• Future Industries Initiative
  The Future Industries Initiative of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce serves to identify technology opportunities for current and future businesses, the local colleges and universities, and other entities in the community. The Initiative serves to harness the community resources of the higher education and medical centers, while partnering with the private sector to catalog the current research and development activity in Rome and Floyd County.
  
  Members of the Future Industries Initiative include:
  Community Leaders (Established the Initiative):

• Dr. J. Paul Ferguson – President/CEO, Harbin Clinic, retired
• Frank Barron, Jr. – President/CEO, Rome Coca-Cola Bottling Company, retired

Medical Centers:

• Kurt Stuenkel – President, Floyd Medical Center
• Dr. Kenneth Davis – President/CEO, Harbin Clinic
• John Quinlivan – CEO, Redmond Regional Medical Center

Colleges & Universities:

• Dr. Stephen Briggs – President, Berry College
• Dr. Randy Pierce – President, Georgia Highlands College
• Dr. Craig McDaniel – President, Georgia Northwestern Technical College
• Dr. Harold Newman – President, Shorter University

City, County & Private Schools:

• Dr. Gayland Cooper – Superintendent, Rome City Schools
• Dr. Lynn Plunkett – Superintendent, Floyd County Schools
• Tom Whitworth – Headmaster, Darlington School

Programming to support the goals of the Future Industries Initiative includes:

• The Technology Roundtable – emphasizing a collaborative environment for fostering innovation within Rome & Floyd County
• The Researchers Roundtable
• The annual Technology Symposium
• The Marketing of Floyd County to advanced technology businesses
• Community involvement in International Programs

• Technology Roundtable
  The Technology Roundtable provides a forum for information technology users and providers to share experiences and identify opportunities to advance the use of information technology in the Rome & Floyd County community. Also fosters a collaborative environment for spurring new innovation within Rome & Floyd County.

• Researchers Roundtable
  The Researchers Roundtable serves as a forum to allow community leaders in research and technology development to share non-confidential information regarding their current projects in Rome & Floyd County. By encouraging a spirit of open dialogue and collaboration, the Researchers Roundtable offers local researchers and innovators greater productivity through identifying and sharing resources from their respective fields of research and technology to foster the commercialization of new innovations in Floyd County.

• Technology Symposium
  The Chamber offers regular technology symposia to encourage innovation in the community. The technology Symposia serve to identify strategies and programs that the Chamber can implement to build capacity for Rome and Floyd County. The events help existing businesses and industries identify emerging technology trends and find ways to capitalize on new or emerging market opportunities related to these trends. The Symposia also foster an environment that attracts growth-focused technology-based businesses in Rome and Floyd County. In addition, the events explore opportunities for creating entirely new technology-based businesses utilizing the “critical mass” already present within the community. Finally, the Symposia foster relationships between existing industry and entrepreneurial opportunity in an effort to expedite the process of commercializing new innovation within the County. For more information regarding the recent “Spectrum of Technology Symposium III” visit www.romega/symposium.