accent gwinnett magazine

“Gwinnett County currently has a population that is larger than four of the states in our nation as well as the District of Columbia,” announced Gwinnett Technical College President Sharon Rigsby during the February 26, 2007 State Capitol press conference. With such tremendous growth come challenges and opportunities. In an effort to meet those challenges, state and key community leaders have developed Partnership Gwinnett, a strategy that is designed to produce more than 65,400 jobs during the next five years — 50,000 of those in high-wage industry sectors — in Gwinnett County.

Partnership Gwinnett is a five-year, $10 million community and economic development initiative to develop a consensus vision for Gwinnett’s future growth and an action plan to achieve it. Every successful community across the country has participated and become engaged in a process of evaluating its economic opportunities and challenges. However, most communities wait until they experience a significant decline before engaging in such a process to try and turn their community around. A steering committee comprised of a broad cross section of our community chose to be proactive and take steps while Gwinnett is still a great place to live, work, and play.

Partnership Gwinnett Co-Chair, Bill McCargo of Scientific Atlanta.

Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce President Jim Maran announced that Chamber Vice Presidents Nick Masino and Demming Bass will lead the Chamber’s involvement in Partnership Gwinnett with Stephanie L. Hopkins serving as its new Director.

Gwinnett County has reached a critical juncture in its history. As the second largest county in the State of Georgia, Gwinnett is a major economic player and must proactively reorient local and external perceptions to embrace that reality. Having set a goal of economic diversification and wealth creation, it’s essential to focus on strategies specifically related to generating and sustaining local jobs in the target business sectors identified for high quality job growth potential in Gwinnett; namely Health Care; Distribution and Trade; Headquarters, Regional Offices, and Professional Services; Information Technology; and Advanced Communications. If successful, Partnership Gwinnett will add almost $6 billion to Gwinnett’s economy alone.

Bill McCargo, Vice President of Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco Company, and Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce President Jim Maran met last year to brainstorm about improving our great county. Over that past nine months, with funding from the public and private sector, the Partnership Gwinnett steering committee studied Gwinnett’s economic indicators and trends. Market Street Services, one of the nation’s leading economic development consultants, led the visioning process and together with the Economic Development staff of the Chamber surveyed more than 2,500 people in Gwinnett.

A Competitive Assessment compared Gwinnett to three benchmark communities in four areas that are crucial to the economic development competitiveness of an area: education and workforce development, infrastructure, business costs and capacity, and quality of life. A Target Business Analysis analyzed quantitative and qualitative research in order to determine priority target industry sectors for Gwinnett County to pursue. It included an analysis of current business concentrations, future projections and an assessment of Gwinnett’s current workforce development capacity for each sector. More than 2,500 Gwinnettians participated in three stakeholder meetings for key community representatives, dozens of in-depth interviews and targeted focus groups and an online survey to gather as much public input as possible.

At the end of this process, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and its partners now have a strategy focused on the community’s most pressing needs and the action steps necessary to achieve success. The steering committee and all of the partnering organizations unanimously agreed that the Gwinnett Chamber would be the “keeper of the goals” in the implementation of Partnership Gwinnett. Bill McCargo, will chair the Partnership Gwinnett Implementation Committee and has recruited outstanding community leaders who will lead the effort to accomplish Partnership Gwinnett’s four major goals. The goals are ambitious, measurable and attainable.

Our vision is that Gwinnett will be known as an inclusive community where businesses thrive and residents maximize their potential through world-class schools, opportunities for life-long learning, a vibrant economy, diverse partnerships and a superior quality of life.

The Economic Diversification and Wealth Creation Committee will be chaired by Randy Dellinger, Jackson Electric Membership Corporation commercial/industrial marketing representative. Its objectives are:

Goal 2:
Education and Workforce Excellence The Education and Workforce Excellence

Committee will be chaired by Barbara King, Executive Vice President of Primerica Financial Services. Its objectives are:

The Qualify of Life Enhancements Committee will be chaired by Brett Harrell, Executive Director of the Gwinnett 78 Community Improvement District. Its objectives are:

The Marketing and Outreach Committee will be chaired by Denise Townsend, President of Wellsys Corp. Its objectives are:

As you look at Partnership Gwinnett’s goals, you may be asking, “Can it be done?” Based on the results of Partnership Gwinnett’s research and the public’s response, the answer is a resounding “YES.”

The leadership and resources are available —the will to succeed is building. As the Partnership Gwinnett campaign moves into high gear, local business and community leaders will be investing their time and financial resources to meet challenging goals over the next five years.

The time is now for Gwinnett to make a strong step forward toward sustainable long term economic prosperity for its companies and residents. The time is now for Gwinnett to competitively compete for quality jobs not only against Birmingham or Boston, but also Beijing and Bangalore. The time is now to propel Gwinnett forward from a good community to a great one.

Please join us in supporting this exciting and important public-private initiative. If your organization would like to be involved or if you would like additional information please contact Stephanie Hopkins at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and visit the Partnership Gwinnett
website which is www.partnershipgwinnett.com.

Accent Gwinnett has used its best efforts in assembling material for this list but does not warrant that the information contained herein is complete or accurate, and does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by error or omissions herein whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause. Advertising in Accent Gwinnett is not linked in any way to the selection of doctors in this issue or any future issues. Any information provided is not a substitute for the professional judgment of a qualified heath care provider based upon actual examination of a patient’s condition and history.