By Brad Haire
University of Georgia

Georgia’s economy “must grow from within” in the 21st century,
Gov. Sonny Perdue told the 150 participants at the Georgia
Summit on Entrepreneurship March 20 in Tifton, Ga. Local
entrepreneurs, he said, will be the root of this new growth.

Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center and
the Georgia Economic Developers Association sponsored the two-
day summit at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference
Center.

The program focused local, state and national leaders in
entrepreneurship on one question: How can Georgia fan and
sustain the flame of entrepreneurship, especially in the state’s
rural economies?

Homegrown plan

The top economic-development strategy in Georgia’s future is
encouraging entrepreneurship, Perdue said.

The state must create an atmosphere that encourages, promotes
and nurtures people who want to take a “homegrown” risk for
profit, he said. That’s especially true for those who want to
stay in their communities and add to the local economy and job
market.

For years, Perdue said, Georgia successfully lured companies
with low business costs and cheap land and labor. This model and
strong economic times helped Georgia become the fastest-growing
state east of the Rocky Mountains. That was the past.

“The world has changed,” he said. Global trade and stiffer
international competition have “moved our traditional jobs
overseas.”

Due to this shift and the current economic downturn, the state
moved from No. 1 in job creation to dead last in 2002, he
said.

Georgia will continue to recruit businesses from other states
and countries. “But I think that game is about played out in the
cost of it,” he said.

Community lead

Community leaders will have to take the reins and guide this new
entrepreneurial spirit in Georgia. Rural communities can no
longer wait for “the state to ride in on a white horse and
deliver a company that will employ all the residents” with long-
term jobs.

“Those days are gone,” he said. “And you know it as well as
I.”

The communities that will thrive will be those that commit to
growing their own economies. If communities do this, he said,
the state will do its part.

“We will give you the resources to support you as you set your
own economic course,” he said.

State’s part

Perdue charged the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and
Tourism to broaden its mission and provide more opportunity for
entrepreneurship statewide.

“It will act as a clearinghouse for state resources,
coordinating efforts between our universities and local colleges
and nonprofit support shelters,” he said.

Entrepreneurs at the summit said Georgia needs a one-stop, easy-
access place for financial, business and personal advice.
Georgia entrepreneurs who were guest speakers attributed much of
their success to the help of the U.S. Small Business
Administration in Georgia.

Perdue said he understands the risk in starting a business. He
was an agribusiness entrepreneur in Houston County in the mid-
1970s.

“I look forward in hearing your ideas on how we can do this job
better,” he said. “I’d like to suggest that this summit become
an annual event.”