Georgia County Government-August 2008

CountyParade BARROW New E-911 System Barrow County government recently purchased a new emergency-911 phone system for central communications that will be transitioned to the county’s new facility when it is complete. The new facility is slated for the county’s property on Pleasant Hill Church Road, which will also be the site of a new fire station and a future training center. Barrow County Central Communications Director Kathy Wallace said the commission approved a $228,248 system from InterAct Public Safety Systems which can integrate with Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) and mapping now in place in the county’s emergency operations, as well as with any new radio system the county purchases in the future. The system includes its first year of maintenance in the bid price, with a five-year annual maintenance contract locked in at $13,500 yearly beginning in year two. InerAct, which also sold systems to Gwinnett, Oconee, Forsyth and DeKalb counties, received good comments from all. Georgia Tourism Web Site Wins Prestigious Award The State of Georgia’s new tourism Web site, ExploreGeorgia.org, was recently named a finalist in the American Business Awards. “I’m pleased that our online strategy has been recognized by the American Business Awards,” said Ken Stewart, commissioner for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Georgia’s team has worked hard to create a customer experience which translates the state’s attractions into a terrific visitor experience online.” Known as the “Stevies,” the American Business Awards are compared to the Oscars in terms of prestige. GDEcD’s interactive agency, Engauge Digital (formerly Spunlogic), submitted the site to the Brand Building/Promotion Web site category. ExploreGeorgia.org allows visitors to tailor their experience and discover the unexpected in Georgia. The site was recently launched with a number of key features, including: • Travel planner: An interactive way to find activities, save favorites and plan a trip. • Faceted Search: A function that narrows results for any search based on selected fi ltering criteria. • Experiences: Getaway themes designed to spark travel ideas, such as At the Beach, Romantic Getaway and Back to Nature. • Dream Pass Integration: The popular rewards card for Georgia attractions its now integrated with the tourism Web site. For more information on the American Business Awards, visit www.stevieawards. com/aba. high standards for reliability and risk based redundancy for DeKalb County and its citizens. will scale to more than 100 MW over the next two years, potentially adding more jobs to its workforce. “We are proud that Suniva has chosen Gwinnett as a place to do business,” added Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister. “We are confident that our workforce will be a major factor in the company’s success with this cutting-edge, leading solar technology.” Headquartered in Atlanta, Suniva develops, manufactures and markets high-value crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells for clean solar power generation. The company has an exclusive license to critical patents and patentpending intellectual property developed by founder and CTO Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s University Center of Excellence in Photovoltaics, the nation’s premier silicon PV research center. DeKALB County’s Water Facility a Feature Attraction during AWWA Meeting DeKalb County government’s Scott Candler Water Treatment Facility was a “featured attraction” of The American Water Works Association (AWWA) during the organization’s 2008 conference, held at the Georgia World Congress Center on June 8-12. Water experts from around the world registered for the meeting, toured the plant and got a chance to survey its administration building, laboratory, training facilities and state-of-the-art operator control center utilizing a control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. The Scott Candler Water Treatment facility is one of the largest fully automated and computerized water treatment plants in the Southeast. The plant officially opened in September 2007 and was designed to use advanced treatment technologies to achieve current and future regulatory requirements and meet GWINNETT Suniva to Manufacture Solar Cells in New Norcross Plant The state Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) recently announced that Suniva Inc. will locate its first solar cell facility, and Georgia’s first solar manufacturing plant, in Gwinnett County, in Norcross. Working with technological advances developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Atlanta-based company will manufacture high-efficiency solar cells. Suniva anticipates the new operation will create around 100 jobs within the first year. Making the announcement, Governor Sonny Perdue said, “This new solar cell facility is a perfect example of the way Georgia’s investment in research and development pays dividends by producing innovative technologies that help companies grow.” Suniva’s new Gwinnett County facility will manufacture high-efficiency, lowcost solar cells. Production capacity of the first line will be 32 megawatts (MW). The company plans additional lines that SUMTER Healthcare Management Firm Expanding in Americus PharmaCentra, an Atlanta-based marketing and services firm that proPARADE continued on page 40 AUGUST 2008 www.accg.org 39 http://ExploreGeorgia.org http://www.stevieawards.com/aba http://www.stevieawards.com/aba http://www.accg.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government-August 2008

Georgia County Government- August 2008 Contents President’s Message County Matters Georgia’s Transportation Issues More Critical to Counties than Ever Expanding Rural Airports: Partnering for Economic Development in Upson County Meet DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham Bridge Infrastructure and Risk Counties and the Law: Georgia’s Fair Employment Practices Act Georgia’s Grand Old Courthouses: Coffee County Extension News: Infrastructure Investments Save County Funds Research Corner: Getting the Most Out of Your Research Discover the New Georgia Encyclopedia NACo News Staff News County Parade Index of Advertisers

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