Find out more about the Small Business Growth Loan Program
Below are industries we are focused on growing in Athens Clarke County and the City of Winterville. You may still qualify for a loan even if your business is not directly related to one of these industries, but your application will be ranked higher for each of our funding rounds.
ADVANCED MANUFACTURING RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
The Athens area has a long history of manufacturing. The products currently made in Athens range from bulldozers and mini excavators to bearing retainers, polyolefin staple fibers, refrigeration solutions and superchargers. Industry sectors include bioplastics, fabricated metals, machinery, non-wovens, medical supplies, electrical equipment and power transmission.
BIOTECHNOLOGY & PHARMACEUTICALS
The biotechnology & pharmaceutical industries in the Athens area are composed of companies that have strong support from local resources, many from the University of Georgia, a top-ranked research institution. The University of Georgia and Athens Technical College provide many opportunities for collaboration, startup assistance and talent development for companies involved in research, commercialization, production & distribution of biopharmaceuticals, therapeutics, biofuels, medical devices and medical instruments.
Some of the local successes of the past 2-3 decades include innovations in the areas of exosomes, stem cell therapies, protein purification and glycoscience.
Small businesses can support both Advance Manufacturing and Biotech / Pharma in a host of ways. From designing, fabricating, installing, and maintaining specialized equipment, installing and maintaining advanced digital sensors, control systems, and robots, to building and maintaining clean rooms, undertaking CAD/CAM projects, project management, and a range of other things that require specialized skills. There are also opportunities to support lab and research programs, from providing specialized glassware and instruments, to outsources analysis and QA service as well as support of regulatory submissions.
CRAFT BEVERAGES, BREWING & DISTILLING
Being a university town with over 35,000 students, there is a lot of curiosity about beer, brewing and distilling in Athens, Georgia. The local breweries in Athens not only make award-winning craft beverages, but also continue to raise the bar as innovators in sustainability and community support with large solar initiatives and achieving B Corporation Certification.
The town is well known for its established music scene, but is also host to many conferences, meetings and sporting events throughout the year, held at the growing Classic Center as well as on the University of Georgia’s campus. This steady flow of visitors has played an important role in the growth of the various breweries in this sector that have found success in Athens with their products and brewery tourism events. Craft brews alongside a regular showcase of wonderful music and art – some of the ingredients that make Athens such a cool place.
Small businesses can participate in the space directly. Further, craft beverage and brewing requires specialized equipment that small businesses could design, build, and maintain. It also requires sophisticated cleaning and sterilization protocols that small businesses could provide. The Athens area could become not only the home of a thriving Craft beverage industry, but the place you come to get set up wherever you are. This support work is the same skill based as is required in two other strategic targets.
CREATIVE ECONOMY: MUSIC, ART, FILM, VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT
Athens has long been a creative community. While all the arts, especially music, contribute a lot to the local economy, artists, fans and patrons here contribute at many levels for their love of creativity and personal expression. For the many creatives that call Athens home as well as those just visiting (for now…), this town does have something special that makes a difference for those aspiring to innovatively create.
Whether building, strumming, painting or humming along, however you look to express or appreciate creativeness, there is much inspiration to be found in Athens.
Small businesses can participate in the space directly and the industry provides a lot of opportunity for individuals and small groups to also participate. In addition small businesses could provide support to the space through things like audio and video production equipment design, installation, setup, operation, and breakdown for remote work, and maintenance. THis work has a strong alignment with other strategic industries. There are also small business opportunities in artist management, event planning, and a host of things that make creative businesses feel bigger than they are.
HEALTHCARE & LIFE SCIENCES
Athens-Clarke County is a regional healthcare hub. Our community is home to two growing hospitals, an expanding medical school, UGA’s Colleges of Public Health and Veterinary Medicine and is a global center for advanced life science therapeutic research. Many local resources are available, covering a diverse range of opportunities to partner on human and animal health initiatives.
Healthcare organizations and companies in the community have been successful in expanding access to innovative, quality healthcare to patients across the region and commercializing extraordinary innovations in genetics and therapeutics that reach patients across the world.
Small businesses can participate in the space directly, they can provide support installing and maintaining the sophisticated technologies that underlie modern healthcare, from imagers to care at home networks, they can provide transitional care, advanced training services and a host of things small practices could outsource locally.
For all the strategic industry targets small business can provide IT, HR, Legal, Intellectual property, procurement, and industry specific staff and leadership development. These are especially valuable for businesses transitioning from one of the regional incubators to the Athens Area
Applications that meet the eligibility requirements, credit worthiness criteria, and provided a complete application will be scored by the following criteria aimed at supporting the strategic development plan, improving the skills of the ACC and Winterville workforce, or expanding the workforce of an existing business.
Your application will be scored by the Joint Development Authority members accordingly:
0-10 points for projects aligned with the strategic plan. Projects can directly support the objectives of the plan or can allow the support of businesses that support the objectives of the plan. These criteria assure that the loans support projects that accelerate the strategic objectives and makes Athens Clarke County and the City of Winterville more attractive to businesses that are so aligned.
0-10 points for projects that improve the skill level of the Athens Clarke County and the City of Winterville workforce. This promotes the achievement of the strategic plan, the attractiveness of Athens Clarke County and the City of Winterville as a place to establish or grow a new business, and the salary growth of the workforce.
0-10 points for projects which allow an existing business to grow its workforce. This allows existing businesses to expand while improving the outlook for the overall Athens Clarke County and the City of Winterville workforce.