News 12 at 11 o'clock / Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Will new tech companies be the key to Augusta's economy in the future? Members of the Technology Association of Georgia say yes.

TAG met for the first time in Augusta Wednesday night to talk about growing the technology industry here and creating new tech jobs in the process.

Companies big and small, from Georgia Power to GHSU to the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce, were all represented at the meeting.

Jeff Partl, president of local Augusta company Powerserve, is glad to have an Augusta chapter of TAG.

"We're really excited that TAG is gonna come here to Augusta to create a chapter," Partl said. "We feel that the benefit to our company is that the more exposure that technology can get on a statewide basis, it'll be much easier for us to recruit talent to the area."

TAG was started in metro Atlanta, expanded to Savannah and now it's here.

TAG President Tino Mantella said they chose Augusta because of its potential.

"We believe you have a critical mass of technology companies and the potential for growth," Mantella said. "You have all the makings of really becoming a leader in the state as far as technology and we wanna help that to happen."

Over 50 people attended the first meeting. They all agree that technology is the future.

Brian Tucker of the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce said new businesses are most likely to be in the technology sector.

"The new wave of entrepreneurial-ism is going to be technology," Tucker said.

Technical recruiters agree and said Augusta is a great place to be right now in the technology sector.

"This is a city that's on the precipice of doing some really cool things in technology," said technical recruiter Reed Geary.

TAG focuses on bringing together technology companies already here in the community.

"I think if we collaborate together, we can actually broaden our market and increase the talent here in Augusta," Partl said.

Mayor Deke Copenhaver agrees.

"Anytime we can bring them together to collaborate, that's a good way to grow that sector of the economy," he said.

The creation of a TAG Augusta chapter fits in with Copenhaver's new technology initiative. His initiative plans to bring together three pillars of the local economy; energy, IT and medicine.

"The more you're relying on a knowledge-based economy, which is IT-focused, medicine-focused, energy-focused, the longer sustainable ability you're gonna have to grow your local economy," Copenhaver said.

Copenhaver says as the knowledge base grows, the city becomes smarter.

"The cities that are smarter are gonna win and this helps us get smart," he said.

Right now TAG is working to get set up in Augusta. They are trying to get a board in place and from there they will set up their next meetings, panels and events. They say the really want to be a resource for the community and the mayor as the technology sector grows.

You can find out more information on their website here.