Graduation day for 26 Georgia small businesses

ATLANTA, May 16, 2008 – Governor Sonny Perdue congratulated members of the Governor's Mentor-Protégé program as it graduated its fourth class Wednesday evening in ceremonies held at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park. 'The relationships between the mentors and protégés energize the kind of learning process we like to model in state government,' said Governor Sonny Perdue. 'In the same way that state government benefits from its relationships with the private sector, the Mentor- Protégé program facilitates interaction and learning between large and small businesses in Georgia.' Georgia's eight-year-old Mentor-Protégé program, the first of its kind in the nation, teams successful companies such as The Home Depot, Coca-Cola and United Parcel Service with smaller, growing Georgia-based businesses to increase those businesses' odds for success. Each class goes through an 18-month cycle that includes one-on-one mentoring sessions, specialized training seminars, networking events and mandatory progress reporting sessions. Twenty-two mentor companies teamed with protégé businesses to incorporate best practices into areas such as accounting & finance, human resources, strategic planning, marketing, Web site development, operating efficiencies and organizational planning issues. The Mentor-Protégé program is part of the Governor's Entrepreneur & Small Business Office, housed in the Global Commerce division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD). 'The partnerships formed through the Governor's Mentor-Protégé program are invaluable to both the mentor companies and the emerging businesses they work with,' said GDEcD Commissioner Ken Stewart. 'An estimated 95 percent of all businesses in Georgia are small businesses, and this program helps them make the leap to become the kind of success that makes our state proud.' During the graduation ceremony, eight teams will be recognized as outstanding members of the program. Members of the program hail from cities around the state, including Vidalia and Washington and many Atlanta metro area locales. A complete list of the fourth Mentor-Protégé class is attached. Corporate sponsors of the program are GE Energy, Georgia Power, Hardin Construction, Lockheed Martin, The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Turner Broadcasting Systems and UPS. 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. For more information, please visit our Governor's Mentor-Protégé program page or www.georgia.org. Mentor-Protégé teams: Mentor:  Agile 1 Protégé: Universal Business Solutions Corporation Mentor:  AT&T Protégé: 3i People, Inc. Mentor:  C.D. Moody Construction Co. Protégé: Horizon Power, Inc. Mentor:  Acurio Protégé: Latticeworks Mentor:  ChoicePoint Protégé: Asterix, Inc. Mentor:    Citizen's Trust Bank Protégés: Modern Tech Home Builder, Inc., The Trio Group, Inc. Mentor: Compass Group, The Americas Protégé: Via Elisa Pasta, LLC Mentor: Deloitte Consulting Protégé: Advantage Computer Age, Inc. Mentor: GE Energy Protégé: Mail Centers Plus, LLC Mentor: Georgia Power Protégé: Advanced Strategies, Inc. Mentor: Georgia-Pacific Corporation Protégé: WAWPUF, LLC Mentor: H.J. Russell & Company Protégé: Georgia Community Development Corp. Mentor: Hardin Construction Protégés: Elite Property Ventures, Inc., The Dalrymple Corporation Mentor: Jordan, Jones & Goulding Protégé: Logical Integrations, Inc. Mentor: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Protégés: Nor-Ral Plastics, Inc., RCF Technologies, Inc. Mentor: Management Decisions-MDI Protégé: Glenridge Consulting, LLC Mentor: Skanska USA Building Inc Protégé: Matrix 3D, LLC Mentor: The Coca-Cola Company Protégé: Exhibit South Mentor: The Home Depot Protégé: Perfect Image Mentor: The North Highland Company Protégé: Financial Voyages, LLC Mentor: Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Protégé: Beard/Daily Inc. Mentor: Turner Construction Company Protégé: New World Transportation, Inc. Mentor: United Parcel Service Protégé: Careers in Transition, Inc.