October 2012 Newsletter

Featured Articles Annual Conference Wrap Economic Outlook Series IMPORTANT - Public Policy IEDC Salary Survey Can You Crack the Code? App of the Month Upcoming Events   IMPORTANT!!  From the Public Policy Committee Proposed Rules & Regulations The Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR) has released the proposed rules and regulations for the sales and use tax exemption on energy used in manufacturing.  This is only a proposed draft.  DOR will hold a public hearing on November 14 at 10am in Suite 15210 at their headquarters (1800 Century Blvd, NE; Atlanta, GA 30345.)  All comments must be received by 10am on November 14th. Comments can be emailed or faxed to 404-417-2293.  Please reference "Notice Number SUT 2012-010" on all comments. IEDC Salary Survey Bi-Annual Survey Going Out Soon The International Economic Development Council will soon be soliciting data for the 2012 Salary Survey. GEDA is partnering with IEDC on this survey, so that we can provide you with current and relevant data.  Once the data has been compiled and all analysis completed, GEDA will provide you access to the Georgia-specific results.  The report should be available in the first part of 2013. The report will be organized into several sections.  The Salary Tables section presents data on base annual salary and total compensation by personal, career-related, and  organizational characteristics.   Be on the lookout for an email from IEDC/Readex - the company hired to perform the survey.   Can You Crack the Code? Maybe you've already heard, but GEDA is celebrating 50 years in 2013!!  One of the most exciting parts of this will be the unveiling and opening of a time capsule created at our 25th Anniversary in 1988.  Can you guess the code?  Email your guess.  The first email that comes in with the correct code will win a special prize (although I don't know what yet).  It's fun, it's free-why not?

Annual Conference Wrap ... and what a great conference it was!!  Survey results are in (thank you for responding!) and you confirmed what we knew - you loved it!  Thank you and congratulations to Angie Gheesling and her team for another great conference!  Here are some of the highlights: GEDA Awards Ceremony GEDA was able to recognize our best and brightest at the Wednesday evening ceremony, emceed by Timothy Wang.  Deal of the Year awards were presented to Dublin-Laurens County (Dinex Emissions), Rome-Floyd County (Lowe's Distribution), Augusta-Richmond County (Starbucks), Athens-Clarke and Oconee Counties (Caterpillar), and the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties (Baxter.)   Individual awards went to Morris Jordan with the Development Authority of Walton County as Volunteer of the Year and Al Hodge with the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce as our 2012 Rip Wiley Award for Professional Excellence recipient. Congratulations to all of our winners! Officer/Director Elections  Here are your new Officers and Directors for 2013! Officers Chair - JoAnne Lewis; 1st Vice Chair - Angie Gheesling; 2nd Vice Chair - Tim Evans; Secretary-Treasurer - Greg Wright; Immediate Past Chair - Misti Martin. Directors 2011-2013: Anna Chafin, Nancy Cobb, Missy Kendrick, Saralyn Stafford 2012-2014: Elyse Cochran, Gretchen Corbin, Ricky McGee, Andrea Schruijer 2013-2015: Mary Ellen McClanahan, Sen. Jeff Mullis, Charles Stallworth, Greg Torre Congratulations to the entire new leadership team!   And don't forget ... you can still see speaker presentations, photos from the event (thank you Matt Forshee) and thank our conference sponsors!    Economic Outlook Series 11 Locations from Now through January The Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia will once again host Georgia Economic Outlook luncheons across the state over the next few months.  GEDA is very pleased to be a sponsor of the series again this year.  From their website, "The Georgia Economic Outlook series annually draws several thousand influentialbusiness and governmental leaders to luncheons around the state. Directed by the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, this popular program has become the most comprehensive and detailed look at the future economy in Georgia." Georgia Economic Outlook Luncheons this year will be held: November 29, Atlanta December 3, Columbus December 4, Albany December 10, Augusta December 11, Macon January 9, Swainsboro January 17, Savannah January 18, Jekyll Island January 23, Athens January 29, Dalton  For more information, visit the Terry College website.

2012 Events Calendar October 15.  Consultants Panel at the Georgia Tech Hotel. November 19.  November luncheon at the Delta Heritage Museum! December.  NO MEETING.  Happy Holidays! New Members in September! Shaun Adams, ACCG Reed Benson, National Community Development Services Susan Contreras, Georgia Dept. of Economic Development Juli Golemi, Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute Brynn Grant, Savannah Economic Development Authority Keith McNeely, Athens-Clarke Human & Economic Development Nick Mulkey, Student Jon Pannell, Gray, Pannell & Woodward LLP Gina Webb, Terrell County Chamber of Commerce Grant Whitworth, Whitworth Land Corp. Jim Woodward, Gray, Pannell & Woodward LLP App of the Month This month's app provides a fun, safe, effective way to communicate with your contacts.  VOXER is part walkie-talkie, part social media tool, part mobile communications genius.  It is very simple - once you have connected through Voxer to a contact, you can send instant voice messages to each other, a lot like a walkie-talkie.  It's very fun to use and extremely easy to get set up.  You can even have multiple people in one "conversation" and turn it into a group chat or discussion!  FREE on both iPhones and Droid phones.  Visit Voxer online or download it today.  (And look for me in your contacts!) Have an app to recommend to us?   Fill out this simple form.    Upcoming Events 35th World Energy Engineering Conference. October 31-November 2 at the World Congress Center. Select "Member/Government/Non-Profit" and enter 'WEECGA' as an e-special code to get a discounted registration. Energy Solutions for the Southeast. November 28-30 at the UGA-Tifton Campus Conference Center. Energy Sources, Energy Production, Energy Efficiency, Energy Savings ...