Catherine Downey, CEO & Creative Director at CATMEDIA, is honored to share her story at the 2017 Apex Awards & Business Luncheon presented by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce at the Georgia Piedmont Conference Center. The Apex Awards honors businesses for their exemplary standards in business development, employee programs, and contributions to DeKalb County and the Atlanta metropolitan area. Downey recently accepted a position to serve on the 2017-2019 Board of Directors for the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce and was thrilled to acknowledge the Apex winners for their hard work. As a keynote speaker to over 150 attendees, Downey discussed the characteristics of an entrepreneur highlighting those that are crucial for success such as “creativity, risk-taking, being multi-talented, and being a visionary.” While Downey also admits to possessing some of the less favorable traits like “multi-tasking, demanding perfection, being temperamental, and last but not least stubborn,” she pieced it all together in saying,

“We need every one of those traits because the odds are against us. Being an entrepreneur is hard work, and we need all of the help we can get.”

Downey is no stranger to hard work having started her first firm CATVIDEO in 1997 as a single mother and receiving numerous awards including Georgia Small Business Person of the Year and Fastest Growing Women-Led Company. That being said, there was no one better suited to give this speech to a room full of ambitious, flourishing, small business owners. Downey was more than pleased to recognize these small business owners and entrepreneurs for their success and achievements in business. The following awards were presented at this year’s award ceremony:

• Business of the Year (revenue categories include $1-5M, $5-10M, $10-20M)
• Business Advocacy
• Emerging Business
• Community Workforce
• Youth Initiative

Small businesses are the driving force of the economy⎯ local, state, national, and global. In the state of Georgia alone, over 99 percent of businesses are classified as small. The mission of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce is to be the catalyst that attracts, supports, and advances business interests within the county. The organization appoints business members with information and access to resources, promotes education and workforce development in addition to economic development and public policy. By providing such programs and resources, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce hopes to improve the economic, civic, and cultural climate of the community through the creation and growth of small businesses. For more information about the 2017 Apex Awards, please click here. About CATMEDIA: CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Stay Connected with CATMEDIA: For more information on CATMEDIA and its services, please visit http://www.CATMEDIA.com Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CATMEDIASTUDIO/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CATMEDIATweet