Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Report Reveals High-Tech Companies Making Significant Impact on the Metro Area’s Economy

High-tech companies made up nearly half of new businesses

in Atlanta in 1999

The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce today announced the release of the New Business Quarterly report for 1999. The report, which analyzes the impact of new or expanding businesses on Metro Atlanta’s economy, reveals that high-tech companies made up nearly half of all new businesses that expanded in or relocated to the Metro area in 1999.

Compiled by the Chamber’s Economic Expansion and Research Departments, the report states that high-tech or “Industries of the Mind” companies helped add 6,600 new technology jobs to Atlanta’s economy, nearly 60 percent of the total jobs created by all Metro Atlanta new businesses.

“High-technology companies realize that Atlanta’s pool of technology talent, lifestyle, business resources and infrastructure make it the ideal city in which to grow their businesses,” said Hans Gant, senior vice president of economic development for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. “We are pleased that so many technology companies are choosing to call Atlanta home.”

High-tech companies defined in the report include telecommunications, computer services/software, high-tech manufacturing and bio-tech/bio-medical companies in the Metro Atlanta area. Companies that expanded in or relocated to the Metro Atlanta area during the fourth quarter include Tradex Technologies (from Tampa, Fla.), e-Solutions Software, Exodus Communications, Healtheon (the California company relocated after merging with WebMD) and NETSchools (from California).

The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce New Business Quarterly tracks the activity of existing companies expanding or relocating into the 20-county metropolitan Atlanta area from outside the region. Each new metro Atlanta business announcement is researched and verified by the Chamber Research Department. To purchase a copy of the fourth quarter New Business Quarterly, contact the Chamber’s Public Information Department at 404/586-8403.

About Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s “Industries of the Mind”:

The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s “Industries of the Mind” is a five-year economic development campaign with the goal of recruiting technology industries and talent to the metropolitan Atlanta area and to provide resources and support to enable companies to expand and grow. The initiative will help build and develop Atlanta’s high-tech talent, attract high-tech companies to the city and create awareness of Atlanta as one of America’s great technology centers. For more information on Industries of the Mind, visit www.atlantasmartcity.com or www.metroatlantachamber.com. For more information on participating in the “Industries of the Mind” initiative, contact the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce at 404/880-9000.

Swimming: Other Smith ready to go the distance

Guy Hodgson reports Atlanta

As if Olympic swimming had not heard the name “Smith” enough this week. Michelle Smith, who has drawn controversy and gold like a magnet, will continue to command attention; tomorrow night a namesake may deflect some of it his way.

Graeme Smith (no relation) today begins his assault on the toughest race of them all, the 1500 metres, with a better than average chance of a medal in tomorrow night’s final. He is the fastest in the world this year and, with Nick Gillingham, arrived in Atlanta as one of the two British swimmers with genuine hopes of taking gold.

It is a burden of anticipation for the quietly spoken Scot who now lives in Stockport. His event does not have the glamour of the shorter, faster distances, and he does not carry the natural, confidence-oozing demeanour of a champion. Not at the moment, anyway.

When Smith talks about his biggest rival, Australia’s Kieren Perkins, he is almost in awe. “He’s a different class,” he said. “Even the time I did in the trial, 15min 03.43sec, was 20sec slower than his best. Anyone can have an off-day, but you’d expect him to get a gold medal.”

Off-days have been coming too often recently for Perkins – Barcelona gold medallist in the 1500m and silver in the 400m – who failed to make it through the Australian trials in the 400m. It is this apparent weakness in the world record holder that reinforces Smith’s hopes. A medal is dangling in front of him as a reward for 12 months of concentrated training that has included missing out a year of study at Manchester University.

Smith, 20, gets up at 5.30am to slog through a daily regime that would make a marine blanch. Weight training is the easy bit because he also pounds up and down the pool to the tune of 80,000 metres a week. A massive food intake is required to fuel the effort, and he eats around three times what the normal person tucks away. As a consequence, his lean frame has put on a stone in muscle over the last year.

“Sure, it’s a chore sometimes,” he said, “but the Olympics only come round every four years and you get one or two chances at them in a lifetime. You have to give it your best shot.

“Sometimes I think it would be nice to do the 50m; certainly the workload is lighter. But it wouldn’t appeal to me knowing one mistake and that’s it – you are talking about hundredths of a second making all the difference. In the 1500m, something can go wrong and you can do something about it.”

Smith was born in Falkirk but moved to the Manchester area as a two-year- old. He is feted in the land of his birth, but his accent is more Coronation Street than Take The High Road, and the only sign of his roots are his football allegiance. He supports Liverpool simply because Scotland’s Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish were at Anfield in his formative years. “It seemed the natural thing to do.”

Swimming did not come naturally to him, however. At first he took to water like a duck to ice but once he overcame his initial, clumsy reluctance, it was obvious he had talent. Initially he inclined, like all kids, towards the flashier events. He was quick and wanted to be a sprinter, but he was not jet-propelled enough. The move to swimming’s equivalent of the marathon came as the realisation dawned.

“At 12, I qualified for 100m rather than the 400m in the national age groups,” he said. “But when I was 15, my coach, Dave Calleja, told me to specialise in longer distances. He said one day it would come together, and it did.”

Four years ago Smith was a silver medallist at the junior European championships and in 1994 he reached the final of the World Championships. Unlike Michelle Smith, he has not come from nowhere. His opponents know all about him and the steady progress he is making. It is how he will perform with Olympic attention focused on him that intrigues.

“Only six people have broken 15 minutes,” Smith, who is banging against that barrier, said, “and only three of them are in Atlanta. There’s a chance of a medal. Let’s get to the final first.”

That should be an intriguing contest because both he and Perkins prefer to begin quickly, burning rivals off with an initial, lung-busting burst of speed. In the first-two-past-the-post trials in Sheffield, Smith set off like it was a 200m race and had ensured his position on the plane to Atlanta at about a quarter into the distance.

Smith remembers the race well. “Paul Palmer, who also qualified, spoke to me afterwards and said: ‘I’m not going in one of your races again; you go out too fast.’ Perkins will be trying to do the same, so it should be interesting.”

It will. In a week when British medal contenders have not exactly been plentiful, he is the genuine article. Scotland’s Smith is poised to join Ireland’s version on the podium.

Atlanta Magazine Names Bill Hallman Boutique Best In Atlanta

Atlanta Magazine’s December 2007 issue names Bill Hallman Boutique best shop for urban cool clothing.

The Bill Hallman Boutique, located at 792 N. Highland in the fashionable Virginia Highlands section of Atlanta, was selected by a panel of experts, based on the flair it brings to the city of Atlanta.

“We are very excited about being selected best in our category by Atlanta Magazine, ” said Nancy Hallman, store manager. “We carry a number of great designers, as well as the best of Bill Hallman’s designs. Our goal is to bring the very best to Atlanta and provide them at reasonable prices,” Nancy continued.

Bill Hallman is also bringing his designs to the Internet. January 1, 2008 will see the launch of his new online boutique http://www.billhallman.com , produced by HIP, Inc. an Atlanta based interactive media agency. Hallman also owns Bill Hallman Shoes located at 776 N. Highland Ave and is a partner with Karin Keeling in The Sushi Clothing Company located in the Little Five Points area of Atlanta.