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Search Results for: regions business radio

An Introduction to Regions Business Radio

December 11, 2020 by Mike

Jeff Forrestall, Phil Bonelli and J.D. Mealor

“Regions Business Radio” covers financial topics such as banking and lending, mortgages, wealth management and more. The program also allows listeners to get to know some of the top executives from Regions Bank.

Hosted by J.D. Mealor, Senior Vice President and North Georgia Market Executive, “Regions Business Radio” streams live on the second Friday of every month on Business RadioX. All episodes are also available for download on Apple iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.

“Every day, Georgia’s most brilliant business leaders are innovating for consumers and contributing to the quality of life in the communities we call home,” Mealor said. “At Regions Bank, we deliver customized financial insights and guidance to our clients at all times, and this new program will give our team an opportunity to reach even more people through the experience and knowledge of Regions’ professionals.”

Phil Bonelli/Regions Bank

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $145 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest, and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,400 banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.

Jeff Forrestall/Forrestall CPAs

Forrestall CPAs is a leading metro Atlanta CPA firm offering a full range of CPA Firm services. Founded in 1978, Forrestall CPAs is one of the oldest and most experienced CPA firms in Gwinnett and Hall Counties. Forrestall CPAs was voted the “Best Accounting Firm in Gwinnett” for 2019 for the tenth year by Gwinnett Magazine. The Firm was ranked as one of the fastest growing CPA Firms in Atlanta for six years by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

This information is general in nature and is provided for educational purposes only. Regions makes no representation as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented and Regions does not accept liability for any direct or indirect loss stemming from the application of any material. Information provided and statements made by employees of Regions should not be relied on or interpreted as accounting, financial planning, investment, legal or tax advice. Regions encourages you to consult an appropriate professional concerning your specific situation and irs.gov for current tax rules.

The Regions Big Bike Visits Business RadioX

December 20, 2020 by Mike

The Regions Bank “Big Green Bike”, the bank’s advertising symbol since 2007, is used as the company’s marketing platform that “Banking with Regions is as Easy as Riding a Bike”.  Regions is a major partner of the Southeastern Conference, and Big Bike tours are held every football season throughout towns and cities across the South.  The Big Bike is a fun way for Regions to promote its products and services, letting consumers know the bank can help with all their financial needs.

The Big Bike was recently touring Atlanta ahead of the 2020 SEC Football Championship game between the Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide.  In addition to visiting many of Regions’ newest branches in the Atlanta area, the Big Bike made an appearance outside the Sonesta Gwinnett Place Atlanta Hotel and the home of Gwinnett Business RadioX, where Mike Sammond had the opportunity to conduct a brief interview with the Big Bike Manager Bobby Stillings.

This information is general in nature and is provided for educational purposes only. Regions makes no representation as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented and Regions does not accept liability for any direct or indirect loss stemming from the application of any material. Information provided and statements made by employees of Regions should not be relied on or interpreted as accounting, financial planning, investment, legal or tax advice. Regions encourages you to consult an appropriate professional concerning your specific situation and irs.gov for current tax rules.

From Employees to Owners: The Journey of Transitioning Your Business

April 2, 2025 by angishields

CBR-412025-banner-bw

Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors

CherokeeSponsorImageDieselDavidMSW

In this episode of Cherokee Business Radio, Joshua Kornitsky discusses employee ownership with Marie Davis, executive director of the Georgia Center for Employee Ownership, and Keith and Kevin Young from Young K9. Marie explains the center’s mission to help small businesses implement employee ownership models, highlighting benefits like increased engagement and productivity. She shares her personal motivations and success stories. Keith and Kevin discuss their dog-walking business, Young K9, and how employee ownership has positively impacted their operations. The episode underscores the transformative potential of employee ownership and the importance of early guidance in the transition process.

GACEO-logo

Marie-Bell-Davis-bwMarie Davis is an Atlanta, Georgia native. She currently serves as Executive Director of The Georgia Center for Employee Ownership (GACEO), one of 24 State Centers created by the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX).

After obtaining a Social Work degree at The University of Georgia, she served as a foster care coordinator for the State of Georgia, certifying foster parents and working with foster care children. Obtaining a Series 7 and 63 financial license, she worked with a private financial firm as Assistant to the President.

While raising her two children, Marie worked for a local developer, forming relationships with County and State officials. Moving to Florida for ten years, Marie served as a Targeted Case Manager with Children’s Home Society of Florida and a certified tutor for autistic children.

Marie also served as the Director of Mentoring for Center Point in Hall County Georgia, recruiting and training mentors for several school systems. She also served as a Technical Assistant for the National MENTOR program, working with mentor programs across the country with direction and development and served on the Georgia Mentor Provider Council For 6 years.

Follow GACEO on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Young-K9-logo

Keith-Young-bwKeith Young, owner of Young K9, is originally from Ohio. He has a background in Psychology and ABA therapy, which is applied behavior analysis for kids with autism. He has worked in the school setting, as well as the clinic setting.

Kids and animals are definitely Keith’s two passions. He’s been working in the pet industry since 2013, from selling dog food to walking dogs. With over 10 years of experience servicing over 500 clients and multiple breeds of dogs, he really enjoys what he does.

​Growing up Keith had turtles, rabbits, fish, and is currently the doggy dad to a German Shepherd Pyrenees mix named CoCo.

Kevin-Young-bwAt 25 years old, Kevin Young is a proud graduate of Jacksonville State University, where he earned a degree in Communications, graduating cum laude with a 3.6 GPA.

Kevin’s passion for storytelling and connecting with audiences has shaped his career path, leading him to diverse experiences in both media and pet care. He previously worked as a sports journalist covering the Atlanta Dream, where he honed his skills in reporting, content creation, and audience engagement.

Currently, Kevin serves as both a dog walker and Social Media Manager for Young K9, a professional pet care company based in Atlanta. In this role, he combines his love for animals with his expertise in digital marketing, helping to build the company’s brand presence while providing high-quality care to clients’ pets.

Follow Young K9 on Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Joshua Kornitsky: So welcome back for another exciting episode of Cherokee Business Radio, where we help business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. I’m your host, professional EOS implementer, Joshua Kornitsky, and I am here today with Mary Davis of the Georgia Center for Employee Ownership, and Keith and Kevin Young from Young K9. Let’s get started. So good morning, Marie, if you would. Let’s start with you.

Marie Davis: Good morning.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I understand that you’re the executive director of the Georgia Center for Employee Ownership, and I can I can read what that means. And you’ve explained it to me in the past. But tell me so that people can understand. What do you do? What does the Georgia Center do?

Marie Davis: Okay, well, the Georgia Center is one of 24 state centers that were created as a way for small business owners like these guys who are with us today to find information on how to set their business up for success. And by that, I mean thinking of their employees engaging their employees. It might not be the employee ownership model, but we can help you figure out what to do with your business. Seasoned businesses, young businesses, entrepreneurs. We just want them to have the information about how they can do this wonderful model.

Joshua Kornitsky: So is this you said that it’s across the United States in different states that you’re heading up the one in Georgia. How many employee owned businesses are there across the country?

Marie Davis: You know, and I also neglected to say that we have a parent company called Employee Ownership Expansion Network, and they are the ones that created all these state centers. Most of them, some of them have been around for 40 years, like, I believe the, um, Ohio State Center that’s at Kent State has been around a long, long time, very solid state center. Um, well, so what.

Joshua Kornitsky: Uh, so across the country, I was wondering, are there a lot of employee owned companies?

Marie Davis: Oh, sorry about that. That’s okay, I got distracted. So there are nearly 7000 employee owned companies, and we would really like to see that. I’d like to see it quadruple, because in the last few years, when I have moved up from launch manager at ten hours a week, uh, to program director to an executive director, I have seen and talked with so many businesses that have done this and are just so successful, and it changes lives. It absolutely changes lives.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you mentioned in, in your overview of what the Georgia Center does, that there are very, you know, businesses of various size, various stages. If in a perfect engagement, when would you engage with an organization to advise them on this? Is there a lot of pre-planning that goes into it? You know, what’s the ramp? Time to get ready to turn a company into an employee owned company.

Marie Davis: So I’ll say that if you do go on my website. Org you will only get me. It is just me. And so most of the calls we get are people who this is not right for them or it’s not right for them yet. I got a very exciting call. It’s been well over a year now from a company that already knew about employee ownership, and was extremely excited about the prospect of finding information out front before they had to go hire somebody. So the process for them is we immediately, uh, I put them in front of my executive national executive director and talked and said, oh, you know. And I knew that they were perfect for employee ownership model and they knew it too. So rather than rush them, we had them talk with other employee owners, sort of in the same field, uh, about the same size, so that they would know what the process was going to be like. And that was well over a year ago. They have some big events coming. I can’t tell you anything about them, of course, but I will tell you that they are. It’s going to be very exciting. And so they met with those employee owned companies, and then we introduced them to the service providers that do this kind of work. And unfortunately, they had already paid. And this is this is a big point to make for companies. Don’t go pay a trust attorney. Don’t go have a business evaluation done until you talk to us.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wait, wait, how much does it cost to talk to you?

Marie Davis: It doesn’t cost anything. I should have said that. We’re all nonprofit. We are funded.

Joshua Kornitsky: A big deal.

Marie Davis: It is a big deal. Eocs, our parent company, is funded a lot by some of these service providers, but also by very, very happy founding owners. I’m pointing at these guys across the room since this is on radio and you can’t see me, but they will sent their business, put their business in an employee stock ownership plan for their employees, and they made a ton of money. And so they’re very happy about how their business prospered and their employees prospered. So they give back to employee ownership expansion network. Sometimes it trickles down to the state center, some sometimes it doesn’t, but it doesn’t cost anything. And so going back to this company that gave me the call right after they they had already paid a trust attorney, unfortunately, and had that business evaluation and that probably cost them, I don’t know.

Joshua Kornitsky: A bunch of.

Marie Davis: Money, a bunch of money, I’m going to say upwards of $50,000. Ouch. And it doesn’t apply to what we’re going to do with them. We don’t actually do any of the work, and I will stress that. So we won’t ever charge you a penny. So we put them with different service providers and we’re actually still doing that. And then they choose the one that clicks with them. Because when in a in a Esop transaction, there’s a lot of people that have to be involved, especially right at first. And you need to like you might not like working with your brother if that was the case. And you might want to choose Joshua to work with you get the idea. There’s clicks and there’s personalities.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, sure, anytime you’re making introductions, you’ve got to make sure that it’s an introduction that resonates for all the parties involved in order for everybody’s interests to get served. But it’s great to know that this is a service that’s available to a business owner, and they can get guidance and advice that has no bias, has no leaning one direction or the other. It sounds like you just give them the information and help them find the right match. Is that.

Marie Davis: We do. And so you I didn’t finish answering your question because again, I keep seeing something shiny over there. But, uh, when a company decides to become employee owned, they can do it in less than six months. It might take a year. It depends on whether they’re already an S Corp, if they’re an LLC or a C Corp, and they want to move to an S Corp, that might take time, might take time to work out the funding of paying off whatever percentage the owner wants to put into the employee fund. And by the way, that can be 10%. Most companies now are doing 100%.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it sounds like there’s it’s and I mean this in a good way. It’s not a one size fits all. And it sounds like it can be customized to fit the the transitioning out owner, what their goals are.

Marie Davis: Exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: And if I can ask only because you had shared this with me in a previous conversation, what are the some of the benefits? Understanding that obviously it depends on the circumstance in the situation? Are there are there specific benefits for the owners in order to make this transition that they see, in addition to handing their their legacy to people that they know, trust, love and respect? What other benefits potentially are there for an employer?

Marie Davis: Well, hopefully they’re going to do it before they’re ready to walk out the door and they’ll still be involved so they can watch that company explode. And they can watch their employees learn to become employee owners. They can watch their retirement plan grow. They can watch their company, their legacy, remain forever, hopefully. You know, sometimes people buy employee owned companies. It just depends. That happened right here in Woodstock. Uh, the last time I was on this show, I had a lady from Erb Industries here, and, uh, it was on. If you all remember, the, um. I’m only doing this because it’s Cherokee wood, uh, Business Radio. But if there was a water tower right down here near the technical group, right here in Woodstock. And it said Erb industries proudly, 100% employee owned. They sold, but they negotiated that that stay there on that water tower. No one lost their jobs. No one fired the management and they just recently sold. There’s a new name down there, and they took it off the water tower.

Joshua Kornitsky: But that’s.

Marie Davis: Okay. That’s because the company’s become so. Powerful so quickly. Um.

Joshua Kornitsky: Strong and passionate in what they’re doing.

Marie Davis: They do. So for a founding owner to realize that they’re that water tower is going to be there as long as they want it to be there. That’s pretty exciting.

Joshua Kornitsky: That is cool. But you had mentioned to me that there may be some tax benefits. Oh, there’s.

Marie Davis: Wonderful tax benefits. So for the for the founder he can defer his capital gains. And that’s really important. And again that I’m not the technical person. But last time we were on here we were very technical. But um, it depends on what form. If they’re an S Corp or C Corp and that’s kind of getting in the weeds. Really anybody can do it. But there are more benefits if you’re an S Corp for the founder. They’re still going to be deferred capital gains. And you know, if you sell your business or move your business into an employee ownership plan, that is critical.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s great. So thank you for letting us know that. And before we’re done, we’ll make sure people know how to get Ahold of you to to learn more about it. Uh, and obviously, it’s important to share again that there’s no cost in asking questions. Um, so tell me, Marie, how did you get involved with all of this?

Marie Davis: Well, I was, um, in Gainesville, Georgia, and wanted to move this way and had to have a knee replacement. Couldn’t drive that distance there. So, um, I was looking for a job, and it said something like, like, what the heck is a launch manager? It didn’t say anything about employee ownership. And so when I did the interview, uh, my now executive director said, uh, well, um, I see you had your series seven and 63. What do you know about employee ownership? And I said, well, I said, we had our own Esop attorney. I said, I haven’t heard that name in a long time. And then I told the story of my parents business that, um, my parents had a business on Buford Highway for almost 50 years.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wow. What type of business?

Marie Davis: It was a landscape business. My dad was a landscape architect and horticulturist. He’s been gone a long time. He’d be 104 now, but he, um, got on the, uh, just out of. He got after World War two. He got a double major back when a major’s like a doctorate now. And he came to Atlanta and started his own business. And this is before Lowe’s. This is before Home Depot. All this, you know, people doing yard work now. So, uh, it was very successful. It was a huge place about the size of a small Walmart.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wow.

Marie Davis: And then a big nursery and right next door. And I love to tell this story is where Mr. Pike started Pike’s nursery. And they were great friends, so they both went completely different directions. My father had two locations and as you know, Pike Nurseries has many, which by the way, 100% employee owned.

Joshua Kornitsky: Good to know.

Marie Davis: Yes, and that’s another story. But we probably don’t have time for that. So you got to have me back. But anyway, I’d love to do that just to have employee ownership stories to tell.

Joshua Kornitsky: We’ll talk more about that then.

Marie Davis: That’d be fun. People really like that. But, uh, so he at one time had 41 employees. He had two crews, and he had a couple of management people, mainly my mother, who worked her whole life. They worked together. And when my dad got sick now he was still working at 78 every day, seven days a week. But he got sick and sorry. So we just had to sell the land. I mean, the business was him. There was no handing it over to his management team. Nobody was prepared. His three daughters. I’m the baby. Um. We’re not in that business at all. Sure. And so he ended up losing the legacy that now nobody knows who Atlanta Garden Center was, which everybody did. Um, my dad was, you know, president of the Farmers Club, which doesn’t sound that big, but it was.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, there’s a lot of land that has houses and subdivisions and shopping centers on it. And in the modern Atlanta area, that all used to be farms.

Marie Davis: Exactly. And so everybody knew who. Atlanta. My point is, is that his legacy is totally gone. It’s in my head. And people my age probably came over there and bought their mother a rose for, for Mother’s Day or bought the fertilizer there. And I was pulling the little red wagon with the cow manure in it. I did grow up doing that kind of stuff. But when he died, and this is what’s really sad, I went to clean out his drawer. The drawers in his cabinet. My mother just couldn’t do it. And there were envelopes of money with his key employees name on it. One was his head guy that ran the group. That was his idea of saving for them. And so there was literally envelopes of money because he even though he was a very smart man, he didn’t know how to help his employees other than that. Had he gone?

Joshua Kornitsky: The mechanisms that you teach and show now didn’t exist. But it’s it’s great you’ve ended up helping others now maintain that legacy for their families and generations to come. That’s fantastic.

Marie Davis: So when I told that story, one of our board members, uh, and my boss, Steve Sorkin, looked at me and said, can you tell that story to other people? Can you talk about that? I said, you bet I can. What?

Joshua Kornitsky: What an incredible backstory for someone who didn’t grow up thinking, gee, one day I want to be the executive director of this.

Marie Davis: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic. Well, I know we were talking, Uh, before that, you’ve got some events that are coming up. I think the first one is, is this month in Macon, right?

Marie Davis: Yes. On, um, April the 11th at the Macon. Well, it’s not at the Macon chamber, but it’s at a business in Macon. You could go to the Macon chamber, and it’s going to be a really great team, a panel. It’s their morning group called brew. They’re just getting to go again.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay.

Marie Davis: And it’s going to be two employee owned companies from Macon. One is Sheridan Construction. They’re all over Georgia. The other one is B and D industrial. And they’re going to be there to talk about what it’s like to be an employee owned company and also score. If you know what score is through SBDC, they’re going to be there. Now, the story behind this is that the absolutely fabulous president of the Macon Chamber, Jessica Walden, used to be very involved with the SBDC. So she knows what it’s like for businesses to be looking for information. And she wanted to do a panel on employee ownership. So I’m going to be very challenged to be sitting there. I can’t say any boo boos with two employee owned companies there. It’s going to be great.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s awesome.

Marie Davis: So that’s at 830 okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: And that’s in Macon. You said they could go to the Macon Chamber of Commerce website to get the details on where. And then you’ve got something coming up in May in Athens.

Marie Davis: And. Okay. And so we have a grant to work in my favorite town in Georgia, sorry, Atlanta, Athens. And I was born in Atlanta. So we have a grant to work there. And so I have a joint venture with the Athens SBDC. And if you don’t know this, the Georgia SBDC is also headquartered there, and I hope they’ll be there. And the small businesses, the SBA, the Small Business Administration, and we’re going to be at the Delta Innovation Center from 9 to 12. We probably won’t be that long, but we hope it’s going to pack it out. None of these are going to be online because we want people to come and mingle with other business owners, meet the SBA, meet the SBDC, and get involved with them because it doesn’t matter what size your business is. One of the best sbdcs in Georgia, I’m going to call them out is in Kennesaw and they’ve been around, uh, Drew Tonsmeire who runs that one? He’s he’s led some amazing companies to where they are now. And one is anybody with kids knows elf on the shelf. They came right through the Kennesaw.

Joshua Kornitsky: Really?

Marie Davis: Yes they.

Joshua Kornitsky: Did. The elf on the shelf was born in Kennesaw.

Marie Davis: Uh, I’m assuming so because they came through the Kennesaw SBDC.

Joshua Kornitsky: We’ll have to talk more about that and let’s see if we can get them to to come tell us more about it. And then last I know you’ve got something bigger happening. It’s an annual event in October, right?

Marie Davis: Yes, in October. And I don’t have my date yet, but it’s, um, we’ve. This will be our fourth year. October is employee ownership month, and I’m very proud that one of my first things I did with my boss poking me say, do it, do it, do it, was to ask Governor Kemp to declare the first one, the first time it’s been celebrated in Georgia. So we have the governor’s proclamation every year. We’ve done this, and we’ve held it every year at 100%. Well, okay. The first year is Choate. That’s a very Georgia Choate construction. We had it there. There 100% employee owned. The last two years we’ve had it at J.E. Dunn Construction, which is not 100%. They may never be because they’ve got 5000 employees. But the point is, is to have the new employee owned companies in the room and give them awards. And two of the better known ones from last year, you’re going to know these names Woodstock Furniture Outlet. They we gave them an award last year, and Georgia Spa Company, which was berthed right near Athens. And they’re very well known names. And so we had a lot every year. We’ve had a long list to give awards to for becoming 100% employee owned. And let me tell you, there’s some happy companies.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s wonderful to hear. Well, before we wrap up the segment, I do want to ask. I like to ask a question of of all the guests. That’s just a little bit thought provoking. Uh, as you look back along your family path, your professional path to what brought you to here, what’s the most valuable piece of advice you were given that you would share with others?

Marie Davis: Um, it has nothing to do with business, really. So my background and I’ve been here before is the mentoring world and give back. Absolutely. Try to help somebody. And I know every time I’m mentoring a lady through the University of Georgia mentoring group now, and she’s a grown woman, she’s teaches me things every day. And I always have to say, oh, Marie, you know, you don’t have anything to share. You don’t know anything. But you do. You do. And so whatever age you are, give back. Go read to a kid at school. Whatever it is, give back and it will grow your business and it will grow you. And you will touch a life that you will never, ever know how far that reaches, but it will.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s great advice. Well, thank you again. Uh marybelle. Davis, executive director of the Georgia Center of Employee Ownership. Marie, what’s the best way for people to get Ahold of you?

Marie Davis: Well, I’m going to give them my phone number because it’s on everywhere anyway. It’s (400) 432-7255 four. Nobody’s worn that out yet. All right. Marie at g a CEO. Org. Or if you go to the website you can pull GA CEO. Well go to the Georgia Center for Employee ownership because there’s another great company called GA Georgia CEO. That’s film company. So Georgia Center for Employee Ownership. And you click on a contact me button and there is no one else. It will be me. All right. So any of those things I’d love to.

Joshua Kornitsky: Chat one and only. Well, thank you again for your time. I hope you have the ability to hang out and stay with us as.

Marie Davis: Oh, I want to hear about these guys. I’m watching them. I can’t wait to hear.

Joshua Kornitsky: So thank you, Marie. All right, well, switching over, uh, we have with us both by special arrangement, Keith Young and Kevin Young from Young K9. So I know that Keith, you’re the founder of the company, correct? Tell us, what is Young K9?

Keith Young: Hey, guys. Good morning. Um, young canine is a dog walking, dog training dog sitting company. So we help busy professionals take care of their dogs while they’re at work. Um, they’re out of the country. Or if they just got a new puppy and they need some training.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you do training as well?

Keith Young: Yes.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wow. Okay. So what other kinds of services do you offer that maybe other dog walking companies don’t.

Keith Young: Um, so right now I just got a company van. So we pick up dogs, we do group walks, and then also for people that have, uh, big backyards that don’t want to pick up their own poop, we actually do poop poop pick up as well. So that’s something.

Marie Davis: I live right down the road.

Keith Young: Yeah. So that’s something we just recently added. Um, but we have a couple people that, you know, need the Arcs picked up, so. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so how did this get started?

Keith Young: So during the pandemic, I used to work for a company, um, for about 4 or 5 years, and I had to kind of make a decision. Um, well, let’s back up. My background is working with kids with autism. Oh, okay. I was a behavior therapist, and, um, I had to kind of make a decision. Do I want to work with kids or do I want to work with dogs? And like I said, when the pandemic came, it kind of made me shift my focus. I’ve always had a passion for working with, um, dogs. And the company I worked for, they went under because of the pandemic. And then that kind of just jump started everything.

Joshua Kornitsky: So. So you had this opportunity that just presented itself? Yes. And so and and you’ve got your brother working with you?

Kevin Young: Yes, sir.

Joshua Kornitsky: So how’s that?

Kevin Young: Well, one thing I will say is, uh, growing up, like, you know, when we were younger, we did have our like tussles and fights and stuff like that. But one thing I will say is we always been close and tight. So just being able to work with my brother, that’s probably like one of the best things in the world. So like I get a kick out of it most definitely. Because like, you know, growing up we would talk about like toys and all kind of like kid stuff. And now it just comes to a point to where now we’re talking about business. And hey, um, how do you feel about this? How do you feel about this idea? How do you feel about that idea? So I still get a kick out of it, because I still look at us as ten and five years old. So like I said, I most definitely get a kick out of this.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so Kevin, what else do you do other than walk dogs there. So young canine.

Kevin Young: So my background, um, I recently graduated from Jacksonville State in 2022. Thank you. And, um, I graduated with a communications degree. So like, by communication being so broad from broadcasting, um, running the teleprompter, social media. So that’s what I’m, that’s what I pretty much do as far as, um, with young canine, I run the Instagram page so.

Joshua Kornitsky: Nobody likes looking at pictures of dogs online.

Kevin Young: I mean like literally so literally all day, I’m just, you know, just coming up with ideas on, you know.

Joshua Kornitsky: This is what you do all day is just take cute pictures of dogs.

Kevin Young: Like, that’s what that’s what we all like, literally like, um, that’s a part of the business. So, um.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s awesome.

Kevin Young: So as we’re walking the dog. So most of our walks are from 30 to an hour walks. And during that time that we’re walking the dogs, we’re taking pictures of each dog like, um, we’re taking a picture of, like, just different areas, like cute pictures of the dogs and everything. And we’re sending messages to the owners like, hey, your dog did a very good job of, you know, literally, literally, like, we’re just sending like, messages.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that brilliant idea that is.

Kevin Young: Yeah, like we’re literally sending them messages. So at the end of the day, we’re making them feel better and more comfortable. So, you know, we’re getting more clientele and stuff like that. Like, oh yeah, these guys took really good care of my dog. And you know, that’s how the more clientele starts coming in and everything.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s a really great differentiator. What else do you guys do that that kind of sets you apart from what others do in this space.

Keith Young: Um, we also set up meet and greets. So some dogs during the pandemic, um, they weren’t socialized properly. So they don’t like seeing new people, or they’re used to certain people. They don’t like people that wear hats or they don’t like, you know, taller guys. They don’t like women. So we do meet and greets just to kind of have the walker feel comfortable, have the client feel comfortable, and also get a better assessment of the dog. And even just to see if it’s a fit, because there might be a case where this dog really doesn’t like a walker and it’s just not a fit for us. So that’s why we like really.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it goes down to that level of detail. But I guess that kind of aligns with what you’re saying. You want to make sure that you’ve got the right person working with the right animals.

Keith Young: Yes, because we’ve had it happen. We’ve had a couple clients, um, do a meet and greet, and the dog just didn’t care for the walker. It was nothing the walker did. It was just it just wasn’t a mesh. So then we got another walker and it worked out perfectly well.

Joshua Kornitsky: So. And you had shared with me because it’s not just about the the dog and the walker. It’s also about the client. And without asking for anything confidential, uh, you had shared that you have some kind of high profile clients. So you work with, uh, people who’d rather not be named?

Keith Young: Yes. So we work with doctors, lawyers, um, all types of business owners around Atlanta. So the biggest thing they want to know is like, can we trust this person coming in? So that’s why we like to do meet and greets so they can get a better, better understanding of who’s coming into their house. Because we’re getting access, we’re getting codes, we’re getting all this personal information from these high end people. So we just want to make sure, like this is a perfect fit.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that that makes great sense. And it must go a long way to putting people at ease. And and like with all things in business, the the more business you do, the more people will grow to trust you. Yes. So that’s fantastic. And, um, going back to what you were saying about social media, do you are you utilizing things like Google reviews and other ways? How do you get the word out?

Kevin Young: Um, so pretty much what I do is, um. Excuse me. Yeah. Um, pretty much what I do as far as with the social media, is I, um, I post on my Instagram or I. Yeah, I post on the Instagram page, but then I also post on my separate Instagram. So like, we get more people to view and just participate in certain things that we do. And then also as well, um, I send stuff out to like Facebook. Okay. To get people to because we got a lot of clientele from Facebook, just from, you know, me reposting things and hey, I seen you guys on my Facebook. You know, um, the only thing that we’re working on now to get more people is, like the other social medias, like the TikToks, the Snapchats, the Twitters, maybe. So once we get that aligned, I feel like we’re going to get like even more so. But just as of right now, we’re just sticking to like, one thing. So like, you know, we’re just staying consistent with that one thing. And then as we continue to grow, that’s when we start adding more other like.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and so that brings up an interesting point that I’d ask both of you. What are some of the other challenges that you guys run into.

Keith Young: Um, I would say the biggest challenge, um, would be funding, because we’re still a new company. Um, we’re about to be two years in July. So, yeah, we’re about to be two years in July. So sometimes getting funding and having banks actually see that we’re a legit business can be a struggle. Um, and also scheduling.

Kevin Young: I was about to say scheduling. You can most definitely you can.

Keith Young: Touch.

Kevin Young: On scheduling. So the biggest thing with scheduling is we feel like that most of the clients book at the same times and.

Joshua Kornitsky: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Kevin Young: Most definitely. But like our prime time is really between like that 1130 to that 130, uh, time frame because it’s like the afternoon, it’s lunch time or whatever. And we only have so many walkers and it’s like, you know, trying to like, you know, decide who’s going to walk which dog or on that time. And, you know, just it can be a lot. And then also too, whenever a walker is out like an emergency or Anything. It kind of throws a lot of things off, and that’s when we kind of have to, like, step in and do as much as we can.

Joshua Kornitsky: It sounds like you guys are pretty adaptive and cover all the bases, which is important for people to know that, that the doggie’s not going to be left at the door.

Kevin Young: No, no.

Joshua Kornitsky: So did you guys grow up with dogs? Animals of any kind?

Keith Young: So it’s funny you say that. So, uh, we had every animal but a dog. Uh, really? Until I went off to college.

Joshua Kornitsky: So what’s on the list?

Keith Young: So we had bunnies, we had fish, we had turtles. And I’ve always asked my dad, like, can we have a dog? Can we have a dog? He’s like, it’s too much responsibility. And I’ll be stuck handling.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wait, wait, do turtles fetch?

Keith Young: Turtles are actually faster than what you think. Really? They don’t play fetch. Okay, but I used to let it out in the grass, and then I would look up. I’m like.

Joshua Kornitsky: Where’s the turtle?

Keith Young: Where’s the turtle? Turtles on the sidewalk. Wow. Yeah. So they’re actually faster than what you think. But, um, I didn’t have my first dog until, uh, I went to college in 2013.

Kevin Young: Sophomore year?

Keith Young: Yeah, my sophomore year. And I’ve had her ever since. She’s ten years old now. Her name is Coco. She’s a German shepherd. Pyrenees mix.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, wow.

Keith Young: She goes everywhere with me.

Joshua Kornitsky: Super sweet. And and in fairness, she is not in the studio only because we didn’t have a microphone.

Keith Young: And two, I don’t think we have space for her. She’s a big dog. Oh, yeah?

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, she’s she’s welcome for her outdoor. When we do a remote event, please bring her along.

Kevin Young: Definitely will.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, so what are the. Well, wait a minute before. Before I ask that question, what on earth is March Wagner?

Keith Young: I’ll let Kevin tell that it’s been so much fun, but. Yeah.

Kevin Young: Um, so pretty much this was. When was this? February when we talked about it. Yeah. Um, like I said, we’re just always just jotting down things. We’re sending each other ideas like, hey, how do you feel about this? How do you feel about that? And I’m a big basketball fan. Okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I just there’s something going on in March, isn’t there?

Kevin Young: March madness just. Yeah, literally March Madness. So I just thought I’m like, Keith, how do you feel about, uh, we do like a tournament for the dogs? Uh, and we do like, a march madness. And I was like, how? How about March Madness? How does March Madness sound? He’s like.

Joshua Kornitsky: You know what? With brackets and everything.

Kevin Young: Uh, yeah, we have brackets. Um, it was we start off with 32 dogs because this is our first time doing it, and we just wanted to see how it was going to go the first time. And it’s been going pretty good. And we even have like four different regions. So one region is Mutt Town. You have, uh, what is it? Hollington, Howell’s town. Um, it’s like two others. It’s, uh I’ll have to get back to it later. But yeah, we pretty much just separate them all in different regions, like a march madness tournament. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: And and are these all your your clients dogs?

Kevin Young: Yep. All the clients.

Joshua Kornitsky: Dogs. Does the winning dog get a ring or something? What happens?

Kevin Young: Uh, they get they pretty something in that line. But, um, we’re gonna, like, arrange, like, a gift basket. So, like, it’s going to be nothing but, like, a whole bunch of treats. Toys. Just like a little gift basket like that.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I’m telling you, by next March, you’re going to have clients beating down your door. Just trying to get there.

Kevin Young: We’re going to have a full 64 next year. I guarantee you.

Keith Young: We already have clients. Like, why wasn’t my dog on there? We’re like, hey, we’re just testing it out.

Kevin Young: Can you use more than 64 dogs?

Keith Young: But we had to kind of test it out this first.

Joshua Kornitsky: It’s got to be like college football. You got to explain the playoffs.

Kevin Young: Yeah, literally. Like, we literally have to break down the whole process how voting is and everything. So but yeah, for the most part it’s been very interesting. And we just text each other like, man. Like, you see, uh, goose is in the lead right now or Bansky’s in the lead right now. Like, this is crazy.

Joshua Kornitsky: Based on on people’s submitting their their vote for it.

Kevin Young: Yeah. So, um, how we get people to vote? Um, we, um, I set up a poll on the, uh, on our IG story. Okay. And I have, like, the, uh, the first seed dog against the eighth seed dog, and it’s like a, um, a poll at the bottom, and they just literally just click to see who they want. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: So where are we now? Have we reached the finals?

Kevin Young: We’re in the finals. Okay. We’re in the.

Joshua Kornitsky: Finals. Are we down.

Kevin Young: To. So we have, uh, moose Most of the third seed. And we have, um. Clark. He was the second seed.

Joshua Kornitsky: Okay, so where do people go to see this?

Kevin Young: Um, they go to our, um, Instagram page. Our Instagram page is the real young canine. And, um, we have, like, highlights set up to where, um, you can pretty much just look at the whole recap of how the tournaments been going on from start to finish. I think we already even had like the first, the first tournament or the first round. We had like maybe like 4 or 5 upsets, like we had a couple number one seeds get kicked out really, which was pretty shocking.

Joshua Kornitsky: I’m like, that’s that’s what makes it a game.

Kevin Young: That’s what Mark Wagner is all about. So like because we love Mark, because.

Keith Young: You would literally look at the votes at like lunchtime, you’re like, okay, such and such is winning. And then by dinnertime you’re like, wow, they’re beating them by like 25 votes. So it’s it’s amazing to see.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Maybe next year you can move this into YouTube as well. Yeah. Tiktok. You were.

Kevin Young: Saying.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah that’s fantastic. Well, so as I asked with Marie, if you guys don’t mind, I want to ask this of both of you. Um, I like to ask one question that kind of makes you think a little bit towards the end here. Uh, for each of you individually, if you don’t mind. Uh, Keith, then, Kevin, what’s a mistake you guys have learned from whether personally or professionally, kind of along the way, that that’s changed the way that you’re doing things.

Keith Young: Um, I would just say, like, just communicating a little better. Um, when it comes to this business, sometimes you’ll do things because you’ll do it, but sometimes you got to put your, uh, your, your perspective in, in the other person’s hands because people deal with so much on a daily basis. We got to have more, uh, empathy for people rather than sympathy, because there’s so much going on in the world. We’re so quick to, you know, lash out or we’re so quick to judge or we’re so quick to, you know, be mad about a certain situation. But like I said, as we grow and and we develop, like I said, just having more empathy for people and just communicating a little better.

Joshua Kornitsky: Do you think and I’m not being funny. Do you think you obviously your background with behavioral understanding. But do you think working with with animals has also helped you be more patient?

Keith Young: Yeah, honestly. And also working with kids too.

Joshua Kornitsky: I didn’t want to draw comparisons.

Keith Young: I mean, I hate I hate to say it, but sometimes there are some, some similarities with kids and animals. Um, especially working with kids with autism, you might have a kid that’s nonverbal and he can’t properly talk to you. So just like with animals, they can’t speak to us, but their body language. Certain things that they do, um, just gives you a heads up of like, okay, like that’s what you want. Okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you learn to be intuitive. And with that, we’ll we’ll switch back over to the guy with the communications degree. What’s what’s a mistake you’ve made and learned from.

Kevin Young: Um, I made a few mistakes. Like more. Okay. More. So just just dog walking, I made mistakes. So, um, it was a situation to where, um, like I said, like the clients, they most definitely trust us. And, like, one mistake that I made was, um, I was kind of, like, in a rush. It was a lot going on as far as, like, picking up other people’s schedules and stuff like that. So I probably had like, ten dogs that whole day. And one mistake that I had made was, um, just pretty much just like, um, leaving the doors unlocked. One day I left the door, like, open, like kind of wide open, not even paying attention. And the dog was across the street or whatever. So it was just little stuff like that that I kind of like made mistakes and but the good thing about it that like, you know, mistakes happen, obviously. And like the clients, they, you know, just one time.

Joshua Kornitsky: And checklists.

Kevin Young: Literally. So just like little things like that. So and like I said, that’s whenever trust comes into into play as well. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well and I appreciate your honesty. That’s that. It’s the only way any of us learn.

Kevin Young: That was a that was a one time thing guys too, by the way. That was a one time thing. One thing about.

Joshua Kornitsky: Me I wasn’t worried about that because like I said, you learned from.

Kevin Young: It literally. So like.

Keith Young: I’m sorry, just because he’s my brother, I’m hard on him too, because when he told me that I, I was, I was furious.

Joshua Kornitsky: I was no nepo baby stuff.

Keith Young: No.

Kevin Young: Yeah.

Keith Young: No. Like I told him.

Kevin Young: Shout out LeBron and Bronny. But yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s right. Discipline and accountability.

Kevin Young: Yes.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s what we need to know for sure. All right. Well, uh, Keith Young Kevin Young, thank you both. What’s the best way for people to find you? Thank you for sharing the Instagram. But how do they find you? What’s the best way to reach you if I. If I’ve got a dog that needs to get walked?

Keith Young: Yeah. So if you can go to our website at Young Canines, or you can give us a call at (404) 476-4985.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, Marie White, Marie Davis pardon me, Marie bell Davis, Kevin young Keith Young, thank you guys for joining us today. Uh, we will have all of your information posted up onto our website. And, uh, this has been another episode of Cherokee Business Radio. I appreciate everybody listening.

 

Lela Dinakaran with Bojangles and Freda Kalina & Alicia Payne with Buford Business Alliance

November 14, 2024 by Mike

Lela Dinakaran, Alicia Payne, and Freda Kalina

Lela Dinakaran/Bojangles

Bojangles is a Carolina-born restaurant chain specializing in craveable Southern chicken, biscuits, and tea made fresh daily from real recipes, and with a friendly smile. Founded in 1977 as a single location in Charlotte, their beloved brand continues to grow nationwide. Their guests are at the forefront of everything they do. In addition to serving up flavorful food, they’re committed to doing good in the communities they serve. Fans from all over know Bojangles for their catchy tagline – “It’s Bo Time!”

Freda Kalina & Alicia Payne/Buford Business Alliance

The Buford Business Alliance is a non-profit organization that brings together the citizens, city leaders, civic organizations, and the businesses of Buford in a communal spirit. They work together through their festivals, events, and other marketing opportunities to promote business and tourism in Buford.

Gwinnett Business Radio is presented by

2024 Business Expo Preview

October 15, 2024 by Tom Sheldon

Northeast Georgia Business RadioX – the official Podcast studio of the 2024 Business Expo presented by Leather and Lace Events.

Free & open to the public @ the Braselton Civic Center – October 18th, 10am-4pm. 

MORE INFO

 

 

Leather and Lace Events

Leather and Lace Events is proudly women-owned and operated. Visit their website for upcoming events; events at the Braselton Civic Center!!! Also specializing in barrel aged coffee beans; Leather and Lace Coffee & Company artisan roasts all their coffees. Along with coffee roasting, they are a full service Corporate Event and Exceptional Occasion Catering Company. For years they have served clients all over Georgia and are now the inhouse caterers for the Braselton Civic Center in Braselton, Georgia.

 

 

Our Community Partner for this episode of Northeast Georgia Business Radio is Visiting Angels Hoschton. A giant thank you for their continued support. Visiting Angels Hoschton provides dedicated in-home elderly care for your loved ones within familiar surroundings.

 

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Truist Insight: How Small Business Owners Are Navigating Economic Uncertainty

May 14, 2024 by angishields

In this episode of Atlanta Business Radio, Truist representatives Scott Stearsman, Katie Saez, and Mike Skordeles join Lee Kantor to discuss the findings of the small business pulse survey. The survey highlights the resilience and adaptive strategies of small business owners amidst financial challenges and economic uncertainty. Scott discusses Truist’s investment in technology and market expansion, while Mike talks about the Southeast’s robust growth, particularly in Atlanta. Katie speaks to the optimism in Atlanta’s business community, driven by the city’s growth and diversity.

The conversation also covers Truist’s commitment to providing personalized support and resources to small businesses, emphasizing the importance of building strong relationships with bankers for business success. Follow Truist on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Truist-Logo

Mike-SkordelesMike Skordeles is head of U.S.economics and a senior vice president at Truist Advisory Services, Inc. He’s responsible for analyzing the U.S. and global economies and financial markets as well as helping formulate and communicate investment strategy, and publishing commentaries for our clients.

Mike is based in Atlanta as part of the firm’s Investment Advisory Group. He is a sought-after speaker, sharing his insights with investor and industry groups as well as C-suite executives. He’s been quoted in Bloomberg, the New York Times, and CNN.com, and has appeared on CNBC, among other media outlets.

Mike joined Truist predecessor SunTrust in 2012 and brings more than 25 years of investment experience to the Investment Advisory Group. He came from Morgan Keegan (now part of Raymond James), where he was a managing director and market strategist for over five years, writing extensively about the markets and the economy. He was a memberof the firm’s investment strategy committee and helped managed about $1.6 billion, serving as the portfolio manager overseeing the group’s tactical portfolio.

From 1999 to 2007, he was with McDonald Investments in Cleveland,Ohio, in a similar role as an analyst and strategist. He was a member of the firm’s investment policy committee and other investment steering committees. Previously, he was a financial analyst at KeyCorp and began his career with Prudential.

Connect with Mike on LinkedIn.

Scott-StearsmanScott Stearsman is the head of small business banking for Truist Financial Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for the small business banking segment and the delivery of financial products and services to more than 1 million small business owners and entrepreneurs.

His responsibilities also include oversight of Truist’s Small Business Virtual Channel, which offers consultive expertise and tailored advice via a large network of banking professionals.

Enhanced by Truist’s digital capabilities, the team is designed to meet small business owners at all points of their business life cycle, including direct portfolio relationship management for small business clients up to $10 million and delivering SBA lending services through Truist’s SBA Business Development Officers’ advisory-driven approach.

Prior to being named to this position in 2022, Stearsman was the mid-south consumer banking market executive at Truist. In this role, he was responsible for leading teams across 800 branch locations in six states, providing personal and small business banking for the retail community banking segment. Stearsman joined Truist in February 2013 as the northeast market sales executive and served as the Head of Branch and Premier Banking prior to merger.

With more than 20 years of banking experience, Stearsman previously held several senior roles at Bank of America including northeast region executive, North Carolina market executive, and consumer segment strategy executive. Stearsman is passionate about giving back to the community and is currently a board member of United Way Greater Atlanta and the SCORE Foundation. Stearsman is a graduate of the University of Kentucky where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in finance and marketing.

Stearsman is based in Atlanta, where he lives with his wife, Julie, and two sons, Ryan and Sam.

Connect with Scott on LinkedIn.

Katherine-SaezKatie Saez is Executive Vice President and Georgia Regional President for Truist Financial Corporation.

In this role, Ms. Saez serves as the senior leader in the Georgia Market, responsible for directing and integrating client management business development efforts with privately-held companies operating in the commercial and middle market sectors, as well as nonprofit and governmental entities. Ms. Saez leads our Truist Atlanta Client Advisory Board and has direct oversight of the Truist Foundation and Trusteed Foundation Local Advisory Councils.

A 24-year veteranof the financial services industry, Ms. Saez joinedTruist (formerly SunTrust) in 2000. Previously, Ms. Saez was Head of Sales for the Corporate & Institutional Group, Wealth, and Specialty Treasury groups within wholesale payments. During her career at Truist, she has managed sales and marketing functions in multiple Lines of Business, developing successful programs to drive revenue, increase teammate effectiveness, and improve the client experience. She is a graduate of the SunTrust Commercial Banking Training Program.

Ms. Saez earned an MBA in Finance from Georgia State University and a BSBA in Finance from the University of Florida. She serves on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Georgia and the Woodruff Arts Center Board of Trustees. Ms. Saez is an executive board member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, an Executive Partner of Georgia Allies, and a member of the Atlanta Rotary. She also serves on the University of Florida Warrington College of Business Advisory Council.

Ms. Saez has been recognized by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as a 50 Most Influential Latino, by Georgia Trend as a 500 Most Influential Georgian, and by Atlanta Magazine as a 500 Most Powerful Leader. She is also a member of the Association of Financial Professionals, holding the Certified Treasury Professional accreditation. Ms. Saez is a native of Jacksonville, Florida.

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Onpay. Built in Atlanta, Onpay is the top rated payroll and HR software anywhere. Get one month free at on Paycom. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Atlanta Business Radio and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Onpay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have a trio from Truist. We have Scott Stearsman, head of small business banking. We have Katie Saez, regional president, and we have Mike Skordeles, head of US economics. Welcome, Truist fam.

Scott Stearsman: Thanks, Lee. I appreciate you having us.

Lee Kantor: Well, absolutely. Let’s kick it off with Scott. Um, we’re here to talk about the Small Business Pulse survey, that report that was just released. Uh, can you tell us some of the takeaways?

Scott Stearsman: Yeah. Again, Lee, thanks for having us on today. And just for background, we conduct a tourist and annual survey every year that gives us insights on how our small business owners are feeling, the challenges they’re facing, and just overall small business sentiment and what’s on their minds. And that insight allows us to really determine how we can best support our small businesses. So similar to prior years, what we saw is financial and economic concerns remain top of mind for our small business owners. Uh, that showed up in a few different ways. First, rising costs with persistent inflation. We saw economic uncertainty as rates have been higher for longer, which is impacting the small business cash flow. And then on the related to growth top of mind is just finding new customers has mainly been a focus. So as you’re thinking about how do we offset these rising costs and economic uncertainty, there’s also a focus of our small business owners on how they can really attract and grow their their client base. And so while that optimism that we’ve seen decreased from prior years, on the whole, though, what we saw is that while there’s concern about that macroeconomic environment, small business owners we see are continue to be resilient and are still more positive about the future of their own business. So being able to control what they can control and the ways that they’re being able to do that is investing in technology. And then, as I said before, expanding into new markets as we’re thinking about that growth mindset. And so, Mike, maybe you can talk a little bit about the macroeconomic environment and how that overall in general for the regional and Atlanta is also impacting the sentiment.

Mike Skordeles: Absolutely. Thanks, Scott. So I think there’s a couple of things that stuck out to me from the survey, not the least of which is and you hit several of them, Scott, is the ongoing inflation and stress that business owners are, are feeling. Um, those kind of do mirror some of the things that are going on nationally. That said, that optimism of what’s going on for, uh, the survey respondents. Absolutely reflect what’s going on in the southeast. So the southeast is growing faster than the overall US economy. Um, and then you zoom in a little further into Atlanta, and Atlanta is growing faster than the region and the state. Uh, there’s a number of reasons for it, not the least of which is we have a very dynamic business community. So it’s not just one industry. It’s not just a banking or or finance or what have you. It’s things like fintech that are cutting edge and that are adding to not just Atlanta or the state or the region, but also nationally. And some of them are internationally. And then you have some of the other bigger, more established players, certainly the Delta’s and the UPS and what have you. And again, very different industries. So transportation versus leisure and hospitality. Um, and then you layer on another one that’s a huge thing for not just Atlanta, but also for Georgia is the film and television industry, of course, restarting, uh, this, this past fall after the the shutdown that happened in 2023 is a big boost for businesses generally, but also for the small businesses. So there’s a lot of things that are going on for the region growing faster. But then there’s some Atlanta specific things that are growing a lot faster.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned, like Truist, the survey was based on Truist customers, I believe. Is that accurate or is this kind of getting a temperature of the small business community in general, or are they solely Truist customers?

Scott Stearsman: No, it is a it’s a nationwide survey that that that reaches out to all of our small business community. So it’s not just Truist clients, it’s really just the the Truist or the small business community at large.

Lee Kantor: And then from a truist standpoint, small business community is an important constituent right.

Scott Stearsman: Absolutely, yeah. Our purpose is to inspire and build better lives and communities. And if you think about the economic impact our small business owners have for that local economy, you know, two thirds of every dollar that is spent at a local small business gets reinvested back in the local economy. So if you if you think about a thriving community, you’re going to see a thriving small business community that’s that’s really uplifting that. And as we know, Lee, almost half of all US jobs are employed by a small business. So it is absolutely critical that we support and and really help grow these small businesses.

Mike Skordeles: And to put a little finer point on Lee’s point there. More than half of the employees are in small businesses, but the growth of those jobs is also coming from small businesses. So if small businesses are doing well, the national economy is going to end up doing better as well.

Lee Kantor: Now, Katie, as was mentioned previously, there’s an optimism despite some of these, what appear to be headwinds is that just kind of human nature that individually people think people are doing. Individually I’m doing okay, but my neighbor, not so much. Is that just how humans operate? Like they, you know, they can see themselves clearly and they may maybe they’re pessimistic about the the world around themselves.

Katie Saez: Yeah, I think that’s that’s a good point. We, I think most business owners, small business owners have such immense pride in their business and what they’ve built. And so there’s a natural bias to have optimism about what is possible within your own business. I mean, you see the inside, you understand the customer base. You understand what your employees are dealing with on a daily basis. You’re running that business from, you know, the moment you wake up in the morning to when you go to bed at night. So you are personally invested in the success of that business and, and the future of, of your customers and your employees. So yes, there’s going to be that bias and optimism. I think there’s something special about being a business owner here in Atlanta. Atlanta is a great place to do business. There’s over 6 million people who call Atlanta home. We’re number three in the United States for population growth, or the number one most livable city in the United States. We’re also the number five moving destination in the country. So that explains a lot of the optimism, too. People choose to be here in Atlanta, to live here, to work here to have fun here. There’s a food, arts and music culture that makes Atlanta really special. And and Scott said this earlier, small businesses really have, I think, an extra, um, enhanced chance to thrive here. And we saw that in a survey. You know, small businesses here in Atlanta are over investing in their sales and marketing efforts to grow business profitability and take advantage of that growing and evolving Atlanta, you know, business and consumer base. And by the way, this Atlanta centric optimism is the same result that we saw in last year’s survey. As you know, we do the survey, um, on an annual basis, Atlanta continues to outperform compared to other regions, even within the southeast. And we saw that in the optimism of business owners to.

Lee Kantor: Now, I’m fortunate that all I do is interview business owners, so that’s all I talk to every day. I’ve been doing this for close to 20 years, so I. I too sense there’s always it’s always a good day when you have a business. Sure there’s frustrations, but at least when you’re talking to me, you have a happy face on and you’re proud and there’s things to be optimistic about. I interviewed people all over the country and Atlanta and Georgia. Tend to have a different, I believe, secret sauce, and I believe collaboration is part of that secret sauce. I think the diversity of the economy that you mentioned earlier is part of the secret sauce. The fact that we have, you know, a world class port, a world class airport, universities, um, that all that infrastructure makes it a Georgia specifically, a very good place to do business in a wide variety of industries. And because of that, that gives us some protection. If there is a downturn in one of those industries, invariably two other ones are doing fine. Um, what how does Truist play in this ecosystem when it comes to this level of collaboration and the ability to work with entrepreneurs? Because when I got here 25, 30 years ago, Georgia was more of a real estate town, and now it’s more of a technology town. And there’s a ton of startups now. The investment dollars are kind of moving a little differently than they were, you know, two decades ago.

Katie Saez: Um, look, Atlanta has seen a lot of changes over the last few years, both, you know, on a political landscape and on the economic landscape. And let’s not forget the memory of the impact of the Great Recession here in Georgia over the past, you know, 4 or 5 years coming out of the pandemic. Um, most of our clients have shared with us that that, you know, we always live in this sense of unknown, like, what will the unknown future look like and what will the impact be on their business? And what are those key drivers that will help, you know, change how they do business? Um, you know, we saw in the survey, uh, there’s a lot of data around the impact of rising costs and inflation. As he talked about, Atlanta continues to be a thriving economy. We have, um, significant investments that are being made across the entire state. And yes, we have tremendous levels of support coming from, um, you know, our government partners. Uh, I think Georgia is a great example of the power of public and private partnerships and what that can do for economic development and supporting large corporate development, um, here in Georgia, but also small business creation here in Georgia. So I think, you know, all of that contributes contributes to the thriving economies. Most of the businesses that we work with are continuing to focus on how do I grow top line revenue while protecting margins, because margins are very much, you know, under pressure right now with the rising cost, not just of, you know, cost of the goods that you’re selling, but the cost of labor and access to labor and talent.

Katie Saez: So some of our clients have a bit more of an ability to absorb those rising costs by passing on those increases to their customers. Um, but, you know, that’s something that our clients have been navigating ever since the pandemic. Um, and, you know, I think one of the things that that is special about being here in Atlanta, I mentioned just the challenges that we continue to hear from our client base around access to talent. So we know Atlanta is a highly competitive market. It’s moving quickly, and being able to be proactive with both labor and talent is really, you know, a competitive advantages that advantage that small businesses have. Um, you know, Atlanta is a strong market for talent, especially in those specialized industries that you mentioned technology payments, you know, payments. This is this is the place to be if you’re in the payments industry, in health care. We have a very robust and broad health care, um, network across the state. But unfortunately, there is a shortage of those specialized workers. But we have access to a very robust higher education system here in Georgia, and that is our competitive advantage and that serves small businesses well. Each year we see graduates coming out of University of Georgia and Georgia Tech and Emory and Kennesaw State and Georgia State University. Agnes Scott, all all of whom are choosing to graduate and stay here in Atlanta and start their careers. So I think that’s a great testament to, um, you know, the thriving industries that we see across the state, but also the desire of, of young professionals, um, to make Atlanta home.

Lee Kantor: Now, how does Truist play in this ecosystem, though? What are what’s true is doing other than, you know, putting their name on a stadium? What are they doing to help that small business person grow? Because, you know, it’s good for Truist to advertise everywhere. But how does that trickle down to the small business owner to help them kind of get the, the, the resources they need to get to the next level?

Katie Saez: Well, look, I mean, we strive to meet business owners wherever they are in the life cycle of their business and then provide the solutions, the advice, the partnership and the support that they need to run their business. Um, you know, we believe that your banking partner should be accretive to your business and not create additional stress or something additional to worry about when you know that you have a business, a banking partner who’s available and who stands ready to provide ideas and advice and is dependable and times of uncertainty, certainly over the last year would be a great example of that, that stress reducing. So, you know, we really focus on, um, on, you know, understanding where a business is in a life cycle of that business because we know, I mean, our, our bankers work with, you know, hundreds of different clients, you know, throughout the year. And we know that the needs are different depending on where you are in your life cycle. If you are in growth mode, um, your, your cash flow is, is is generally positive and you’re looking to maintain a profitable, you know, status quo, you’re looking for resources for growth, uh, versus, you know, a company who might be more established and, um, or perhaps looking to transition to, you know, exit the business or reinvent the company or, you know, um, make a transformative investment, the needs of that business are going to be a little bit different. And I think that’s where we play a role, is to have the right dialog engage and then bring forth ideas and solutions. One thing that that we pride ourselves on here at Truist is, you know, we are local. We are here, we partner with businesses here in this community. And, you know, you can count on us to be there by phone virtually or in your office. We’ll meet you where you need us to be.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you have a sweet spot in terms of a small business client? Like, do you want that person who just started, or do you play better with enterprise level folks that you know, they have more, um, complicated needs and you’re able to provide a variety of services to help that person or those individuals, rather than maybe kind of that aspiring entrepreneur that’s just getting started that needs more of a roadmap rather than, you know, kind of sophisticated financial products.

Katie Saez: Well, that’s that’s one of the benefits of being a, you know, a large bank, a sixth largest bank in the United States now is that we’re set up in a way to meet you where you are. Um, and whether that’s early stage, um, you know, uh, really emphasis on, on establishing your target market and making sure that, um, you know, you’re early and creating that, that business or you’re in an active growth mode or really you’re just doing some organic growth. We have resources and people in different parts of the organization that stand ready to support, no matter where you are in that life cycle.

Scott Stearsman: Yeah. Just to add on to to that, Katie’s exactly right. I think, Leigh, what’s special about this is whether you’re just starting your business, whether you’re expanding and growing or transitioning. We have the capabilities, no matter where you are in that life cycle. So here in Atlanta, you’ve got a branch that’s close to you. So if you prefer to go in and see someone in a branch, we have a branch leader that’s very capable about helping you and your small business. If you prefer digital capabilities, we have a team of virtual bankers that you can go to our site to schedule an appointment. You don’t have to leave your business. You can meet one on one with that small business banker. We have digital capabilities to be able to help you self-serve. Uh, a team of call center that specialize in small business. So no matter where you are in your life cycle, whether you’re, like I said, just starting out or you’re transitioning in the commercial space where Katie’s got a dedicated team of commercial bankers that specialize in larger businesses. No matter where you are, we have the the skills and capabilities to be able to serve those businesses.

Lee Kantor: Now, what advice would you give a business owner who maybe doesn’t have that personal relationship that you’re describing with their banker right now? What are some questions they should be asking their banker if they’re not? If, like number one, they don’t know their name, that’s probably a red flag. But how do you build a relationship that’s fruitful for the business owner and the banker? Um, what are some tips that you would recommend, uh, a business owner do to build a good relationship with their banker?

Scott Stearsman: Yeah, it’s a great question. And I’ll jump in and Katie, please pile on. Uh, what I think is really important is just understanding that your banker wants to be a trusted partner with you as a small business owner. That’s that’s what we care about. That’s what’s important to us. Certainly, we’re there for the financial services and needs of that as well. But we also want to be a partner along that journey. And so we believe that critical partners in small businesses are the CPAs. It’s your attorney. It’s also your banker. And if you don’t have a relationship, it’s as simple as going into one of our branches, meeting with that branch manager at the local branch who specializes in small business. And just start that conversation and they’re ready and capable of being able to help that small business, no matter where they are in that stage. If you are more comfortable of having the phone conversation, we have, uh, the numbers and ability to make an appointment. And it’s simple of just consultation. Just we’re here to be able to help answer questions. Uh, I’ll take a, uh, you know, what we learned from the survey? And we did see in the survey where small businesses are increasing revenue 20% year over year. So we do have that upper end where they’re growing and expanding fast. And one thing was very clear that those businesses have a formal, written out business plan, and they’re clear about their strategy. And our bankers are able to sit down with our small business owners and help them create that plan. We have, uh, financial education seminars. We have webinars that you can download and view as well, or attend in person to be able to help create those business plans or thinking about future borrowing. Uh, so it’s not just focused on the products that we deliver and solutions, but it’s also about how we help with that education of the life cycle of that business owner.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with one of the bankers at Truist, what is the easiest way to do that?

Scott Stearsman: Uh, perfect setup. So walk into one of our branches, talk to a branch manager, or go online to truist.com/small business. And on that site you can make an appointment with one of our small business bankers virtually. And they’re standing by ready to assist over the phone.

Lee Kantor: Well. Scott. Katie, Mike, thank you so much for sharing your story today, doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Scott Stearsman: Lee, thanks for having us on.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see y’all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

Outro: Today’s episode of Atlanta Business Radio is brought to you by Onpay. Built in Atlanta, Onpay is the top rated payroll and HR software anywhere. Get one month free at onpay. Com.

 

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Antonio Little-El with Arkad Business Solutions

March 28, 2024 by Mike

Steven Julian, Antonio Little-El, Harper LeBel

Antonio Little-El/Arkad Business Solutions

Arkad Business Solutions helps small businesses lower their tax burden, increase cash flow, lower operating costs, and excess capital on Arkad’s dime. Your business may be eligible for multiple tax credits. For example, Hiring Credits [ERC, WOTC, etc..], Commercial Property Incentives [Engineered Cost Segregation Studies, Property Tax Mitigation, etc..], and Capital Funding.

Gwinnett Business Radio is presented by

Critical Thinking, Business Ethics, and Leadership

March 15, 2024 by Mike

Dr. Brian Ray, Scott Wall, Dr. Ron Piccolo

“Regions Business Radio Orlando” covers financial topics such as banking and lending, mortgages, wealth management, and more, while also introducing you to many of the top executives with Regions Bank in the Orlando and Central Florida market.

Hosted by Scott Wall, Commercial Banking Leader with Regions, all episodes of “Regions Business Radio Orlando” are available for download on Apple iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Spreaker, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.

This month’s show discusses critical thinking, leadership, and business ethics with special guests Dr. Brian Ray, Director at the Poe Business Ethics Center at the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida, and Dr. Ron Piccolo, Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the College of Business at the University of Central Florida.

About Regions:

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $145 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest, and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,400 banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.

Regions-Business-Radio

This information is general in nature and is provided for educational purposes only. Regions makes no representation as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of any information presented and Regions does not accept liability for any direct or indirect loss stemming from the application of any material. Information provided and statements made by employees of Regions should not be relied on or interpreted as accounting, financial planning, investment, legal or tax advice. Regions encourages you to consult an appropriate professional concerning your specific situation and irs.gov for current tax rules.

David Stob with the UGA Small Business Development Center

March 8, 2024 by Tom Sheldon

                                                                                         David Stob

 

David Stob/UGA Small Business Development Center

Across the state, the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center’s goal is to enhance the economic well-being of Georgians by providing a wide range of educational services for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides tools, training and resources to help small businesses grow and succeed. Designated as one of Georgia’s top providers of small business assistance, the SBDC has 18 offices ranging from Rome to Valdosta to serve the needs of Georgia’s business community. Since 1977, our network of partners has helped construct a statewide ecosystem to foster the spirit, support, and success of hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators.

The Small Business Development Center, a Public Service and Outreach Extension of The University of Georgia, is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs.

 

 

 

Northeast Georgia Business Radio is presented in part by Regions Bank.
Embrace the IF in life. Member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender.
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