Georgia Magazine - November 2011 - (Page 22)

A productive state Georgia products: Diverse and innovative COURTESY GEORGIA CHAIR CO. BY JANE F. GARVEY Georg e ia mad In a 1984 photo, Y.D. Thompson is shown working at Georgia Chair Co. The ingenuity of Georgia businesspeople never ceases to amaze. Even in this tough economy, spirits are high, and so are heads. So, too, is productivity, it would seem. Small businesses all, some of these enterprises are brand-new, while others are well-established but still y under the radar for most of us. Here’s a light shining on some of the most productive folks anywhere. Saturday in Americus producing millions of pairs of chopsticks every day in a facility that currently employs 81 people, he says. Then Saturday evening, he drives to Duluth to spend Sunday with his family. Plans call for hiring even more workers as orders pour in. By year’s end, he ﬁgures to be making 10 million pairs of chopsticks a day, all going to Asia, mostly to China, where they wind up in supermarkets and grocery stores. More Asian industries are looking at Americus as a result of Lee’s huge success. Some, he says, want to export muscadine wine and pecans, among other agricultural products, to an Asian world eager for these culinary experiences. Georgia Chopsticks, 102 Brady Rd., Americus; (229) 931-9100 COURTESY GEORGIA CHOPSTICKS • Jae Lee owns a growing operation in Americus that produces millions of pairs of chopsticks for a hungry Asian market. In what has to be a major reversal of the “Made in China” label comes a Georgia prod★ uct launched in Americus this spring: Georgia Chopsticks, very likely the only chopsticks manufacturer in the U.S. Born in Korea and now a U.S. citizen, owner Jae Lee, “in his 40s,” he says, moved to Georgia from Chicago, where he made a living exporting scrap metal. He took his time—two years—to do the necessary research before settling on Americus, where a factory had moved to Mexico, leaving skilled labor unemployed. The city worked, he says, to entice him to Americus as well. The abundance of poplar and sweet gum trees was another factor. The trees’ wood is naturally white and doesn’t have to be bleached or chemically altered. Leaving his family in Duluth so his older son can ﬁnish high school there, Lee spends Monday through • Bucking the trend • Why does a German-based company, headquartered in Ravensburg, Germany—with operations in the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Turkey, Great Britain, Spain, North Africa and Asia— choose Dublin, Ga., for its American headquarters? “Because it’s halfway between the world’s busiest airport (Atlanta) and one of the country’s best managed ports (Savannah),” says Sylvia Minton, MAGE Solar’s senior vice president of corporate, institutional and governmental affairs. A subsidiary of the international MAGE Group, MAGE Solar specializes in complete solar systems, producing photovoltaic modules, intelligent mounting systems and high-performance brand inverters. Organized in 2009, the American arm of MAGE Solar moved into its Dublin facility in summer 2010. In that year, the MAGE Solar Group as a whole generated $340 million in revenue and claims to have grown at more than twice the speed of the industry average. When all is said and done, MAGE Solar USA will have invested $30 million in its ﬁrst phase at its production • ★ Let the sunshine in 22 More online at www.georgiamagazine.org GEORGIA MAGAZINE http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - November 2011

Georgia Magazine - November 2011
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar of Events
Special Energy Report
Currents
Generations of Growing
A Productive State
Around Georgia
My Georgia
Georgia Cooks
Snapshot
Bonus Snapshot Submissions
Gardens Plant of the Month: Liberty Notes
Energy-Efficiency Tips
Second Helping: More Great Recipes

Georgia Magazine - November 2011