mattholmes, Author at Business RadioX ® Page

DeKalb Business Today “Lunch Hour” – July 17, 2015

July 18, 2015 by mattholmes

Dekalb Business Radio

DeKalb Business Today "Lunch Hour" - July 17, 2015

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On the latest edition of DeKalb Business Today, host Matt Holmes welcomes a panel of female entrepreneurs who in a short time have already made their mark on DeKalb County. Hear insights from Keline Bornelus with Farmers Insurance, Margaret Mason Tate McIntyre of Intown Doula and Monica Selden from Selden Enterprises.

Keline Bornelus/Principal Agent & Owner of Bornelus Insurance Agency

The companies comprising the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies make up one of the country’s largest insurers of vehicles, homes and small businesses and provide a wide range of other insurance and financial services products.

Farmers is proud to serve more than 10 million households with more than 20 million individual policies across all 50 states through the efforts of over 50,000 exclusive and independent agents and nearly 24,000 employees.

The Farmers Exchanges are three reciprocal insurers (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange) owned by their policyholders, and together with their subsidiaries and affiliates comprise the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies. Farmers Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, in their capacity as attorneys-in-fact, provide administrative and management services to the Farmers Exchanges.

Margaret Mason Tate McIntyre/Owner of Intown Doula

Margaret Mason Tate McIntyre is a South Carolina native who moved to Atlanta in 2011 to be with her husband and stepson. Margaret holds a BFA from St. Andrews University in North Carolina and has a background in counseling. In 2012, she decided to become a doula, and in early 2015, opened Atlanta’s premier doula agency. Margaret enjoys running, spending time with her family and three dogs, and is looking forward to participating in the Junior League of DeKalb this year.

Monica Selden/President & CEO of Selden Enterprises

Selden Enterprises, Inc. is a leader in commercial finance and specializes in oil and gas financing. They are a dynamic financial institution with a focus on the future. Their innovative business loans are designed to meet individual needs in various types of lending today and tomorrow. Instead of offering a cookie-cutter approach to financial challenges, they offer real solutions for businesses in today’s changing marketplace.

DeKalb Business Today – July 17, 2015

July 18, 2015 by mattholmes

Dekalb Business Radio

DeKalb Business Today - July 17, 2015

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On this edition of DeKalb Business Today, host Matt Holmes looks at ways to grow and maximize your business with marketing guru Diane Conklin, as well as Earl and Danielle Walker of Image 360 Tucker. We also go behind the scenes at one of Metro Atlanta’s fastest-growing colleges, talking with Cynthia Dorsey Edwards of Georgia Piedmont Technical College.

Diane Conklin/President & Founder of Complete Marketing Systems

Diane Conklin is an internationally known author, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, marketing and business strategist, implementation specialist and speaker. Diane is a direct response marketing expert who specializes in showing business owners how to integrate their online and offline marketing strategies, media and message, to get maximum results from their marketing dollars.

Diane also shows entrepreneurs and small business owners how to outperform their competition by measuring their marketing, and strategically use multi-media campaigns to stand alone in their marketplace as the go-to provider for their products and services.

As the founder of Complete Marketing Systems, Diane and has been involved in numerous campaigns grossing over $1,000,000.00 several times in her career and routinely helps people grow businesses to 6 figures, and beyond, in short periods of time, several times in as little as 90 days.

As a speaker, Diane has shared the stage with the likes of Barbara Corcoran, Joan Rivers, George Foreman, Cal Ripken, Jr., Harry Dent, Marie Forleo and many others. Diane was voted Glazer-Kennedy Marketer of the Year for her innovative marketing strategies and campaigns and was nominated for Atlanta Business Woman of the Year.

Earl & Danielle Walker/Image 360-Tucker

Image360 – Tucker provides specialized graphic solutions to businesses and organizations. From the small and unassuming to the vast and complex, their team of professionals works closely with customers to maximize the creativity and visual impact of multi-use signage, custom banners, environmental graphics, mobile advertising, wayfinding signage systems and illuminated displays. By combining the familiarity and cost effectiveness of a local graphics expert with the resourcefulness of a network with hundreds of partners, Image360 – Tucker assures a best-in-class solution every time.

Serving Tucker and surrounding regions for over 15 years, Image360 brings a fresh approach to professional graphic solutions with enhanced customer service to the area. They’ve served clients such as Grecian Gyro, Silverman Construction Program Management, DeKalb County Government, The Ministers Council, ABCUSA and Burlington Coat Factory.

Cynthia Dorsey Edwards, Vice President of Community Engagement & Public Affairs for Georgia Piedmont Technical College

With convenient locations, the HOPE Program, and a warranty, Georgia Piedmont Technical College is committed to preparing students for successful careers and maximizing student success.

Established in 1961, Georgia Piedmont Technical College is one of the oldest and most respected of Georgia’s 33 technical colleges. Recognized for our student-centered atmosphere, Georgia Piedmont Technical College prepares individuals with the education, training, and skills to enter the workplace ready to make a difference in their hiring companies and in the ever changing global economy.

Residents of DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton, and Morgan counties have the opportunity to attend classes at one of two campuses and five centers conveniently located throughout the service area. Georgia Piedmont Technical College provides real-world skills for rewarding careers. In fiscal year 2010, the College served 24,590 students and conferred 1,118 awards to graduates earning associate degrees, diplomas and technical certificates of credit. Graduates have a 99 percent job placement rate with 69 percent graduate placement in jobs in or related to their program of study or in further education.

The best kept secret in Georgia is the HOPE Program. HOPE, Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally, provides financial assistance for students to enter and to complete associate degree, diploma, and certificate programs as follows: HOPE scholarships assist students in associate degree programs (“B” average required); HOPE grants assist students in diploma and certificate programs (“B” average not required), and HOPE vouchers assist GED graduates to enter postsecondary technical education.

Our programs are guaranteed. Curriculum standards have been developed with direct involvement of business and industry. These standards serve as the industry-validated specifications for each occupational program. “If one of our graduates educated under a standard program or his/her employer finds that the graduate is deficient in one or more competencies as defined in the standards, the technical college will retrain the employee at no instructional cost to the employee or the employer.” This guarantee is in effect for a period of two years after graduation.

Students also have the opportunity to accelerate the power of their resume with membership in campus clubs and organizations. With opportunities ranging from the chess club to the international honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, Georgia Piedmont Technical College students can easily fulfill their need to serve and be recognized. When a prospective employer sees Student Government Association on a resume, they know the applicant is a team player with experience in getting things done.

The Georgia Piedmont Technical College adult education program is one of the largest adult and international literacy programs in the state. Programs and services offered include adult basic reduction (ABE), GED preparation and testing, English literacy programs (ELP), and citizenship education (EL/Civics) and are offered at 18 convenient locations throughout the four-county service area.

Georgia Piedmont Technical College is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, a unified system of technical education, custom business and industry training and adult education. Our programs use the best available technology and offer easy access to lifelong learning for all Georgians. This system is part of a seamless education process for Georgia in which students can transfer credits efficiently as they advance from secondary schools to technical colleges and to the colleges and universities within the University System of Georgia.

From Behind the Mic: Job Creation in DeKalb

July 13, 2015 by mattholmes

DeKalb Business Radio is two weeks old and, I’m glad to say, much less fussy than your typical newborn. We have already hosted business leaders from the restaurant, health and tech industries and are looking forward to more this Friday from the marketing, automotive and higher education worlds.

One theme that has stuck with me over the past couple weeks: jobs. As we have long known – and have had reinforced over the past decade – our economy runs best when people are working. Fortunately in DeKalb County, local businesses are growing, expanding and in need of more workers.

Just from this past Friday we had three businesses come into our studio saying they need good people and they need them now.

AF Packaging and The Greater Good Barbecue are just two of the companies hiring right now in DeKalb County.

Scott Sutton, Marketing Director for American Fiber Packaging, says his company is looking to hire for three positions in their Tucker factory. Amanda Arnet joined us from Earth Fare, a retailer who created dozens of new jobs with their Emory Point location and is looking for more help as they plan a new store in Cumming. Similarly, Don Cobbs of The Greater Good Barbecue is hiring staff for a third area location. These waiters, cooks and hostesses are not having to wait until the restaurant opens this fall, they are being hired and trained right now in The Greater Good’s Tucker and Roswell Road locations.

Add to that the fact that holiday shopping season will be here before we know it. Retailers all across Metro Atlanta are already setting the wheels in motion to hire thousands or seasonal employees to help handle the Christmas rush.

As we forge ahead in the weeks and months to come, we at DeKalb Business Radio really hope to highlight the importance of businesses in the local economy and shine a spotlight on some of the good things they are doing. If you know of a business doing work within DeKalb County, let us know! Tweet us @dekalbradiox, leave a message on our Facebook page or go the old-fashioned route and email us at mholmes@businessradiox.com.

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Host Matt Holmes shines a spotlight on the good work business are doing in DeKalb County on DeKalb Business Radio. Catch his shows LIVE each Friday at 10 am and noon. Each show is available for download as a free podcast.

DeKalb Business Today “Power Lunch” – July 10, 2015

July 9, 2015 by mattholmes

Dekalb Business Radio

DeKalb Business Today "Power Lunch" - July 10, 2015

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We turn our focus to the local food and drink industry in the first edition of the DeKalb Business Today “Power Lunch”. Restaurateurs from Souper Jenny and The Greater Good Barbecue are joined by representatives from Wahoo! Wine & Provisions and American Fiber Packaging to look at all aspects of the DeKalb food and drink industry.

Scott Sutton/American Fiber Packaging Marketing Director

Scott Sutton is a co-founder and Director of Marketing at American Fiber Packaging. He holds a BFA from SCAD and an MBA from the University of South Carolina.

Ski Peterson/Wahoo! Wine & Provisions Co-owner

Ski Peterson is co-owner – with wife Pam Ledbetter – of Wahoo! Wine & Provisions. He has been in the food and beverage industry since he was a teen. Working in the restaurant industry taught him a great deal about providing great guest service and, along the way, sparked his interest in wine. Now, with Wahoo! Wine & Provisions he has been able to turn these passions into a wonderful new business. He is now able to do his favorite things about the restaurant business: talk about wine and food with his guests.

Keith Yaeger/Souper Jenny General Manager

Keith Yaeger is General Manager of all four Souper Jenny locations in the Atlanta Metro Area. He joined the company in January 2014 and has helped open three locations – Decatur, Brookhaven and Westside. He now helps oversee operations of all locations.

Don Cobbs/The Greater Good Barbecue Owner

Opened in July of 2012, The Greater Good Barbecue is a full service restaurant specializing in barbecue with an emphasis on Southern home cooking. They make all of their items from scratch and are constantly striving each and every day to cook the best food possible. They offer a full service dining experience with a friendly waitstaff to show you down home Southern hospitality, an ever-expanding beer list, live music from time to time as well a banquet room for groups from 15-100. It’s all for The Greater Good.

DeKalb Business Today – July 10, 2015

July 8, 2015 by mattholmes

Dekalb Business Radio

DeKalb Business Today - July 10, 2015

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On this edition of DeKalb Business Today, host Matt Holmes welcomes CSR Computers General Manager Scott Rippy as well as Nikki Foreman from the DeKalb Chamber Young Professionals group. We also take a look at DeKalb County’s newest business – organic food retailer Earth Fare – which just opened its doors Wednesday at Emory Point.

Scott Rippy/CSR Computers General Manager

Scott is the Executive Vice President of CSR Smarttech LLC and General Manager of CSR Computers, a retail computer store specializing in Home and Business IT Solutions. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional with over 25 years industry experience as a senior technology and business consultant.

Scott has over 16 years’ experience in supporting the technical needs of small businesses with emphasis on Security and OS configuration, DNS, Group Policy, hardware support, storage, and raid methodologies. He has strong knowledge of the Small Business Server Suite.

He currently supports dozens of small- to medium-sized businesses remotely monitoring established network infrastructures and implementing changes as needed to maintain a secure and efficient network. He performs preventive maintenance and develops technical installation work plans, as well as implementing network and software upgrades and modifications. He also provides data backup and recovery, quality assurance reviews, and accurate risk assessment, while building and maintaining PCs and the functionality/security of virtual private networks (VPNs).

He is skilled in managing local and wide area network connectivity through maintenance and troubleshooting of routers, switches, hubs, network cards, and dial-up networking with 20+ years of break fix and server experience within a LAN environment through proactive LAN administration roles. He has system architecture design (LAN and WAN) experience, as well as strong knowledge of implementing and utilizing remote network management and monitoring tools (LAN Desk, WebEx, Microsoft RDP).

Scott serves on the Board of Directors of the Tucker Business Association and is a member of the Tucker Day 2015 and Friends of Kelley Cofer Park Planning Committees.

Certifications: MCSA, MSDST, MCP, A+, Network + Lexmark, HP, Dell, IBM, Compaq

Nikki Forman/DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Chairperson

Nikki Forman is the new Chairperson of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals organization. Professionally, Nikki serves on the DeKalb Medical Marketing Communications team, where she manages internal strategic communications to engage and align more than 4,000 employees and physicians in over 20 locations around the goals of the organization.

She has major responsibility for counseling the CEO and members of the senior leadership team in excellent communications practice and in positively positioning the DeKalb Medical brand both internally and externally. Earlier this year, Nikki was recognized by the DeKalb Chamber as their 2014 Ambassador of the Year for her volunteer service to the organization.

Nikki is the oldest child of two retired Army colonels who served our country for more than 50 years collectively and has had the opportunity to live around the United States and abroad, but has found the most satisfaction since moving to Atlanta. She is passionate about the opportunity to serve young professionals in DeKalb County and looks forward to seeing DCYP grow and thrive.

Amanda Arnet/Earth Fare

Founded in 1975 in Asheville, North Carolina, Earth Fare is the authentic organic and natural healthy grocery store with 37 locations across the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Midwest. Their full-service philosophy incorporates the highest food Quality Standards in the industry with compelling value, friendly and knowledgeable service, and a superior customer experience.

They opened their newest Earth Fare location on July 8 at Emory Point in Decatur.

DeKalb Business Today – July 2, 2015

June 30, 2015 by mattholmes

Dekalb Business Radio

DeKalb Business Today - July 2, 2015

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On the inaugural episode of DeKalb Business Today, host Matt Holmes looks at the state of business affairs across DeKalb with three of the county’s top business minds.

Katerina Taylor/DeKalb Chamber of Commerce President & CEO

Katerina Taylor has been a part of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce for almost three years. In September 2014 she became the Chamber’s first woman president and CEO in its 77-year history. She’s a 15-year banking veteran and a strong advocate for community and business. Her goal is to re-educate the DeKalb community on why the Chamber is so critical for growth and progress in DeKalb.

Ann Rosenthal/Tucker-Northlake CID President

Ann Rosenthal was named President of the Tucker-Northlake Community Improvement District in August of 2013 after serving as a member of its formation committee, spearheading the governmental affairs process. Less than a year later, she successfully led the annexation of the Northlake area commercial district into the CID. Ann lives in Tucker with her husband and has called DeKalb County home for more than 20 years. In addition to Ann’s duties as President of the CID, she is also President of ARC, Inc., a governmental affairs consulting firm. She is a 2000 graduate of Leadership DeKalb and 2003 graduate of Leadership Georgia. Ann is an active member of the community and among the many organizations she works with, she serves on the board of People to People International and is a member of the Stone Mountain Rotary.

Vaughn Irons/APD Solutions CEO & Development Authority of DeKalb County Chairman

Vaughn D. Irons is the CEO of APD Solutions, a national community economic development firm providing Advisory, Program Management and Development Services. Under his leadership, APDS has been acknowledged with a Pacesetter Award by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2012 for Top Privately Held Company in Metro Atlanta, growing APDS by 1193% in his first 3 years. Irons has also been personally Awarded the 2014 CEO of the Year by the Georgia Business Council in conjunction with the Atlanta Business Journal.

Prior to APD Solutions, Mr. Irons served for nearly 12 years at Freddie Mac most recently as National Director of Housing & Community Investment. During that tenure he led a team tasked with assisting Freddie Mac’s customers in developing solutions to their community’s housing finance needs. Mr. Irons was also responsible for the oversight of activities and initiatives that involved minority lending, community development lending, homeownership counseling and Gulf Coast rebuilding activities post-Katrina. Previously Irons has held leadership positions at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Atlanta, Fulton County Government, Onondaga County Government and Fleet Bank of New York.

Mr. Irons is very involved in community-based issues where he serves as Chairman of the Economic Development Authority of DeKalb County, Georgia. Irons is also on the Board of the National Association of Homebuilders, Leadership DeKalb, Women’s Resource Center Against Domestic Violence, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, the Rockstone Foundation, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans and YMCA of South DeKalb.

Mr. Irons holds a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Maryland, and undergraduate degree in Urban Policy from Syracuse University. Irons also has graduate-level certifications in Real Estate Development from University of Southern California and Housing/Community Development from the University of Maryland College Park. Irons also holds the designation of Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS), Qualified Home Inspector (AQHI) and Comprehensive Housing Counselor(CHC).