GABB To Unveil New Website at July 30 Meeting
- Private chat area for member brokers to ask questions and confidentially share information.
- A new and improved broker search tool that will enable visitors to search for member brokers by radius, specialty, and other filters.
- GABB members will be posting our listings to our own webpage, this will give us the ability to post more photos and info about our listings, it will also help with our longer-term goal of improving the SEO of our website among other benefits. We are working on methods to share those listings to BizBuySell and other websites.
- Visitors to our site will be able to find what they are looking for faster.
- The new design will be less labor intensive for GABB’s administrator and for each member to manage profiles and listings.
- Sponsors and affiliates will have better visibility in the new design.
Members will be able to view the proposed new website and ask questions of the website developer, Ron West, of Business Brokerage Press, who also hosts the GABB website. Ron will join us remotely.
Business Brokerage Press is the publisher of the text for Business Broker University Training, The Complete Guide To Business Brokerage and the industry standard guidebook for valuing businesses, the annual Business Reference Guide. BBP, through Ron’s knowledge and leadership in technology, also hosts and consults with many business broker Websites and IBBA Affiliate Websites through the DealStudio brand.
The GABB will meet at the Georgia Association of Realtors at 6065 Barfield Road, Sandy Springs, GA, 30328. The meeting will start at 10:30 a.m. preceded at 9:45 a.m. by a networking breakfast. The GAR headquarters building is a two-story building located in Sandy Springs near the intersection of Hammond Drive and Barfield Road.
The GABB is the state’s largest and oldest association of professionals who specialize in brokering the purchase and sale of businesses and franchises. Broker members help owners determine the asking price of their business, create marketing plans and strategies for selling their business, identify and qualify buyers, and have the knowledge, experience and skills needed to help maintain the confidential nature of the process. Affiliate members include bankers, lawyers, appraisers, insurers and other professionals who work closely with brokers to help owners and buyers get to the closing table.
For more information about GABB, please contact GABB President Dean Burnette at 912-247-3209 or dean@b3brokers.com, or GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane@gabb.org or 404-374-3990.
Georgia: Top State For Business
Georgia has been ranked the top state in the nation for business for the past five years by at least two business ranking companies, according to Emily Poole, metro Atlanta project manager for the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
Poole spoke to the Georgia Association of Business Brokers on June 25 at their weekly meeting. Site Selection, an internationally circulated business publication covering corporate real estate and economic development, ranked Georgia tops in the nation for business from 2013 through 2018. Area Development, a leading executive magazine covering corporate site selection and relocation, ranked Georgia tops in the nation from 2014-2018, Poole said.
In her presentation “Georgia: A Profile in Economic Development,” Ms. Poole described how her department works to develop business in Georgia, how they track trends and how varying factors converge to make local projects happen. The GABB is the state’s largest association of professionals dedicated to buying and selling businesses and franchises.
Among the items that make the Peach State favorable for business:
- Unchanged 6% corporate income tax rate for over 50 years; lowered to 5.75% effective January 1, 2019.
- Consistent AAA credit rating from all three credit agencies for the past 20 years
- First Southeastern state to adopt single-factor apportionment
- Certain tax credits applicable to payroll withholding
- Top 10 for lowest effective tax rate
Georgia many economic incentive programs include job tax credits, a port tax credit bonus, a quality jobs tax credit and mega project tax credits. The state also has discretionary grants for land acquisition, site preparation, building construction and equipment costs. Community incentives include the potential for property tax abatement, buying land at a reduced cost, waivers of permitting fees, site preparation and cash grants.
Georgia-Profile-In-Economic-Development-Global-Commerce-PowerPoint-EPoole-PUBLIC
The Georgia Association of Business Brokers meets at conference room hosted by the Georgia Association of Realtors at 6065 Barfield Road, Sandy Springs, GA, 30328. The monthly GABB meeting is free and open to the public and is preceded at 9:45 a.m. by a free light breakfast and networking session. Thanks to Christopher J. Cowart, CFP®, CTFA, CRPC®, Vice President, Private Wealth Management for SunTrust Bank for sponsoring the meeting. The meeting will last from about 10:30 to somewhere between 11:30 and noon. Please fill out the form below if you are not a GABB member but wish to attend our meeting.
Emily Poole serves as the Region 3 (Metro Atlanta) Project Manager for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Prior to joining the Department, Emily worked for the City of Fayetteville as their Director of Economic Development, as well as the Fayette County Development Authority as Vice President of Economic Development.
Awarded Fayette County Young Professional of the Year for 2011, Emily has an impressive record of community service and partnership. The 2012-2013 President of Young Professionals of Fayette County, Emily has served on the board of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Fayetteville. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for Bloom, AV Pride, and Fayette Senior Services. Additionally, she is a 2013 graduate of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute, and a 2014 graduate of Leadership Fayette.
A native of Fayette County, she graduated from McIntosh High School in Peachtree City. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology & Human Services and an MBA in International Business from Clayton State University where she was recognized with the “MBA Service & Leadership” Award for the Class of 2016.
The GABB is the state’s largest and oldest association of professionals who specialize in brokering the purchase and sale of businesses and franchises. Broker members help owners determine the asking price of their business, create marketing plans and strategies for selling their business, identify and qualify buyers, and have the knowledge, experience and skills needed to help maintain the confidential nature of the process. Affiliate members include bankers, lawyers, appraisers, insurers and other professionals who work closely with brokers to help owners and buyers get to the closing table.
For more information about GABB, please contact GABB President Dean Burnette at 912-247-3209 or dean@b3brokers.com, or GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane@gabb.org or 404-374-3990.
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Marketing Strategist to Speak Aug. 21
Find out how you can harness a marketing strategy to grow your business when internationally known author, marketing and business strategist Diane Conklin speaks on Wednesday, Aug. 21, to the Georgia Association of Business Brokers. The GABB is the state’s largest association of professionals dedicated to buying and selling businesses and franchises.
The GABB meets at the Georgia Association of Realtors at 6065 Barfield Road, Sandy Springs, GA, 30328, and the meeting will last from 10:30 a.m. to noon preceded by a free light breakfast networking session at 9:45 a.m. Rob Tamburri, CPA PFS, managing partner of Balog + Tamburri, CPAs, is the sponsor of the meeting.
Diane is a direct response marketing expert who specializes in showing business owners how to turn their businesses into money making machines using rapid profit acceleration, leveraged business growth and strategic implementation by integrating their online and offline marketing strategies, media and methods, to get maximum results from their marketing dollars with Complete Marketing Systems.
For more than 25 years Diane has been leading small businesses to bigger profits through her coaching, consulting, marketing funnels, systems, live events and by providing done-for-you services to clients all over the world. As the founder of Complete Marketing Systems, Diane has been involved in many campaigns grossing over $1,000,000.00 several times in her career, and she routinely helps people grow businesses to six figures, and beyond. Diane was voted Glazer-Kennedy Marketer of the Year for her innovative marketing strategies and campaigns and was nominated for Atlanta Business Woman of the Year.
The monthly meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. and is preceded at 9:45 a.m. by a free light breakfast and networking session. There is networking with coffee and pastries from about 9:45 to 10:30 and the meeting will last from about 10:30 to somewhere between 11:30 and noon.
The GABB is the state’s largest and oldest association of professionals who specialize in brokering the purchase and sale of businesses and franchises. Broker members help owners determine the asking price of their business, create marketing plans and strategies for selling their business, identify and qualify buyers, and have the knowledge, experience and skills needed to help maintain the confidential nature of the process. The professionals of GABB relentlessly pursue professional development so they can provide superior, ethical services for all customers and clients. Affiliate members include bankers, lawyers, appraisers, insurers and other professionals who work closely with brokers to help owners and buyers get to the closing table.
For more information about GABB, please contact GABB President Dean Burnette at 912-247-3209 or dean@b3brokers.com, or GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane@gabb.org or 404-374-3990.
AJC Business Journalist Tells About Economic Journalism
Award-winning Atlanta Journal-Constitution economics and business writer Michael E. Kanell spoke to the Georgia Association of Business Brokers on March 26, 2019, about economic journalism. Hear a recording of his remarks here. He discussed how he covers economic trends, how newspaper journalists gather the news, and took questions. The GABB is the state’s leading association of professionals who facilitate the purchase and sale of businesses and franchises.
The meeting was sponsored by GABB affiliate Mark Jones of Franchise Systems Advisors. The association meets at the Georgia Association of Realtors conference room at 6065 Barfield Road, Sandy Springs, GA, 30328. The GABB meeting is free and open to the public; please register for the meeting at the form below.
Mr. Kanell has been an economics and business writer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 2001. He has been a business and economics reporter for more than two decades. He has covered a wide range of issues, including the mortgage meltdown, the economic impact of immigration, the loss of American manufacturing jobs, the economics of the opioid crisis and the decrease in American mobility.
During the 1980s, he covered the wars and upheaval in Central America, reporting from the region. As a breaking news reporter, he was a member of two teams that won awards from the New England Press Association.
At the Journal-Constitution, he co-wrote a series in 2011 on the future of Atlanta that received the Society of American Business Editors and Writers’ award for best use of multimedia. In the past few years, he has appeared on a number of television talk shows, including CNBC, as well as on National Public Radio.
He is also the co-author of “Presimetrics: What the Facts Tell Us About How the Presidents Measure Up On the Issues We Care About,” a book on the economic performance of U.S. presidents. Before coming to Atlanta, he worked at a number of newspapers in New England and taught journalism at Boston University. Prior to that, he was an associate producer of radio documentaries for National Public Radio.
He also taught history and social studies at a Boston-area high school. His work has also appeared in The Washington Post, New York Times and National Catholic Reporter, as well as CFO, CIO and INC. magazines. He is a graduate of Princeton University with a degree in law from Boston University.
The GABB is the state’s largest and oldest association of professionals who specialize in brokering the purchase and sale of businesses and franchises. Broker members help owners determine the asking price of their business, create marketing plans and strategies for selling their business, identify and qualify buyers, and have the knowledge, experience and skills needed to help maintain the confidential nature of the process. The professionals of GABB relentlessly pursue professional development so they can provide superior, ethical services for all customers and clients. Affiliate members include bankers, lawyers, appraisers, insurers and other professionals who work closely with brokers to help owners and buyers get to the closing table.
For more information about GABB, please contact GABB President Dean Burnette at 912-247-3209 or dean@b3brokers.com, or GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane@gabb.org or 404-374-3990.
Read MoreBurnette to Lead Georgia’s Business Brokers in 2019
ATLANTA— Dean Burnette, founder of Best Business Brokers, will lead the Georgia Association of Business Brokers, the state’s only professional association of professionals who help in the sale and purchase of businesses and franchises, in 2019.
Other 2019 GABB officers are vice president, Judy Mims, Qualifying Broker for Childcare Properties, LLC, treasurer, Jon Roman, business intermediary, franchise consultant and developer at Transworld Business Advisors; and secretary, Nick Modares, President and Managing Broker of Business Brokers Inc./Atlanta Business Advisors.
Other board members are historian, Jeffery Merry, founder and owner of the Business House, inc. and Matthew Wochele, founder of Preferred Business Brokers, Inc. Michael Ramatowski, CBI, Managing Partner of RamBizGroup Business Solutions, was the GABB president in 2017 and 2018 and will remain on the board as the GABB’s past President. Kim Eells, Vice President and of SBA Lending at Renasant Bank, represents affiliate members on the GABB board.
GABB members represent owners of Georgia businesses and help them establish the sales price of their business, create marketing plans and strategies for the sale of their business, identify and qualify potential buyers, and work to protect the confidentiality of the entire process.
Dean Burnette is the founder of Best Business Brokers (B3) in Savannah. More than three decades of business ownership and management experience in various industries have given Dean a wide range of experience and business knowledge. These experiences contribute to his abilities to help identify and qualify appropriate buyers, put together sales prospectuses, negotiate terms of a sale, recognizing the importance of confidentiality in these types of business transactions. He has been a member of the GABB Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Club. Dean is excited about the many opportunities that the current economic conditions and recent economic events have created in Georgia. He is a sponsor of the Georgia Logistics Summit, a member and past president of the Savannah Small Business Chamber, also is a member of the Savannah CFO Council, Savannah Traffic Club, Savannah Real Estate Commercial Alliance, GAR, NAR, and serves on the Education Advisory Committee for the Georgia Real Estate Commission. He is married, has two children and four grandchildren.
Judy Mims formed Childcare Properties in 2014 to provide the highest levels of integrity, experience and service for the childcare industry in the greater Atlanta metro area. Childcare Properties, LLC focuses exclusively on the sale of childcare facilities, preschools, Montessori and private schools. She is an active member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors (ACBR), the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Georgia Child Care Association (GCCA), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA). She is a member of the Atlanta Commercial Board Million Dollar Club with more than $5 million in sales in 2016 and 2018, and member of the GABB’s Multi-Million Dollar Club in 2017. Prior to her career in commercial real estate, Judy worked as an independent publisher’s representative, selling advertising space in various trade magazines. Judy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Scripps College, Claremont, CA. She is married to Hugh Mims, lives in Brookhaven, and has three grown children and seven grandchildren.
Nick Modares, President and Managing Broker of Business Brokers Inc./Atlanta Business Advisors, has owned and operated several retail, service, and distribution companies in his lifetime. Nick is also the managing broker for the Georgia branch of Gottesman Company, a Mergers & Acquisitions group based in Manhattan, New York. Along the way, he has accumulated enormous education, practical experience and insight into what it takes to start-up, own, operate, finance, merge, sell, and acquire privately held companies ranging in size from very small to multi-national, million dollar operations. Nick has a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management (MBA of Engineering) and continued education courses from the University of Evansville, Indiana, and Purdue University towards his PhD. Nick pursued an engineering and project management career for 20 years prior to joining Sunbelt Business Brokers in Atlanta in late 90’s as a broker for a few years before he established Business Brokers Inc. His community involvement includes serving as treasurer of Atlanta Sister Cities Commission under Atlanta City Hall Charter and he is current chairman of Atlanta-Bucharest sister city committee. He is a member of IBBA. Since 2006, Nick and his family are volunteers in the Adopt-A-Road program in Roswell. He and his family have lived in Roswell or Marietta, Ga. since 1990.
Jon Roman is the owner of Transworld Business Advisors of Atlanta Perimeter, the company that helps business owners either with the sale of their business, or with its expansion through franchising. He has been helping entrepreneurs for nearly 18 years to obtain funding when acquiring, selling or franchising businesses. He established, acquired, operated and sold his own businesses for over 20 years. Mr. Roman is a former commercial banker with experience in a multitude of deals. Throughout his career, Jon financed mergers and acquisitions, business expansions, construction and development projects. He evaluated businesses, built and consolidated financial records and shared opinions regarding business plans, and/or exit strategies. Jon is a multi-million-dollar member of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers (GABB), and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of GBBA. Among other qualifications, Jon is a CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member), as well as a member of the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG), and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). He lives in Gwinnett County with his wife and two children.
Matt Wochele CBI (Certified Business Intermediary) founded Preferred Business Brokers, Inc., in 1996 after a successful 17-year career in the investment banking industry. He is a life member of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers Million Dollar Club, Phoenix Award recipient and a member of the International Business Brokers Association. As president and managing broker of Preferred he has had the opportunity to be personally involved in hundreds of private business sales. The combined personal experience in the public sector with the private business sales has positioned the company to handle both the smaller main street business deals and the larger middle market business acquisitions. Mr. Wochele volunteers with the Atlanta Mission and is a member of the Atlanta Rowing Club. On a personal note Matt and his wife Kathy, a professional artist, have been married thirty five years, live in Sandy Springs, and have five daughters, one granddaughter and one grandson.
Jeff Merry, past President of the GABB, has been the GABB’s top producer numerous times, and has been a part of the Million Dollar Club since its inception in 1999. Mr. Merry, owner and founder of THE BUSINESS HOUSE of Gainesville, is a member of the International Business Brokers Association and the Business Brokers of Florida. For more than two decades, his firm has specialized in serving the manufacturing, distribution, technology, service, veterinary and medical industries. As a business intermediary, Certified Exit Planner, and consultant, Mr. Merry has been involved in mergers and acquisitions that have ranged in acquisition price from $60,000 to more than $15 million. He is an adjunct instructor for the MBA program at North Georgia College. Mr. Merry holds a bachelor’s degree from Mercer University in Macon, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois Edwardsville, and a Juris Doctorate from Atlanta Law School. Mr. Merry, a resident of Dahlonega, is a licensed real estate agent in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina; a senior business analyst, and a member of the Exit Planning Institute. He has three children and five grandchildren, and enjoys traveling, reading, and riding his motorcycle.
Michael Ramatowski, CBI, Managing Partner RamBizGroup Business Solutions, works with business owners, sellers and candidates for merger by acquisition from manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses. He has owned and managed businesses that included a real estate master franchise, a property management networking company, and a service business. As COO of a banking conglomerate he managed brokerage operations, title companies, home and service warranty programs, and a relocation company. Mr. Ramatowski has served on the board of directors of 12 different organizations with diverse specialties including real estate brokerage, mortgage companies, title insurance, banking, health care, fitness center operations, and office supply operations, providing marketing and organizational growth expertise. He served as an Electronic Specialist in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service. He attended Cleveland State University and Baldwin Wallace College. He has earned the Certified Business Intermediary professional designation by the International Business Brokers Association.
Kim Eells began her career in SBA lending in 1997. Kim is a SBA Business Development Officer and Vice President with Renasant Bank. She has worked for several banks in her career including a National PLP Lender, a Southeastern regional bank and three community banks. She is on the Board of the Georgia Lenders Quality Circle for 2019 where she previously served as Chair for two years. She is passionate about helping small business owners in their pursuit of starting, acquiring or expanding their businesses. Kim lives in Conyers with her husband of 12 years, Chris Eells, together they have four children and five grandchildren. Kim enjoys spending time with her family.
The GABB is composed of professionals who work with owners of Georgia businesses. Many of today’s business buyers are individuals who have decided not to re-enter corporate America, but are ready to control their own destiny by purchasing and operating a Georgia business. The GABB’s monthly meeting is at the Georgia Association of Realtors at 6065 Barfield Road, Sandy Springs, GA, 30328. For more information about the GABB, contact GABB President Dean Burnette at 912-247-3209 dean@b3brokers.com, or GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at 404-374-3990 or email diane@gabb.org.
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