Cornelia launches plan for downtown economic development

CORNELIA - Cornelia Better Hometown is kicking off a retail/restaurant business plan competition they hope will increase interest in spaces available in downtown Cornelia, and also generate some economic development for the city center.

The Economic Development Committee of Better Hometown has been working the past few months on pulling the competition details together and collecting donations for the "Entrepreneur Toolbox" that will be awarded to the winner of the competition.

Heather Sinyard, Cornelia Better Hometown Manager, explained how the competition developed.

"When I took the job in December, I quickly realized we needed to do something more outside the box to get more business downtown. By increasing the number of businesses downtown, we help generate more traffic for our existing businesses, create a new excitement for downtown and hopefully create some jobs for local residents."

The Economic Development Committee tossed around a few ideas and finally settled on the business plan competition idea a few months ago after getting more information on other cities that had success from similar programs, including Swainsboro, Sinyard explains.

Further encouragement from Better Hometown Board Member, Becky Waters, Manager of the Habersham Career Center for the Department of Labor, helped solidify the decision. "In this current economy, we have a steady stream of people out of work looking for information on starting their own business."

The Business Plan Competition will be broken into two phases.

The first phase will begin on Friday. In Phase I, the applicants will need to provide a two-page business concept that includes a business summary to the Better Hometown Office by Wednesday, August 31 at 4:00. All concepts will be reviewed by a panel of local business owners, business leaders, members of the Better Hometown Economic Development Committee , the Cornelia Downtown Development Authority and a representative of the City of Cornelia. A maximum of 15 finalists will be chosen from the Phase 1 entries to proceed to Phase II.

The finalists will be notified by September 15. All finalists will be offered free assistance from the SBDC, Cornelia Better Hometown and the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce throughout the completion of Phase II, including workshops and one-on-one consulting. Phase II of the competition will require the finalists to complete a full business plan and present it to the panel of judges. All plans will be due by Friday, December 30 at 4:00. The review panel will have a final decision on the winner by mid-January.

Officials say the competition would not be possible without the support of several local businesses and organizations in Cornelia. The Better Hometown has been able to gather quite an impressive collection for the "Entrepreneur's Toolbox" which should be a great asset to any start-up business. As of earlier this week, the estimated value of the prize package was over $4,000 and still growing. The following companies and organizations are among the contributors: WCON, The Northeast Georgian, City of Cornelia, Habersham County Chamber of Commerce, Cornelia Hospitality & Tourism Board, Community Bank & Trust, Tiger Lily, United Community Bank, Caudell and Hotard, LLC & Holcomb's Office Supplies.

For more details, full list of rules and how to enter, contact Heather Sinyard at [email protected], go to www.corneliageorgia.org (Better Hometown Page).