County, Cities Endorse Financing Vehicle for New Development

The Troup County Commission and city councils of LaGrange and Hogansville are in favor of tax allocation districts to spur economic development in areas that might otherwise be shunned by developers. Under the financing vehicle (referred to as a TAD or tax allocation district), the government continues to receive property tax revenue from the district, but increases generated by new investment would be used to retire a 25- to 30-year bond issue that pays for infrastructure and other capital costs up front. Once the bonds are retired, the government gets the full tax revenue.

Six TAD referendums were on the ballot in Georgia last year, and West Point’s was the only one that passed - with 81 percent of the vote - “because we’re looking at a way to improve the human condition,” said West Point Mayor Drew Ferguson IV. “It’s not just something you put on the ballot and have a couple of articles in the newspaper and hope for the best.”

TADs also tie into many of the goals of a recently completed EI2 study on making Troup County a more livable community, he said, adding, “It’s about quality of life, and elimination of slums and blight.”

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Meadows Regional Recognized as Best Community Hospital

Congratuations to our friends at Meadows Regional Medical Center, which was just named one of America's 16 Best Community Hospitals by Becker's Hospital Review. The 87-bed hospital in Vidalia was selected for this honor for a number of reasons. It is the only Joint Commission-accredited hospital in a four-county area and provides a number of services to its patients including cancer care, critical care, heart care, orthopedics, radiology, pediatrics, urology, emergency care, women's services and rehabilitation. Meadows Regional has been named to Thomson Reuters' list of 100 Top Hospitals for three years in a row and received HealthGrades' Outstanding Patient Experience Award in 2009. The hospital is also five-star rated by HealthGrades in hip fracture repair and respiratory services and received the Georgia Hospital Association's Economic Impact Award in 2006.

Beginning in 2006, EI2 worked with Meadows to implement lean principles in its emergency department. As a result, average length of stay per patient dropped by 44 percent, physicians are seeing more patients per hour than before and 92 percent of patients indicated they were satisfied with their experience.

To see the whole list of 16 Best Community Hospitals, as well as America's 10 Best Hospitals, click here.

 

Adhesives Manufacturer Taps EI2 Resources for Energy Savings

Bostik, a sealant and adhesive manufacturer in Calhoun, Ga., selected EI2 to identify areas where energy improvement could be realized, communicate industry best practices and provide advice and consultation on the procurement of diagnostic tools for energy reduction purposes. Jessica Brown, EI2 project manager, made a number of recommendations for Bostik, including utilizing more efficient fluorescent bulbs, reducing peak load by staggering equipment startup, relocating the air compressor intake from indoors to outdoors, discontinuing the unnecessary use of compressed air, reducing boiler blow-down in the summer, recovering steam condensate and properly insulating the boiler and steam piping.

Bostik has reduced its energy consumption by an estimated 56 percent, saving $40,000. Employees have expanded their knowledge of energy reduction practices and EI2 continues to be a resource to facilitate continuing education in energy reduction. In addition, the energy audit yielded non-monetary results: a “cultural shift” towards energy reduction awareness and a reduced corporate energy footprint.

To read the full story, click here.

Georgia Tech Companies Boost Atlanta Venture Capital Numbers

Companies based on Georgia Tech innovations helped boost Atlanta's venture capital investment during 2009 -- though overall investment for the year was down.  In its AtlanTech blog, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that during the third quarter of the year, three Atlanta companies raised a total of $80 million.

Two of those three companies are based on Georgia Tech innovations and were incubated in ATDC, Georgia Tech's science and technology incubator.  The companies are Suniva, which makes high-efficiency solar cells, and CardioMEMS, a maker of implantable medical devices.

Read the full article here.

EI2 Helps North Georgia Metal Fabricator Increase Production and Sales

Fabritex, a 20-year-old Hartwell, Ga. manufacturer, has grown into a 55-employee, 110,000-square-foot facility with an emphasis on tube fabrication and sheet and plate fabrication. They manufacture everything from tubular wire carriers to stem baskets to annealing process materials. In 2007, a customer asked about producing a new product line within a specific timeframe and gradually ramping up production to cut cost. To determine the most efficient way to do so, Fabritex called on EI2.

According to Fabritex president Lee Adams, the process is now streamlined and more efficient. The company has made nearly $300,000 in capital investments, saved $100,000 and increased sales by more than $1 million. The company also created eight jobs and doubled production.

In fact, the value stream mapping project proved so successful that the company has continued to partner with Georgia Tech. Dan Trier, sales and marketing manager, has already taken several classes offered through GTPAC that helps Georgia businesses identify, compete for and win government contracts.

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Harold Shlevin, Biosciences Industry Executive, Joins ATDC as a Manager and Catalyst

Harold H. Shlevin, Ph.D., a 30-year biosciences-industry executive and researcher, has joined Georgia Tech's Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) as manager of ATDC-Biosciences. He will serve as a startup catalyst advising new bioscience companies within the ATDC.
  
Shlevin was previously vice president for operations and commercial development and head of operations for Altea Therapeutics Corp., a company focused on the delivery of biotherapeutics and small drugs through the skin. From 2006-2008, Shlevin was founder and CEO of Tikvah Therapeutics Inc., an ATDC member company that focused on late-stage clinical development of neuroscience therapeutics and device products.
  
In his new ATDC position, Shlevin will evaluate and guide new and emerging bioscience enterprises that are based on Georgia Tech research innovations as well as others across Georgia. He will work with Nina Sawczuk, a veteran biosciences entrepreneur who is now ATDC's assistant director for biosciences,
responsible for supporting the commercialization of bioscience innovation throughout the state.

To read the complete announcement, follow this link.

HVAC and Plumbing Company Grows with EI2 Assistance

When Sadat Nichols and Al Shepherd started ARS Mechanical, an HVAC and plumbing service provider, they knew it would be imperative to tap into outside resources. In 2005, Nichols became familiar with the Georgia Statewide Minority Business Enterprise Center (GMBEC), funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency and operated by EI2.

Donna Ennis, GMBEC project director, has assisted ARS Mechanical with a number of projects, including helping the company secure bonding, lines of credit and other financing; providing proposal writing assistance; and helping the company implement ISO 9001:2008, a quality management system. Ennis also nominated ARS Mechanical for the 2007 Regional Construction Firm of the Year Award, given by the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency; the company beat out eight other firms in the Southeast.

Most recently, Ennis assisted Nichols and Shepherd with writing a proposal that landed ARS Mechanical a contract with Fort Gordon to implement an innovative geothermal heat pump project, leading to potential long-term energy savings. The $1.7 million project will convert 11 buildings, totaling 32,500 square feet, from traditional HVAC systems to deep-well geothermal heat pump systems, which use the thermal properties of the Earth to provide heating and cooling. According to estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, energy bills for those structures could decrease by as much as 40 percent.

To read the full story, click here.

Piedmont Newnan Hospital and EI2 Present at National Conference

More than 75 surgical services leaders across the country recently heard about how Piedmont Newnan Hospital was able to decrease its turnaround times by 30 percent and increase case cart accuracy to 100 percent with a little assistance from Georgia Tech. Pam Murphy, director of surgical services at Piedmont Newnan Hospital, and Jennifer Trapp-Lingenfelter, a project manager for EI2, presented at a workshop at the OR Manager conference in Las Vegas, Oct. 7. The six-hour workshop, “Implementing Lean in the OR,” explained how operating rooms can facilitate lean projects and, more importantly, how to sustain the improvements.

Piedmont Newnan began working with EI2 in December 2007. As a result of the lean implementation, case carts can now be pulled in five minutes versus 20 minutes and the overall case cart accuracy has risen from 50 percent to as high as 100 percent. Whereas staff would open all supplies prior to this project, they now refer to “do not open” bins, items that may be used in a case but do not need to be opened until that time. The bins have yielded a projected savings of $118,000 annually. Piedmont Newnan has also been able to increase its percentage of on-time procedure starts and decrease after-hours cases.

To read the full story, click here.

EI2 Helps Marietta Janitorial Company Land Government Contracts

In 1996, Toney Sellers, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, decided he wanted to start a janitorial company. Unique Cleaning Service, Inc. began with commercial clients, and by 2000, had branched into the federal arena. Over the past nine years, Unique Cleaning’s government contracts have grown from one to more than 60, a feat Sellers attributes partially to Georgia Tech’s Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC).

At least one staff member from Unique Cleaning has attended every GTPAC seminar on topics as varied as preparing successful bids and proposals, understanding the General Services Administration schedules process, using the computer to win government contracts and marketing to state and local governments. They have also contacted procurement counselors Joe Beaulieu and Chuck Schadl to prepare a Freedom of Information Act request and provide information on small business size standards.

Unique Cleaning has grown from a one-person business to more than 125 employees today, with contracts from Massachusetts to Puerto Rico to Oregon. The company, which has increased its revenue from $225,000 its first year, is now targeting the $10 million threshold. Unique Cleaning Service, Inc. now generates approximately 90 percent of its revenue from government-related contracts.

To read the full story, click here.

Entrepreneur Nina Sawczuk Joins ATDC as Assistant Director for Biosciences

Veteran biosciences entrepreneur Nina Sawczuk has joined Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) as assistant director for biosciences.  In this role, she will support the commercialization of bioscience innovation throughout the state of Georgia.

For the past ten years, Sawczuk has served as CEO of Zygogen LLC, an Atlanta-based biotechnology company that advanced the use of zebra fish for drug screening.  Prior to co-founding that company, she served in drug discovery, biotechnology consulting and business development roles for several organizations in the Boston, Research Triangle Park and Southern California areas.

At ATDC, she will help companies tap a comprehensive set of services designed to help commercialize innovations, support the launch and growth of technology companies, obtain early-stage commercialization grants and secure Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from federal agencies. 

To read the full article, click here.