“We are especially thankful for the support provided to us by Governor Perdue and his economic development staff, the Savannah Economic Development Authority, Georgia Power and countless other agencies…this marks another key milestone in our long-term goal of locating equipment manufacturing and critical service support much nearer to our important customers.” Read more >>
Koji Hasegawa, President and CEO, Mitsubishi Power Systems
September 2009
“We have particularly enjoyed partnering with the state of Georgia, Fulton County officials and the local community during this process…as we prepare to commercialize PROVENGE to help the many patients with advanced prostate cancer who currently have few appealing treatment options.” Read more >>
Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., President and CEO, Dendreon Corporation
August 2009
“I have nothing but praise for the GDEcD and U.S. Commerce Services staff. They have been extremely responsive to my many inquiries and have always provided a detailed response or have put me in contact with people in the know. It is almost like having an international department of experts but not employing them; a very important cost consideration for a small company. Since our involvement with them, they have helped LVS increase export sales to 39% of our total corporate sales in 2007. Their help has been invaluable.”
Tim Lydell, President, Label Vision Systems, Inc.
Fayette County, 16 employees
June 2008
“Since the inception of our company in March 2008, the Georgia Department of Economic Development has been front and center with their support and guidance for our initial projects in Toombs and Lamar County, Georgia… A single thank you letter pales in comparison to the magnitude of support that GDEcD has provided. From letters of support, to phone calls and numerous face to face meetings, your team has been there to assist us every step of the way…”
Paul Hester, CEO, Americas Waste to Energy
Forsyth County, 5 employees
February 2009
“I wanted to take time to thank you for the assistance that the Georgia Department of Economic Development has provided to us over the last several months. The direct services and international contacts that were provided have been great. Beyond that, however, the information we learned from the GDEcD taught us that, as intimidating as it seemed, developing a program to export our products was not daunting at all. In fact, with your help, we learned it was quite doable. With your guidance and encouragement, we took the steps necessary to prepare our company and products for exporting. With GDEcD's help, we developed a momentum that, in fact, is actually helping us to grow our business, something we are very proud of in these difficult economic conditions.”
Alan Lockett, President, C & C Oil Company
Cobb County, 8 employees
December 2008
“In the course of my eighteen years of service with the Commercial Service I have visited sixty-two USEACs, yet never have I experienced a more integrated partnership than that which we have in Georgia. Truly, because of the on-going investment of the leadership of GDEcD, all of the key trade promotion entities provide seamless delivery of service to new-to-export firms and those entering multiple foreign markets… The impact of this effective approach is that more Georgia firms are served better through maximization of the limited resources availed by each entity.”
Thomas A. Strauss, Southern Network Director, U.S. Department of Commerce
(BUYUSA.GOV/Georgia)
August 2006
“I am grateful for programs offered by the State of Georgia especially during these economic times and look forward to working with [your Trade Specialist] in the future.”
James Hanna, Principal, NCG Architects
Fulton County, 16 employees
February 2009
“Thank you for all your efforts. You have been a tremendous asset to our team, and have provided resources, insight, and contacts that have aided us with our international expansion efforts.”
Wendy Brantley, Director of Business Development, jB+a, inc.
Cobb County, 19 employees
December 2008
“It has been a pleasure working with you and the knowledge and experience that you bring to our company with your background in export distribution has been of great value and will help us grow and adapt to the global economy.”
Todd Boyd, President, J&J Chemical Co.
Clarke County, 35 Employees
December 2008
“I wanted to extend our sincere appreciation to the Georgia Department of Economic Development for their ongoing support over the past two years. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with [your Trade Specialist] during her short tenure in her position. Her planning and oversight of the recent Medica show in Düsseldorf was the key to the show’s success for our company, with over 23 leads collected and 5 major companies already progressing to the evaluation stage.”
Sandra Parker, EVP Sales and Marketing, Vystar Corporation
Gwinnett County, 6 employees
December 2008
“Our satisfaction has been larger than we thought possible. Since we started working with Georgia’s Economic Development office, we have secured export sales, established sales to GA companies … and had our website analyzed which will undoubtedly create new sales from improved visibility, traffic and conversion. In addition, we have gained access to other GA suppliers … which allows us to grow without tying up cash in inventory and warehousing. More recently, we have utilized market research studies for South America, Mexico and Canada and identified a resource to conduct a feasibility study for selling into renewable energy markets in Canada. This study alone saved us more than $2,000 and 3 days that we could dedicate to growing our business. We have earned as well as saved tens of thousands of dollars. I feel certain the services will help us generate more than $1 M in new sales over the next 12-18 months.
As a small business with limited resources … the Economic Development office is the best employee we could recruit, hire, train and retain but could never afford. We have shared these services with dozens of small business owners and managers looking to survive and thrive during these volatile economic times…We are raving fans and view the Economic Development office as an extension of our business. As we grow and get more comfortable selling globally, we find comfort knowing there are abundant resources available locally and abroad to support every step.”
Brandon Pelissero, CFO, Ecolink
DeKalb County, 9 employees
February 2009
“A brief note to express my gratitude to you and all of the fine people I have met at the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Your hard work, solution focused thinking and friendship has been extremely valuable to Yokogawa Corporation of America and especially to me. It's a big world out there and attempting to go it alone or without the huge resources of a committed partner like the State of Georgia would simply be a futile effort. We will make progress in generating more business in Mexico, Canada & hopefully one day Europe and our success will be in large part because of the relationship we have established with your office. Richard Westerfield, my immediate Manager & VP of Sourcing & Manufacturing, not only introduced me to this resource but has been a great proponent of this relationship throughout the company.”
Rick Downie, Sales Manager, Yokogawa Corporation of America
Coweta County, 550 employees
February 2009
“That report was EXACTLY what we need. It was very informative and the layout was nicely organized and made sense… can this be done for a few other countries?”
Corey Etheridge, Director of International Sales, Oka b.
Gwinnett County, 85 employees
February 2009
"I think that these services are vital for small American companies such as mine to participate in more international events [such as Domotex 2009]."
Greg George, Thermal Systems
Whitfield County, 5 employees
January 2009
"Thanks for all of your help. Thanks for your introduction to [your China office] - they have been most helpful in getting our product before potential buyers … We also appreciate you connecting us with the Small Business Development Center. The information that we have received from all of you has really helped us get started; the unforeseen economic events have knocked us off schedule but we still have interest from both sides and we view this as a chance to make more inroads into the Chinese market."
James Barnett, Fall Line Forestry
Fulton County, 3 employees
February 2009
"[Your Trade Specialist and European Office] have been extremely helpful and provided valuable trade information and potential business contacts."
Mark Cline, Vice President & General Manager, Polyurethane Group
Whitfield County, 5 employees
January 2009
“Whoa...THANKS...This info looks like it could be a huge potential resource.”
Rick Clark, President/CEO, Margot Townsend, Inc.
Fulton County, 9 employees
January 2009
“Thank you so much for thinking of me as usual. As I always say – I wish you were in every state that I have suppliers in. You are amazing!”
Jeremiah Davis, President, First Class Imports and Exports
Fulton County, 1 employee
December 2008
"It has been the many small things you have consistently done over the past six months or so that have added up to a great benefit to us … Particularly for us, dealing with prospective suppliers has been a challenge and just being able to reference our working with the Georgia Department of Economic Development has opened many doors … At this juncture, we are most excited about the feed-back and help we are receiving from the overseas contacts to which you have connected us .... you have held the compass and pointed us in the right direction for which we are indeed most grateful.”
Brien Hallmark, Owner, Builders Logistics, Inc.
Spalding County, 5 employees
February 2009
"[Your Trade Specialist] was instrumental in sharing resources and coordinating meetings for our company as we consider expansion overseas. She also made me aware of a very informative training session at Georgia Tech. Her assistance has been wonderful".
John Cheatham, President, Oldcastle Surfaces, Inc.
Fulton County, 120 employees
February 2009