NEWS BRIEFS: Animal Shelter at capacity; adoption fees waived

The Gwinnett Animal Welfare Center has reached a critical capacity with more than 180 adoptable dogs, cats, puppies and kittens currently under care. To ease the strain on staff and resources, the shelter urgently requests potential adopters and foster families to take advantage of waived adoption fees. The shelter is also covering the cost of spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations and microchips for all adopted pets.

Animal Welfare and Enforcement Division Director Katrina Amaro says: “Our largest animals, the big dogs, are always the hardest to find placement. Getting more animals into permanent adoptive homes or temporary foster placements is critical.”  

For those interested in fostering pets, Gwinnett County will provide food, preventive vet care and basic supplies like leashes at no cost.To learn more about adopting or fostering a shelter pet, visit Gwinnett Animal Welfare. The Bill Atkinson Animal Welfare Center is located at 884 Winder Highway in Lawrenceville.

NOTABLE

Winners of 13th Movers and Makers awards announced

Partnership Gwinnett hosted the 13th annual Movers and Makers Awards at the Gas South District last week. The event served as a platform to honor and recognize the exceptional achievements of manufacturing and supply chain companies in Gwinnett County.

Among the highlights of the morning were the presentations of seven prestigious Movers and Shakers awards:

  • MVP Award: Mighty 8th of Buford; 
  • Corporate Citizen: Peachtree Packaging and Display, Lawrenceville;
  • Supply Chain Pioneer (Small): Volcanica Coffee of Suwanee;
  • Supply Chain Pioneer (Large): NEMA, Inc. of Duluth; 
  • Manufacturer of the Year (Small): Bitzel’s Chocolate of Suwanee; 
  • Manufacturer of the Year (Medium): Eclipse Gaming Systems of Duluth; and
  • Manufacturer of the Year (Large): RealTruck of Norcross.

This year’s ceremony featured distinguished keynote speaker Glenn Case, Founder and Chief Technologist at Hermeus of Atlanta, who inspired attendees with his journey through the technology industry and his insights into its future.

Gwinnett’s own Shark Tank produces winners

Gwinnett County student entrepreneurs braved the Shark Tank Thursday in Snellville, collecting a total of $1,750 in donated funds to help grow their budding businesses.

The annual pitch competition, based on the popular TV show of the same name, encourages local students to create a self-sustaining business complete with business plans, financial forecasts and marketing strategies. They then pitch their businesses to a room full of judges comprised of local business leaders who grant them seed money based on the strength of their presentations.

Each of the judges donated their time and $250 to the competition which has been taking place in the city for more than a decade.

Snellville City Manager Matt Pepper says: “The competition brings together the best of our young student entrepreneurs and our business community to create a thriving business environment.”

Student businesses ranged from cakes in a jar to crocheted stuffed animals.

The winners are: 

  • Zuri Jackson – Styled By Z (Brookwood High School) – $425;  
  • Oluwaferanmi Ogunmefun – Anmi Jadore (Grayson Tech) – $100;
  • Monty Robinson – Legends of the Minigame (Brookwood High School) – $300;
  • Fazzilet Salewala – AdTract (Brookwood High School) – $100;
  • Christopher Martin – Young Dedicated Hustlers (Grayson Tech), won  mentorship for The Print Lounge and the Wing Suite.
  • Mina Torab – FoodCycle (Brookwood High School) – $325;
  • Antwan Williams II – Transcendence (Grayson Tech) – $100;
  • Simi Sodipe – Blissful Delights (Brookwood High School) – $100; and
  • Holly Nguyen – Cozy Crochet (Brookwood High School) – $300.
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