From the
Towne Lake Business Association

It's time again for politics. One of the ongoing issues affecting our community is growth — slow, fast, none, or managed. I'll try to explain my point of view on growth in a common sense manner. As people move away from the inner cities across America, they soon realize that growth in their new communities is just around the corner. For example, Towne Lake was just a wooded area only 15 years ago — locals used to call it "Thousand Acres." A plan for a "master planned community" was then created and filed by The Johnson Companies out of Texas for the development of what has become Towne Lake. Other developers saw the success of Towne Lake and soon started developing other parcels in Cherokee County. Then, the commercial developers came and put up shopping centers, offices, apartments, and more.

All of this growth starts with how land is zoned. The local governments must carefully analyze current and future infrastructure requirements, school systems, and other relevant factors before modifying existing zoning that will affect our community. Established planned land use maps should be followed with only periodic adjustments as may be required.

As you take a look at Towne Lake area shopping centers, it becomes quite apparent that commercial developers have had similar views with their customary mix of pizza parlors, dry cleaners, nail salons, and perhaps a Mexican or a Chinese restaurant to top it off. So, does our community really need this redundancy of businesses? I don't think so. The bottom line is to get involved and tell your elected officials how you feel. I'm sure that they will agree that smart growth will be for the benefit of all area residents and businesses.

"Planning an Advertising Campaign" was the topic of our May workshop. We thank Sara Boudreaux of Peachtree Planning Corporation, who lead the group through this discussion.

As always, we thank you for supporting our local businesses, and thus, our Towne Lake area community, and for "Keeping Towne Lake Dollars in Cherokee."

Wayne Kosbe, President

Welcome New Members:
David C. Cook - Arrowhead Insurance Services
Mariellen Smerek - Millenium Systems Integration

Join us for our next Lunch 'N' Workshop:
"Promotional Products & NetWeaving:
Great Tools For Growing Your Business"
Tuesday, June 18, at 12:30 p.m.
Featherstone's at Towne Lake Hills.
Please call (770) 517-8210, ext. 550
to RSVP today.

NOTE: The Member Spotlight highlights one TLBA member each month with information showcasing their business. Visit us at www.tlba.org.

Towne Lake Business Association
Member Spotlight
Kroger at Towne Lake

Above — (from left): Unit Manager Randy Thurman and Front End Manager Julie Foraker

Kroger at Towne Lake (Kroger) opened their doors in March 1997 with a flurry of excitement and activity and it hasn't slowed down since. The store's primary community focus has been its six Partners in Education formed with the local schools. They are extremely proud of their association with this group of wonderful educators and look forward to sharing many more events together.

Kroger also has been involved with numerous other charities since its opening. Kroger has also held many special activities to raise funds for local charities such as Celebrity Bagging, Car Safety Seat Checks, Night Out Against Crime, Christmas Around the World, Taste of Towne Lake Kroger, and the famous Moonlight Madness.

Kroger would like to take this opportunity to introduce Randy Thurman, their new Unit Manager, to the Towne Lake area community. He has been with the Kroger company for 23 years and lives in Acworth with his wife, Cheryl, and his three sons, David, Daniel and Tanner.

The employees of Kroger are very proud of their history. Barney Kroger founded Kroger in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1881. Kroger is the largest food retailer in the nation with approximately 2,200 stores across the United Sates. There are 210 stores in metropolitan Atlanta alone. "For Goodness Sakes" aren't we lucky?

The Towne Lake area is fortunate to have one of the best Krogers right in our own community.

Kroger considers it a privilege to serve the Towne Lake area community and thanks all of its supporters.

Kroger is located at the corner of Towne Lake Parkway and Eagle Drive, and their telephone number is (770) 517-2080.