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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Dinero Solutions
picks county as site to grow software firm
By Melissa Booraem
Special to GwinnettForum.com
AUG. 16, 2005 -- When Chris Goeckel founded Dinero
Solutions in Duluth, he had no idea that a software merger, leaving
only Oracle and Germany-based SAP, would make his business skyrocket
almost overnight, even with the economy just coming out of a recession.
Since that time the company has become recognized as a leader
in the Southeast, grown to be Atlanta's largest Oracle implementation
company and gained global recognition.
Five years ago the company's founder had the foresight to select
Gwinnett as the company's location. "We thought Gwinnett
would be the perfect place to headquarter the growing company,"
says Goeckel. "The proximity to the Atlanta market and the
number of mid-market companies in Gwinnett and Atlanta made Duluth
an ideal location to grow the business."
The software merger between Oracle and PeopleSoft has also brought
the Gwinnett company a new opportunity for increased growth. Since
the company was founded, Dinero Solutions has tripled its revenue
growth and turned a profit each year, even during the recession
of 2002 and 2003.
As a result the company has gained global attention and added
field offices in Washington, D.C. and Boca Raton, Fla. to keep
up with the demand of clients throughout the Southeast and the
world that need business software solutions.
Goeckel |
The success of the company can be attributed to the senior employees
that work for the company and to Goeckel, who spent 14 years working
for various software companies including more than six years at
Oracle and PeopleSoft.
"By working in the software business, I got to see how companies
were run from the back office, and I focused my attention on learning
what not to do, as well as how to best service clients' business
needs" Goeckel says
The company is also proud of the fact that all the people working
for the company are in America. "We don't sell out to find
cheaper labor in other countries like other consulting companies
do," Goeckel adds.
Dinero Solutions helps companies by providing them with complete
end-to-end implementation solutions for any Oracle application,
as well as companies interested in selecting suite software to
assist with customer relationship management, supply chain management
and financial accounting.
The company has worked with national clients such as Chick-fil-A
and local clients like DiversiTech in Duluth.
Anthony Garland, controller at DiversiTech, notes: "We seriously
reviewed a dozen different software suppliers over nine months
time, and when we narrowed them down to the finalists we were
amazed that the tier-one software vendors were more cost-effective
than the less sophisticated second and third tier software providers.
"Dinero Solutions' implementation offering and their local
resources make an even more compelling case as to the affordability
of deploying a tier-one software solution," Garland adds.
Dinero Solutions also works quickly to get businesses what they
need when they need it. "We go in, do what we're supposed
to do and then leave - we operate under a more open and practical
philosophy than the majority of the "big five" or other
regional consulting firms," Goeckel says.
For more information about the company visit www.dinerosolutions.com.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Mother's questions become powerful when
ignored
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
AUG. 16, 2005 -- We know now, if we did not before, that our
president is hard-headed. That can be good in a president if he
also will listen to reason.
But President Bush, in the case of the mother from California
trying to get another audience with him over the conduct of the
war, seems to have painted himself into a corner.
While he maintains that he has spoken with Cindy Shaheen before,
and will not see her again, he is acting with presidential disdain.
Yet he and his staff have not apparently understood one of the
key tenets of crisis management: "Your first loss is your
least loss."
Had the president stopped by earlier in this crisis, and given
the lady the courtesy of five compassionate minutes, it would
have taken away her initiative, showed that he understood the
feelings of a Gold Star mother, and halted the hullaboo over this
situation. His visit would have resonated to his advantage.
But no. Instead, he chooses to stay away from the woman as if
she had leprosy, act aloof and above it all, at a time when he
is mired in war up to his eyeballs.
It makes you wonder if the president is not taking this same
attitude about the entire management of the Iraq hostilities---virtually
denying what is happening. The war is obviously not going well,
as Americans well know if they listen to television or radio or
read the newspaper. You wonder if the president in the last five
years has heard the news on-the-hour of the climbing count of
American casualties on the radio.
One recent morning six more Americans were identified as having
been killed in Iraq. Where will it end? It seems to be a daily
event.
Apparently, the best hope for ending the war is 2.5 years away,
when President Bush leaves office. The war will be the key subject
for debate in the next presidential year. We suspect the candidate
who wins will be the one who recognizes the situation, and says,
"I will get our nation out of Iraq."
While the total deaths are not to the extent that our nation
had in World War II or Vietnam, still the totals mount daily.
And people question why the United States is in Iraq and what
will be the outcome.
Meanwhile, the carnage and explosions mount.
The total of injuries to U.S. military personnel in Iraq is now
13,877 (as of August 14) and casualties approach 2,000, (1,852
on August 14). Many families are hurting. We feel for them, and
hate to see others pulled into this fray.
These are the feelings Cindy Shaheen, we suspect, wants to put
again to President Bush. And had the president heard her out,
she would not have become the magnet for others to attach to,
this single individual trying to raise questions. It shows how
powerful simple questions can become when not answered.
It appears that the war will not end while President Bush is
in office. His stubbornness, as being shown in the Shaheen case,
will ensure that.
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UPCOMING
Sierra
Club plans workshop on xeriscaping of lawns
The Gwinnett Sierra Club is having a xeriscape workshop at its
Thursday, August 18 meeting. It will be presented by the Gwinnett
Extension Service. It will be at the Gwinnett County Justice and
Administration Center Auditorium at 7 p.m.
The workshop will teach ways to make your yard less reliant on
outdoor watering and rely more on rain. Learn how to divide your
yard into three zones based upon the need and care. Save money
and save water.
For more information on the local Sierra Club contact Annette
Gelbrich at apgelbrich@yahoo.com.
NOTABLE
Wheeler heads Gwinnett
Place CID, unveils new Web site
To expand community involvement and promote its mission of improving
economic vitality of the Gwinnett Place Business District, the
Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (CID) publicly unveiled
its new Web site recently.
The Web site may be viewed at www.GwinnettPlaceCID.com,
and includes early information about the dramatic plans to upgrade
the area.
Tom Wheeler, the elected Chairman of the CID said, "Our new
Web site will allow the public to see the exciting changes that
are taking place in the Gwinnett Place business district. Our
new Web site will help keep business owners, managers, and residents
aware of our programs and ways to get involved."
These plans will directly affect and benefit hundreds of the
District's stakeholders and business operators, as well as many
of Gwinnett County's 700,000 residents. The district is in the
business center of the County, and it's continued vitality and
success directly impact all Gwinnettians.
Earlier this year business leaders in the area formed the Gwinnett
Place CID with a mission to raise and spend more than $100 million
during the next six years to improve the District. The CID's goals
are to aggressively work to improve traffic flow, to create a
distinctive Gwinnett Place business district community "look",
to hire landscapers and cleaning teams to improve the District's
appearance, to build new sidewalks, and to enhance security by
hiring additional off-duty police teams to work directly in the
CID.
County purchases
68 acres of green space along Yellow River
Gwinnett County's southside just got a little greener, permanently.
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners have agreed to purchase
68 acres along the Yellow River south of Highway 78. The purchase
price for the new passive park in the southern area of the county
is almost $3.2 million.
"This purchase will help maintain water quality in the Yellow
River by protecting floodplain on both sides of the river,"
said District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau. "It gives residents
in south Gwinnett and the 78 corridor a significant passive recreation
area right in the middle of the Highway 78 corridor."
Last year, a revitalization plan for the highway corridor between
Snellville and Stone Mountain recommended the creation of a park
at this site in its five-year action plan. Eventually, the County
hopes to connect this land by greenway trail along the river to
a 44-acre parcel the County owns north of the highway.
Known as the Vecoma property, the land surrounds an existing
special events facility that is not included in the purchase.
Funding will come from the greenspace portion of the 2005 Special
Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
The County's director of community services, Phil Hoskins, noted
that this purchase "will ensure future public access to scenic
land for passive recreation while protecting valuable natural
resources from development. Both are stated objectives of the
County."
The mission of Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation manages 30
park sites, with 16 more scheduled for future development. The
park system totals nearly 7,800 acres.
RESTAURANT
REVIEW
- An invitation: What
Web sites or books have you enjoyed? Send us your best recent
read along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus
what book you plan to read next. --eeb
GEORGIA
TIDBIT
Civil War Heritage Trail in Georgia benefits
state tourism
The impact of the Civil War on Georgia was greater than that
of any other event before or since. Some 11,000 Georgians were
killed between 1861 and 1865, and more than 460,000 slaves were
emancipated by the war's end.
The nonprofit organization Georgia
Civil War Heritage Trails (GCWHT) (read
more) chronicles the Civil War era through historic driving
routes and interpretive markers, patterned after Virginia's "heritage
tourism" initiative. GCWHT, a tax-exempt corporation founded
in 1999 and led by volunteers from throughout the state, works
to raise public awareness of existing preservation opportunities
while providing scenic and cultural benefits to those who follow
its trails.
Another goal of GCWHT is to stimulate economic development in
Georgia. With funds awarded by the federal government under the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, and with the support
of scores of local communities, GCWHT has erected highway directional
signs and a series of interpretive markers at many locations along
or near some of the routes used by the Union and Confederate armies.
Trails bypass interstate highways, instead leading visitors through
rural counties. Communities along or near each trail benefit from
this increased tourism.
GCWHT divides the state into six distinct "trail regions,"
each representing a geographical area and/or a significant event
from the Civil War period. Because the Atlanta campaign and the
March to the Sea were two major Civil War events in Georgia, these
trails were created first. Interpretive markers feature not only
military campaigns but also such nonmilitary topics as the roles
of women and African Americans, hospitals, churches, railroads,
and many other social and political subjects from the era. Each
marker is linked along a trail route to national and state parks,
museums, and other Civil War heritage attractions.
THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
Unless honest, no
reason to keep a person in public office
"We cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if
we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not so
much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service
to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep
him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity."
--Theodore Roosevelt, via Roy McCreary of Dacula.
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