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Don Betts,CEcD
Program Director

Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute
Voice: (912) 389-4324
Email: betts@gatech.edu







Don Betts manages Georgia Tech’s e2e Works, an effort comprising seven regionally based associates, angel-investing activities, and an incubator assistance program for more than 17 incubators outside metro Atlanta. The focus of e2e Works is to help start-ups and small businesses, mainly in rural Georgia, that are developing technology or innovatively applying it.

Previously he served as program director for the Georgia Centers of Innovation program, which includes multiple state government and university system partners. Each center supports the growth of an existing strategic industry cluster by fostering joint industry-university applied research, providing incubation services to technology start-up companies, and providing entrepreneurial training and outreach to its region. His responsibilities encompassed supporting and coordinating the operations of each center and leading the technology outreach efforts to rural Georgia.

Don’s passion is helping communities discover and implement appropriate strategies to energize and assist local entrepreneurs, with a special interest in technology based ventures. Don developed Georgia’s successful “Entrepreneur Friendly Community” program and trained the state’s economic development agency which now has helped over 48 communities obtain the certification. In 2007 Don was recognized as a Senior Fellow with Rural Policy Research Institute’s Center for Rural Entrepreneurship.

Previously, he managed the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s enterprise development efforts, comprising the ENet program, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center, and the Georgia Minority Business Development Center. Respectively, these help communities develop and implement strategies for encouraging and supporting entrepreneurs, assist firms statewide in obtaining government contracts, and provide business and technical assistance to minority entrepreneurs in Georgia.

A Georgia native and based in Douglas, Don is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta. A U.S. Navy veteran, he spent 10 years as executive director for the chamber of commerce and industrial authority in two Georgia communities. During this time, he successfully recruited several large industries and implemented numerous innovative programs for both the chamber and the industrial authority. Don also has three years of experience operating a privately owned property development and management company.

A 1992 graduate of Leadership Georgia, Don has earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer from the International Economic Development Council and is a graduate of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce’s Organizational Management Institute at the University of Georgia. He has also served on the board of directors for the Georgia Economic Developers Association, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Executives Association, and several other state and regional boards.

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