Features
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Stacy Bush on The Fiscal Cliff Deal, and What It Could Mean For You
February 14, 2013
Stacy Bush with Bush Wealth Management gives us some insight on the Fiscal Cliff Deal, and how it could affect you and your business.
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Valdosta Continues Its Business Friendly Development
February 12, 2013
Public safety improved in Valdosta last year with the local police department outperforming state and national averages in terms of solving the most serious crimes, according to City Manager Larry Hanson.
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USPS Rate Increases, No Saturday Delivery Could Lead to Changes for Many Small Businesses
February 11, 2013
The United States Postal Service recently enacted some higher shipping rates for both domestic and international mail. It has also offered some new rules and shipping options that might have an impact on the way many small businesses send mail and shipments, on top of the just announced no mail delivery for Saturday.
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Doug Robinson on How to Start Dreaming Again in Business
February 07, 2013
Valdosta CEO Contributor, sales trainer, and author Doug Robinson has another excerpt to share from his book “ Sell is NOT a Four Letter Word”. Just for grins and giggles, stop thinking with your brain and start thinking with your heart... right now. Whether you call this using your imagination or just dreaming, this is the inspiration for winning, and can show measurable results in just 30 days!
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Local & State Experts Give Expectations for 2013’s Economy
February 06, 2013
Over 140 Chamber members met Tuesday morning over a hot breakfast to hear from three of the area’s top economic specialists on their predicted outlooks for our economy at a local, state and national level. While the speakers seemed hopeful and showed the progress made in the last year, our economy is still working toward recovering from the 2008 recession and has obstacles to watch out for.
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Nexxtep Technology Services Opens First Local Data Center Accessible to Public
February 05, 2013
Businesses in southern Georgia now have access to a local data center owned and operated by Nexxtep Technology Services, Inc., which can provide back-up and disaster recovery solutions, host desktop applications as well as host a company's IT equipment through colocation solutions. Nexxtep opened the center in November 2012 and has received a very positive response from its clients to the new offerings.
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Valdosta State and Wiregrass Partner to Produce More College Graduates
February 04, 2013
Earning a college degree just became more accessible with the new Pathways Program developed by Valdosta State University and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College. The program allows students with an Associate of Applied Science degree from Wiregrass to transfer to Valdosta State and work toward a bachelor’s degree.
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Commentary: South Georgia's Diminishing Political Clout
February 01, 2013
South Georgia remains an integral and important part of the state, from the largest portion of the state’s economy (agriculture) to the thriving and growing ports. Yet, politically, change has come rapidly to the region.
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101st Annual Membership Meeting: Chamber Members Celebrate 2012 & Look Forward to 2013
January 31, 2013
Nearly 350 Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber members enjoyed lunch on Tuesday at the 101st Annual Membership Meeting presented this year by Georgia Power Company and Prince Automotive Group. This year's meeting focused on the IMPACT 2012 campaign and the celebration of the Chamber's Centennial last year.
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Bush Wealth Management Offers Three Steps for Consistent Investing
January 29, 2013
Procrastination is the biggest mistake most people make in managing their money, according to Stacy Bush, head of Bush Wealth Management. Not taking action can mean a missed opportunity to grow wealth.
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Reaching Out To Departed Customers For Recovery
January 25, 2013
Every business has customers who have departed. There are a variety of reasons that prompt departure. How you react to the departure will either validate that they left for a good reason or begin the process of bringing back that customer and that customer revenue. We go through five steps to identify and regain customer trust and relationships.
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Ways to Hire Smarter in 2013
January 23, 2013
Is hiring more employees one of your New Year’s resolutions? While hiring ultimately relieves your headaches in the long run by helping you and your team with workload, in the short run most entrepreneurs dread hiring because of the time and effort involved. Fortunately, there are ways to ensure you recruit more of the right candidates and waste less time with people who don’t suit your needs.
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South Georgia Medical Center CEO Randy Sauls Reviews State of Health Care in 2013
January 22, 2013
For large health care providers like the South Georgia Medical Center, demographic trends in the region have a major impact on the state of health care. According to SGMC CEO Randy Sauls, the number of uninsured adults in the region has increased as has demand for health services due to population growth.
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Independent Workforce On The Up And Up?
January 18, 2013
If you’re looking for work in this brave new 21st century world, the place to be is in the freelance space, according to a recent global business survey by Elance. The survey, in which more than 1500 firms from around the world participated, contains quite a bit of great news for freelancers — otherwise known as nonemployer businesses.
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How to Become a Masterful Company
January 17, 2013
In his book, High Tech, High Touch Customer Service, Micah Solomon talks about using social media to provide stellar customer experience. He also outlines the profile of a “masterful company,” those that go above and beyond in the area of customer service. Using a few of his 12 characteristics of a masterful company, we show you how you can become one.
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Federal Reserve Bank Representative to Speak at Chamber Breakfast
January 16, 2013
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta representative Dr. Thomas Cunningham, UGA economist Dr. Jeffery Humphreys and VSU economist Dr. Cynthia Tori will present the 2013 outlook for business from national, state and local perspectives on February 5th.
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VSU Uses Innovative Technology to Improve Student Success and Retention
January 15, 2013
Valdosta State University saw improvements in academic performance during the fall 2012 semester following the launch of a multi-phase project that introduced a reporting portal with on-demand access to student class loads and grades. Since the implementation of the project, there has been a 10 to 15 percent improvement in midterm and final grades.
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Valdosta Chamber Members Voice Legislative Concerns for State Agenda
January 14, 2013
Several Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce members addressed the Government Affairs Council at the Members to be Heard meeting last week regarding the interests of their businesses, organizations and the community.
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The Big Picture: Developing Your Marketing Plan in Five Steps
January 11, 2013
Valerie Touchstone, owner of The Big Picture, a full-service marketing and public relations agency, shares how to develop your marketing plan.
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4 Green Business Trends for 2013
January 10, 2013
It used to be enough to adopt a highway, recycle in the break room and install a few energy-efficient light bulbs. But businesses now must take ambitious steps if they want to be seen as sustainability leaders and join the big leagues. Consider that about two-thirds of all Fortune 500 companies now publish corporate sustainability reports.
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A Goal without a Plan is Just a Dream
January 08, 2013
Valdosta CEO Contributor Doug Robinson shares another excerpt from his book "Sell is NOT a Four Letter Word." In this installment, as we enter 2013 and a new sales year unfolds, goal setting takes center stage once again for salespeople.
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Fiscal Cliff Deal Offers Minimal Benefit To Microbusinesses
January 07, 2013
There was a certain amount of unusually undignified jumping up and down and yelling about looming fiscal cliffs during the last month of last year, and with good reason. The deal that the President and Congress put together to force each other to deal with expiring tax cuts at the beginning of this year seemed like a strategy that was doomed to failure.
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i2o Technologies Wins 2012 Guardian Bank Business Plan Competition
December 19, 2012
Donnee Upson of i2o Technologies in Valdosta is the winner of the 2012 Guardian Bank Business Plan Competition. He plans to start the first commercial data center in Valdosta to offer IT services to companies in a wide range of industries including finance, health care and education.
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Leadership Truths That Every Leader Needs To Know
December 17, 2012
Successful business leadership is about the ability to create a compelling vision that is backed up by strong values, a strong sense of purpose and that inspires other people to help you to achieve it. It sounds fairly straightforward doesn’t it? However, great leadership requires a complex set of skills which have to be continually honed and fined tuned. We touch on 5 truths that every great leader needs to know.
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Why You Should Never Assume in Sales…
December 14, 2012
Valdosta CEO Contributor Doug Robinson shares another excerpt from his book "Sell is NOT a Four Letter Word." In this installment, he talks about how sales related occupations should beware the danger of assuming.