10th annual Bulldog 100 list unveiled
The University of Georgia Alumni Association has unveiled the 2019 Bulldog 100 list of fastest-growing businesses owned or operated by UGA alumni. More than 564 nominations were submitted for the 2019 list. The 2019 Bulldog 100 includes businesses of all sizes and from industries such as real estate, dining, technology and retail. Companies are based as far north as New York and as far west as California. Of the 100 businesses, 80 are located within Georgia. “The Bulldog 100 program provides us with an the opportunity to applaud the outstanding achievements of our graduates, broaden networks and inspire each other in our shared commitment,” said Meredith Johnson, executive director of the UGA Alumni Association. “These alumni are leading the way in business and building better communities.” This year’s list of fastest-growing businesses, in alphabetical order, is as follows: A Signature Welcome, Charleston, South Carolina Activekidz and Adult Therapy Services, Watkinsville, Georgia AHT Cooling Systems USA Inc., Ladson, South Carolina American Tank Maintenance LLC, Warthen, Georgia AmeriServ Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina Ansley Atlanta Real Estate, Atlanta, Georgia Applied Resource Group LLC, Alpharetta, Georgia Ascent CPA Group LLC, Atlanta, Georgia Athens Building Company, Watkinsville, Georgia Avid Bookshop, Athens, Georgia BOS Security Inc., Athens, Georgia Baseline Surveying & Engineering, Watkinsville, Georgia Biren Patel Engineering LLC, Atlanta, Georgia Bitstream Consulting LLC, Atlanta, Georgia Blackjack Paving, Fairburn, Georgia Bone Dry Roofing Company, Bogart, Georgia C2 Medical Solutions LLC, Athens, Georgia Calhoun Sands Valuation & Advisory Inc., Atlanta, Georgia Caplan Cobb LLP, Atlanta, Georgia Castlegate Property Group LLC, Atlanta, Georgia Centurion Investments LLC, Atlanta, Georgia Certified Finishes, Atlanta, Georgia Charlotte Lucas Interior Design, Charlotte, North Carolina Chicken Salad Chick, Auburn, Alabama Christopher's Bridge Home Care, Watkinsville, Georgia Condor Chocolates, Athens, Georgia Crate Services Inc., Fairburn, Georgia Crescent Equipment Co. Inc., Crescent, Georgia Currie Design + Build, Roswell, Georgia DTproductions, Athens, Georgia Dunkin Donuts (Seven Franchise Locations), Watkinsville, Georgia Eleven Eleven PR, Arlington, Virginia EnviroSpark Energy Solutions Inc., Atlanta, Georgia Express Employment Professionals, Athens, Georgia Forum Communications Inc., Gainesville, Georgia FTM Travel, Brentwood, Tennessee Georgia Grinders, Chamblee, Georgia Hardy’s Peanuts Inc., Hawkinsville, Georgia Haven Insurance Group, Atlanta, Georgia Inspect-All Services, Conyers, Georgia Inspirion Biosciences, Frederick, Maryland Irvin Retail Group of Marcus & Millichap, Atlanta, Georgia J&M Pool Services, Senoia, Georgia Jacobs Land Management LLC, Augusta, Georgia JETT Business Technology, Roswell, Georgia Kabbage, Atlanta, Georgia Kalka & Baer LLC, Atlanta, Georgia Langford Allergy LLC, Macon, Georgia Launch, Atlanta, Georgia Li-Lac Chocolates, Brooklyn, NY Lightmark Media, Athens, Georgia Lucky Savannah Vacation Rentals, Savannah, Georgia M&W Commercial Flooring LLC, Atlanta, Georgia MAB Corporate Advisors, Marietta, Georgia Macallan Real Estate LLC, Marietta, Georgia Margaret Long Designs Inc., Atlanta, Georgia Markert Motor Works, Lawrenceville, Georgia Microf, Roswell, Georgia Millstone Homes Inc., Watkinsville, Georgia Moore Civil Consulting Inc., Hawkinsville, Georgia Murray Osorio PLLC, Fairfax, Virginia Myrick Marine Contracting Corp., Savannah, Georgia Onward Reserve, Atlanta, Georgia Parisleaf, Gainesville, Florida PeachCap, Atlanta, Georgia PharmD on Demand, Watkinsville, Georgia PHI Enterprises, Charlotte, North Carolina Powell Dentistry Group, Saint Simons Island, Georgia Precise Systems Inc., Lexington Park, Maryland Precision Frameworks, Tucker, Georgia Puppy Haven, Brookhaven, Georgia Quickpath, San Antonio, Texas RAC Properties of Athens Inc., Bogart, Georgia Roam Innovative Workplace, Atlanta, Georgia Robinson Key LLC, Atlanta, Georgia Rover Mobility LLC, Evans, Georgia Saucehouse BBQ, Athens, Georgia Smith Planning Group LLC, Watkinsville, Georgia Sock Fancy, Atlanta, Georgia Southland Organics, Bogart, Georgia Southland Therapy Services, Savannah, Georgia Stanton Law LLC, Atlanta, Georgia Starnes Media, Homewood, Alabama Steamboat Transportation Group LLC, Nashville, Tennessee Strand Clinical Technologies LLC, Evans, Georgia SunnyBoy Entertainment LLC, Pasadena, California Terminus Software Inc., Atlanta, Georgia The Service Fort LLC, Atlanta, Georgia The Southern Coterie, Sea Island, Georgia The Therapy Spot, Statesboro, Georgia Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods Inc., Huntland, Tennessee Toolbox No. 9, Atlanta, Georgia TSAV, Athens, Georgia TurnKey IT Solutions LLC, Marietta, Georgia Two Maids & A Mop Franchising, Birmingham, Alabama Wier / Stewart LLC, Augusta, Georgia Woodall Realty Group, Athens, Georgia XY Planning Network, Bozeman, Georgia Your Pie Franchising LLC, Athens, Georgia Zeus' Closet, Atlanta, Georgia Business applicants were measured by their compounded annual growth rate during a three-year period. The Atlanta office of Warren Averett CPAs and Advisors verified the information submitted by each company. On Jan. 26, the UGA Alumni Association will host an event to celebrate the Bulldog 100 and count down the ranked list to the No. 1 business. The 2018 Bulldog 100 No. 1 business was Saucehouse BBQ, co-founded by Christopher Belk. “To be named the No. 1 fastest-growing Bulldog business was a tremendous honor and even helped Saucehouse catering with its expansion into the Atlanta area from Athens,” said Belk. “We’re proud to be part of this incredible alumni network and to serve Bulldogs every day.”
Today figures to be another day of rain for Athens and much of northeast Georgia, with flood watches and warnings again in place for parts of the region. This is forecast to be the last day of the rain that has been falling since Monday. From WSB Radio meteorologist Kirk Mellish… The latest round of rain does not look as bad as what we experienced Monday, but with soggy soils and high creek and stream levels already in place the National Weather Service continues the FLASH FLOOD WATCH for the entire area and most of Georgia for that matter until 7AM Thursday. Keep in mind with the soggy root zones trees can fall even without a strong wind causing damage or an isolated power outage. Upper level low pressure to our Northwest will spin up surface low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico which will head Northeast up the Atlantic Coast the next few days while another “wedge” pattern (CAD event) develops over Georgia. Temperatures have been well below-normal this week and will remain so through the weekend. A wintry mix is even possible briefly in the higher elevations of the Northeast corner of Georgia Thursday. The axis of heaviest rain looks to run from Columbus to the Athens area. The lightest amounts will be in the far Northwest suburbs of Atlanta with the heaviest rain South and East sides of Metro Atlanta the next 24 hours.
Federal judge’s rulings are split decision in Ga Governor’s race
Former Clarke County Superior Court Judge Steve Jones, in his capacity as a US District Court Judge, issues rulings on Georgia’s disputed governor’s race. Judge Jones says absentee ballots with incorrect or omitted birth dates can be counted. Judge Jones, however, will not require counties to accept absentee ballots with incorrect residence addresses or to accept provisional ballots cast by people who attempted to vote in a different county than where they are registered to vote. Republican candidate Brian Kemp’s campaign released a statement after the ruling, saying Abrams should realize it is no longer mathematically possible for her to gain enough votes to force a runoff.From the AJC’s Tia Mitchell… A federal judge has ruled that Georgia counties must count absentee ballots even if the voter’s date of birth is incorrect or missing, and he is preventing the state from finalizing election results until that happens. Although U.S. District Judge Steve Jones agreed with the Georgia Democratic Party and Stacey Abrams’ campaign on this issue, he ruled against them on two others. He will not require counties to accept absentee ballots with incorrect residence addresses or to accept provisional ballots cast by people who attempted to vote in a different county than where they are registered to vote. “Plaintiffs have shown that they are entitled to preliminary injunctive relief as to the absentee ballot (date of birth) issue,” Jones wrote in an order finalized late Wednesday. “Plaintiffs have not shown that they are entitled to preliminary injunctive relief as to the absentee ballot (residence) issue and provisional ballot issues.” It is unclear how much of an effect Jones’ ruling will have on election results. Gwinnett County is already under a separate court order to count ballots missing proper birth-date documentation, and the Secretary of State’s office provided guidance to counties Monday that said they could accept absentee ballots missing a voter’s date of birth, although it wasn’t required. Fulton, Cobb, Henry and DeKalb counties are among those who reported that their vote counts already include absentee ballots with birth-date discrepancies. Republican candidate Brian Kemp’s campaign released a statement after the ruling, saying Abrams’ should realize it is no longer mathematically possible for her to gain enough votes to force a runoff. “This ruling solidifies Brian Kemp's insurmountable lead,” communications director Ryan Mahoney said. “The election is over, and Brian Kemp is the Governor-elect. It's time for Abrams to concede and join our efforts to keep Georgia moving in the right direction.' Jones’ order late Wednesday makes it mandatory for all 159 counties. Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden is required to adjust vote totals if there are any counties that need to go back and re-evaluate absentee ballots. The state has a Tuesday deadline to finalize election results, but Jones’ ruling said that cannot happen as long as there are absentee ballots that need to be counted. “The Secretary of State is ENJOINED from certifying the State Election results until she has confirmed that each county’s returns include the counts for absentee ballots where the birth date was omitted or incorrect,” he wrote. Abrams has said she will fight for every vote to be counted in hopes of pushing the election to a runoff, but she is about 18,000 short. Her campaign said late Wednesday that those efforts will continue. The statement also called Jones’ split-decision ruling a “major victory” and pointed out that Democrats have had multiple successful legal challenges since the Nov. 6 election. “Now, the courts are doing what Brian Kemp’s Secretary of State office refused to –- upholding and protecting Georgia’s rights and underlining the need for free and fair elections in a state that has suffered from an acute assault on voting rights engineered by none other than Secretary of State Brian Kemp,” Abrams’ campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo said. It would have had potentially huge impacts if Jones had decided that counties should accept provisional ballots cast by people who reside in another county. Under Georgia law, people must vote on Election Day in the precinct you are assigned. If they end up at the wrong precinct, they cast a provisional ballot instead. Those provisional ballots are only counted if the person is a registered voter, resident of the county where they are voting and has not already cast a ballot elsewhere. After Election Day, Metro Atlanta counties reported that they rejected hundreds of provisional ballots because they were submitted by people who were registered to vote in a different county. Jones appeared to be sympathetic to Democrats’ concerns about voter suppression during Tuesday’s hearing, but his order indicates he also gave credibility to the Secretary of State’s argument that changing the rules to allow people to vote in a different county than where they are registered to vote could potentially allow for fraud in the future. This issue caused an unknown number of ballots to be disqualified. For example, Fulton County rejected 972 provisional ballots because the voter lived outside of the county. Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this report.
