Events
2010 Education Panel Discussion
How Education / Business Partnerships Improve Georgia Schools
March 19, 2010 - 7:30 AM to 9:45 AM
Sponsored By:
Georgia Pacific
GE Energy
North Highland
Social Networks
Editor's Letter: A Time For Opportunity
by Drew Ermenc, Executive Editor
March 5, 2009
"This isn't the time to be comfortable -
it's the time to seek out opportunity." This Paul Garcia statement is a great example of why his
company, Global Payments, is experiencing tremendous growth. The chairman and CEO of the
Atlanta-based transaction processing company has hit the ground running since being spun out of
National Data in 2001 - the last tough down cycle for the vast majority of business leaders. Today,
although fighting the same gloomy economic headlines that punctuate the daily news, the company is
pushing ahead, seeing opportunity while others see discomfort. Find out how Garcia is facilitating
future growth and defining his opportunities by clicking here.
Opportunity also breeds innovation.
Click here to be introduced to a group of business leaders who see opportunity in a health care
system that sorely needs fresh thinking. An advanced streamlined process to handle insurance
claims. A more sophisticated patient flow system for health care facilities. A sensor system to
prevent heart disease. All innovative ideas, and all being executed right here in metro Atlanta.
In the book What Would Google Do?, media industry guru Jeff Jarvis points out several
companies in recent history that failed to recognize opportunity. One intriguing example was TV
Guide, a magazine that, at one point, was selling more copies than any other publication in
America. It was a true revenue machine. Yet execs were so focused on milking their cash cow, they
didn't anticipate a tectonic shift in consumer behavior. By the time TV Guide tried to adapt, it
was too late, and by fall of 2008, the magazine and its debt liabilities were sold to a private
equity group for one single dollar.
The real question becomes: How are you, as a business leader, moving forward in today's
environment? Are you relying on your cash cow, playing defense and cutting what you perceive to be
non-essential expenses like marketing, R&D and even payroll? Or are you - if your balance sheet
permits - seizing the opportunity while your competitors are playing it safe?
Savvy execs like Garcia see the value in a down cycle. Who else? Enterprise software giant
Oracle has made 10 acquisitions in the last 12 months, flying in the face of conventional wisdom to
hunker down and wait it out. On a local level, no fewer than four private equity groups have formed
in the last several months to invest in tech-related startups.
They are actively seeking opportunity. Are you?
You have 1000 characters left.