January 2010 Newsletter

Featured Articles Your Opinion Counts! 2010 Job Tax Credit Rankings GEDA Scholarships Available Jekyll Island Revitalization Showcase Membership Renewals 2010 Census Membership Renewals Don't wait.  Renew your membership in GEDA today. The 2010 dues invoice/directory update has been sent to all members.  Thank you to those of you who have already renewed and provided updates.  There's still time to  Renew Your Membership 2010 Census! Georgia's Complete Count Committee wants you!   The Georgia Census Complete Count Committee, appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue in October, has just launched a comprehensive Census 2010 website at www.census.georgia.gov, and invites all local Complete Count Committees to visit the Local Communities page and let DCA know who you are and what you're doing.  If your community or special interest group has formed a complete count committee, please let DCA know about it and check out the rest of the website for resources and other information of interest. The Georgia Complete Count Committee is co-chaired by Mike Beatty, Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, and Debra Lyons, Director of the Governor's Office of Workforce Development. For further information, please contact the Georgia CCC at census@dca.ga.gov or call 404.679.3147.

Your Opinion Matters What would you like to see in 2010? Happy New Year!  GEDA would like to start the year off by offering you the opportunity to provide feedback and ideas about YOUR association.  What would you like more/less of in 2010?  What did you like about 2009 or previous years.  We plan to offer these surveys frequently and hope that you will take the time to answer the questions honestly and thoughtfully.   The survey should take only a few minutes of your time.  Your input and suggestions are valuable and we look forward to hearing from you.   Click Here to take the survey.  2010 Job Tax Credit Rankings The 2010 Job Tax Credit Rankings and Less Developed Census Tract Listing are now available and may be accessed at: http://www.dca.ga.gov/economic/TaxCredits/programs/documents/2010MemoandRankingdetail.pdf Additional information on the Job Tax Credit Program, including regulations and forms, may be found on DCA’s Job Tax Credit web page at: http://www.dca.ga.gov/economic/TaxCredits/programs/taxcredit.asp Please feel free to contact DCA at (404) 679-1587 or brian.williamson@dca.ga.gov, or Dawn Sturbaum at (404) 679-1585 or dawn.sturbaum@dca.ga.gov, with any questions or for further information.     GEDA Scholarship Opportunities  Are you a GEDA member in good standing who is interested in professional development and continuing education?  If so, deadlines for several GEDA scholarship opportunities are approaching.  Don’t miss out!  GEDA scholarship application deadlines for International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) courses are 30 days prior to the course.  If you are interested in taking IEDC or EDFP courses in February or March, please get your scholarship applications submitted soon. Also, the deadline for the Georgia Tech Basic Economic Development Course scholarship is March 5, 2010.  The dates of the course are March 23-26, 2010. *APPLICATIONS* for all awards and scholarships can be found on the Professional Development Committee section of GEDA’s website. IEDC Upcoming Courses February 17-19, 2010 Economic Development Finance Programs Lansing, MI March 3-5, 2010 Economic Development Credit Analysis Los Angeles, CA March 18-19, 2010 Economic Development Strategic Planning Springfield, MO EDFP Upcoming Courses March 22-26, 2010 ED 300: The Art of Deal Structuring Charleston, WV                                                             For more information, contact Committee Chair Leah Blasingame. Jekyll Island Revitalization Showcase Attention Hospitality Developers and Investors Discover the unique hospitality development opportunities associated with the revitalization of Jekyll Island! January 20-21, 2010 Jekyll Island Convention Center, Jekyll Island, Georgia.For more information and registration, Click Here

Upcoming Events January 14, 2010 - Legislative Reception, Rail Depot. REGISTER! February - No Program March 15, 2010 - Monthly Luncheon, Hotel Palomar Upcoming Committee Meetings The following committees have upcoming meetings via conference call.  Please contact committee chiars for call instructions and details. Public Policy - Friday, January 8th at 11am.  Committee Chair Andrew Schutt Business Retention & Expanson - Monday, January 11th at 3pm.  Committee Chair Brian Dill Member Services - Tuesday, January 12th at 2pm.  Committee Chair NIki Knox   Connect with GEDA Easiest Way to Receive Updates Real Simple Synidcation (RSS) feeds are now available for this new version of the GEDA Gazette.  At the very bottom of this screen, you will seen several words - one of them is "RSS."  Click on RSS and you will go to a sign up page for the RSS feeds.  Once there, you can name the feed, place it in a folder, etc.  Once you have finished this - whenever a new Gazette is published, it will automatically appear in your RSS Feed folder (which is in Microsoft Outlook for many people.)  This is the easiest and quisckest way to get the LATEST updates from GEDA!