Tech Alpharetta Strengthens its Events Programming with Addition of GATN
Merger Further Bolsters the “Technology City of the South” as a Premier Destination for World-Class Tech Companies and Events
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (Jan. 2, 2018) – Tech Alpharetta, the nonprofit organization helping the City of Alpharetta lead in innovation, today announced that sister nonprofit GATN (the Greater Alpharetta Tech Network) has been folded into Tech Alpharetta’s day-to-day operations as the Tech Alpharetta Engage Committee.
“Bringing GATN under Tech Alpharetta unifies all things tech under one local organization and one brand,” says Karen Cashion, CEO of Tech Alpharetta. “The union makes perfect sense, expanding Tech Alpharetta’s services and reach to better serve the growing Greater Alpharetta technology community.”
The merger gives Tech Alpharetta its own service pillar focused on tech programming and community engagement. Tech Alpharetta now supports the city’s technology ecosystem across three key areas of service:
- Strategic advisory board of C-level tech executives;
- Tech startup incubator (the Tech Alpharetta Innovation Center); and
- Technology programing and events.
Planting the Seed of Innovation
Tech Alpharetta was established in 2012 as a strategic advisory board, composed of executives from 14 of Alpharetta’s leading technology companies. The board was charged with identifying and pursuing key opportunities and policy decisions for the City’s technology companies and its robust technology sector, in order to help the city lead in cutting-edge infrastructure, national branding, and innovation, and engage the local tech community. The organization’s Innovation Center, which opened in August 2015, was specifically developed to create a unique and supportive incubation space for area tech entrepreneurs, world-class businesses, startups, and investors to meet, network and innovate.
A year after Tech Alpharetta was established, Cashion launched GATN. The organization has worked as an independent nonprofit that engages and strengthens the Greater Alpharetta technology community. GATN has served as Tech Alpharetta’s de facto community engagement arm since GATN’s inception. It has served the interests of technology companies and professionals in the Greater Alpharetta corridor by hosting tech thought leadership and tech networking events in Alpharetta. These events were designed to help members and non-members leverage connections and educational insight that increase growth throughout the community.
Helping Develop the “Technology City of the South”
Today, more than one-fourth of Metro Atlanta’s Top 25 Tech Employers are in Alpharetta.1 Tech Alpharetta’s enhanced tech programing and events will help position the city as a major tech hub in the South. The Tech Alpharetta Engage Committee will be hosting and running innovative events for the tech community, beginning with Tech Alpharetta’s CIO Panel at the new Avalon Hotel on Jan. 18, followed by monthly events for Greater Alpharetta tech professionals thereafter, and the AgTech Conference of the South in July 2018.
For more information about Tech Alpharetta, its mission, and it programs, or for information about the Tech Alpharetta Innovation Center, visit www.techalpharetta.com.
[1] http://growalpharetta.com/technology/
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About Tech Alpharetta
Tech Alpharetta (previously the Alpharetta Technology Commission), the first organization of its kind in Georgia, was established in 2012 by the City of Alpharetta and is an independent, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization today, run by its CEO, Karen Cashion, and its strategic advisory board. Comprised of Alpharetta’s leading technology companies, both large and small, Tech Alpharetta’s board members work to identify and pursue key investment opportunities and policy decisions for Alpharetta’s technology companies and its burgeoning technology industry.
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