Online Effort To Get Out-Of-Work Georgians Back On The Job

Liz Carter puts her professional experience to work for unemployed Adds "Jobs Board" to LizCarterforCongress.com

(ATLANTA)—While many in Washington just talk about getting out-of-work Americans back on the job, leading Republican Congressional candidate Liz Carter is actually doing something to help business owners and unemployed Georgians.

Carter is using her professional experience and business connections to create a new job posting database available to anyone with online access. The postings will be available at LizCarterForCongress.com.

Employers can create a free account to post details about available positions; the company name, position title, position type and job description will be made available on the site. Applicants can search the postings and apply online. Once resumes are received and reviewed, the applicant's details are sent to the employer.

"I am doing what I can to immediately connect employers with prospective employees. My only objectives are to help unemployed Georgians get back to supporting their families and provide a free service to business owners."

Carter is the only District 4 Congressional candidate with executive business management experience and is an accomplished entrepreneur and small business owner. She is a job creator who focuses on delivering best practices and thought leadership with those she works with. She's been noted for her skill in managing high dollar business units, effective cutting costs and increasing revenues.

"I've yet to discover a single Georgian – let alone an entire family – that can honestly say they feel better about the billions of their tax dollars Congress has given away," she said.

"There is simply too much at risk for the immediate and future needs of Georgians to simply wish for things to get better."

"My hope is that everyone will take the opportunity to visit our site, LizCarterforCongress.com, utilize a free posting service and find an employment opportunity that meets their needs," Carter added.

-- 30 --

Hands for Haiti

More than 30,000 pounds of food, clothing, medical supplies and generators were collected by independent contractors working for Primerica in Gwinnett, and shipped in 1,000 boxes to the International Faith Fellowship Ministry mission in Haiti in the wake of the disastrous earthquake there. The material donated and collected is valued at an estimated $100,000 according to Andy Young, senior director of national sales with Primerica, who organized the project. Duke Realty Corporation donated 2,200 square feet of space to the effort at its Crestwood Pointe office park in Duluth to serve as the collection and processing center. Pictured from left to right are Jarrin King (background), Peggee King (foreground), Cindy Costa-Bennett and Patty McHugh.

Rocket IT Celebrates 15 Years of Business

Duluth, Ga- Rocket IT is pleased to announce that January marks the 15^th anniversary of our corporate beginnings in 1995. Our award-winning firm has evolved rapidly over the past 15 years, empowering hundreds of businesses by making technology attainable, useful and reliable.

"Fifteen years is a long time and I'm proud of our past accomplishments, but what I'm really excited about is the future," said Matt Hyatt, Rocket IT founder and CEO. "I've never seen a time so rich with opportunity to help others and to make an impact. It's a great time to be an entrepreneur."

Rocket IT delivers mission critical technology support and management for businesses. New initiatives in 2010 include a ground-breaking money-back guarantee for new clients, numerous process improvements, and flexible paid-time-off benefits for employees.

"We're building the ultimate IT Service Company," said Hyatt, "and I've never had more fun doing it than right now."

For more information on Rocket IT, visit www.rocketit.com.

Announcing the Hudgens Prize Visual Arts Competition

The Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts is very pleased to announce The Hudgens Prize visual arts competition and juried show. Open to any artist living as a full time resident in the state of Georgia, aged 18 and up, the competition will bestow a $50,000 cash award and an invitation for a solo exhibit upon one selected artist.

The winning artist will be announced at an Award Celebration held in conjunction with the final juried show, which will run from November of 2010 until February, 2011.

The Hudgens Prize represents one of the largest art awards given in the nation. It is an unprecedented opportunity for an artist in Georgia to receive both the large cash prize and the opportunity for a solo exhibit, and the juried exhibit in November will provide great statewide exposure for all of the finalists.

"We are extremely excited to be able to offer such an important award competition to the artists of Georgia. Particularly in times of economic challenge, it is vital that we support the arts and artists, or we lose something that is literally irreplaceable in our culture and our state," said Teresa Osborn, Interim Executive Director at The Hudgens.

The Prize is sponsored by a private foundation that prefers to remain anonymous. "They were strongly interested in supporting the arts on a statewide basis, and also wanted to help increase the visibility and prestige of The Hudgens in the state," said Stan Hall, Chairman of the Board at The Hudgens.

"We are greatly honored that the foundation chose us to be the venue and facilitators for this exciting competition," stated Hall.

"It is our hope that by bringing more attention to The Hudgens, this competition will also result in more support from the community and the state, particularly in this current, very challenging, economic environment," added Osborn.

The Juror Panel for the competition consists of David Kiehl, Curator of Prints at The Whitney Museum of American Art; Sylvie Fortin, Editor-in-Chief of ART PAPERS Magazine; and Eungie Joo, Keith Haring Director and Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programs at the New Museum in New York.

"We are very pleased with the caliber of art professionals we have assembled to serve on the jury panel for The Hudgens Prize. We feel that this trio will serve us well in making some difficult decisions," states Angela Nichols, Director of Programs and Education at The Hudgens. "They are all well known nationally and internationally in the arts and we're thrilled to have such a well respected and impressive group of jurors."

Kiehl has organized many Whitney exhibitions, including: Memorials of War (2004); Political Nature (2004-05); Ellen Gallagher: DeLuxe (2005); and Two Years (2007-08). He was responsible for the exhibition installations of The Art of Richard Tuttle (2005-06), Kiki Smith: A Gathering (2006-07), and Jenny Holzer: Protect Protect (2009). Kiehl also serves on the editorial board of Print Quarterly; the Board of Directors for Printed Matter; and the advisory committee for the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University.

Fortin is an independent curator, art historian, critic and editor who has worked internationally since 1991. She has been Curator of Contemporary Art at the Ottawa Art Gallery, Program Coordinator at la chambre blanche (Quebec), and a long-term collaborator with OBORO. Her critical essays have been published in Canadian, American and European catalogues, and her reviews have appeared in many periodicals including Art Press, C Magazine, Espace, Fuse (of which she is a contributing editor), NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art and Parachute. Fortin was named Lexus Leader of the Arts in December 2007.

Joo spearheads the New Museum's unique educational and public programs, including the pioneering 'Museum as Hub,' a curatorial/education hybrid with five international partner organizations. She was previously Director and Curator at the Gallery at REDCAT, Los Angeles. This year, Joo was commissioner for the Korean Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, where she presented "Condensation: Haegue Yang." She recently organized Nikhil Chopra's performance and exhibition "Yog Raj Chitrikar: Memory Drawing IX," which is on
view at the New Museum through February 14.

Visual artwork of any medium will be considered for the Competition, but it must have been completed within the last two years and meet certain size and weight criteria. The entry fee is just $30 for members of The Hudgens and $50 for non-members (includes one Artist level membership), and entitles each artist to submit up to five entries. Entries are to be submitted via digital images burned onto a CD and mailed to The Hudgens.

The jury will select between five to ten artists to participate in the Finalist's Exhibition, which will run from November 30, 2010 through February 19, 2011. The $50,000 prize winner will be announced at an Award Celebration on November 30, and will have a solo exhibition at The Hudgens Center in December 2011.

Deadline for entry for the competition is June 4, 2010. The Hudgens Prize prospectus contains further details about the competition and information on how to enter, and is available on The Hudgens' website at www.thehudgens.org.

The Hudgens Center currently has three exhibits on view until May 15, 2010, including Herbert Creecy, featuring one of Georgia's most well-known abstract expressionist painters; Georgia Artists from the Permanent Collection and Tannery Row: Selected Works, which highlight some of the wonderful talent from the Buford artists' colony, Tannery Row, in another collection from Georgia-based artists.

The simultaneous presentation of these three exhibits represents a change in the focus and mission of The Hudgens. The center is committed to presenting coordinated exhibits that carry a theme throughout the facility, as these do in featuring Georgia artists, and will present three to four sets of similarly integrated exhibits per year.

The Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts is located at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Bldg 300 in Duluth, at the end of the Gwinnett Center complex. The parking lot is located off of Satellite Boulevard, near the intersection of Satellite & Sugarloaf Parkway, and the main entrance is under the giant robot.

For more information about events and happenings at The Hudgens, please call 770-623-6002 or sign up to receive the monthly newsletter at www.thehudgens.org.

Gwinnett Police Employee Benevolent Funds (GPEBF) Announces First Guns and Hoses Calendar

Support your local heroes by purchasing the GPEBF Guns and Hoses calendar. The calendar is a full 18-months of police and fire professionals protecting and serving your community. The fund is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides assistance to Gwinnett Police Department employees who are experiencing financial difficulties due to unforeseen disasters, family illness, injury or death. Support Gwinnett's police and fire fighters by donating a minimum of $20 for the Guns and Hoses calendar. Order the calendar online at www.gpebf.com or contact Renee Everett at renee@gwinnettcounty.com or 770-338-4170 x5760

Local Companies Offering Discounts on Award-Winning Products

Lawrenceville, GA- Brainy Baby and Gwinnett Medical Center's Women's Pavilion are teaming up to offer new families who deliver at GMC a free gift. Brainy Baby is giving each new mom a full length Sleepy Baby music CD that has 15 soothing, instrumental songs that relax baby and invite sleep. Each CD will also include additional discount coupons for future purchases that will benefit the Gwinnett Medical Center's Foundation.

In addition, the two organizations released a direct mail piece last month to families who have delivered their babies at GMC's Women's Pavilion in recent years. The offer includes a 30% discount on purchases made through Brainy Baby's Web site with a portion of sales also benefiting the Gwinnett Medical Center's Foundation.

For over a decade, Brainy Baby has been a pioneer in developing award-winning products for new families. GMC's Women's Pavilion is the area's premier institution for childbirth labor and delivery, with approximately 6,000 babies born at the facility each year.

"We believe this partnership with Brainy Baby is a great benefit for families and we are glad to be able to offer it just before the holidays," says Pam Kauffman, Interim Director of Women's Services. "We're also proud to be working with Brainy Baby because they are an award-winning, Gwinnett-based company, We're confident that we'll have a terrific partnership."

The mission of The Brainy Baby Company is to help children develop a love of learning for a lifetime. For more than a decade, the Suwanee-based company has developed award-winning products that introduce letters, shapes, animals, art and music to infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The entertaining programs for these age groups.

"The Brainy Baby team is enthusiastic about what we do," says Dennis Fedoruk, president and CEO. "I believe the reason we are so successful is that we are motivated and inspired to create products that make a difference in the lives of children."

Created by a team of early childhood educators using a time-tested and proven method of introducing and reinforcing preschool concepts, Brainy Baby DVDs have won more than 75 national awards of excellence. Brainy Baby also offers complimentary products like books, flashcards and games that reinforce subjects introduced in the DVDs.

The partnership has an added benefit of supporting Gwinnett Medical Center's Foundation. Proceeds from each purchase will be donated back to the Foundation to support the improvement of healthcare services in the community.

Brainy Baby's products were also recently added to the GMC's Women's Pavilion Boutique. Portions from those sales will also benefit the Foundation.

"We are really looking forward to working with Brainy Baby's because this is an innovative way for the company to support our Foundation. I think we'll have a great response to these offers," says Jason Chandler, president of the Gwinnett Medical Center Foundation.

About Brainy Baby
For over a decade, The Brainy Baby Company has been a pioneer and leader in DVDs, Books, Games and Toys for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. For more information, please visit www.brainybaby.com.

About Gwinnett Medical Center
Now celebrating the 25th anniversary of its flagship campus, Gwinnett Medical Center is a not-for-profit healthcare network providing award-winning healthcare services to the Gwinnett community and beyond. Campuses in both Duluth and Lawrenceville provide acute care, outpatient services, orthopedic and neuroscience specialty care as well as a full continuum of wellness services. Digital imagining is the standard of care at all GMC facilities including the newest imaging center in north Gwinnett's Hamilton Mill area. In 2008, GMC's 4,300 associates and 800 physicians served more than 400,000 patients. Gwinnett Medical Center's incredible vision for the future is to transform healthcare. To learn more, visit www.gwinnettmedicalcenter.org.

SANTA TO USHER IN THE HO-HO-HOLIDAY SEASON IN SUWANEE DEC. 5

Suwanee will welcome Santa Claus to town on Saturday, December 5, during the annual Old Town Holiday Festival and Caboose Lighting. As he arrives on Main Street in his tractor-pulled sleigh, Santa will magically light Suwanee’s red caboose. It’s the community event that those who’ve been “nice” over the past year wouldn’t dare miss.

Festivities will begin at 5 p.m. with performances of new and favorite holiday tunes by the Riverside, Level Creek, and Suwanee elementary choruses. String students from the Gwinnett School of Music also will perform. Free hot chocolate, cookies, and s’mores will be available, and the Downtown Development Authority will offer hot dogs for purchase.

In addition to meeting and having photos taken with Santa – be sure to bring your own camera! – children can make holiday crafts. Carriage rides will be available as well for a fee.