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Success Stories

Success so fast TailsSpin

With the assistance of the SBA and The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC), success came quickly for Jeffrey Manley and Jusak Bernhard, so fast it made their TailsSpin. They began with developing their business plan, acquiring funding, and opening TailsSpin, a retail pet supply business, in the Historic District of Savannah, Georgia on October 5th, 2007.

Since then, TailsSpin has built a loyal customer base, offering customers quality natural pet foods, a wide selection of pet accessories, and top-notch customer service. The business has grown rapidly, with sales through November 2012 totaling more than 5 times sales in 2008, the business’s first full year. The business now has 24 employees. TailsSpin’s growth led first to a larger location in Midtown Savannah. Then the company expanded by opening a second 3,000 square foot store in Pooler, Georgia in September of 2011. In 2012, TailsSpin was named Macon Mogul in Gateway Macon’s initiative to bring... Read More

Heartsong -- Singing for those without a voice.

Georgia Small Business Person of the Year 2013
(2nd Runner-Up)
Loretta Emmons
Heartsong -- Singing for those without a voice.

President Obama’s 2013 Small Business Week Proclamation states that America’s progress has been driven by pioneers who think big, take risks, and work hard.  He also notes that when their businesses take off, they fuel an engine of economic growth and job creation that moves America forward.  Loretta Emmons of Heartsong Spay Neuter Clinic, Augusta GA, the Georgia Small Business Person of the Year (2nd Runner-up), epitomizes the pioneers President Obama describes. 

The culmination of the Emmons’ “thinking big” was the creation of Heartsong Spay Neuter Clinic in 2006.  Loretta has long been an animal advocate, dedicated to rescuing and caring for animals, so establishing a low cost high quality spay neuter clinic was no surprise to those who knew her.  

As a result of thinking big and until late 2011... Read More

CaraVita - Purpose Driven Organization

Georgia Small Business Person of the Year 2013
Beth Cayce
CaraVita - Purpose Driven Organization

 

Beth Cayce, Georgia Small Business Person of the Year 2013, is the founder and CEO of CaraVita Home Care, a private duty homecare agency serving the Metro Atlanta area since 1998. Beth has spent a lifetime in service of those most in need, dedicating her professional career to seniors in the local community, and building sustainable programs for the less fortunate a world away.

CaraVita has provided in-home personal care services to over 16,000 seniors in the Metro Atlanta area for fifteen years. Offering a unique approach to care, CaraVita utilizes a multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals to provide care to seniors in their homes.  Cutting edge and innovative, CaraVita also offers a one of a kind Caregiver Academy for family members to learn the necessary homecare skills. The company recently launched the Virtual... Read More

AGC Succeeds with SBA

By Mark D. Gibson
U.S. Small Business Administration
Georgia District Public Affairs

Drive and determination are not only key contributing factors to being successful in the military, they are essential to the success of AGC Training Center, in Augusta, Georgia. Bobbie and Herman Lee, military veteran husband and wife team, understand what it means to serve. As veterans, they developed leadership skills to encourage and empower their clients and customers to excel while keeping a sense of serving the community as their priority. AGC provides services to licensed childcare programs for children from birth to age twelve, elementary schools, and registered family childcare programs in a four state region. Bobbie and Herman teamed with their local SBA Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to get where they are today.

"The SBA has been instrumental in keeping my team and me abreast to what's going on in the world as it relates to small business. The SBA... Read More

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