Sound Business Practices Help Athens Medical Practice Expand Into Underserved Areas

Reddy Medical Center Small Business Development Center

Dr. Ram K. and Aru Reddy are in the business of “helping people feel better when they need it the most.” Partners in an enterprise that adds urgently needed medical care to underserved communities in northeast Georgia, this husband and wife team is also steadily adding to the employment rolls of the small cities and towns they serve.

SBDC Clients Earns 2016 Small Business Person of the Year

Catherine Downey, CATMEDIA

Catherine Downey didn’t find an easy way to success. She did find what works: hard work and dedication to a vision. Catherine Downey started her first business with “a pen and a legal pad” so she could work at home after her first child was born. Today, she has four grown children and one of the fastest growing companies in Atlanta. She’s also garnered a hard-earned honor: she […]

Dead-On Financial Projections Lead to Success for Atlanta Movie Tours Start-Up

Atlanta Movie Tours and the UGA SBDC

Moving a small business from start-up to growth mode requires a leap of faith, hard work and difficult, strategic decision-making. Carrie Sagel Burns has the” leap of faith” part down, regularly suspending disbelief in thousands of visitors who ride around Atlanta in buses guided by former zombie extras, an actress portraying author Margaret Mitchell or character actors from The Hunger Games.

Passion for Pets Pays Off

Pawtropolis in Athens, GA

Crook acquired the loan and opened her business. About five years later, she approached McDonell for help obtaining a $1 million SBA 504 loan, which she used to purchase land and build the first Pawtropolis. Five years after that, with 25 employees and trainers, an award-winning business and a facility filled to capacity, Crook again turned to the SBDC. After attending the GrowSmart™ program, she asked McDonell to help her create projections for a $2.2 million loan she received and will use to build a second, larger facility on land she had purchased.

McDonough Business Consultant Benefits from Expert Georgia SBDC Consulting

Former Army executive Annette O’Banion spent several years consulting with top brass in the Pentagon on issues such as recruiting and retaining talent for the Army Reserve. Her expertise in strategic planning and implementation often had her partnering on projects outsourced to national defense consulting firms. Captain O’Banion, USA, Retired, now uses her experience to […]

Market Research Eases Expansion for Midtown Atlanta Industrial Firm

Dhiren Patel is a seasoned business owner. An electrical engineer who started his career in the innovative AT&T Bell Labs, his first solo venture was AmTech Electronics India Limited, which he launched in India in 1991. When he decided to expand into the U.S. market, he and his family moved to Atlanta and opened an […]

Economic Impact of The UGA SBDC

The annual economic impact study of the University of Georgia SBDC, published in August of 2015, provides solid evidence that entrepreneurs utilizing SBDC assistance experience employment growth significantly greater than the state average. All clients who received five or more hours of consulting in 2013 received a questionnaire that inquired as to the benefit of […]