Lend a Hand, Athens!

This Friday, September 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. a monumental event will occur at The Classic Center.

The Athens Volunteer Service Expo is going to be the place to be on Friday, so you better make plans to be there.

I can hear the questions now. "What is the Volunteer Service Expo? I've never heard of it before."

It's OK! In fact, this is the first time Athens has ever had something like this.

Over 40 nonprofits in the Athens/Oconee area have registered to set up a booth in the Athena ballroom in hopes they'll find some awesome volunteers to help serve in different capacities.

What does this mean for you?

The Athens Volunteer Service Expo is presenting the perfect opportunity for you to find an organization that fits your personality, your passions, your skills and your strengths the best. Let's face it, not everyone wants to volunteer for the same organization. This is YOUR CHANCE to find your perfect service niche!

The idea behind the Expo came from local philanthropist and former Mrs. Georgia, Sherri Goggin. After bringing on the support from Community Connection (aka HandsOn Northeast Georgia), things really started moving! Art Ordoqui-Payton of Community Connection helped recruit the attending nonprofits.

The bottom line is this: take 30 minutes out of your day, whether it's during lunch, after picking up the kids, after going to the gym, before your 2 o'clock meeting, or before you start happy hour before the Bama game, to stop by and support Athens and Oconee nonprofits.

Encourage your friends to come, too! It's more fun to tour around when you have a buddy.

Lend a Hand, y'all! I have a great feeling that Friday is going to be an awesome day.

Athens at Center of Palin E-mail Controversy?

Here at The Inbox, we try to avoid politics.

But AP is reporting that a Classic City technology business may be at the center of the controversy surrounding the hacking of Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin's e-mail. According to those reports, a local resident's internet anonymity service may have been used to protect the identity of the hacker. It is important to note that the business owner has not been implicated or accused of any wrongdoing, and plans to cooperate with authorities.

While local economic development leaders often talk about wanting high-tech businesses to come to Athens, I'm not sure if this is the kind of business or attention they expected!

......A Good Day at the Office

If you have a business in Athens, you're going to get asked to play in charity golf tournaments. If you have a decent golfer in your office, you'll find that you start getting asked to play about every week, especially in the Fall. We happen to have a two handicapper at our office, so of course, everyone in town suddenly wants your office (or more specifically, your ringer) to join their team for a fund raiser.

While there is some truth to the old adage that "a bad day on the golf course beats a good day at the office every time," I will add this axiom: A business day on the golf course makes for long nights and early mornings for those in the client service business. And whether you're in the office or not, you might wind up spending what should be a relaxing day on the course on your cell phone instead dealing with pressing issues.

So when I got an e-mail today announcing the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce's "Non-Tournament" Tournament fund raiser, I had to laugh. It's a great idea -- get the sponsors, have the party, do the socializing, but let everyone get some work done that day anyway. Here's what Chamber President Doc Eldridge had to say:

"A funny thing developed as people began to respond. The majority of you said they they were happy to do a tee sponsorship for $100, but PLEASE, don't ask me or my staff to take another day off from work and play in yet another golf tournament. There are at least 8 other tournaments within the next few weeks, and you like the rest of us have gotten worn out on spring and fall golf tournaments."

Kudos to Doc Eldridge for some creative thinking. Perhaps we could have a Golden Tee Machine brought in for the party and have have some Wii Golf for a mini-tournament anyway (video below). Chamber Press Release follows.
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This year golfers and businesses participating in the Chamber’s final fund raising event of the year won’t have to worry about Tee-times. Businesses won’t spend time figuring out who will be manning the store and who will be representing the company on the golf course. Players won’t be scrambling at the last minute to arrange a fourth, and nobody will be up all night finagling how to fit one more event-- and another golf tournament-- into an already typical and event filled season known as Fall in Athens.

There are even more benefits of the tournament this year: No worry about the weather. No worry about missed work. Even no worry about fudging on a handicap. In fact, no tournament. Just a celebratory scoring party for a job well done.

This year’s 4^th Annual Paul Miller Classic Golf Tournament will be a NON Tournament.

The day promises to have all the trappings of a major tournament, complete with tee sponsors, which keep coming in, says Chamber President and CEO Doc Eldridge. Members can end a productive day at work with a Scoring Party held in the Chamber’s comfortable and all-weather board room with drinks and hors d’œuvres to celebrate a productive day.

The event was started four years ago as a tribute to Paul Miller, the Chamber’s economic development director for some 20 years. “Paul brought business people together to plan how to make Athens a better place to live,” says Eldridge. “The tournament was begun to bring people together for a time of sport, fellowship and dreams for the future of the Athens area. We are continuing that tradition on Tuesday, October 7 with the Paul Miller Classic Golf Non Tournament. Instead of a day on the golf course, we’ll have the opportunity after work, traditionally the time when those manning the office joined the golfers.” All sponsors, says Eldridge, will be included in the scoring party.

There are other benefits as well. “With the virtual golf tournament, tee sponsors multiply exposure potentials. “Typically, the tee signs only reach the players, roughly 70 to 80,” says Eldridge, who adds that the players often are more interested in their game than the signs that decorate the course. “By having a non tournament tournament, we are increasing exposure to nearly 160,000 by combining the circulation of the Sunday page and e-mails to our many members in the coming weeks,” says Eldridge.

Businesses or individuals interested in sponsoring a tee may contact the Chamber at 706-549-6800, or simply email Doc at doc@athensga.com.

Jazzin' it up at the Melting Point

Last night was the Athens Chamber of Commerce's Mid-Year Event. Of course, Jackson Spalding had to make an appearance, so Ashley Harp and I decided to be each other's wing man (woman).

Held at The Melting Point, the Mid-Year Event hosted all kinds of Athens Chamber members from all parts of the community and a variety of industries - plus a few political hopefuls whose fate will be decided on Tuesday. I think the venue should have changed its name to the Melting POT just for last night.

Ashley and I walked into The Foundry ballroom, registered and put our cards (I dropped in my special Dawg Food card- sure to grab attention) in the pot for prize drawing. We then proceeded over to The Melting Point to make our name tags and schmooze with everyone.

We arrived around 5:50 p.m., and I was surprised to see so many people there already. We could hardly get in the door! Of course, that's a great compliment to the Chamber for having such an amazing turnout.

Ashley and I ho-hummed with other Athens locals, some from Georgia Power, Oconee County, Jackson EMC, Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Chamber employees. We had a couple of interesting conversations, but, for me, the neatest part was observing the interaction between everyone else.

Born and raised in Morristown, Tenn., I have a special place in my heart for small(er) towns. I love the different kind of atmosphere and sincerity of Athens versus a larger town. Everyone knew everyone. It was fabulous.

After a while, Doc Eldridge got up to make announcements and thank the sponsors of the event. Then came the doorprizes. Oh, yes.

Remember how I thought my Dawg Food card would catch the attention of the card-grabber? Well, it worked. My prize was...

Free meeting space for 50 people or less with free A/V included.

Yes! It couldn't have been better.

While the talking and prize-winning were important, Ashley and I decided to put food on the top of our priority list. We sampled some yummy ham sandwiches (freshly sliced), some pita chips with spinach dip, and, of course, dessert. A sampling of chocolate chip cookie bars, a peanut butter cookie and some crazy truffles graced our taste buds. All of it hit the spot.

The best part of the evening was the jazz music provided by Athens' own SQUAT. Of course, jokes were made about the Chamber "knowing squat" (bah ha ha), but everyone quickly got over that.

SQUAT was voted the No. 1 jazz band in town by the Flagpole, and I believe it. I'll let you decide for yourself if they are worth it.



I hope I didn't forget anything. Overall, it was a great Thursday event, and it made me proud to be a pseudo-Athenian. So, kudos to Doc and the Chamber team. You put on a great event!

From Both Sides of the Aisle

The Navy School hosted members of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce this morning (bright & early!) for a post-legislative wrap session. Each member of the local delegation spoke for a few minutes about what the session accomplished from his perspective. It was clear that the failure of the Speaker's "Great Plan" and the Lt. Gov.'s counter plan for tax reform left a bad taste in the mouths of both the houses and members of both parties. The inability to compromise on funding for the statewide trauma network and transportation improvements was mentioned in spades by the delegation.

Big news for Athens includes:
* funding to bring the Medical College of Georgia to a satellite campus in Athens
* funding for UGA's pharmacy school
* tax incentives for tourism destinations
* tax incentives for the film industry
* a water management plan

Here are the highlights from each member of the delegation and my take on each one:

Rep. Keith Heard (D-114)
- Emphasized accomplishments for UGA, including a 2.5% raise for faculty
- $10 million investment secured to bring the Medical College of Georgia to Athens with a satellite campus housed in The Navy School after it relocates to Newport, R.I.
- $1 million for a rare books collection at UGA
- Heard also referenced bills intended to boost the state's tourism efforts with incentives for companies building designated tourist destinations and one to offer tax credits to production companies.

For six years, I lived in Wilmington, N.C., known affectionately as "Wilmywood" for playing home to the popular series Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill as well as numerous films. North Carolina created a similar incentive package to attract companies to Wilmington's Screen Gems Studios but were often unable to compete with the breaks given in Canada. It will be interesting to see if Georgia can.

Sen. Ralph Hudgens (R-47)
- Hudgens openly stated that he felt the session was hijacked by the personal agendas of Speaker Richardson and Lt. Gov. Cagle.
- His opposition to the proposed tax plans was that they were tax shifts, just taking the same money in a different manner and, in some cases, penalizing certain groups with the shift.
- Emphasized that there's no tax cut until the spending is reduced - in other words, you can't have less money and keep spending the same amount.
- He's now pushing for a regional TSPLOST for Oconee, Clarke, Barrow and Gwinnett to fund clover-leafing 316 and implementing the Brain Train.

Hudgens was the most vocally disappointed in the way things played out on tax reform. He clearly didn't support either one of the proposed plans and felt that the reform should be handled differently through tax credits issued for ad valorem taxes. It's ironic to hear a politician so riled up about the politics of politics.

Rep. Bob Smith (R-113)
- Smith was the first to mention the state's overall budget and commented that it was a good budget and good for all of Georgia.
- Smith spoke about a couple of items near and dear to my heart - including a tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic properties. He also mentioned a similar credit for donation of conservation land.
- He spent the greater portion of his allotted time talking about the partnership between Medical College of Georgia and UGA, and also noted the $4 million in funding for the University's pharmacy school.

Smith felt like the media overplayed what didn't get done and wanted to emphasize what did get done. I think they were all feeling like they'd taken a public beating for the session's failures. But Smith was very positive about what the delegation accomplished for the local area and indicated several bills and resolutions that will boost the economy or bring business to the area.

Senator Bill Cowsert (R-46)
- Cowsert admitted a lot of frustration with the lack of resolution on the tax reform and trauma care. However, he did note his satisfaction with the outcome of two of his highest priorities: the water plan and bringing the medical college to Athens.
-He noted that the Georgia Chamber of Commerce considered this its most productive legislative effort ever - a sign that business interests were upheld during the session.
-Cowsert also plugged the water plan, saying that the state was taking a sensible approach by measuring resources, managing resources and implementing a system of checks and balances between environmental, governmental, business and residential needs.

Cowsert, though disappointed in the outcome of the session in some respect, voiced his belief in a silver lining. The conversation about tax relief is open, both sides have fired, and now is the opportunity for consensus building. Ever mindful of reaching his constituents, he also led off with a plug for his campaign kickoff on Tuesday at the Oconee County Civic Center.

Rep. Doug McKillip (D-115)
- McKillip, who serves on the Natural Resources Committee, lauded the water plan and the efforts on Jekyll Island. He said both were items that he studied carefully and felt like the right people were in place to address the issues.
- While he doesn't endorse the Speaker's "Great Plan" he did credit Richardson with starting an energetic debate about tax reform. He went on to describe how he's planning to continue examining the issue in preparation for next year's session.
- He emphasized that he hopes Georgia will continue to seek progressive efforts over regressive efforts.

McKillip was last in line to speak and wasn't left with much to cover in the way of this year's session. Instead, he addressed his thoughts about the future. He's a big proponent of earned income tax credits and plans to take the time away from the Hill to examine the full-meal-deal tax system, from income tax to sales tax to property tax and rethink it.

In just an hour, I got a sense of the intense atmosphere in this year's session and the immense complexity of how government works. Nothing is as simple as it seems - and if someone makes it sound simple, you should probably start asking questions.

All in all, I have great respect for the delegation and what they do. It's clear - whether you agree with their politics or not - that these men are truly committed to doing what they think is best for the communities they serve. And we have to give them credit for raising their hands to go to the Hill and continue making this area a great place to live and work.

Thanks to the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and the event sponsors - AAA Sanitation, Chastain & Associates Insurance, Athens Area Habitat for Humanity, Heyward Allen, and Wachovia - for putting together this informative session for the local business community.