{"83951":{"#nid":"83951","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Staff Member of Georgia Tech\u0027s ATDC to Lead Columbus Technology Center","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe selection of Blair Carnahan, formerly a business strategist with Synovus, was announced at a July 18 press conference in Columbus. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECarnahan is an employee of the ATDC, one of the nation\u0027s oldest and most successful incubators for technology companies. As a member of ATDC\u0027s staff, he will make the resources of the nationally-recognized incubator available to help Columbus-area entrepreneurs launch and build successful technology companies. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By leveraging the \u0027tried-and-true\u0027 methods of one of the nation\u0027s leading high-tech incubators - the ATDC - our chances of success have been greatly enhanced,\u0022 Carnahan said. \u0022Through the center, Columbus area start-ups will have access to the ATDC\u0027s practical business advice, credibility in the financing community and connections to the people and resources young companies need to be successful.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Columbus initiative grew out of a partnership between the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism (GDITT); the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce; Columbus State University and Georgia Tech\u0027s ATDC. It is part of the state\u0027s \u0022Greater Georgia\u0022 initiative aimed at developing innovation centers in mid-sized cities where potential has been identified for technology development.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Columbus already has a strong base of banking, investment, transaction processing and insurance companies that with the Army\u0027s presence, provides a foundation for the growth of technology-based companies,\u0022 said Jeff Strane, director of GDITT\u0027s Office of Science \u0026amp; Technology. \u0022This initiative will help develop a new part of the community\u0027s economic engine based on smaller, entrepreneurial companies.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Columbus incubator program is the second for the Greater Georgia initiative. The first helped create a program in Savannah, also managed by ATDC. Launched a year ago, the Savannah initiative already has an innovative electronics company whose product has attracted news coverage in \u003Cem\u003EThe New York Times\u003C\/em\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECarnahan\u0027s initial responsibilities will be to oversee completion of the Columbus Regional Technology Center\u0027s building, which is scheduled to begin construction on the campus of Columbus State University by August 1. He will also develop a marketing plan, establish a technology association, organize an advisory board, and work with ATDC\u0027s Atlanta-based staff of \u0022venture catalysts\u0022 on prospective companies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"A staff member from Georgia Tech\u0027s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) has been named to lead the new Columbus Regional Technology Center (CRTC), a local-state initiative formed to expand the area\u0027s community of technology-based companies.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2003-07-18 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:41","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2003-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2003-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.atdc.org\/news\/july182003.html","title":"Center to boost technology firms"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}