CREATE 2024

Small business - The fabric of Georgia communities

Preparing communities for growth goes beyond the recruitment of new headquarters or industry. According to the Main Street America survey, economic development is more often created by local entrepreneurs, with 70% of local businesses started by individuals residing in those same communities.

That’s why in May of 2022 Georgia Power Economic Development launched CREATE (Cultivating Rural Entrepreneurs and Transforming Economies) – to help rural leaders grow their small towns and cities from within. CREATE helps economic development champions create and implement small business growth plans. These plans can improve economic resilience and enhance the quality of life for those who live, work, and learn in rural areas. Rural communities (defined by those with populations of 50,000 or fewer) are home to over 2 million residents of Georgia and play a prominent role in Georgia’s culture and economy.

“Entrepreneurship to me is all those individual and small business efforts in a community that are self-reliant, they lead to sustainability, and they build that fabric of the community. It's why you want to live there, it’s why you want to shop there, it's why you want to go to the downtown and walk around. That's what entrepreneurship means to me,” Scott Purvis, Regional Economic Development Manager, South Region.

Scott and the regional economic development team learned a lot from the first cohort of CREATE and were excited to bring those lessons to the 2024 participants. CREATE applicants were required to complete an application and identify five to six champions to participate in the program alongside the team leader(s).

The selected communities for the 2024 CREATE program include participants from Gilmer, Habersham, Jefferson, Putnam, and Tift counties. CREATE champions traveled to the Georgia Experience Center in Atlanta for a 2-day intensive training to learn about entrepreneurship support systems, to connect with resource providers and organizations in Georgia, and to begin the work of developing their plans together.

The program wouldn’t be possible, without an all-star lineup from Team Georgia partners including:

• Matt Wagner, Matt Wagner, Ph.D., Chief Innovation Officer, Main Street America
• Allen Fox, Director of Small Business Outreach, Georgia Department of Economic Development
• Dr. Paula Englis, Dana Professor of Management & Entrepreneurship at Berry College
• Chris Clay, Director of Lending, Access for Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE)
• Jim Strauss, Certified Mentor, Small Business Administration’s Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)
• Rob Martin, Entrepreneur Outreach Specialist for Southwest Georgia, University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

Members from Georgia Power Economic Development also led and facilitated several of the program’s sessions, supported by Georgia Power Area Managers from the respective regions.

What’s Next

It’s only a few weeks after the two-day program, but this year’s CREATE leaders are excited about how the lessons will impact their regions.

“No community wants to have a revolving door of businesses. We want to see them thrive once they've made their investment. The CREATE program offered a lot of tools to help us make that a reality," shared Kent Sanford, Greater Gilmer Joint Development Authority.

In addition to facilitating a best practices discussion with alumni from the first CREATE, Georgia Power’s Regional Economic Development Managers will support the communities as they finalize their strategies. This includes business insights, marketing support, and additional tools on building a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Check back soon to follow the journey of these rural communities as they develop their community into a strong, diverse, and resilient economy.