We want the world to know what Savannah has to offer. Which is why we’re shouting it from the rooftops: “We have our finalists!” With not a moment to spare (and the 2009 Innovation Awards fast upon us) our esteemed panel of judges has issued the results of a long, grueling process. They’ve narrowed the field from over 100 applicants to just three finalists in each of the four categories (Community, Education & Government; Small Business; Big Business; and Sustainability), all with a caged tiger’s fighting chance at taking home the prize. (Remember last year’s finalists?)

Before the announcement you’ve been so patiently awaiting (ok you can always just scroll down), we want to thank our judges for the job well done and all the hard work that went into deciding this year’s finalists. Our independent panel of local and regional judges included State Representative Ron Stephens, former Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development Craig Lesser, retired CFO/business consultant/angel investor Gordon Matthews, UGA Small Business Development Center Area Director Lynn Vos, WTOC General Manager Bill Cathcart, SCAD Professor of Graphic Design and Sustainable Design Scott Boylston, Executive Director of the US Green Building Council (GA Chapter) Leesa Carter, and a 2008 winner, Union Mission President/CEO Michael Elliott. Thanks to each and every one of you for contributing your time, energy and expertise to selecting a handful of innovative do-gooders. This year’s festivities wouldn’t have been possible without you.

This “guest post” is written by Angel Ratcliffe, a local PR/Marketing guru who started her Savannah tenure right here at TCCa, serving as the Marketing Manager between 2006 and 2008. She is also the former Marketing Director for Paragon Design Group. She is awesome, we love her and she is currently pounding the pavement right here in the SAV.

Those of you in the job market like I am can probably relate to the job search process being a tedious, irksome, and slow-moving one. Over the past couple of months, I feel I’m becoming more and more proficient with the endeavor, and have noticed some differences from my first experience in Savannah’s job market in 2006. Back then I used the traditional methods of job hunting by rifling through e-classifieds and uploading my resume on several humongous job sites like Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com. It is extremely drudging and repetitious after a while.

Locally-powered job sites like TCCa’s excellent job board make things much easier by providing locally verified and industry-specific results (Fitz tells me they’ve confirmed the successful placement of over 150 local jobs over the last year), but social media’s powerful presence in society has put a new twist on the job hunt, adding spirit, character and an element of knowledge-share to the process.

I feel like Dean Cain on an episode of Ripley’s Believe it or Not (yes, that still airs)…

An article in last month’s Details Magazine is evidence that truth IS stranger than fiction: according to a recent survey, 84% of young Germans would prefer to lose their current partner or automobile over their internet connection or mobile phone.

Bitkom, a German internet service provider interviewed 1,000 people between the age of 19 and 29, assessing their dependability on their internet and mobile phone as compared to love and car ownership. The outcome was shocking (Volkswagons ain’t that great I guess). In the same survey, 97% of interviewees said that it would be unthinkable to live without their mobile phone, so unthinkable that they’d rather kick their lover to the curb. Now, I can kinda understand that if this is an iPhone we’re talking about (there’s probably a boyfriend app anyway), but just a plain ol’ mobile phone? WHAT? Internet/phone better than sex/love?

In this day and age the phone and internet are the lifeblood of business, commerce and communication. But to think that people would willingly give up partnership and copulation (isn’t THAT as old as humankind?) for their internet connection. Makes me wonder how all this new technology is affecting reproductive rates.

We’re baaaaack!!  Did you miss us?  It’s time once again for the Innovation Awards, presented by Lott + Barber (for the second year in a row). As we hope you remember, the Innovation Awards is all about recognizing, encouraging and celebrating innovation in business, non-profit, education, government and sustainability. 

As most of you may recall, last year’s event was quite the spectacle, bringing both torrential rain and 500 of Savannah’s movers and shakers in a grand event that quite literally brought the house down at the Historic Roundhouse.  As Forrest Lott, principal of Lott + Barber put it, “We can’t wait to see how this year’s Innovation Awards turns out. We’re still talking about last year – the record crowds, the epic showing of Savannah’s creative businesses, and of course the TCCa Typhoon of 2008. Here’s hoping this year is at least half the party.”  Indeed!

Yes, the 2008 event was seriously soaked as a storm of biblical proportions blew in and out in less than 24 hours. You all came anyway (to our great surprise and delight), demonstrating just how important a cause this is to many. We think we have all earned a starry sky this year, but just in case, we are prepared. (Seriously, we are.)