Serving DeKalb & Metro Atlanta Volume 16 Number 19
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More business loans available for veterans The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is renewing a business loan program to help veterans start or expand their small businesses. The Patriot Express, a pilot program offering enhanced guaranty and interest rates on loans to small businesses owned by veterans, reservists and their spouses, is being renewed for three more years. “America’s veterans have the leadership skills and experience to become successful entrepreneurs and small business owners,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “The impact of this program over the last threeand-a-half years has meant thousands of veterans and their families have had the resources to pursue their dreams as entrepreneurs, and at the same time create jobs and drive economic growth at a critical time for our country. Renewing it means we can continue to
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‘Oprah’s Ultimate Viewers’
fulfill our sacred commitment to the men and women who serve our country by giving them every opportunity for success.” The initiative has provided more than $560 million in loan guarantees to nearly 7,000 veterans since it was launched June 28, 2007. Patriot Express loans are offered by SBA’s network of participating lenders nationwide and feature one of SBA’s fastest turnaround times for loan approvals. Patriot Express loans are available for up to $500,000. The loans can be used for most business purposes, including startup, expansion, equipment purchases, working capital, inventory or business-occupied real-estate purchases. Local SBA district offices can provide lists of Patriot Express lenders in their areas. Details on the initiative can be found at www.sba.gov/ patriotexpress.
Popular apps that make life easier in the New Year No one gets around without apps these days. Not even little kids who, as young as 2, know how to download their favorite apps to play games on their iPhones, iPads, iPods and computers. With more than 200,000 free apps that have been created for virtually every aspect of life—from shopping to tracking sports events — we wondered which ones do people find most useful? We asked some of our readers for their favorites and started compiling a list for On Common Ground News. We’ll be running the ones we’ve collected and others you tell us about throughout the year. You may e-mail us your favorite and tell us why you like the particular app at editor@ ocgnews. Here are 10 apps that people said were critical to their everyday lives: Facebook, the social networking web site to keep in touch with friends, family and others. Groupon features unbeatable deals each day on the best stuff to do in cities across the U.S.
january 1, 2011
Photo by Glenn L. Morgan/OCG News Andrea Kerr Conley (red shirt), sister Shantia Kerr, and their mom, Geraldine Kerr, show off Australian flags, a stuffed koala bear, a Boomerang and other souvenirs provided by Oprah Winfrey.
Loyal fans join the talk show host on a fantasy trip to Australia By Valerie J. Morgan
ESPN provides the latest updates on your favorite sports teams. Poynt helps you get to places. Find directions in the U.S. for businesses, shops, restaurants, movies, gas prices and more. The Weather Chanel Mobile provides fast, accurate weather conditions everywhere. Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner offers fun, useful recipes. Shazam Entertainment identifies music from the radio, television, whatever you’re listening to. Fandango provides movie and theater listings, buy tickets and watch movie trailers. Read fan ratings and reviews. Buy tickets fast Dictionary.com offers a trusted reference content. RedLaser is a barcodescanning application for comparison shopping.
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ATLANTA—For years, Andrea Kerr Conley has been a fan of Oprah Winfrey. And for years, she has signed up online to try and get free tickets to go on The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago. The South Atlanta High School teacher not only got to go on the show recently, she and her sister, Shantia Kerr, hit the jackpot: They were picked to join Oprah and 300 other “ultimate” viewers on an 8-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Australia a few days before Christmas. The two sisters are now looking forward to a recap of “Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure,” which will be televised in mid-January. So is their proud mom, Geraldine Kerr, who kept track of the odyssey on the internet at her Stockbridge home. And although Geraldine Kerr didn’t get to go on the trip, she did get to go on the show and sit in on a separate taping a day before her daughters won their trip. “People tell you to dream big. You never think to dream that big,” said Andrea Conley, 34, who teaches health and P.E. at South Atlanta High. “When we won the trip, I couldn’t tell my mom at first because of confidentiality rules. They told us: Do not tell anyone, especially your mother. She had to find out when Oprah made the announcement that the special audience of ultimate viewers were going on the trip. ” “I felt really blessed that my sister asked me to go with her on the trip. But then again, I am her sister. Who else was she going to take on a trip like that?’ said Shantia Kerr, 31. “What about me?” mom Geraldine Kerr joked. “I still feel blessed, too. I knew it would be life changing. I felt as if I went vicariously.” Conley said those who were selected for the trip had to write letters that impressed Oprah’s production team enough with their stories to select them.
Said Conley: “There were people who had overcome some tough obstacles like cancer and other things. I wrote about how I was inspired by Oprah’s Legends’ Ball in which she honored trailblazers such as Dorothy Heights, Coretta Scott King and Maya Angelou. That ball reminded me of my grandmother and the legacy of education that she left. It made me deeply examine myself over the kind of legacy that I want to leave.” Kerr, who teaches as a college professor, said the trip gave them both a chance to become friends with people from around the country. “That was one of the best parts of the trip— making so many new friends,” Kerr said. “The other part, obviously, was Oprah. When she spoke to us as a group, she was so inspiring. She encouraged us to live out our dreams.” So, what did the two sisters do while they were in Australia? Lots. They took in cultural sites, enjoyed Australia’s people, and ate seafood and lots of fresh vegetables. You’ll have to watch The Oprah Show in mid month—around Jan. 17— to learn more.