henrycounty.com a henry county chamber of commerce publication
NOVEMBER 2013
YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS
Hampton • Locust Grove • McDonough • Stockbridge
in this issue Chairman’s Message 2 Business Profile 3 Calendar 4 Henry Happenings 5 Ribbon Cuttings 6 Leadership Henry 6 Youth Leadership Henry 7 Annual Meeting 10 Business After Hours 11 Business Boosters Luncheon 12 Annual Holiday Party 13 Chamber Briefs 14 Chamber Membership 14
Henry County Views Education As Serious “Business”
The genesis of the E2: Economics & Education initiative was the 2010 Henry County Intergovernmental Retreat, facilitated by the Henry County Chamber of Commerce. The Retreat focused on education and retreat attendees included representatives of our county’s civic, business, non-profit and economic development communities. The attendees worked collectively to identify the need to partner with our schools to better prepare the county’s workforce of tomorrow. Recognizing a strong correlation between education and earning power, it became apparent that Henry County could attract and retain large businesses and newer technologies, by utilizing education excellence to enhance Henry County’s economy. E2 was the first initiative of its kind not only in Henry County, but across much of the state as well. Over 100 dedicated and involved community leaders, co-chaired by Brian Preston and June Wood, participated in task forces and committees targeting five focus areas to achieve specific goals: • Increasing Henry County’s high school
Comfortably South of Atlanta E2 Kick-Off Meeting February 2011 The Henry County Chamber of Commerce serves as the voice for the business community, provides quality services and programs that meet the needs of its members, improves the economic environment of the community and creates a legacy of leadership for the future.
Did You Know... Chamber members receive complimentary issues of both Georgia Trend and Southern Journal magazines?
graduation rate; • Improving academic ranking among the top Georgia school systems; • Securing a technical college / Increasing dual enrollment; • Becoming a Work-Ready Certified Community; • Improving School Readiness In order to document progress, the Alliance first measured the current state of education in the county, establishing their baseline. Next, they set up work teams for each of the five target areas. These work teams met routinely over the next few months to reach a consensus on strategies and recommendations addressing each target area. They set measurable goals for each of the areas, and established a mechanism for comparing progress with those goals through 2021. Their recommendations and measures were finalized and published as an Action Plan for Education & Workforce Development in August 2011. Thanks in no small part to the attention generated by the E2 initiative, several of the goals and recommendations have become reality. Henry County secured a technical college presence with Southern Crescent Technical College opening the first building of a proposed eight building campus in early 2014. The Academy for Advanced Studies opened in 2012, offering Henry County students dual enrollment giving them the opportunity to earn college credit while completing their high school education – without paying tuition. The Academy
for Advanced Studies broke ground on an addition to its campus on September 30, 2013 and anticipates being Georgia’s largest career academy beginning with the Fall 2014 school year. These are just a few of the accomplishments. For a more in-depth status, see the“E2 Update: How We Compare in 2013”article on page 3. Today the Chamber-facilitated E2 initiative has transitioned to the Henry County E2 Alliance facilitated by the Henry County Schools Superintendent and comprised of members from: The Chamber’s Education Foundation; The Chamber’s Education Committee; Communities in Schools; Connecting Henry; The Academy for Advanced Studies; and Henry County Schools. This group now serves as a Steering Committee for continued progress of the remaining goals of the five focus areas. To learn more about this important project or to get involved, contact the Henry County Schools Superintendent at 770-957-6601 or the Henry County Chamber of Commerce at 770-957-5786.
E2 Alliance Meeting March 2013
Save the Date
3rd Annual Holiday Party See page 13.