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4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, April 3,2019
City, Chamber, USDA gather to host inaugural expo
Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
More than 40 community members attended the Dawsonville Home and Business Expo
hosted March 28 by the city of Dawsonville, USDA Rural Development and the Dawson
County Chamber of Commerce at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
The city of Dawsonville in part
nership with the Dawson County
Chamber of Commerce and
USDA Rural Development hosted
its inaugural Dawsonville Home
and Business Expo at the Georgia
Racing Hall of Fame last week.
“The city and the chamber have
been very supportive and very
helpful because we could not have
done it on our own,” USDA Area
Specialist Kathy Forster said.
Approximately 30 service pro
viders set up booths and filled the
Gordon Pirkle Room on March 28
for business owners and communi
ty members to learn more about
services available to them.
“Really the purpose of the expo
is to provide an avenue for if
you’re starting a new business or
are trying to grow your business.
There’s vendors here who can
assist with that and as well as if
you’re interested in purchasing a
home or repairing your home,”
Chamber of Commerce
Membership Director Melissa
Mayton said.
Service providers included lend
ers, realtors, insurance agencies
and other local, state and federal
agencies ready to assist the com
munity by providing information
on loan opportunities and grants
that are available.
“We’ve been doing these types
of events for about five years...
and this is probably one of the best
turnouts we’ve had,” USDA Rural
Development Area Director David
Mull said.
The Rural Development wing of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture
has hosted business expos as a way
to highlight USDA and SBA loans
that communities might not be
aware of and to help create a net
work of support between service
providers.
“It’s almost more than an expo.
It’s a community collaborative,”
City Councilman Stephen Tolson
said.
Tolson, who helped support the
expo, said service providers have
established networks while at the
expo that will help provide better
support to the citizens.
“Often people don’t know
what’s out there and available for
them, especially if you’re in a rural
county,” Chamber of Commerce
President Christie Moore said. “If
you haven’t looked at a USDA
loan you are missing out because
there are so many phenomenal
programs and I think that is a big
part of this today.”
Tolson agreed and said while
serving on the board for Family
Connection, the board wanted to
address the need for affordable
elderly housing and discovered
that USDA has a program that can
help, something he didn’t expect.
“When you look at the citizens
and what’s there to help them, the
people that maybe need roofing or
heating and air that couldn’t neces
sarily afford that, you know,
USDA is there for them to help
them with all of those things,” City
of Dawsonville HR Manager
Donna Blanton said.
Representatives from USDA
were on site to assist with ques
tions on farm loans, home and
home repair loans and public bod
ies and nonprofit assistance as well
as opportunities for business start
ups, expansions, business plans
and financial projections.
“So many people don’t know
what these organizations. I didn’t
know what they do, so it’s impor
tant that we all learn what we do so
we can partner together and work
together to better different areas
whether it be housing or environ
mental or water and waste, or try
ing to help somebody with a busi
ness plan,” USDA State Director
Joyce White said.
According to White, USDA
Rural Development is the sixth
largest bank in the nation, and that
this year the current administration
has allotted $215 million to spend
in Georgia which will mostly be
used for low interest loans.
“We want to see that Georgia
gets its fair share and get it out
in the rural areas and bring
some jobs to the rural areas,”
White said.
Based on the success of the first
expo, Moore and Blanton said they
hope to grow the event next year
by possibly tying it in with the
food truck nights and farmers mar
ket.
Though the next expo won’t be
for some time, Blanton said she
hopes the citizens know that they
can always reach out to the city or
the Chamber of Commerce where
they will be put in touch with the
right person for their business and
home needs.
“What I would like for the citi
zens to know is that there are peo
ple here for them whatever their
needs are and even if it’s not the
day of the event they know that
they can still call one of us and we
know who to put them with,”
Blanton said.
Bob Christian Dawson County News
FROM 1A
Best
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Winners in the 2019 Best of Dawson Readers' Choice Awards mingle with
other award winners during the inaugural Best of Dawson Winners' Open
House at the Professional Development Center.
reception on March 26
where they received
advanced copies of the
2019 Best of Dawson mag
azine along with their offi
cial winners’ certificates
and window clings, partici
pated in door raffle prizes
donated by local businesses
and award winners, posed
in front of the official Best
of Dawson backdrop for
professional portraits and
celebrated their accom
plishment with their fellow
winners.
“We were thrilled to
honor all of the 2019 win
ners at our inaugural Best
of Dawson Winners’ Open
House event,” DCN
General Manager Brenda
Bohn said. “The turnout
was terrific and everyone
had a wonderful time cele
brating their achievement.”
The event was sponsored
by Northeast Georgia
Health System, which won
Best Hospital Presence in
this year’s competition.
Floral arrangements were
provided by Dawsonville
Florist, recipient of this
year’s Best Floral
Arrangements.
Winner of Best Desserts,
Jacki’s Kitchen, provided
numerous desserts from
chocolate covered bacon to
peanut butter balls to pecan
pie squares to mini cheese
cakes for guests to enjoy.
The open house was
catered by Chick-fil-A,
winner of Best Catering.
Chick-fil-A was also the
business to win the most
Left: Award winners sample the "Best Desserts"
from Jacki's Kitchen at the Best of Dawson
Winners' Open House on March 26. Below: Floral
arrangements by Dawsonville Florist adorned the
tables at the inaugural Best of Dawson Winners'
Open House on March 26. Dawsonville Florist won
"Best Floral Arrangements" in the 2019 Best of
Dawson award.
Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
awards in this year’s con
test, earning 10 wins for:
Best Catering, Best Place to
Work, Best American Food,
Best Drive Through, Best
Family Restaurant, Best
Fast Food, Best Funch,
Best Place to Eat with
Children, Best Takeout and
Best Sweet Tea.
The full list of winners is
available in our 2019 Best
of Dawson magazine that
hit stands March 27, 2019.
The magazine is on stands
and available in our office,
30 Shoal Creek Road,
through March 2020.
A full gallery of the win
ners’ portraits is available
on the Dawson County
News Facebook page and
online at dawsonnews.com.
As for next year, Bohn
said the Dawson County
News is ready and excited
to work on next year’s
event.
“We are already looking
forward to and planning for
2020,” Bohn said. “Stay
tuned.”
Photos by Bob Christian Dawson County News
Above: The Professional Development Center was filled with winners dur
ing the 2019 Best of Dawson Readers' Choice Awards Open House on March
26. Below: Award winners sign in and receive their certificates.
