THE SHOALS-Tuesday, January 31 the Shoals Entrepreneurial Center in Florence, Alabama announced that Shoals Shift (a grant project funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission) will include business assistance and workforce development programs developed by Strategic Networks Group (SNG). SNG is an economic development partner that specializes in accelerating the understanding and meaningful use of broadband applications. This programming drives numerous economic advancements including increasing local business competitiveness, job creation, and new economic opportunities. Working together, the Shoals Entrepreneurial Center and SNG will gather the necessary intelligence to turn broadband potential into local business growth – measurable in jobs, business retention and expansion, and increased tax base brought to the region.
Focused on economic advancement through broadband utilization, SNG is a group of economists who develop strategies for most effectively leveraging broadband investments. SNG addresses broadband utilization from the individual organization level all the way up to working with more than ten states across the United States. SNG looks to help make the most broad-reaching and transformational impacts that broadband can bring to enable businesses, communities, and regions by delivering the data and analysis decision makers need to maximize broadband’s potential. SNG’s charter in the region is to help businesses embrace and better use the internet and its applications to compete and grow (learn more about SNG at www.sngroup.com).
Shoals Shift, a partnership of the Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, the University of North Alabama, and the Shoals Chamber of Commerce, will utilize SNG’s comprehensive and industry-leading eSolutions Benchmarking to help develop digital strategies for the region. Also included in thispartnership will be the Small Business Growth Program, a unique approach to show businesses the quantifiable economic impacts that inspiregreater utilization of Internet applications.
Central to this exciting initiative will be inviting businesses across nine counties to share their needs and uses of the Internet and applications for developing plans and programs to help businesses grow through technology. Businesses across the counties of Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale,Marion, Walker, and Winston in Alabama, as well as Alcorn and Tishomingo in Mississippi, and Lawrence in Tennessee, will be invited toparticipate in an online analysis that evaluates their needs and issues related to adopting Internet applications.
Giles McDaniel
Giles McDaniel, Executive Director of the Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, explained that the SNG component of Shoals Shift will help accelerate the growth of a digital economy, “We encourage as many businesses as possible to share their needs and experiences through our online analysis to ensure that they have the tools to succeed. Business/organization participation is critical so that we can benchmark how we are doing across our region to effectively move forward in today’s digital economy.”
Michael Curri, president of SNG.
SNG’s Small Business Growth Program, supported by Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, the University of North Alabama, and the Shoals Chamberof Commerce is uniquely suited to assist businesses in taking practical actions to benefit from today’s technologies by providing personalizedevaluations, Internet use scorecards, and paths relevant to each business to improve their sales, marketing, and operations performance via online applications and opportunities.
“SNG’s programs are specifically designed to help businesses grow and create job opportunities,” explains Michael Curri, president of SNG.“We’re thrilled to be able to provide the tools to help expand the region’s economic base. Watch for more details once the online analysis isavailable.”
Media Release/Bryan Rachal, APR Director, University Communications
