Gwinnett Magazine Staff

Shoe Still Fits in Buford: Okabashi Stays ‘Made in America’ Strong

Spotting the phrase ‚ ‘Made in China’, stamped on the back of thousands of products lining American retail stores isn’t difficult these days.  Those three little words reside on the back of your flat screen TV or on the tag of your dress or shirt.  The phrase is seen blowing in the patriotic wind of any July 4th parade in small towns across the country as many of those handheld stick American flags are in fact ‚ ‘Made in China’.

The ever-shrinking manufacturing presence across the country is no secret.  Since 1979, the US has lost nearly eight million factory jobs.  Still, the National Association of Manufacturers shows the US leading the world as the largest manufacturing economy producing 21 percent of global products – China is second producing 15 percent.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

YSS Athletics Started With A Challenge, Still Going Strong

A loud buzzer sounds, bringing play to a halt – it’s halftime of any sports contest. Coach of the YSS Athletics team, CEO and President, Torey Rose, gathers her teams around to talk strategy, level of performance and what needs to be done differently in the second half.

While this analogy is fitting for a sports apparel-manufacturer, make no mistake – team YSS Athletics isn’t losing at halftime.  They aren’t down a basket.  They don’t foresee needing a Hail Mary pass as the clocks ticks down.  They won’t have to rely on their best player in a shootout for a tiebreaker. Instead, the 19-year-old company located in Snellville, is going into a halftime with exceeded expectations, ahead of the game and optimistic about the next half.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

Lehigh Technologies; Tucker Manufacturer Takes Eco-Friendly Focus

If you’re in the business of reducing waste and recycling materials. but in doing so, consume more energy and produce more waste, you’re not exactly doing the planet a favor. That’s a motto Lehigh Technologies has put into motion since first entering the manufacturing scene in 2003.  The phrase has also played a major role in their Tucker plant since 2007.

Still considered a small manufacturing company with only 75 employees, Lehigh Technologies’ impact on the environment can be seen two fold: recycling tire material provided by tire recyclers, which would otherwise crowd local landfills, into a new raw material called micronized rubber powder that is used in the production of new tires, asphalt, plastics, rubber goods, and construction materials.  The other impact is seen through Lehigh’s closed-loop services, taking manufacturers’ post-industrial rubber, processing it, and shipping it back to the manufacturer where it is incorporated into new products. This closed-loop process is an integral part of manufacturers’ zero-waste initiatives.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

Slow economy equals staffing variety

To say jobs are hard to come by is nothing short of an understatement.  The national unemployment rate has found its comfort zone within the 9.0 range for months now, while Georgia’s unemployment rate has a bird’s eye view of the recession at 9.9 percent.

Still to many staffing agencies, the job market is still plentiful.  There are jobs out there for the taking.  The American Staffing Association says staffing companies employ 2.58 million people across the country every business day.

These days the saying ‘There is no ‘I’ in ‘Team’” has never been more true.  Staffing agencies work as the middleman between those looking for work and those needing the work done.  However, in a stale economy, it might come as a surprise one local staffing agency is witnessing their business, especially for permanent positions, growing.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

Advantages to LEED Certification

Not only does a business want to be productive, efficient and successful – going green is also on the mind of business owners. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for both new and old construction is taking the nation by storm. There are currently 245 certified LEED buildings in Georgia. In fact, Siemens, a powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering in the energy field, recently completed a study showing Atlanta as having the highest percentage of LEED-certified buildings in the country.

Many companies automatically associate LEED certification with high cost upfront and then waiting for the return on investment. A LEED certification can cost a company close to $3,000 in application fees. However, a high price doesn’t mean all or nothing and many companies see cost savings during construction. Gwinnett Business Journal came up with a list of advantages for businesses to consider when thinking about becoming LEED certified.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

Commercial Real Estate Fairing Better

When you hear the phrase ‘real estate crisis’, you probably think residential real estate crisis. Foreclosures, short sales and resale values at all-time lows have become the norm for residential real estate, but commercial real estate also took a hit. Brokers and bankers both agree commercial real estate tends to lag behind. Many effects of inflated values on office park buildings and strip mall centers are just now rearing their ugly heads.

But, Scott LeCraw, owner of LeCraw Realty, feels Gwinnett County has weathered the worst of the market fall already and while the road to recover is still a long one, the climb should be steady.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

Which security system is right for your business?

July and August see the highest number of burglaries nationwide. The FBI says summer months are most common for break-ins because of increased travel.

Security systems can not only help prevent your business from becoming the next victim, they can also give you, the business owner, piece of mind. When investing in security systems for your business, Mike Sandes with Ackerman Security, says first and foremost make sure the system is CSAA Five Diamond Central Station certified, a difficult certification to obtain within the alarm system industry.

The level of security weighs heavily on the size of the business. Small businesses don’t have as much inventory and need to consider a cost versus risk factor. Protecting investments is top priority but smalls business can’t always afford a high-integrated system.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

Office furniture sales show economy rebounding

You may have a hard time finding any positive indication that America’s job market is rebounding. With unemployment rates still flirting with double digits every month discouragement looms. But looking at the crisis through the eyes of an office furniture manufacturer may provide some encouragement. According the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacture Association, office furniture sales in the U.S. rose 25 percent in the first quarter this year.

Executive Vice President of BIFM, Tom Reardon, says the increase is a definite sign companies are getting back on their feet, putting projects back on the books and needing warm bodies to fill those newly ordered desks and chairs.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

ECOMAIDS brings green approach to cleaning

Armed with mircofiber cloths rather than paper towels and reusable squirt bottles filled with Green Seal certified cleaning products instead of a mop and bucket, ECOMAIDS brings new meaning to a professional cleaning service.  Working with both residential and commercial buildings, the nationally franchised company also helps buildings maintain their LEED certification.

Leadership Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) was created by the U.S. Green Building Council to help building owners and operators identify areas where they can conserve energy.  The products, supplies and equipment ECOMAIDS use are all Green Seal approved and count towards the maximum points a building can receive to maintain LEED status. With it’s environmentally friendly concept paired with a business model to believe in, franchise owner Jackie Allen knew she wanted to be part of what ECOMAIDS has to offer.

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Gwinnett Magazine Staff

New Metro Atlanta Commuter Survey Shows Dramatic Jump in Teleworking

A brand new study on commuting behaviors in metro Atlanta shows that the percentage of commuters driving to work alone has gone down in the past three years. Atlantans are increasingly turning to commute alternatives – such as carpooling, transit or teleworking – to get to work.

The Metro Atlanta Regional Commuter Survey, which was conducted on behalf of Georgia Department of Transportation, found a significant increase in the percentage of people who telework.

  • More than one in four people in the region (27 percent) teleworks from home at least occasionally – an increase of 35 percent since 2007.
  • The percentage of commuters who telework at least three times a week is now 7 percent of all commuters – up 75 percent from 2007.

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