Smyrna-Vinings News You Can Use

As expected, the Smyrna city council has tabled a scheduled public hearing at Tuesday’s council meeting to discuss Branch Capital Properties’ site plan and zoning condition for the once-known Jonquil Village development project.

There will be a public hearing concerning the city’s zoning ordinance to permit the outdoor retail sale of large outdoor products in a general commercial zoning district.

The full agenda can be found here. The meeting is set for 7:30 p.m.in the building located at 2800 King Street.

The public is invited, but the meeting will be televised live on Charter Communications Public Access Channel 19. Replays of council meetings air the second and fourth Thursday of the month on Channel 23 at 7 p.m. See the TV23 section at www.cobbcounty.org for a complete rebroadcast schedule.

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The Cobb Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations until Wednesday, Jan. 18 for Cobb's Top 25 Small Businesses of the Year. The 2012 Small Business of the Year will be selected from those 25 best businesses.

Business owners can nominate themselves or other businesses. Nominated companies must:

• Be a Cobb Chamber member
• Be located in Cobb County
• Demonstrate an increase in sales and/or unit volume
• Have been in business at least three years
• Show evidence of contributions to community-oriented projects
• Comply with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s size standards in defining a small business (www.sba.gov/size)
• Be for-profit

Which Smyrna or Vinings businesses deserve to be Cobb's top small businesses in your opinion? Tell us in the comments.

All nominees will receive a detailed application packet by Jan. 27. The Top 25 and Small Business Hall of Fame inductees will be recognized, and the Small Business of the Year will be announced during the Cobb Chamber’s First Monday Breakfast on June 4.

The 2012 Small Business of the Year winner will also participate in the Georgia Small Business of the Year competition.

Nominations forms can be found at www.cobbchamber.org/sboy. For more information, contact Tya Dawson at 770-859-2341 or tdawson@cobbchamber.org.

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Georgia Trend magazine’s January issue lists the “Most Influential Georgians” and several Cobb locals made the list including Cobb Chamber of Commerce President David Connell; Atlanta Regional Commission Chairman Tad Leithead; and Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens.

The magazine also compiled a list of “Notable Georgians,’’ which included local resident, Dr. Roger Tutterow, a Mercer University economist.

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Last week, Morgan Keegan & Co., was ordered by an arbitration panel to award the Smyrna-based Callas Foundation $262,000 in damages due to losses from investments made by Morgan Keegan.

According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Morgan Keegan was ordered this past summer to pay $200 million into a “multi-state deal to settle charges it defrauded investors by concentrating investments heavily in mortgage-backed securities.’’ Read more of the ABC’s report here.

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Finally, a new fab'rik clothing store has opened in Smyrna’s West Village and it’s also today’s featured Scoutmob deal to receive 50 percent off.

According to the Scoutmob write-up, the new store “still feels just as luxurious as any tony, designer-shilling Buckhead establishment. Cozy lounges upon which to sprawl between fitting room frenzies; a water bar to sip and rehydrate while making your rounds from rack to rack, and of course, the genuinely warm, helpful service from the shop's staff, perhaps one of fabrik's most signature traits.”

The store is located at 4500 West Village Place. Call 770-432-0014 for more information.