New trash plan offers more recycling

On July 1, Gwinnett County implemented a new residential garbage and recycling program for unincorporated areas of the county. City residents are not affected by this new plan. Gwinnett County contracted with five private haulers to each serve a designated area, offering consistent solid waste service to all residents.

What are the benefits of the new plan?

• Efficient and cost-effective solid waste service
  


• Cleaner neighborhoods: less illegal dumping and reduced truck traffic and wear and tear on our streets
  


• Environmental sustainability: greatly increased recycling opportunities and reduced air and noise pollution
  


• Additionally, the State of Georgia requires all its counties to update solid waste disposal plans every 10 years and to work toward reducing the solid waste deposited in landfills; this plan will accomplish that goal.
  

What does the new base service include?

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  Weekly trash pickup of the following items is included in the base service
  
  
  
  
  
  • Household waste
    
  
  
  • Bulky items – old furniture, mattresses, etc. (contact your hauler to schedule pickup)
    
  
  
  • White goods – stoves, refrigerators, etc. (contact your hauler to schedule pickup)
    
  
  
  • 35 different kinds of recyclable items
    

What about yard waste?

• Yard waste collection is elective
  


• Subscribe directly through your hauler
  


• $60 for six months of service (January – June, July – December)
  

How much will the new base service cost?

• $17.86 per month for base service (no additional fees unless you contact your hauler to arrange for yard waste pickup or other additional services)
  


• Base rate is guaranteed for 18 months, through 2011
  


• Charges for the remainder of 2010 and all of 2011 will be billed with the property tax statement mailed this summer and due in the fall (total of $321.48)
  

Questions about the new garbage and recycling program?

• Contact the Gwinnett County Solid Waste and Recycling Division Call Center at 770.822.7141 weekdays between 7:30am and 5:30pm
  

Questions about your pickup service?

• Contact your assigned hauler
  

Gwinnett Nonprofit Agency to Host Foreclosure Prevention Forum

Lawrenceville, GA – The Gwinnett-based IMPACT! Group will host a day-long community foreclosure prevention forum on June 7^th at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center. The event will be open to the public and include speakers from the housing counseling, legal, and financial fields. There will also be a special continuing education seminar for realtors.

"This forum will be one of the largest public foreclosure events held in Gwinnett County to date," according to Tom Merkel, President of The IMPACT! Group. "We're expecting homeowners from throughout Gwinnett and the metro Atlanta area to attend, and we hope that by the end of the day attendees who are behind on their mortgages will understand their options and be able to begin taking the first steps in regaining stability."

The forum will begin at 8:30 am on June 7^th with a three-hour continuing education credit seminar for realtors. Offered through instructors at O'Kelley and Sorohan, LLC, the seminar will focus on short-sales and foreclosures, with a special section on how to help clients avoid foreclosure prevention scams. Realtors who complete the session will receive three CE credits towards their re-certification.

Then, starting at 1 pm, the forum will host a presentation and discussion session for general homeowners. IMPACT! housing counselors and representatives of the lending and legal fields will discuss homeowners' options and there will be time for questions and answers as well as the chance for attendees to meet individually with IMPACT! housing counseling staff.

There will be limited space for both the morning and afternoon sessions, so interested homeowners and realtors are asked to register in advance at www.theimpactgroup.org.

This Foreclosure Prevention Forum is part of The IMPACT! Group's annual celebration of national NeighborWorks® Week from June 5 through 12, 2010. NeighborWorks America® is a congressionally-created housing and community-based agency that supports housing agencies nationwide. This year, the theme of NeighborWorks® Week is ending foreclosure prevention scams, which can cheat homeowners out of thousands of dollars. Because Georgia has consistently ranked among the top ten states in number of foreclosed homes, Georgians have been especially susceptible to foreclosure prevention scams. In 2009 alone, The IMPACT! Group provided housing counseling and education services to over 4,800 households and expects to increase that number in 2010.

Gwinnett Medical Center - Duluth Meets Hollywood

Duluth, GA – Gwinnett Medical Center – Duluth was transformed into Falmouth Medical Center for a Hollywood film this spring starring Owen Wilson and Jenna Fischer. Directed by the Farrelly brothers, 'Hall Pass', was one of two major Hollywood films that took place on the campuses of Gwinnett Medical Center in the last six months. ('Due Date', directed by Todd Phillips and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr was filmed at Gwinnett Medical Center – Lawrenceville last fall)

At GMC's flagship campus in Lawrenceville, a patient room has been named after Warner Brothers for their donation to the hospital system.

"With the influx of filmmakers coming to Georgia over the last few years, GMC is enthusiastic about the opportunity to share our location and be a part of the rapidly growing business entertainment industry," said Andrea Wehrmann, hospital spokesperson.

Filmmakers have a 30 percent tax incentive to produce their work in Georgia, Senator Mitch Seabaugh, who led the effort in passing the tax incentive, has stated several times that the Governor has never seen a more thankful and appreciative industry group, so the support statewide is evident.

"Patients, visitors, physicians and staff all enjoyed getting the "behind the scenes" look of how a scene is filmed for a movie," said Lea Bay, administrator for GMC-Duluth."The film crew was great to work with and made it their priority to make sure the set up and filming did not negatively impact our primary mission here at GMC-Duluth which is high quality patient care."

"We looked at a many locations and decided on Gwinnett Medical Center - Duluth for its great look and the willingness to allow us to film under very careful and very cooperative guidelines," said Maida Morgan, location manager for Warner Brothers. "The staff's enthusiastic understanding and cooperation in guiding us through our work on the Duluth campus made for the ease of filming that the 'Hall Pass' crew experienced."

GMC's mission is to transform healthcare and provide the highest quality of care to treat our patients and serve the community. Anytime a major motion film comes to campus, specific safety protocols and HIPAA requirements must be followed to protect the patients and their families.

About Gwinnett Medical Center
Gwinnett Medical Center is a not-for-profit healthcare network providing award-winning healthcare services to the Gwinnett community and beyond. Campuses in both Duluth and Lawrenceville provide acute care, outpatient services, orthopedic and neuroscience specialty care as well as a full continuum of wellness services. Digital imaging is the standard of care at all GMC facilities including the newest imaging center in north Gwinnett's Hamilton Mill area. In 2009, GMC's 4,300 associates and 800 physicians served more than 400,000 patients. Gwinnett Medical Center's incredible vision for the future is to transform healthcare. To learn more, visit http://www.gwinnettmedicalcenter.org/.

Online Effort To Get Out-Of-Work Georgians Back On The Job

Liz Carter puts her professional experience to work for unemployed Adds "Jobs Board" to LizCarterforCongress.com

(ATLANTA)—While many in Washington just talk about getting out-of-work Americans back on the job, leading Republican Congressional candidate Liz Carter is actually doing something to help business owners and unemployed Georgians.

Carter is using her professional experience and business connections to create a new job posting database available to anyone with online access. The postings will be available at LizCarterForCongress.com.

Employers can create a free account to post details about available positions; the company name, position title, position type and job description will be made available on the site. Applicants can search the postings and apply online. Once resumes are received and reviewed, the applicant's details are sent to the employer.

"I am doing what I can to immediately connect employers with prospective employees. My only objectives are to help unemployed Georgians get back to supporting their families and provide a free service to business owners."

Carter is the only District 4 Congressional candidate with executive business management experience and is an accomplished entrepreneur and small business owner. She is a job creator who focuses on delivering best practices and thought leadership with those she works with. She's been noted for her skill in managing high dollar business units, effective cutting costs and increasing revenues.

"I've yet to discover a single Georgian – let alone an entire family – that can honestly say they feel better about the billions of their tax dollars Congress has given away," she said.

"There is simply too much at risk for the immediate and future needs of Georgians to simply wish for things to get better."

"My hope is that everyone will take the opportunity to visit our site, LizCarterforCongress.com, utilize a free posting service and find an employment opportunity that meets their needs," Carter added.

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Hands for Haiti

More than 30,000 pounds of food, clothing, medical supplies and generators were collected by independent contractors working for Primerica in Gwinnett, and shipped in 1,000 boxes to the International Faith Fellowship Ministry mission in Haiti in the wake of the disastrous earthquake there. The material donated and collected is valued at an estimated $100,000 according to Andy Young, senior director of national sales with Primerica, who organized the project. Duke Realty Corporation donated 2,200 square feet of space to the effort at its Crestwood Pointe office park in Duluth to serve as the collection and processing center. Pictured from left to right are Jarrin King (background), Peggee King (foreground), Cindy Costa-Bennett and Patty McHugh.

Rocket IT Celebrates 15 Years of Business

Duluth, Ga- Rocket IT is pleased to announce that January marks the 15^th anniversary of our corporate beginnings in 1995. Our award-winning firm has evolved rapidly over the past 15 years, empowering hundreds of businesses by making technology attainable, useful and reliable.

"Fifteen years is a long time and I'm proud of our past accomplishments, but what I'm really excited about is the future," said Matt Hyatt, Rocket IT founder and CEO. "I've never seen a time so rich with opportunity to help others and to make an impact. It's a great time to be an entrepreneur."

Rocket IT delivers mission critical technology support and management for businesses. New initiatives in 2010 include a ground-breaking money-back guarantee for new clients, numerous process improvements, and flexible paid-time-off benefits for employees.

"We're building the ultimate IT Service Company," said Hyatt, "and I've never had more fun doing it than right now."

For more information on Rocket IT, visit www.rocketit.com.

Announcing the Hudgens Prize Visual Arts Competition

The Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts is very pleased to announce The Hudgens Prize visual arts competition and juried show. Open to any artist living as a full time resident in the state of Georgia, aged 18 and up, the competition will bestow a $50,000 cash award and an invitation for a solo exhibit upon one selected artist.

The winning artist will be announced at an Award Celebration held in conjunction with the final juried show, which will run from November of 2010 until February, 2011.

The Hudgens Prize represents one of the largest art awards given in the nation. It is an unprecedented opportunity for an artist in Georgia to receive both the large cash prize and the opportunity for a solo exhibit, and the juried exhibit in November will provide great statewide exposure for all of the finalists.

"We are extremely excited to be able to offer such an important award competition to the artists of Georgia. Particularly in times of economic challenge, it is vital that we support the arts and artists, or we lose something that is literally irreplaceable in our culture and our state," said Teresa Osborn, Interim Executive Director at The Hudgens.

The Prize is sponsored by a private foundation that prefers to remain anonymous. "They were strongly interested in supporting the arts on a statewide basis, and also wanted to help increase the visibility and prestige of The Hudgens in the state," said Stan Hall, Chairman of the Board at The Hudgens.

"We are greatly honored that the foundation chose us to be the venue and facilitators for this exciting competition," stated Hall.

"It is our hope that by bringing more attention to The Hudgens, this competition will also result in more support from the community and the state, particularly in this current, very challenging, economic environment," added Osborn.

The Juror Panel for the competition consists of David Kiehl, Curator of Prints at The Whitney Museum of American Art; Sylvie Fortin, Editor-in-Chief of ART PAPERS Magazine; and Eungie Joo, Keith Haring Director and Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programs at the New Museum in New York.

"We are very pleased with the caliber of art professionals we have assembled to serve on the jury panel for The Hudgens Prize. We feel that this trio will serve us well in making some difficult decisions," states Angela Nichols, Director of Programs and Education at The Hudgens. "They are all well known nationally and internationally in the arts and we're thrilled to have such a well respected and impressive group of jurors."

Kiehl has organized many Whitney exhibitions, including: Memorials of War (2004); Political Nature (2004-05); Ellen Gallagher: DeLuxe (2005); and Two Years (2007-08). He was responsible for the exhibition installations of The Art of Richard Tuttle (2005-06), Kiki Smith: A Gathering (2006-07), and Jenny Holzer: Protect Protect (2009). Kiehl also serves on the editorial board of Print Quarterly; the Board of Directors for Printed Matter; and the advisory committee for the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University.

Fortin is an independent curator, art historian, critic and editor who has worked internationally since 1991. She has been Curator of Contemporary Art at the Ottawa Art Gallery, Program Coordinator at la chambre blanche (Quebec), and a long-term collaborator with OBORO. Her critical essays have been published in Canadian, American and European catalogues, and her reviews have appeared in many periodicals including Art Press, C Magazine, Espace, Fuse (of which she is a contributing editor), NKA: Journal of Contemporary African Art and Parachute. Fortin was named Lexus Leader of the Arts in December 2007.

Joo spearheads the New Museum's unique educational and public programs, including the pioneering 'Museum as Hub,' a curatorial/education hybrid with five international partner organizations. She was previously Director and Curator at the Gallery at REDCAT, Los Angeles. This year, Joo was commissioner for the Korean Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, where she presented "Condensation: Haegue Yang." She recently organized Nikhil Chopra's performance and exhibition "Yog Raj Chitrikar: Memory Drawing IX," which is on
view at the New Museum through February 14.

Visual artwork of any medium will be considered for the Competition, but it must have been completed within the last two years and meet certain size and weight criteria. The entry fee is just $30 for members of The Hudgens and $50 for non-members (includes one Artist level membership), and entitles each artist to submit up to five entries. Entries are to be submitted via digital images burned onto a CD and mailed to The Hudgens.

The jury will select between five to ten artists to participate in the Finalist's Exhibition, which will run from November 30, 2010 through February 19, 2011. The $50,000 prize winner will be announced at an Award Celebration on November 30, and will have a solo exhibition at The Hudgens Center in December 2011.

Deadline for entry for the competition is June 4, 2010. The Hudgens Prize prospectus contains further details about the competition and information on how to enter, and is available on The Hudgens' website at www.thehudgens.org.

The Hudgens Center currently has three exhibits on view until May 15, 2010, including Herbert Creecy, featuring one of Georgia's most well-known abstract expressionist painters; Georgia Artists from the Permanent Collection and Tannery Row: Selected Works, which highlight some of the wonderful talent from the Buford artists' colony, Tannery Row, in another collection from Georgia-based artists.

The simultaneous presentation of these three exhibits represents a change in the focus and mission of The Hudgens. The center is committed to presenting coordinated exhibits that carry a theme throughout the facility, as these do in featuring Georgia artists, and will present three to four sets of similarly integrated exhibits per year.

The Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts is located at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Bldg 300 in Duluth, at the end of the Gwinnett Center complex. The parking lot is located off of Satellite Boulevard, near the intersection of Satellite & Sugarloaf Parkway, and the main entrance is under the giant robot.

For more information about events and happenings at The Hudgens, please call 770-623-6002 or sign up to receive the monthly newsletter at www.thehudgens.org.