The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce

For more than 60 years, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce has worked to promote the business, educational, and cultural resources in the county. The Chamber has almost 3,000 members representing all types of businesses.

Chamber membership offers many advantages to companies that want to grow their business. Network Gwinnett, held on Thursday and Friday mornings, offers a chance to interact and share leads with other Gwinnett businesses. The chamber also holds a monthly Business After Hours, an annual Business in Gwinnett Trade Show, the Gwinnett Chamber Challenge golf and tennis tournament in October, and forums ranging from technology to education, to governmental affairs.

The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
6500 Sugarloaf Parkway
Duluth, GA 30097
Phone: (770) 232-3000. Fax: (770) 232-8807
Email: info@gwinnettchamber.org

Chamber Website Calendar of Events

News from the Gwinnett Chamber

Gwinnett Chamber Sets Goals for 2010

The Gwinnett Chamber’s top priority is to increase efforts nationally and abroad to attract high-wage jobs through its Partnership Gwinnett Economic and Community Development Strategy. These include enhancing efforts to target businesses in the nation’s “Rustbelt” communities as well as Europe and Asia and launching groundbreaking new marketing efforts targeting the industry cluster of “Digital Entertainment.” These come on the heels of a number of landmark successes in economic development where Gwinnett was recently the only community in the nation to recruit two Fortune 500 global headquarters in less than a year (NCR from Ohio and Asbury Automotive from New York). Gwinnett has also led the state in job creation since 2000 and, despite the current recession, more than 115 companies expanded or relocated in Gwinnett since Partnership Gwinnett’s launch in 2007 resulting in more than 6,200 new jobs.

The Chamber’s second priority is strengthening Gwinnett and the region’s network, culture and resources for entrepreneurs and small businesses through programs like its new Metro Atlanta Council for Entrepreneurship. Since its launch a year ago, the council has already assisted more than 1,100 entrepreneurs in developing their leadership, sales, financial and strategic planning resources. The Gwinnett Chamber also hosted more than 350 business development events attracting a record 35,000 participants in 2009.

The third priority for the Gwinnett Chamber is to relieve traffic congestion. Since the end of last year’s legislative session, the Gwinnett Chamber has been working behind the scenes with leaders in the House and Senate, Georgians for Better Transportation and GDOT to work with lawmakers to secure new funding for all modes of transportation. Due in large part to those quiet negotiations, there is for the first time a consensus among the House, Senate, and the Governor to get funding legislation passed.

Chamber Celebrates Successes of 2009

The Chamber had a record-breaking year for the organization in 2009. Successful recruiting trips to Asia and Europe have resulted in the Gwinnett Chamber opening its first international office in Wuxi, China and the Republic of South Korea opening its first U.S. Small and Mid-Size Business Office in the Gwinnett Chamber headquarters. Its strategic collaboration through the Innovation Crescent Regional Partnership, Georgia’s first regional life-science focused economic development partnership, has also positioned the Atlanta to Athens corridor as one of the nation’s premier hotspots for the bio and life sciences.

The Gwinnett Chamber and a coalition of partners also secured several legislative wins in 2009, including enhancing statewide tax credit incentives for strategic industries that allowed Gwinnett to attract NCR; authorizing tax allocation districts to revitalize blighted neighborhoods across the county; and rallying business community support to create Gwinnett’s first Open Heart Surgery Program at Gwinnett Medical. To support education, the Chamber launched mentoring programs in middle schools for at-risk students; worked with the Innovation Crescent Work Ready Program to secure more than $2 million in BRAC grants to retrain military personnel in the life sciences and secure more than $500,000 in grants for the creation of a Bio Science Career Path (with lab equipment) in our high schools; and expanded work-based apprenticeship programs in Gwinnett County Public Schools and Gwinnett Technical College.

Chamber Updates “Success Lives Here” to Promote Gwinnett Globally

The Chamber's "Success Lives Here" brand will soon be exposed to far more people than those seeing it on the water tower along Interstate 85. The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce recently unveiled the brand's new look, and plans to use the brand in a campaign to attract targeted industries to Gwinnett.

The campaign will promote Gwinnett’s “successes” in a variety of areas: strength in job creation and specific clusters, an affordable and prosperous quality of life, a highly educated workforce and acclaimed educational institutions, competitive incentive program, and business-friendly environment. It will target site consultants and decision makers for Gwinnett’s five targeted industries: Information Technology; Advanced Communications; Life Science and Healthcare; Logistics; and Regional and Corporate Headquarters for Professional Services.

“Success Lives Here already had a strong foundation and great brand equity in Gwinnett and the metro Atlanta region,” said Nick Masino, Vice President of Economic Development for the Gwinnett Chamber. “We wanted to utilize that strength to fuel momentum for national and global recognition in the years to come with strategic economic development messages for our targeted industries.”

Gwinnett Chamber Offers Free Small Business Advice from SCORE

Small business seeking advice on topics including writing a business plan, determining startup capital requirements, cash flow management, and assessing market potential for a new product or service can take advantage of free, confidential, advice offered by SCORE -- the Service Corps of Retired Executives.

SCORE counselors provide insight into how to start and operate a business, buy a small business or franchise and sell a business. They help prospective and established small business owners and managers identify problems, determine the causes and find solutions. SCORE counselors provide experience and operating expertise in financing, accounting, business planning, sales and marketing. Clients are matched with experienced counselors in a comparable line of business.

SCORE representatives are at the Chamber daily from 10 AM to 1:30 PM. For more information, call 770-232-3000.


	Web www.gwinnettnetwork.com