Accelerating Entrepreneurship Growth Across Georgia.

CREATE (Cultivating Resilient Entrepreneurs and Transforming Economies)

“Small” does not define the value that small businesses have on your community.

I’ve heard Scott Purvis say this dozens of times since we began collaborating on CREATE. The line hasn’t lost its magic to me, though, or the many audiences he’s shared it with.

The program was initially launched to help rural Georgia communities (populations of 50,000 or fewer) grow from within as they continued to work on their long-term strategies for industrial recruitment.

Since we launched CREATE in 2022, it’s become clear that growth is not one-or-the-other, industrial-or-entrepreneurship, but both.

Where small business and entrepreneurship thrive are often the same places that industrial or major employers grow too.

Georgia has long been recognized as the Top State for Doing Business (Area Development, 11 consecutive years) which coincides with its top recognitions as a Top State to Start a Small Business (WalletHub, 2025) or the Most Entrepreneurial State (The Digital Project Manager, 2025).

At this year’s first “CREATE Entrepreneurship Summit” over 200 leaders from communities of all sizes around the state gathered to answer the question, “How we can improve our support for entrepreneurs and small businesses?”.

Over the course of a single day, resource providers, entrepreneurs, and statewide partners shared best practices, case studies, and resources to help answer that question.

Highlights from the CREATE Summit:

1. CREATE Initiative – Cultivating Resilience

• Designed to empower Georgia communities by engaging with their customers to find assets and gaps in available resources.
• Promotes regional collaboration and resource sharing across counties.
• Promotes tools and resources to help communities facilitate their strategic economic development initiatives.

2. Statewide Ecosystem Support

• The Center of Innovation and Department of Economic Development launched Strategy 2.0:
  • Focused on empowering communities already engaged in entrepreneurship.
  • Supports local incubators and startup programs.
• The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support Network supports storytelling, mentorship, and resource alignment.

3. AI as a Strategic Equalizer

• AI tools were presented as transformative for small business operations.
• Applications include marketing, customer service, product development, and fiscal management.
• Community leaders were encouraged to support adoption through education seminars, pilot programs, and technical support networks.

Throughout the day these highlights were punctuated with examples shared by participants, networking, and a resource partner expo. Conversations and connections went past the final session, with many community leaders remaining to talk about how they could further accelerate Georgia’s entrepreneurship efforts.

Thank you to all who contributed their time and expertise. Stories shared throughout the day highlighted the role that entrepreneurs and small businesses play in Georgia communities. And trust me, it’s not a small role.

Keep Growing

To learn more about how the Georgia Power Economic Development team can support your communities’ special initiatives like entrepreneurship, get in touch with your region’s Economic Development Manager today.