on their property.”

Here is a breakdown of the water supply for north metro cities and counties:

Cherokee County Population: around 230,000 in 2015 • Cherokee relies on the Etowah River for most of its supply. The county does use groundwater as source – but in very small amounts, less than 1 million gallon per day. The city of Woodstock and Cherokee County also purchase some water from Cobb County Marietta Water Authority – but this is less than 2 million gallons per day.

• In total, the county uses 18 to 20 million gallons of water per day to service their population.

Cobb County Population: About 730,000 in 2014 Cobb relies on water from Allatoona

Lake and the Chattahoochee River. The county also has small groundwater withdrawals – but this amounts to less than 2 million gallons per day.

• The county typically withdraws 80 million gallons per day to service this population. On average, the split between the two sources is close to 50/50.

Forsyth County

Population: about 204,000 in 2014 • The county is largely dependent on Lake Lanier for water supply. It withdraws, on average, between 8 and 9 million gallons of water per day to service the county.

Fulton County Population (including most of the city of Atlanta): about 996,300 people in 2014 Fulton County relies entirely on the Chattahoochee River Basin. This includes the Chattahoochee River for the city of Atlanta and most of North Fulton, Big Creek (which feeds into the Chattahoochee) for Roswell, and Sweetwater Creek.

• North Fulton/Atlanta depends on close to 140 million gallons a day from these sources. In certain years, this amounts to 30 percent of the total withdrawals in the Metro Water District. East Point is the remaining Fulton County utility not serviced by any North Fulton or city of Atlanta utility and withdraws about 7 million gallons of water a day from Sweetwater Creek.

Gwinnett County

Population: about 878,000 people in 2014 • The county is predominantly reliant on Lake Lanier and has some small groundwater withdrawals that service the cities of Lawrenceville and Suwanee (less than 1 million gallons per day).

• Gwinnett withdraws, on average, about 72-75 million gallons of water per day from the lake to service the county.

Hall County

Population: about 190,000 people in 2014 • The county is largely dependent on Lake Lanier with some small groundwater withdrawals for the cities of Flowery Branch and Lula (less than 1 million gallons per day total).

• Hall withdraws, on average, about 17 million gallons per day from the lake.

ENERGY & RESOURCES

18 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

North Atlanta home to many LEED certified buildings

By KATHLEEN STURGEON kathleen@appenmediagroup.com NORTH ATLANTA — Saving energy and conserving resources seems to be on the minds of many, especially with a near year beginning. A variety of energy-saving steps can be taken inside homes, but businesses sometimes struggle to keep up with the ever-changing ways to save energy. However, north Atlanta is home to multiple cities and businesses that are thinking ahead and are striving to be energy conscious.

One of the ways to test how mindful businesses are with their energy saving is to see if they are LEED certified.

There are multiple sites in the north

Atlanta area that are certified, including Kimberly-Clark Roswell, Chattahoochee Nature Center, Georgia Gwinnett College Library and both the Forsyth County Family YMCA and the Robert D. Fowler Family YMCA. According to greenbuildingwire.com, “in order to receive LEED certification, building projects must satisfy prerequisites and credits and earn points to achieve various levels of certification. The LEED rating system is designed for rating new as well as existing commercial buildings, schools and residential buildings as well as neighborhood development.”

However, in March 2015, the Georgia General Assembly approved a bill that would effectively ban state buildings

LEED certified buildings in North Atlanta: • • • • • • • • • •

Delta Dental – Alpharetta AdvancED Forsyth County Family YMCA and Robert D. Fowler Family YMCA Kimberly-Clark Roswell, building 100 Chattahoochee Nature Center High Meadows School multipurpose building Johns Creek Medical Office Building Cherokee County Administration Building Woodstock Ear Nose and Throat Chattahoochee Tech College-Canton

• • • • • • •

Cobb County Department of Transportation Cobb County Superior Courthouse Life University café, residence halls Gwinnett County Environmental & Heritage, Police Training Facility and Senior Service Center Georgia Gwinnett College Library Gwinnett Tech, College Life Sciences Building Corus Group LLC Source: greenbuildingwire.com

Top 10 energy-saving measures for homeowners 1.

Install a programmable thermostat to lower utility bills and manage heating and cooling systems efficiently.

2. Air-dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle.

3. Turn things off when you are not in the room such as lights, TVs, entertainment systems and the computer and monitor.

4. Plug home electronics, such as TVs and DVD players, into power strips; turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use — TVs and DVDs in standby mode still use several watts of power.

5. Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120 degrees.

6. Take short showers instead of baths and use low-flow showerheads for additional energy savings.

7. Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes, then air-dry the clothes.

8. Check to see that windows and doors are closed when heating or cooling your home.

9. Drive sensibly; aggressive driving such as speeding, and rapid acceleration and braking, wastes fuel.

10. Look for the Energy Star label on light bulbs, home appliances, electronics and other products. Energy Star products meet strict efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Source: energy.gov

from being LEED certified.

The bill relates “to general authority, duties and procedure relative to state purchasing, so as to require equal credits be given to certain forestry certification systems when using green building standards in state construction, operation, repair and renovation projects.”

This was brought about after Rep. Mike Cheokas (R-Americus) said he was concerned about the lumber used in state buildings because it may not be considered sustainable by LEED. He proposed

all state buildings should only use green building standards that consider Georgia lumber sustainable.

“It’s a fairness and a protect-Georgiajobs bill, to be honest with you,” Cheokas said in a committee meeting in March.

But according to the U.S. Green Building Council, which created LEED, the certification is something many schools, which fall under the state building limitations, are proud of, including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. This bill became effective July 1, 2015.

ENERGY & RESOURCES

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 19

Last year Atlatna was the biggest market in the nation for the Nissan Leaf.

Georgia sales of electric vehicles plummets Once leader in nation ‘going backwards’

By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@appenmediagroup.com GEORGIA – It’s easy to assume that, as prices fall and technology advances, sales of alternative-fuel vehicles, such as all-electric or hybrids, would continue to rise in Georgia. After all, the state was second in the nation last year in terms of new electric vehicles registered, especially the Nissan Leaf, which had Atlanta as its biggest market in the nation.

However that is not the case. After the state did away with popular tax incentives, the sales of alternative-fuel vehicles have ground to a halt.

“It’s basically collapsed,” said Don Francis, executive director of the Partnership for Clean Transportation, Georgia and coordinator of Clean Cities - Georgia. His nonprofit group is the state arm of the federal Department of Energy’s efforts to move the nation away from fossil fuel consumption. “Georgia went from one of the best incentives in the country to one of the biggest disincentives in the country.”

Francis said he has been a supporter of electric vehicles for 20 years.

Georgia was a success story, of sorts, for Francis and circles akin to him.

The vehicles were inexpensive to own and operate and met the needs of many residents. A series of state and federal tax breaks made leasing the cars just as affordable to own as any comparable vehicles. The savings on gas was icing on the cake.

According to numbers from Francis, in 2012 there were 958 new plug-in electric vehicle registrations in the state.

The next year there were 4,635. The year after, 2014, saw 10,540.

In 2015, through October, that number fell to 6,642.

The vast majority of these new vehicle registrations came from Nissan Leaf purchases. They made up just over 9,000 of 2014’s 10,540 new electric registrations.

Overall, sales have dropped 90 percent from a year ago.

There are some reasons for the declining interest in electric vehicles, Francis said. Cheap gasoline is one immediate reason. Another reason, the main one, according to Francis, is the state not only dropped the $5,000 tax incentive for

the vehicles, they imposed a hefty tax on them.

This came out of the 2015 state legislature session.

To be sure, there were plenty of issues in the state’s tax credit that needed to be addressed. It was written in 1998, well before such things as plug-in or hybrid vehicles really existed. Francis said the industry had a suitable replacement bill ready to be debated that fixed many of the problems opponents of the tax credit criticized, including reducing the amount of the credit and widening its coverage to include hybrids.

This bill did not make it out of committee. Instead, a part of the state’s $1 billion transportation bill (HB 170) imposed a $200 tax on electric vehicle owners.

“That’s more per year than an SUV driver pays,” said Francis.

It is also significantly higher than similar fees in other states.

“While other parts of the country are putting incentives in place, Georgia is taking theirs out,” Francis said.

And this has had a chilling effect on the sales of new electric vehicles, he said.

In the months before the new tax took effect, July 1, 2015, the state issued new registrations to a record number of electric vehicles, topping 1,300 a month some months. In July, there were 737 new vehicles. By November, that number had plunged to just over 200. In comparison, during 2014, the state saw month-over-month increases, with 690 in November of that year.

Francis admits the recent cheap gas has severely hurt electric vehicle sales on top of everything else. Nationally, sales of SUVs, Humvees and other heavy gasusing vehicles are climbing for the first time in years.

In October, the total number of plug-in vehicles in the state dropped for the first time ever, Francis said, a trend he predicts will continue as people end their leases on electric vehicles and buy traditional vehicles.

“But it won’t last forever,” he said.

He predicted gas prices will climb sooner or later, which may help the alternative-fuel market bounce back. It won’t hurt him, though. He’ll still be in his electric car.

CENTER OF TECHNOLOGY

Technically speaking, North Atlanta has a ton of technology companies. That is why our February edition focuses on just that, technology in North Atlanta. Ranging from green companies, what individual counties are doing and more, we cover it all.

To advertise, call 770-442-3278 or email advertising@appenmediagroup.com

20 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

ENERGY & RESOURCES

Utilities look forward to meet growing power demands

By PATRICK FOX pat@appenmediagroup.com ATLANTA — With Georgia’s expanding economy and population growth, the need for secure energy sources to meet growing demand.is a concern for all of the state’s power suppliers.

Georgia ranks 34th among the 50 states in the amount of energy consumed per capita and ranks 37th in per capita expenditures for energy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Nevertheless, in 2014, Georgia ranked 10th in the nation in net elec-

Georgia Power is working on an 8-mile transmission improvement in Atlanta. The new transmission structures will increase reliability throughout the city and require less maintenance.

tricity generation and eighth in retail sales of electricity.

While solar power generation is growing, most of the state’s power suppliers rely on coal and natural gas for energy.

Georgia’s four existing nuclear reactor units accounted for 26 percent of the state’s net electricity generation in 2014, while coal accounted for 36 percent. Natural gas accounted for 32 percent, and renewable energy, including hydroelectric, solar and wind power, contributed 6 percent.

About half of Georgia’s 10 million residents and businesses are serviced by 42 electric membership cooperatives operating throughout the state.

However, the largest single supplier of electricity is Georgia Power, which services close to 2.4 million customers in all but a few of the state’s 159 counties.

“By 2030, electrical demand is projected to increase 21 percent in the Southeast,” said Georgia Power spokesman John O’Brien. “Fast-growing areas like north Atlanta are sure to fuel this growth.”

Meeting energy needs is a two-fold process – having power plants to supply electricity and developing and maintaining the infrastructure to deliver the power.

The company compiles a 20-year look ahead to determine energy needs, then updates those figures with the Public Service Commission every three years.

Georgia Power operates generating plants using, coal, solar, natural gas and nuclear fuels. While environmental groups raise concerns about one fuel or another from time to time, the company says it is important to have the flexibility to operate plants from different sources because fuel prices fluctuate, and some are more efficient than others.

“Over the past 10 years, electrical demand has fluctuated primarily due to the slowed economy, but has also spiked due to periods of high heat and extreme cold,” O’Brien said. “We expect to see an increase in electrical use as new companies, business relocations and expansions of existing operations continue throughout the state.”

One upgrade to meet the growing demand is the conversion of Plant McDonough-Atkinson in Cobb County, retiring the smaller, older coal plant there, and replacing it with several new larger natural gas-fueled generating units.

“We’ve also invested millions of dollars in ‘smart grid’ enhancements throughout Atlanta, including ‘self-healing’ networks which isolate and reroute power when needed to minimize the frequency and duration of outages,” O’Brien said. “This system really shines during severe weather like the ice storms of 2014.”

The company is also constructing two new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro. These units are among the first new nuclear units in the United States in 30 years and are part of Georgia Power’s plan to meet future needs amid increased environmental regulations, specifically a carbon-constrained future.

In addition, the company is rebuilding an 8-mile, 230,000-volt transmission line that begins at Plant McDonough in Smyrna and ends at the Boulevard Substation in Fulton County.

The line supplies critical public services such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta and Cobb County water treatment plants and Piedmont Hospital,

“By 2030, electrical demand is projected to increase 21 percent in the Southeast. Fastgrowing areas like north Atlanta are sure to fuel this growth.”

John O’Brien, Georgia Power spokesman

Natural gas residential prices (As of September 2015)

Rank State Residential price ($/thousand cu ft) 1 Hawaii 36.33 2 Georgia 25.75 3 Oklahoma 25.23 4 Florida 24.41 5 Ohio 24.31 6 S. Carolina 24.15 7 Missouri 23.91 8 Delaware 23.22 9 Vermont 23.16 10 New Hampshire 23.02

Retail electricity prices (As of September 2015)

Rank State Avg. residential price (Cents/kilowatt hour) 1 Hawaii 28.52 2 Rhode Island 21.61 3 Alaska 20.61 4 Connecticut 19.23 5 Massachusetts 18.83 6 New York 18.44 7 California 18.38 8 Vermont 17.27 9 New Hampshire 17.25 10 New Jersey 15.99 30 Georgia 12.10 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

along with residential, commercial and industrial customers across metro Atlanta.

“Even customers not directly served by the line benefit, since we use an interconnected grid,” O’Brien said. “In addition, continued high reliability for critical facilities like Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport play a part in supporting growth across the entire region.”

The line is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2018.

COBB COUNTY

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 21

The Commons, KSU’s dining hall at their Kennesaw campus, is the largest collegiate dining hall in the country with LEED Gold certification. The Commons was built with recycled materials and designed to reduce energy consumption.

KSU’s dining halls provide sustainability, cost-saving measures The Commons is largest college dining hall with LEED Gold certification

By JOE PARKER news@appenmediagroup.com KENNESAW, Ga. — Both The Commons and Stingers, Kennesaw State University’s two dining halls, are at the forefront of collegiate dining facilities looking to provide fresh, locally grown food while also reducing energy consumption and waste.

Both dining halls are certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and both are working to keep costs low and food quality high with efforts such as the Farm-to-Campus Program and the use of locally sourced products.

The Commons, which is the largest collegiate dining hall in the nation with LEED Gold certification, was built with recycled glass and concrete in the lobby and the design incorporated natural lighting to keep energy costs at a minimum.

The use of locally sourced products, mostly from the state of Georgia and KSU’s campus farm, keep transportation costs at a minimum as well.

Josh Wendling, of KSU’s Culinary and Hospitality Services, said the LEED certification and locally sourced products is beneficial to the school as well as the

“We have a whole sustainability initiative based around our Farm-to-Campus Program which is designed to pull fruits and vegetables and eggs from Hickory Grove Farms, which is just three miles from our Kennesaw campus.”

Josh Wendling, of KSU’s Culinary and Hospitality Services

students.

“We try to reduce energy consumption which reduces energy costs and we can pass the savings on to the parents and students by keeping the meal plan prices competitive,” said Wendling.

“We have a whole sustainability initiative based around our Farm-toCampus Program which is designed to pull fruits and vegetables and eggs from Hickory Grove Farms, which is just three miles from our Kennesaw campus.

We do a lot of local sourcing. It’s not

just what the students and parents are demanding, it’s a cost-saving initiative as well. We are not having to transport the food across the country. We’re saving the gasoline and transportation costs from transporting food from, for instance, California.”

“It fits into our whole mantra of being able to provide quality and nutritious food at the lowest cost possible while still doing as much as we can for the environment,” said Wendling.

Wendling estimates that between 30

to 40 percent of all food cooked at the dining halls is sourced within the state of Georgia, and he added that 20 to 30 percent of that amount is sourced from Hickory Grove Farm, KSU’s campus farm.

The KSU Farm-to-Campus Program began in 2010 with a small, two-acre farm outside of Cartersville. Since then, the program has expanded to include 40 acres in Ball Ground and the 25-acre Hickory Grove Farm.

Hickory Grove Farm provides eggs, fruits and vegetables while herbs and lettuce are grown hydroponically at the campus. These resources provide not only fresh, sustainable produce, but also limit transportation costs given their close proximity to the dining halls.

“100 percent of the food grown at Hickory Grove Farm is used in the dining facilities,” said Wendling. “If we can’t use them fresh we will flash freeze them or use them in a sauce.”

Wendling added that any excess food grown is donated to the charitable KSU Cares or to the Kennesaw Teen Center.

After the 2014 consolidation with Southern Polytechnic State University, KSU now has an enrollment of over 33,000 students. According to Wendling, the university hopes to add another dining hall in the future that will also be LEED certified, and they also plan to expand their sustainability programs.

22 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

GWINNETT COUNTY

Gwinnett adopts $1.5 Billion budget LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Gwinnett commissioners adopted a balanced, $1.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2016 at their first meeting of the year.

With the exception of slight adjustments made to police budget, it mirrors the proposal made in November. Commissioners spent that time reviewing the budget and comments they received during a December public hearing and through an online form.

The adopted budget holds the line on property tax rates while funding services cut during the recession, addressing concerns about workforce recruitment and retention, and investing in essential infrastructure and critical community needs. Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash said, “This budget invests in the big picture, focusing on what’s really important for our community. It also is in line with our history of sustainable, conservative financial management by looking at future implications of today’s decisions.”

The operating budget totals $1.1 billion, compared to $1.05 billion last year.

It includes an additional $7.2 million to cover election expenses and expand hours and locations for advance voting.

It also unfreezes 25 police positions and restores staff at the animal shelter and in

parks maintenance. Library funding is up to 88 percent of its 2008 level and Gwinnett Transit can add three new express routes. Home care and delivered meals are expanded for seniors on waiting lists. There will be additions to a special victims unit in the District Attorney’s office, 30 new police officers, nine new firefighter/paramedics, 12 new part-time sheriff deputies, three new Juvenile Court positions and another magistrate judge. The budget includes a four percent pay-for-performance increase for eligible employees and the restoration of longevity pay.

The capital budget of $363 million, down from $371 million last year, funds design for a new state patrol building, a courthouse expansion, construction of a new medical examiner/morgue building, senior center renovations and body cameras for police officers and sheriff’s deputies.

Nash again asked five county residents and business people to serve voluntarily on a budget review committee.

They heard presentations from elected officials and department directors in September and studied departmental business plans, funding needs and revenue projections with County staff before making recommendations for the 2016

“This budget invests in the big picture, focusing on what’s really important for our community. It also is in line with our history of sustainable, conservative financial management by looking at future implications of today’s decisions.”

Charlotte Nash, Gwinnett Commission Chairman

budget.

The budget resolution summary is posted on the County’s website at www.

gwinnettcounty.com; a comprehensive budget document will be published later in the year.

FULTON COUNTY

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 23

Encore Bridge closed 18 months:

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ALPHARETTA, Ga. – A cold wind blew Jan. 6 over Encore Parkway Bridge that connects Westside Parkway and North Point Parkway. But dignitaries gathered for the groundbreaking of a replacement bridge project were warmed by the economic impact the $17.7 million new development will have.

The major new traffic connector, scheduled for completion in July 2017, is being jointly funded by the North Fulton Community Improvement District, the city of Alpharetta, Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta Regional Commission, and the State Road and Tollway Authority.

“It is a project that does a lot of good things, and we were able to get the help of a lot of folks to do it,” said Kerry Armstrong, chairman of the North Fulton CID board of directors.

Encore Parkway Bridge is the connector over Ga. 400 that links North Point Parkway and Westside Parkway midway between Haynes Bridge Road and Mansell Road.

NFCID Chairman Kerry Armstrong said the project will transform the area.

With wider vehicular lanes, bike lanes, sidewalks and landscaped medians along

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the connector road and the bridge, the project will allow more vehicle traffic while providing pedestrian and bicycle access that just wasn’t there before.

“The old bridge was just two lanes and no pedestrian access. This new bridge will provide much more access. It will really unite these two major roads, North Point and Westside,” Armstrong said. “And it provides cross-access without getting involved at Ga. 400 inter-

changes at Haynes Bridge or Mansell.”

The west side of Encore Parkway also leads right to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater’s doorstep, so the widened bridge will help ease traffic during concert events.

The project’s connectivity aspects and friendliness to pedestrians and cyclists helped win it a Livable Communities Initiative Award from the Atlanta Regional Commission, Armstrong noted.

State Sen. Brandon Beach had noth-

BRIEFS & SHORTS: Fulton County The Lund Group joins Berkshire Hathaway ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties has announced The Lund Group has joined the firm. The Lund Group principals are Cathi and Bill Lund. Other members include their transaction coordinator, Tiffany Schrader, plus Jamie Lund Cumbo Cathi and Bill Lund and Becky Beaver.

Cathi Lund has been ranked as the top agent in the Coldwell Banker Roswell office since 2001.

The Lund Group is among the top 1 percent of agents in the country with over 950 homes sold and more than $325 million in sales volume.

The Lund Group will now be affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway’s Alpharetta/ North Fulton office.

“I am honored to welcome The Lund Group,” said Dan Forsman, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties. “Their

commitment to delivering exceptional service and outstanding results for their clients is a perfect fit for our company as we continue to redefine the real estate experience.”

“We are excited to be joining the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices family,” said Cathi Lund. “Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties is the clear market leader for homes sold in metro Atlanta. The Lund Group will now be able to leverage many advantages that will benefit our clients and the company’s innovative programs will give a new level of energy to our business.”

SANUWAVE Health appoints Sundstrom as CFO ALPHARETTA, Ga. – SANUWAVE Health Inc., a leading shock wave technology company, announced that Lisa Sundstrom, 46, has been promoted to chief financial officer. Sundstrom was formerly interim CFO as of July 2015.

Sundstrom has over 23 years of financial and accounting experience, including the last nine years with SANUWAVE. Her previous positions include senior financial and accounting roles at ADP and Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics.

For additional information about the company, visit www.sanuwave.com.

ing but praise for the project, as well.

“Anytime you can provide connection for two arteries like North Point Parkway and Westside Parkway you have made a great enhancement for mobility,” Beach said.

“It opens the area for economic development in the corridor and it eases congestion, which is a public-safety enhancement as well. It doesn’t get any better than this. And this has been a partnership in every sense of the word.”

The project, which is designed to support mixed-use development around the corridor, has three major components: • Replacement of the existing Encore Parkway Bridge over Ga. 400 that connects Westside Parkway and North Point Parkway; • Transformation of the corridor into a multimodal complete street; • Creating the first east-west pedestrian/bicycle connection to Alpharetta’s Big Creek Greenway.

Submit news to business@appenmediagroup.com

From left, Mike Collard, Ackerman Security, Jay Litton, lead volunteer, RUMC Job Networking, and Mike Long, Roswell United Methodist Church senior pastor.

Ackerman Security, RUMC partner on RUMC Job Networking ROSWELL, Ga. — Ackerman Security Systems continues its partnership with Roswell United Methodist Church and will be sponsoring the first Job Networking meeting for the new year Jan. 11 at the church, 814 Mimosa Blvd., Roswell.

The event includes training, counseling, dinner and an opportunity to hear from a variety of area employers For more information, go to www.rumc.com/connect/adults/job-networking.

24 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

FORSYTH COUNTY

Forsyth maintains building permits

By KATHLEEN STURGEON kathleen@appenmediagroup.com FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Not much changed in the permit-issuing department for Forsyth County in 2015.

The total count from January 2015 to November 2015, the most recent month for which figures were available, was 6,088 permits. By the end of 2014, that year’s total was 6,356, including the month of December.

Tom Brown, director of the planning department, said the average monthly permit number for residential units in 2015 was 287.

If the number of permits for December 2015 equaled that average, then 2015’s total will be slightly higher than in 2014.

However, this slight change has been happening for a couple of years in Forsyth, according to Brown.

“From 2009 to 2015, there was an increase each year,” Brown said. “From 2014 to 2015, the increase was fairly minimum and not a significant increase. 2012 was the first and most significant year we saw growth within the county. We saw almost everything permitwise double in 2012. Since then, there have been increases in 2013-2015, but they’re more moderate and haven’t been significant or doubled like we saw in 2012.”

“2012 was the first and most significant year we saw growth within the county. We saw almost everything permitwise double in 2012.”

Tom Brown, Director of the planning department

These permits include new residential units as well as changes to existing structures, like a basement finish or a deck or a water heater, Brown said.

The numbers for new residential units include apartments, townhomes, condos or single-family detached products — anything that a family will potentially occupy.

“We look at this a lot because the bigger trends that

are going on in the county are growth and how many people are moving here. That is a better indicator than just decks and water heaters,” Brown said. “That doesn’t hold the consistency of changes in our population.”

Georgia Power opens new EV charging island in Cumming CUMMING, Ga. — Georgia Power announced the opening of a new electric vehicle charging island in Cumming.

This marks the beginning of the second phase of planned charging infrastructure developed by the

company that will include more than 60 community charging islands for public use statewide by the end of 2016.

The new EV charging island is located at Georgia Power’s new Cumming business office in the Cumming

Market Village shopping center at 1648 Market Place Blvd.

To learn more about driving electric with Georgia Power or the locations of charging islands, visit www.

GeorgiaPower.com/EV.

Commissioners decide to hold off on resolution on makeup of board Will make decision after Jan. 21 town hall meeting

By KATHLEEN STURGEON kathleen@appenmediagroup.com FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Not wanting to get ahead of themselves, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners voted Jan. 7 to hold off on a resolution requesting the local delegation to consider “a five-member board but revert to countywide (as opposed to district) voting.”

The board unanimously approved postponing the resolution until Jan. 21 after town hall meetings could occur. At the Dec. 22, 2015, BOC work session, the group discussed the current makeup of the BOC and future cities in the county.

The board voted 3-2, with Pete Amos and Cindy Jones Mills opposed, to send a resolution to the local delegation for a five-member board with countywide voting.

In addition, the board voted unanimously to include a straw poll on the ballot and to meet with both the Republican and Democratic parties to develop the questions, keeping the five districts, with two members to be elected at large divided evenly among the population and to include a request in the resolution that no action be taken until after the results of the straw poll.

However, because the first part of the resolution was not unanimously approved, county Attorney Ken Jarrard said the topic has to be brought up again.

Commissioners Jim Boff and Todd Levent said the idea of a seven-member board, which was floated at the previous meeting, is no longer appealing to them. Mills said she wanted to throw out a new option. She said talking about countywide voting came up out of the blue at the Dec. 22 meeting.

“Everybody’s coming up with all Mills these ideas and it seems like every idea keeps fragmenting our county more,” Mills said.

“It’s about to drive me crazy thinking about how we’re a county that seems like it’s becoming more and more fragmented. We’re fragmented with our state delegates and county commission and this alliance group or coalition or special interest group. Every group seems like they’re talking but nobody is listening or doing this or that. There is a whole lot of talking but no one seems like they’re coming together. It keeps going back to zoning or land use. Everyone keeps coming up with solutions that are about adding more people to boards and making government bigger. And no one is doing anything about land use or the issues people keep talking about.”

So Mills said she reached out to Sen. Michael Williams to discuss the issues people are talking about and taking it back to the district.

This would reinforce the district and do something about the subarea planning commission and make things come together and give the district commissioner the power and then it would be a supermajority would

“... We’re fragmented with our state delegates and county commission and this alliance group or coalition or special interest group.

Every group seems like they’re talking but nobody is listening or doing this or that...”

Cindy Jones Mills, Forsyth County Commissioner

have to overrule it.

She said Williams loved the idea. Lack of communication is one of the biggest problems, Mills said.

“It seemed like it gave the people so much more than what they were doing,” Mills said. “The legislators said let’s pause everything and go and talk at town hall meetings. They asked if [the BOC] would pause everything and talk about it and not make a resolution or vote on anything. Then it would be postponed for two weeks if the people want to do it. Let’s come together as a state delegation, county and community and do something together instead of fragmenting and do this together.

And hopefully do it right.”

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 25

26 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

YEAR IN REVIEW

Local economies post gains for the year

By PATRICK FOX pat@appenmediagroup.com

Unemployment rate: (November of each year)

ATLANTA – Georgia’s economy continued its post-recession growth in 2015, but the rate of growth has moderated significantly.

The economy created only 46,000 jobs in the first nine months of the year, a marked decrease from the nearly 104,000 jobs created for same period in 2014, according to the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University.

Nominal personal income increased about 5 percent, slightly better than the prior year.

One of the key reasons behind the slowdown in growth has been overseas markets, especially China, said Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Forecasting Center.

“The slowdown in the global economy is real, and it will impede Georgia’s job growth in the key catalyst sectors of manufacturing and professional and business services going forward,” Dhawan said.

Closer to home, Dhawan said he expects strong growth in the corporate sector in metro Atlanta, combined with better growth in construction and health care to aid overall employment. He said he expects employment gains to moderate further in 2016, followed by a small surge in 2017 (See unemployment rate chart top of second column).

Metro area counties and cities still had reason to celebrate in 2015, with unemployment falling to prerecession levels in many areas and gains in real estate values.

Here’s a look at several cities and how they fared economically in 2015:

Alpharetta The city has not stood still after last year’s launch of Avalon, the mega-million-dollar mixed-use development on Old Milton Parkway. While Avalon continues to draw crowds and businesses,

Gainesville Region 2012 2013 2014 2015 6.9% 6.0% 5.2% 4.2% Atlanta Region 2012 2013 2014 2015 8.0% 6.9% 6.1% 5.0% Source: U.S. Department of Labor

the rest of the city is thriving, Alpharetta Economic Development Director Peter Tokars said.

“In the three years I’ve been here, a lot of the goals we set in economic development – fill up vacant office space, grow the technology sector and revitalize downtown – we’ve accomplished,” he said.

In the past 18 months, more than a million square feet of Class A office space has been filled with businesses, leading the city to post one of the lowest vacancy rates in the region, currently about 9.6 percent. That’s down from about 15 percent three years ago.

“That’s a good and a bad place to be in – a good place because all your offices are full, and a bad place because we’re limited on new businesses coming in,” Tokars said.

From a technology perspective, the city launched the Alpharetta Technology Commission, now in its fourth year.

“That organization has grown so much that we moved it out from being a city planning council to its own not-forprofit organization with its own CEO,” Tokars said. “It’s currently being run out of the Alpharetta Innovation Center, which opened in August.”

The Innovation Center is a 24/7 technology co-working space with event, office and conference room space. The facility is already at full capacity.

The Alpharetta City Center also moved forward in 2015 with the opening of a new City Hall and nearby 450-space

Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart and Associates

The concept for the downtown Alpharetta City Center includes retail and restaurants as well as office space and 165 apartments.

parking deck. The city now is marketing four pad-ready sites for private development.

Tokars said the city is in final negotiations with a developer to purchase the sites and kick off a mini-Avalon development in downtown that will include restaurants, retail, office space and multifamily living.

“The really cool thing is that just our investment in downtown has caused a ton of investment in our existing downtown,” he said.

On the west side of Main Street, where the existing downtown remains, the city has seen at least five new restaurants and about four or five new retail businesses.

Also, a developer has purchased two parcels off Milton Street that were sitting vacant and has constructed new, brick townhouses, adding to the walkability factor of downtown.

“We have tons of developers looking at ways they can they invest in downtown Alpharetta to complement the investment the city has made,” Tokars said.

“So it’s a really cool thing to see all this investment happening, bringing so much life into downtown even before we’ve done the big portion of the development.”

Photo courtesy Columbia Properties, Inc.

Sprouts Farmers Market at Ivy Village shopping center in Smyrna.

Smyrna Smyrna broke ground in August on the commercial part of Bellmont Hills, a $128 million mixed-use project on 48 acres. The development includes 153 single- and 272 multifamily residences and 28,000 square feet of retail.

Another major development ushered in this year was Smyrna Grove consisting of 194 Craftsman-style homes located around a lake.

Another economic milestone was the opening of the last phase of Olde Ivy Village at the corner of the East-West Connector and South Cobb Drive. The site was developed in stages, and the new addition includes a 28,000-square-foot Sprouts grocery store.

Work began this year, primarily preparing infrastructure, for an 82-acre, mixed-use project along the Chattahoochee called Riverview Landing.

When completed, the development is expected to have 155 single-family homes, 850 multifamily units, 250 senior living units, 332 townhomes, 165 condos and 190,000 square feet of retail.

Over the past several years, the city has been purchasing some of the older apartment complexes and clearing the space for newer development.

“We haven’t issued a permit for an apartment this year, because these apartments (permitted) in ’13 and ’14, those are huge complexes,” said Ken Suddreth, community development director.

On the corporate front, IBM announced a major expansion in Smyrna, bringing the number of employees to 775.

In January 2015, Google chose Smyrna as a partner in the design of a new fiber optic cable network to carry the company’s Google Fiber service.

“Most of the development has occurred away from the new Braves stadium, which is right across the street from the Smyrna city limits,” Suddreth said.

Along those lines, Suddreth said there is a lot of conversation about redevelopment in the eastern end of Smyrna toward Cobb Parkway, and that is a direct result of the Braves complex.

YEAR IN REVIEW Sugar Hill

Canton

In 2015, Sugar Hill began laying plans for its downtown EpiCenter, a $36 million mixed-use development on a site the city acquired in 2014 beside the new City Hall. Scott Andrews, economic development director, said the development will include a 326-seat performing arts theater, a gymnasium with upperlevel walking track, community meeting rooms and classrooms wrapped by more than 30,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space. This will sit on top of a 100-space parking garage overlooking the city’s amphitheater, affectionately known as The Bowl @ Sugar Hill. The project will start construction in late spring with an anticipated opening date of January 2017.

The City Council also recently approved plans for a $55 million high-end senior living facility called The Holbrook.

The site is located at the northern end of the city’s main street (West Broad) at Ga. 20. The Downtown Development Authority owns the land, which is an assemblage of four parcels purchased over time, and has a purchase and development agreement with Solomon for this development.

The development is expected to bring an urban-style four-story residential development over retail with a two-level parking garage to serve the tenants. The Holbrook will include 175 independent living apartments, 25 assisted living and 25 memory care rooms as well as 14 large duplex cottages with plans to add another 30 on property they have under option adjacent to the site the city owned. Construction should start in June 2016 with an early 2018 opening date.

Another public-private partnership in the early stages of development is The Seven, a $35 million high-end luxury apartment building on the other side of City Hall opposite the EpiCenter.

The project will sit on 4.5 acres and will consist of a five-story apartment building with some residential atop approximately 20,000 square feet of commercial space fronting West Broad Street.

The City of Sugar Hill has been subleasing The Buice School for a few months to three schools (St. John Bosco Academy, Artios Academies and Vantage Point Education) with more than 500 students. The place has been a hive of activity. Upon the end of the school semester, development will begin on another $65-$75 million project in the Buice School area. This project will feature additional downtown multilevel residential, sitting atop 15,000 to 20,000 in commercial/retail space. This project is also designed to camouflage additional downtown parking.

One of the biggest projects launched in 2015 is construction of a replacement facility for Northside Hospital-Cherokee, off I-575 at Ga. 20. The $250 million replacement facility will include an 84-bed hospital facility, a distinct women’s center, multispecialty medical office building and cancer center, a 600-space parking deck and 300 surface parking spaces.

The new facility will spur the creation of an additional 300 jobs with an expected $257 million investment, said Matthew Thomas, economic development manager for the city.

In September, Piolax USA, a manufacturer of metal and plastic automotive parts, broke ground on a new 82,000-square-foot facility and will create 30 new jobs as part of its expansion.

Piolax already employs 300, and the new automotive warehouse is expected to open in 2016.

Canton is currently undergoing a downtown master plan and market analysis, funded in part through a grant of $104,000 as part of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative.

“Downtown businesses are also on the rise,” Thomas said. “So far in 2015, three new downtown businesses have combined to create 26 jobs with $190,000 in investment.”

More growth is anticipated and accommodation is pertinent, Thomas said, so Canton is ramping up its arsenal of tools available to assist businesses and job creation.

Earlier this year, Canton received opportunity zone designation of several parcels within the River Mill District between Railroad Street and the Etowah River. The opportunity zone designation allows businesses to receive a tax credit of $3,500 when two or more full-time jobs are created.

The city also launched its own economic development website this year, SelectCanton.com, as a way to share information with potential investors and provide resources for existing businesses.

Woodstock The Cherokee County city of 27,000 has posted a growth rate of 70 percent over the past 10 years, nearly doubling in size.

Brian Stockton, director of economic development, said market data shows that building and development has grown over the past year at a healthy clip.

Not only has building increased, but the value of commercial construction has risen sharply. In 2014, the city issued 10 commercial permits with an estimated

Close to 1,000 people attended the 2015 Cherokee County Career Expo in March. The event was co-sponsored by the Cherokee Office of Economic Development and held at the Cherokee County Conference Center in Canton.

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 27

By the numbers Alpharetta residential building permits 2013 2014 2015* Single Family 76 158 166 Condos/Townhomes 45 130 88 Apt. buildings/Unit 4 0 1 *Through November 2015

Alpharetta residential valuation Tax year

Taxable valuation

Variance over prior year

2013 $4,077,303,831 2014 $4,094,949,906 0.4% 2015 $4,266,761,716 4.2% Smyrna residential building permits 2013 2014 2015* Single-family Condos/Townhomes Apartments

271 420 194 460 71 52 850 274 0

*Through November 2015

Average home price: $241,000 Job growth: Averaged 1.3 percent job growth for the past four years Workforce: 34,500 employed in Smyrna Sugar Hill residential building permits 2013 2014 2015* Single-family 164 244 121 Condos/Townhomes 0 23 5 Apartments 0 0 0 *Through October 2015

Sugar Hill employment 2012 2013 2014 Citizens employed 9,120 9,186 9,620 % of citizens employed 67.2% 65.4% 65.7% Median value of owner-occupied homes in Sugar Hill 2013: $169,100

2014: $166,700

2015: data not yet available

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Canton average home values 2013: $201,000

2014: $211,000

2015: $217,000

Average home price (Four-bedroom sale price) 2014: $221,378 2015: $233,006 Net taxable property value 2014 2015 Change $960,664,944 $1,020,075,529 6.18% Woodstock building permits 2014 2015* Single-family Commercial Multifamily (units)

280 10 547

370 10 89

*Through mid-December 2015

$31 million in building value. Through the latter part of December 2015, the city had issued the same number of commercial permits for projects totaling $61 million in building value.

“I would say overall that building and development is still growing strong in Woodstock,” Stockton said. “The building permit data shows healthy growth in new permits, and the growth here in sales numbers and values supports that as well.”

Some of the key economic events of

2015 included the opening of a Sam’s Club as part of redevelopment of an old Wal-Mart site on Main Street. Also, the Outlet Shoppes, a 370,000-square-foot center featuring more than 80 retail outlet stores at I-575 and Ridgeway Parkway, just opened its second and final phase.

“We also continue to see considerable growth in the senior housing, both assisted and nonassisted, segment and are starting to see in interest in infill/ small redevelopment projects of existing spaces,” Stockton said.

28 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Women in business: Kristy Dickerson What keeps you up at night?

I am a dreamer and a doer. I don’t think there is a night that I lay my head in the bed that I just feel done.

I always am thinking, “What is next?” “What could I do better?” And I have to say I wake up early every morning excited to tackle the day at hand. Everyone should have that every day!

Kristy Dickerson is a small-business speaker and advisor, co-founder of StartPlanner.com, chief financial officer of all things organized, lifestyle photographer, mom of three boys and a wife who joked she is never wrong … never.

Upon completion of her degree in finance and business management, she started her first business after having her first son in 2008. Merging her business sense with her passions, Dickerson has developed ways to help small-business owners balance turning passions into a career while still playing her most important role ... being a mom.

What decision did you make that put you on the path to this career?

This path organically happened for me, and I look back over my journey and I really feel like the good, the bad and everything in between was meant to happen to lead me here. My background and degree is in finance, but I have spent the last six years of my life being a photographer (weddings and lifestyle family).

So, meshing the two worlds for the last two years, I have been traveling and teaching other small-business “creatives” how to get organized and set up their business for success. This planner came about after reaching out to my graphic designer, Jenny Grumbling, about designing some of my business and organization documents that I used in my own business. She shared with me her goal to one day create a planner. That is all it took. We combined our goals to create a book, a planner and ultimately a tool that would change lives, Start Planner.

What obstacles, if any, did you face on your way up the corporate ladder?

Well, the nice part about this question is I didn’t want to go up a corporate ladder, but it doesn’t mean there were not obstacles.

I wanted to build a dream and a life for me and my family that I controlled, and to me that is what entrepre-

What advice would you give to young women interested in pursuing a career in business?

There will be hurdles, there will be doubters, but if you are a hustler and can boldly blaze on a path filling a mission, you can do anything. Probably most important is you will make mistakes. Learn from them, grow and keep going.

Kristy Dickerson, co-founder StartPlanner.com. neurship is all about. That doesn’t mean we don’t face challenges. If anything, I think it is more challenging.

When you own your own business, all the decisions are yours to make. Probably the biggest hurdle for most is themselves: boldly giving it 110 percent, believing, doing and knowing that no matter what you think, you can do it. That is true for me, as well.

What gives you the most satisfaction at work?

Hands down it is the lives we are changing. The loans that are getting paid off, the businesses that are flourishing, the corporate person that is meeting benchmarks, the stay-at-home parent that feels purposeful.

What degree do you think might prove most useful to students?

My degree is in finance and for me, honestly, that has been the perfect degree. Anything business-related will give you a little taste of marketing, accounting, economics, etc. I think my formal education helped to establish a basis, but it was not until I hit the real world and started making mistakes and figuring it all out that I got the swing of this whole business world. I am still making mistakes and learning daily and that is the best education out there.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for young people today?

In entrepreneurship, nonprofits or in other small companies that value people. I think women in general have this desire to fill a need and serve a purpose in the world, but to also still be able to be “Mom” one day.

Finding a career that you love, whether it is yours or not, and also being able to be Mom is such a powerful thing.

You should love what you do.

Life is too short. So finding a company, or creating a company, that stands by your values and beliefs is really important.

Government Go-Getters: Meet Jodi Gardner

By KATHLEEN STURGEON kathleen@appenmediagroup.com FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — While Forsyth County residents often receive emails, phone calls and letters from the Forsyth County government, the person sharing much of that information might be a bit of a mystery to many.

As the county’s director of communications for 10 years, however, Jodi Gardner has helped shape a department that has grown and developed as much as the county she represents. Since starting her job in 2005, Gardner’s role has evolved from a stand-alone position as a public information officer for administration to running the county’s own communications department.

“I hadn’t worked in government previously, but it was a communications job that really fit my education and interests,” said Gardner, who grew up in Tampa Bay, Florida, and graduated from the University of Tampa with a degree in communications and a minor in advertising.

Gardner, who had long been interested in communications, had two internships out of college with a local hockey team and also with a performing arts center in Clearwater, Gardner Florida, where she was later hired to do communications work in their fundraising department.

But after working there for three years, she moved up to Dahlonega to be closer to family. That’s where she heard about the Forsyth County opening.

In the decade she’s been with the county, Gardner has helped with the creation of TV Forsyth, Forsyth’s new logo, Facebook page and website look, as well as assisting with annual reports for the county and the fire department. She also is involved with ribbon cuttings, ground breakings and more.

“I’ve had the good fortune of being involved in some really neat projects like the Public Safety Complex opening

in 2006 and the courthouse project,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of progress and had the chance to be involved and plan events around some of those projects. To just have a role in some of those big milestone projects for our county has been very memorable.”

As communications director, Gardner gets to meet and talk to many different people, which she enjoys.

“I feel like it’s an honor to be able to work in this position and serve the citizens of the county and to get to do the job I get to do,” Gardner said. “It’s very rewarding to me.”

However, the position doesn’t come without demands.

“A challenging aspect of my job is that our office is responsible for the communications for all of the county government departments and offices,” Gardner said. “As you can imagine, they have a lot of activities, progress and things going on. It can be a challenge for us because we’re a small office that is keeping up with all of that and making sure we’re getting the information we need to get

out to the public.”

But she works with great people day in and day out who make it enjoyable for her to come to work, where no two days are alike.

“An interesting part of the job is that every day is different,” Gardner said. “On any given day, we could be working on something for parks and recreation and switch gears and work on something for the fire department or water department.

No two days are alike. There’s a lot of variety in the work we do.”

Nevertheless, through all the craziness of running a county’s communications department, Gardner said she just wants people to know that everyone working in Forsyth County government is there to serve the community.

“We’re here to help with anything they need,” Gardner said. “If they’re looking for information they can’t find, anything at all, they can come to us as a resource for that. We want the public comfortable coming to us and asking any questions we might be able to help with them, too.”

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com • January 2016 • 29

Gwinnett Young Professionals announces inaugural Leadership Institute class GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. –Gwinnett Young Professionals announced their inaugural Leadership Institute class, which kicked off Tuesday, January 5.

The Gwinnett Young Professionals Leadership Institute is designed to be an interactive exploration of personal leadership development.

“By 2020, millennials will comprise 50 percent of the United States workforce,” said Sean George, Manager of Membership Services at the Gwinnett Chamber and Gwinnett Young Professionals program manager. “To accommodate this workforce shift, the Leadership Institute was created.”

In partnership with Georgia Gwinnett College as well as supporting partner Porter Keadle Moore, the program features monthly gatherings and lectures at various locations around Gwinnett County and will conclude with a commencement ceremony in June.

“Our mission is to attract millennials to the Chamber when they first enter the workforce and engage and empower them through community, professional and social opportunities,” said Vince DeSilva, Gwinnett Chamber’s Senior VP of Membership Services. “We are hoping this class of millennials will learn leadership attributes so we can help them strive for and achieve the next level in

The Spring 2016 Gwinnett Young Professionals Leadership Institute class. their careers.”

The goal of the Gwinnett Young Professionals Leadership Institute is to contribute to the personal and professional development of young professionals in the Gwinnett community and prepare them for positions of increasing responsibility, both within their organizations and as citizens of Gwinnett.

The next class will begin in July and applications will be available in March. To register or for more information, visit gwinnettyoungprofessionals.com.

Panetta joins Keller Williams Realty Community Partners CUMMING, Ga. — Keller Williams Realty Community Partners announced the addition of real estate agent Mark Panetta in the Cumming/ North Atlanta office. Panetta will focus on helping fellow baby boomers improve their financial stability going into retirement by downsizing their homes at the appropriate time as well Panetta as helping new millennial families ease into a suburban lifestyle through home ownership.

Contact him at 678-266-8062 or www.mpanetta.kwrealty.com.

Rawlings president-elect of the Atlanta Board of Raaltors ATLANTA – Bill Rawlings, vice president/managing broker at Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, was installed as the 2016 president-elect of the Atlanta Board of Realtors.

Rawlings leads the award-winning team of top producers at the north Atlanta office of Atlanta Fine Homes Rawlings Sotheby’s International Realty, one of the top 10 residential real estate offices in the Metro Atlanta area. Based in Sanctuary Park, Rawlings and his team specialize in the northern suburban areas includ-

The Spring 2016 Leadership Institute class • Instructor: Dr. Jim Fatzinger, Georgia Gwinnett College • Abby Wilkerson, City of Suwanee • Alicia Krogh, Gwinnett Chamber • Brooke Waters, Leadership Gwinnett • Craig Roberts, Jackson EMC • Deanthony Young, Lifetime Fitness • Geoff Stratton, BrandMortgage • Haley Tolbert, Partnership Gwinnett

• Jaclyn Hofman, Aurora Theater/ Georgia Gwinnett College • Jason Friedlander, Twist Six • John Maison, Georgia Gwinnett College • Jordan Shumate, Shuma, LLC • Justin Anderson, Aurora Theater / Kennesaw State University • Kareem Adekunle, Georgia Gwinnett College • Kevin Ford, Insperity • Macrae Cain, Blue Key Interactive • Megan Lesko, Gwinnett Chamber • Melissa Martin, Blue Key Interactive • Nick Reynolds, Hi-Hope Service Center • Olivia Mugenga, Georgia Gwinnett College • Sean George, Gwinnett Chamber • Shane M. Lanham, Mahaffey Pickens Tucker, LLP • Shannon Lambe , Porter Keadle Moore • Stacie Grayson, City of Sugar Hill • Stephanie Christopulos, Organized Chick • Stephanie Hannum, Gwinnett Chamber • Stephanie Moyer, Insperity • Tabitha Spillers, Precision Planning, Inc. • Tawny Abraham, Marlow’s • Zach Shumate, Shuma, LLC

ing Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Roswell, Cumming and Milton, and represent some of the region’s top developments.

For more about the awards, go to abr.org/Events/ awards-luncheon.aspx.

Performance Advisor. Prior to Insperity, he was a small business owner in the insurance sales sector.

Ferguson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business.

Renasant Bank promotes Sims

Braves name Chipper Jones Special Assistant

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Michael Sims, Johns Creek, has been promoted to executive vice president and director of business services at Renasant Bank.

Sims is responsible for assetbased lending, SBA, treasury, leasing and middle market banking lines of business. Prior to joining Renasant, Sims served as chief banking officer of a regional bank.

Sims

Insperity promotes Ferguson to district manager ATLANTA – Insperity, Inc., a leading provider of human resources and business performance solutions for America’s best businesses, today announced the promotion of Jason Ferguson to district manager for one of its Atlanta sales offices. In this position, he will help direct sales Ferguson efforts throughout the area.

Ferguson joined Insperity in 2013 as a Business

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves have hired former All-Star Chipper Jones as a special assistant to baseball operations. Jones will report to John Hart, president of baseball operations, and to General Manager John Coppolella.

A familiar face within the Braves organization, Jones makes his return to the club in a support role after Jones retiring as a player following the 2012 season. In his new capacity, Jones will attend Major League spring training as an instructor, and during the regular season he will primarily focus on assisting Braves hitters. He will also assist with amateur scouting leading up to the June draft, as well as some minorleague player evaluation and instruction.

“We are excited to bring Chipper on board as a special assistant,” Coppolella said. “He brings a wealth of experience - from being a number one overall draft pick, to having a highly-successful career as a World Series champion, a league MVP and a batting champion, to coming back from major injuries. Chipper spent his entire Hall-of-Fame caliber career in a Braves uniform and we look forward to his input with our staff and with our hitters.”

FOOD & DRINK

30 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com

Sweet success:

Roswell couple sold on making craft chocolate Become a chocolatier for fun or profit

By HATCHER HURD hatcher@appenmediagroup.com ROSWELL, Ga. – The Balus, Balasubramanian and Andal, started their first food-related business in 1992 and, over 13 years later, launched CocoaTown, catering to the sweet tooth in us all.

After initially focusing only in the growing Indian community in north Atlanta, they “discovered” the chocolate industry and have since built a business with customers in over 40 countries.

The Balus don’t sell the chocolate.

Instead, CocoaTown provides the machinery to manufacture chocolate for small-batch artisan chocolatiers partial to producing their own confections, much like craft beer artisans who brew beer. The Balus cater to people who have discovered the joy of making their own chocolate as well as those who have turned it into a business.

“We are always looking for new ideas,” Andal Balu explained. “We were looking for something healthy and this was like microbreweries. It can be for the person who just enjoys making their own beer, or it can be more than that.”

In the process, they discovered a burgeoning market for craft chocolate.

“It’s very scalable.

Some only are interested in making their own in the kitchen.

Some are entrepreneurs who want to keep expanding.”

Balasubramanian Balu, CocoaTown “We have found many couples who have turned their chocolate making into a business,” said Balasubramanian Balu.

“A person retires after a successful business career and begins to make chocolate as a hobby, but can’t resist taking it to the next step.”

photos by HATCHER HURD/Staff

Andal Balu, left, and her husband, Balasubramanian Balu, find there are many people interested in making craft chocolate and creating their own flavors. Some do it for fun, others start a business.

That step is to become a true chocolatier – one who manufactures or purveys chocolate. The Balus have customers all over North America, South America and Europe, including Iceland.

Why? “Well, who doesn’t like chocolate?” asked Andal Balu.

“It’s very scalable. Some only are interested in making their own in the kitchen. Some are entrepreneurs who want to keep expanding,” Balasubramanian Balu said.

He knows of one customer who began in his garage and has expanded into a space three times the size.

As with any micro-batch industry, chocolate making affords plenty of room for individual tastes and recipes. The Balus have periodic classes to teach people not only how to make their own chocolate but how to experiment with flavors and textures to find a creation that is their own.

“Chocolate has many more steps than microbrewing. You have to be a MacGyver to do it right,” Andal Balu said.

Chocolate begins with a bean. The beans come in a pod. Once delivered from the pod, the beans must go through a number of steps – including roasting, cracking, winnowing, grinding, tempering (giving the chocolate “snap and shine”), molding and packaging. CocoaTown offers products to help streamline each step in the process.

Here are some of the labels from CocoaTown’s chocolatier customers from around the world.

The initial investment can get pricey, but chocolatiers don’t have to dive in to the deep end. The Balus say it is easy to start making chocolate, although a grinder is essential so it will melt properly.

“But you can use a convection oven to roast your chocolate, crack it with a rolling pin and winnow it using a hair dryer,” Andal Balu said.

As one gets deeper into chocolatiering, the size of the toys increases accordingly. But the payoff can be tremendous.

The Balus post dozens of colorful labels

For information: Go to Cocoatown.com Call 770-587-3000 Or visit CocoaTown at 108 Oak St., Suite B, Roswell from their customers’ products, and they make quite a colorful backdrop. Each label represents someone who has found making chocolate irresistible, thanks to CocoaTown’s products and support.

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32 • January 2016 • NorthAtlantaBusinessPost.com