About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2019)
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.
