Winterville Native Up for German Ambassadorship?

According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Winterville native Tom Harrold is being considered by the Obama administration for the ambassadorship to Germany.

Harrold, a quarterback for Athens High School in his youth and an Athens Y Camp alumnus, is known as one of the state's top international and economic development attorneys. He began his career at Fortston, Bentley & Griffin before moving to Atlanta (there he practices with Miller & Martin) and has been politically active for years.

Harrold, who characterized his candidacy as a "long shot" in an interview with the Chronicle, would join Mercer Reynolds and UGA Law Professor Don Johnson as the only individuals with strong local ties in recent years to serve as ambassadors that the Inbox is aware of.

Surveying The Athens Landscape

Athens is a perfect place if you enjoy well-landscaped environments. The University of Georgia boasts its own marked arboretum, the president's garden and test gardens full of specimen trees, shrubs and flowers on the main campus. Or visit the State Botanical Gardens, where you can easily get your fill of gorgeous landscaped environments full of unusual plants and trees.

For the more inspired searcher (like myself), one can also find some of the nation's best wholesale and retail nurseries in the region. Some of my favorite retailers are Goodness Grows (Lexington), Thyme after Thyme (Winterville), Cofer's (Athens), Outdoor Specialty (Watkinsville), Land Arts (Monroe), Pinebush Nursery (Ila), and Thomas' Orchard (Watkinsville). These nurseries feature everything from new cultivars of plants that have emerged from research at UGA by legendary professors like Dr. Michael Dirr and Dr. Allan Armitage to old favorites found on the side of the road released to the world by Athens entrepreneurs. Without these nurseries and their operators, the communities of Northeast Georgia would not be nearly as green.

Indeed, when the local watering bans came down last year, I was one of a few locals who decried the impact they had on the landscape industry, which deserve better treatment by our local governments given the jobs and economic benefits they create, never mind the aesthetic impact and strong use of rural land in our "greenbelts."

But perhaps the most spectacular gardens in Athens and surrounding can be found in a variety of private homes. One of the most impressive is featured in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This is the garden of UGA's legendary Coach Vince Dooley, who now officially qualifies as Athens' most famous gardener.

Coach Dooley's gardens feature a range of rare plants, old favorites, and new introductions in what looks like an amazing setting. Be sure to click on the link and check out the photos, story and video. As an amateur plantsman, I'm excited to hear that Coach Dooley and Dr. Dirr are also planning to include a number of rare plants at the new plaza that will honor Coach Dooley that is being installed near the track on Lumpkin.

Coach -- any chance a reporter from the Inbox can get a preview? Let us know!

Photo credits: AJC

Update: UGA and the Georgia Research Alliance have also announced the recruitment of an eminent scholar who happens to be a tree expert to UGA. Good news for trees and gardeners. The Research Alliance is a Jackson Spalding client.

The Train -- Is it (finally) coming?

Here at the Inbox, we've never been shy about cheering for the Brain Train. As an office full of people who make almost weekly trips back and forth to meet with associates at Jackson Spalding or clients in Atlanta, we will be dedicated users of the train the day it arrives. There is no question in our mind that when completed the "Brain Train" will have enormous economic benefits for Athens and the surrounding communities.

In the past two weeks, several events have occurred that make the Brain Train a much more likely occurrence.

First and foremost, Governor Sonny Perdue finally got on board with rail and transit, citing high gas prices and increasing use of GRTA buses. While he is focusing on a well-funded southern line first, many -- including myself -- believe that the Athens line (also known as the Brain Train) will ultimately be the more successful option given the fact that there is a destination at both ends that people will want to visit for work and play.

Second, in a move that received scant notice locally, Bill Kuhlke was named Chair of the Georgia Department of Transportation and strongly endorsed rail. Who is Mr. Kuhlke? He is our district's GDOT representative, and given his embrace of rail and the fact that he represents our congressional district, this has to be a positive for our area. It will certainly be a positive to have the Chair of GDOT looking in Northeast Georgia's direction a little more often.

This story at the Atlanta Business Chronicle offers a good idea of the many positive effects of the line will have. For Athens and its anti-poverty drive, I can't imagine anything that would be better for the local workforce than having a rail line to Gwinnett, which seems to generate just the type of skilled labor jobs we want here for the poor but can't get. The other potential benefits are enormous -- less traffic on 316; more productive commutes for anyone working at CDC, in Lawrenceville, at Emory, or in downtown or Midtown Atlanta; and a great option for tourists or those wanting to visit any of the communities along the route. From an economic development standpoint, having a strong, tangible, reliable link between all the institutions of higher education included in the map above will give us a strong advantage over many other communities.

Is the Gambler Coming Back to Athens?

According to today's Wall Street Journal, Kenny Rogers and his lady are planning a return to the Classic City.

This article details plans for Rogers -- a country icon of the 1970s and 1980s -- to sell his Atlanta mansion (pictured) and return to his "ranch" outside of Athens. I'm not sure if this is the one he used to live on near Winterville and Colbert called Beaver Dam Farms. Through the years, Kenny built a beautiful home and golf course out there. In the early 2000s the farm was sold to some speculators several years ago who then partnered with the Classic Center -- or a different location. There has not been much news about Beaver Dam Farms in recent months, so perhaps he has repurchased his former home.

Either way, welcome back, Kenny! It's good to see another country musician returning to the Classic City after time away -- once the Classic City gets in your system, you can't get it out. Let's have a Six Pack to celebrate!

P.S. Photos of the Rogers' Atlanta home and grounds are above. Note also that the referenced slideshow on the top photo does not work.

UPDATE: The AJC is reporting that Kenny's new home is on a 150 acre estate in Nicholson, just up the road in Jackson County. He describes it to AJC reporter Julie Hairston as "kind of like Disneyland with animals." Other details aside from the new home include a seven-acre lake stocked with fish and five miles of groomed trails for walking or biking.

From Athens to Asia: An Orient-ation

In recent weeks, the Georgia-China relationship has been much in the news. Governor Sonny Perdue traveled to China in early April with a delegation of 40 Georgians to talk trade and make several announcements, and also to celebrate the debut of Delta's direct routes to China.

While the AJC and many other media outlets accompanied the Georgia delegation, Northeast Georgians might still think that the only connection between Athens and China is the outstanding Chinese cuisine at Peking.

However, The Inbox recently learned that of Georgia’s 48 official delegates to China, 7 were from Athens – Maxine Burton (at left in the picture), Michael Burton, Emma Lou Hubbard (all from burton + BURTON); Winston Heard and Julia Menefield of the East Athens Development Corporation; and Steve Wrigley and Arnett Mace from the University of Georgia – and another was from Commerce: Gary Black, who is the president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council. Logically, this made The Inbox wonder about other Athens-China connections, and whether there is opportunity for local businesses in China, whether it is from a manufacturing standpoint or a sales standpoint.

Quickly, other local connections emerged:

• During the trip, the governor announced a partnership between UGA and Tsinghua University, a school of 27,000 students in northern Beijing.
• Something called the Georgia-China Alliance even lists an Athens street address as its headquarters.
• Mayor Davison visited China on a recent trip (which the local press then deemed a tourism junket).

This will be the first of a series of posts that will cover the Athens/Northeast Georgia-China relationship and what a stronger relationship with China could mean for this area.

For our first installment we dialed up two top local businesses to inquire about working in and with China, and some keen insights emerged. The two businesses are burton + BURTON, which utilizes facilities in seven countries (including several in China) but keeps its headquarters in Athens, and Tifosi Optics, which manufacturers its "enthusiastic eyewear" at five factories in China and Taiwan but does business worldwide. Tifosi is headquartered in Watkinsville. Summaries are below as well as links to the full interviews with both companies.

burton + BURTON

Founded in March of 1982 by Maxine Burton under the name Flowers, Inc. Balloons® as the balloon division of a retail and wholesale florist (Flowers, Inc.), burton + BURTON is an Athens business success story with more than 350 employees. Since its founding, the company has become the nation’s leading supplier of balloons and coordinating gift products. With an international customer base the company offers more than 15,000 different products which certainly necessitates the need for extensive and flexible manufacturing operations. According to CEO Bob Burton, the company first explored manufacturing in China in 1986, and began production there shortly thereafter. Why?

“Many of the products that we carry are no longer available from domestic suppliers,” said Mr. Burton. “If we wanted to continue to provide our customers with the variety of products they need, we had to find other sources. We also found that China was one of the few places that could meet the demand we were experiencing. Many of our products are very intricate pieces made by skilled artisans [note: see photos]. No domestic vendors can (or will) supply container-loads of hand-blown glass vases, or intricately woven handmade baskets at the competitive prices available from China.”

Bob’s wife and company founder, Maxine, was one of the delegates on the Georgia-China trip. She found it valuable for a number of reasons.

“The interaction with Chinese business leaders during the opening reception for the new Trade Office allowed us to exchange viewpoints on trade and to hear first-hand their perspective,” said Mrs. Burton. “It was also very valuable to meet others from the state of Georgia who are in the imports/exports business.”

Mrs. Burton is also a board member of the Georgia Ports Authority, which offers her a unique perspective on the two way relationship between the countries. She was quick to point out that Georgia enjoys a huge export business with China, and that containers travel fully loaded both ways, making trade with China is a two-way street. This result, she says, is a huge positive economic impact for the State of Georgia.

"It has been very eye-opening to learn the amount of products Georgia exports to China," says Mrs. Burton. "Georgia is a major exporter of forestry and agricultural products, and minerals like kaolin and gypsum. The Georgia Ports Authority has done an outstanding job of attracting business to the State, resulting in increased revenues for Georgia. Thanks to the job the GPA has done, Georgia ports are now the fastest growing ports in the United States."

There have been some lessons learned as burton + BURTON has grown and manufactured more goods overseas, and in China specifically. Consider this comment from Mr. Burton:

"There are significant challenges. Obviously there is the distance. There’s no such thing as a 'I need it tomorrow' project when dealing with overseas manufacturers. Most of our products will spend 4-6 weeks 'on the water' just getting to us. This is in addition to the time needed to produce the goods. There is also the time difference. Our working hours in the US are the middle of the night for the Chinese. When it is 8:00 am here, it is 8:00 pm in China. As a result, we rely heavily on e-mail.

"There’s no such thing as just 'going over to China to start-up operations.' Business owners who don’t spend time developing trusted relationships and learning the way Chinese businesses run will likely encounter major problems. Additionally, there is the learning curve associated with US customs and imports. Confusing trade tariffs and products 'stranded' in West Coast ports due to strikes are just two of the potential challenges we deal with."

But the most important lesson of all, according to Mr. Burton, isn't about business.

"Probably the biggest, and most rewarding lesson learned has been that when you put language, political, and cultural differences aside, our international vendors share many of the same goals as we do. We both want our businesses to be successful and to provide for our families and the families of our employees. We value friendship. We want safe places to raise our children, and a comfortable lifestyle. As we travel the world, and sit down with our international partners over dinner, face-to-face, and talk one-on-one, we see that we’re really not so different. The similarities in our overall goals make it easier to do business, despite the cultural and geographic barriers between us."

Wow. As I said, a lot to chew on, and I would encourage you to read the full interview here.

Tifosi Optics

When Joe Earley and his wife Elizabeth founded Tifosi in 2003 to provide an affordable, high-quality sunglass for the cycling market, he knew he'd have to manufacture his product in China.

"For our product category there is no domestic production for sunglasses," says Mr. Earley, who cut his teeth repping a variety of cycling gear and accessories, giving him unique insights into the needs of retailers and cyclists. "Whether they are $200 or $5, they are all made in China -- it really wasn’t that much of a discussion for us."

Today, Mr. Earley's company employs 16 at its Watkinsville headquarters, and is on a steady growth path. According to Mr. Earley, the benefits of manufacturing in China are many -- cost, quality, speed, etc. But there are challenges, especially on the communications side.

"For the most part, you deal with the factory and while the English is not perfect, as long as you are communicating through e-mail, you're okay," he says. "English is the common language for business, but it has gotten easier with Skype, which allows you to talk to them and show them the product at the same time."

According to Mr. Earley, specificity is the key.

"We’ve had products come in and not be what we expected them to be in production. The bottom line is you have to be very detailed when dealing with Asian production. Every little thing needs to be spelled out, every finite little detail, with absolutely no room for interpretation, especially from an artistic standpoint. The look and cosmetics of things is critical for our product and the judgment of our partners is not the same as an American consumer’s judgment. You can’t leave anything up to chance when specifying things."

Okay, so how does all this benefit Athens? Well, the bottom line is we have two global consumer and business products quietly headquartered in our community. While we might not get the manufacturing jobs we used to, it is doubtful whether we would have these headquarters at all without their ability to compete on a global scale -- there is no way to do that when you are mass producing goods in America that could be produced overseas. Both of these businesses return significant tax dollars and provide top quality jobs for people up and down the economic ladder in the region, from marketing, to administrative, to logistics, to executive level positions. The ripple effects of global consumer and business to business companies like Tifosi and burton + BURTON are enormous and will continue to grow -- as long as their headquarters stay here in the Athens area.

Be sure you read the full interviews with Mr. Earley and Mr. and Mrs. Burton, and stay tuned for future stories where we inquire about the American products the Chinese are using, the UGA-China relationship, what the future holds in terms of Athens-China and whatever else comes up as The Inbox researches this topic.

Many thanks to those who assisted with our research for this post, and please comment or e-mail to let us know if you know of other Athens-China connections, or have ideas on where this might go.

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.

Food Fore Thought

This week, the attention of the golf world is on Augusta. Next week, that focus will shift to Athens.

Okay, maybe not totally. But somewhat.

Indeed, the Athens-area's largest professional sports event arrives next week with the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, a Nationwide Tour event. This is the third year for the event, and it has grown dramatically each year. In 2007 it was a leader in both attendance and media coverage for the entire tour. This year more than 70 media with more than 20 organizations have already registered to cover the event.

A testimony to the quality of the event is the fact that Brandt Snedeker, a participant in the inaugural ARFC (who I was lucky enough to meet in the press room), was at the top of the leaderboard today in Augusta. The fact is, Athens has a remarkable number of outstanding golf courses -- including The Georgia Club, Athens Country Club, and the University of Georgia Golf Club -- that provide some great golf for local residents and visitors.

The tournament also reminds me of what a strong sports town Athens is and what that means for our economy. Whether it is UGA Football games in the fall, the myriad UGA spring and winter sports, or other events like ARFC, Twilight, the Athens Eco-Adventure Challenge, weekend road races, and high school sports, this area is a hub for athletics, and this is great for community marketing, economic development, and tourism.