Contact: Chris
Miller
Jennifer Dlugozima
The Creative Coast
912.447.8457
Michelle Gordon
Armstrong Atlantic State University
912.961.3173
The
Creative Coast launches Knowledge Share to raise students’ awareness
of Knowledge-Based Businesses: GO Software, Color Maria and Armstrong
Atlantic participate in kick-off event
Savannah, GA—Oct. 8, 2004—The Creative Coast - one of the
region’s newest economic development initiatives - is launching
its first "Knowledge Share" with Armstrong Atlantic State
University (AASU)– in an effort to help the area’s Knowledge-Based
Businesses raise their profile with local college students and faculty.
The event, to be held Monday, October 11 is far more than a job fair.
Instead, it’s an opportunity for The Creative Coast to promote
and showcase the area’s 300 Knowledge-Based Businesses to prospective
employees. It will be held in Memorial College Center at noon.
The hour-long lunch program – scheduled once a semester at Armstrong
Atlantic - will also feature presentations from key Knowledge-Based
Businesses. The vice presidents of GO Software, Inc. and Color Maria
will share the stage at this kick-off event.
"Many students – not to mention area residents – have
never heard of the area’s Knowledge-Based Businesses – yet
they generate a sizeable amount of economic activity," said Chris
Miller, executive director of The Creative Coast. "It’s
critical that we give students the big picture, and also let them
interact with a few prospective employers. Our hope is they stay local
after graduation."
Knowledge-Based Businesses - which include software development, maritime
logistics and digital media, among others – can pay as much as
three times the average Savannah wage.
Letty A Shearer, director of economic development for Armstrong Atlantic,
noted that 30 students from the School of Computing will participate
in this first Knowledge Share because they are the most likely candidates
for employment with GO Software and Color Maria.
"We are so excited about this exchange," Shearer said. "It
will give students some great leads for future employment and also
help faculty build relationships with Knowledge-Based Businesses in
Savannah."
Other area universities, as well as Knowledge-Based Businesses, have
expressed interest in participating in this Knowledge-Share program,
Miller noted.
About AASU
Armstrong Atlantic
State University, part of the University System of Georgia, offers
more than 75 undergraduate and graduate programs in the colleges of
Arts and Sciences, Education, and Health Professions and the schools
of Computing and Graduate Studies. The university serves more than
6,900 students of all ages who come from every state in the nation
and seventy-two countries.
AASU's School of Computing, in existence since 2002, offers a Bachelor
of Science in Computer Science, a Master of Science in Computer Science,
a Bachelor of Information Technology, an online Bachelor of Science
in Information Technology (WebBSIT), and 2-2 engineering programs
with Georgia Tech (Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, Civil
Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering).
For information about the School of Computing, visit www.computing.armstrong.edu.
About Go Software
GO Software, Inc. is a leading provider of point-of-sale (POS) payment
processing software.
More than 140,000
businesses use GO Software’s solutions to process payments at
high speed, expand their tender types and lower credit card costs.
GO Software provides payment processing solutions to meet the needs
of any merchant, regardless of transaction volume, platform or sales
environment. For more information about GO Software, visit www.gosoftware.com
or call (800) 725-9264.
About Color Maria, Inc.
Color Maria, Inc.
specializes in developing easy-to-use web-based applications that
converts the web into a highly efficient sales channel that integrates
seamlessly with most order management software. Online retailers,
real estate developments, publishers and many other industries can
take advantage of our toolsets to lower web production costs while
increasing site traffic and revenue. For more information about Color
Maria, visit www.colormaria.com.
About
The Creative Coast
The Creative Coast is a non-profit, private-public partnership, supported
by the Savannah Economic Development Authority and the City of Savannah.
It is dedicated to enhancing Savannah's quality of life by attracting
and growing Knowledge-Based Businesses to employ the area's skilled
residents at good wages.
