CHAMBER RECOGNIZES COWETA’S TOP PROPERTY TAX PAYERS

The Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors recognized at its November Board meeting Coweta’s top 20 property tax payers, while honoring all of the County’s industries, businesses and utilities for their significant contributions to the property tax base. Public 2006 property tax records from the Coweta County Tax Commissioner’s office were examined to determine the top contributors.

“As we all pay our 2007 homeowners’ property taxes, it’s important to remember that without a thriving business and industrial base, the growing population of Coweta County simply could not afford the schools and services needed,” said Chamber Chairman Mark Whitlock.

Together, Coweta’s top 20 paid more than $8,679,000 in 2006 property taxes, led by Georgia Power Company with a paid assessment of $2,438,492. The list is a diverse mix that includes manufacturers, utilities, distribution centers, retail and apartment complexes.

According to information obtained from the Tax Commissioner’s office, all commercial, industrial and utility properties, including the top 20, comprise approximately 25% of Coweta’s property tax digest, but are located on less than 4% of the County’s total acreage.

While recognizing the business community’s contribution to the property tax base, the Chamber Board also commended the Coweta County Development Authority for its work as the lead agency in recruiting and retaining quality industries.

“Along with job creation and positive economic impact, property tax infusion is another significant benefit we gain by encouraging the expansion of our industrial base,” said Whitlock. He added, “Economic development is a pro-active process that requires a community-wide team effort. The Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce is proud to be a part of the team, and will continue to provide its service and support.”

With more than 700 members throughout Coweta County, the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing economic prosperity for all Coweta’s citizens. As the county’s largest business organization, the Chamber works to provide business leadership to foster an economic and cultural climate favorable to all business, in order to create a higher quality of life for all residents. –MORE-

Coweta County’s Top Property Tax Payers

2006 Tax Year

1. Georgia Power Company

2. Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corp.

3. Coweta Fayette EMC

4. Rite-Aid Corporation

5. K-Mart Express, LLC / Corp.

6. BellSouth

7. Inland Southeast Newnan LLC

8. Georgia Transmission

9. Rayman Associates Newnan

10. Bon L Manufacturing

11. Winpack Films, Inc.

12. Inland Southeast Newnan Crossing

13. Atlanta Gas Light

14. Temple-Inland Container Corp.

15. E G O North America, Inc.

16. Newnan Development Partners LLC

17. United States Can Company

18. Lullwater Apartments LLC

19. Walmart

20. Rettco Steel LLC

Source: Coweta County Tax Commissioner’s Office

Chamber Efforts Result in Coweta County being named Metro Atlanta’s newest designated “Entrepreneur Friendly” community

Thanks to the efforts of an 18-month focus by the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce, Coweta County was named as one of the state’s newest “Entrepreneur Friendly” communities. The designation indicates the community has worked to develop an environment that is welcoming to small business and entrepreneurs. Ninety-two percent of Coweta County’s 3,864 companies are small businesses with fewer than 20 employees.

“Small businesses and entrepreneurs create the kind of economic activity that is integral to ensuring prosperity and opportunity throughout Georgia,” said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. “By encouraging and supporting these businesses, we are investing in a stronger future for our communities and the state as a whole.”

Coweta County is the 68th community in the state to be named Entrepreneur Friendly by the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD). Previously designated Metro Atlanta counties include Spalding, Carroll, and Douglas. Nearby counties in the progress of designation include Fayette, Heard, and Meriwether.

To earn the designation, the Chamber’s Entrepreneurs Thrive in Coweta (ETC!) program completed the Entrepreneur Friendly program with the assistance of the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s (GDEcD) regional representative Kristen Miller. ETC analyzed the county’s entrepreneurial and small business environment and developed strategies to help foster the growth of this critical business segment. Coweta County also underwent a full-day assessment by a review team composed of GDEcD staff and representatives from the Department of Labor, University of West Georgia, Georgia Centers of Innovation and Sen. Johnny Isakson’s Office.

Qualified entrepreneurs and small business owners in Coweta County are now eligible for customized market data, such as demographic and business information, to help give them a competitive edge.

The county is also eligible for an Entrepreneur-Friendly Implementation Fund (EFIF) grant to help it implement specific, long-term programs that support their entrepreneurs and small businesses and also have a regional impact. The grant must be matched 50 percent in dollars or in-kind value by the community.

”Coweta County is a fast growing place and entrepreneurs are vital to maintaining our quality of life,” said Mark Fritz, ETC chair and local banker with Bank of Coweta. “Our chamber and its partners recognized the opportunity for new business owners and waned to provide the support that entrepreneurs needed most. We are blessed to have such a visionary Chamber that provides the kind of leadership for these types of opportunities.

Through GDEcD’s Entrepreneur Friendly Initiative, we've launched a program called Entrepreneurs THRIVE in Coweta! This program serves to support entrepreneurial success and maintain a culture that guarantees economic prosperity for all of us."

“Small businesses are the backbone of Georgia communities. By helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow, we help Georgia grow,” said Heidi Green, chairman of the Georgia Entrepreneur and Small Business Coordinating Network and GDEcD’s deputy commissioner for Global Commerce. “We applaud Coweta County for incorporating small businesses into its strategic plan for growth.”

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, video and music projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.

Essential Graham: Classics from the Martha Graham Dance Company

At the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts
1523 Lower Fayetteville Road
Newnan, GA 30265
February 26th at 7pm
Tickets are $25
Tickets available at the Centre, Scott’s Bookstore on the Downtown Newnan Square and Morgan’s Jewelers in Ashley Park, Newnan
For information please call 770-254-2787

The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded by Martha Graham in 1926, is the oldest most celebrated modern dance company in the world. It presents the classics Graham repertory and new choreography in its home city of New York and on tour, featuring an international roster of today’s most talented dance artists.

Since its inception, the Martha Graham Dance Company has received international acclaim from audiences in over 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

The Company has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House, Covent Garden, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as at the base of the Great Pyramids of Egypt and in the ancient Herod Atticus Theatre on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. In addition, the Company has also produced several award-winning films broadcast on PBS and around the world.

Celebrating Its 80th anniversary season, and acknowledged as “one of the great companies of the world” by Anna Kisselgoff, former chief of dance critic of the New York Times, the Martha Graham Dance Company has been lauded by critics everywhere. Alan M. Kriegman of the Washington Post called the Company “one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe,” while Los Angeles Times critic Martin Bernheimer noted, “They seem able to do anything, and to make it look easy as well as poetic.” Ismene Brown of the Daily Telegraph, London, touted the Martha Graham Dance Company’s performance a “Unmissable.”

Martha Graham (1894-1991) is recognized as a primal artistic force of the 20th century, alongside Picasso, James Joyce, Stravinsky, and Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1998, TIME Magazine named Martha Graham as the “Dancer of the Century”’ and People Magazine named Martha Graham as the “Dancer of the Century”, and People Magazine named her among the female “Icons of the Century”.

As a choreographer, she was as prolific as she was complex. She created 181 ballets and a dance technique that has been compared to ballet in its scope and magnitude. Her approach to dance and theater revolutionized the art from and her innovative physical vocabulary has irrevocably influenced dance worldwide.

NEWNAN FIRE DEPARTMENT PARTICIPATES IN BURN AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

February 3-9, 2008 is Burn Awareness Week, and the Newnan Fire Department has joined in the efforts with Shriners Hospitals for Children in using this week to kick-off a year-long campaign designed to help prevent gasoline burn injuries. Kids ages 13 and older are in the highest at risk group for gasoline and other flammable substances.

This year’s theme to the campaign is “Gasoline has only one use: to fuel an engine. Any other use is misuse.”

“We want to let the public know about the misuses of gasoline; especially our youth. The result could end up being fatal or a 3rd degree burn to the face and or body. This is a public awareness campaign and when someone in the community approached me about joining I did not hesitate. This is what the Newnan Fire Department is here for,” said Newnan Fire Chief Whitley.

Here are a few tips of what not to do with gasoline. Do not use near a barbecue grill or to start a fire. Do not siphon gasoline. Do not store in an unapproved container or in a house or vehicle. Do not store gasoline near a source of heat or sparks, such as a hot water heater, furnace, clothes dryer or any other appliance that uses a pilot light.

Most gasoline injuries are avoidable through proper use and storage of gasoline. The Newnan Fire Department will have coloring books, stickers and other educational material pertaining to Burn Awareness. For more information please contact the Newnan Fire Department at 770-253-1851 or log onto www.shrinershq.org.

The Shriners Hospitals for Children specializing in burns have treated more than 800 children since 2002 for acute burn injuries resulting from ignition of highly flammable materials such as gasoline. For more info please or log onto www.shrinershq.org.