Entrepreneur-Friendly Communities in Georgia

Successful entrepreneurship depends on good entrepreneurs, but it can also be helped by a business climate and environment that is supportive of new and fast-growing ventures. A new program in Georgia is trying to encourage more communities to actively embrace the work of entrepreneurs and to support the development of their companies. The Georgia Department of Economic Development and Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute have started a new initiative to recognize “Entrepreneur-Friendly Communities” http://www.georgia.org/esbd/index.asp and the first two designees, Douglas-Coffee County and Valdosta-Lowndes County, were recognized last week. Leaders in both communities underwent a vigorous training program, and also sponsored a two-day assessment to examine new programs and policies that could help spur more homegrown business development. These two regions are the first of what should be many “entrepreneur-friendly” communities in Georgia.

To learn more about this effort and other programs to support entrepreneurship in Georgia, visit http://www.georgia.org

(Thanks to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship for passing this along- Russ)

**********

Welcome to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship, an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through e-News, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving the innovation economy. Current and archived issues of e-News are available online at http://www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde/news/enews.htm. To subscribe, visit http://www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde/join/