Editor's Note: East Cobb businesses and community-building CD

Shortly after launching East Cobb News six years ago, I joined the East Cobb Business Association.

It made common sense as a first-time business owner to meet others for networking, referrals, and doing some business.

What I didn’t know was the extent to which many of these small-business owners go to serve their communities.

As in really serving their communities.

After a corporate sales career, ECBA member Butch Carter in 2013 became the owner of Honest-1 Auto Care in East Cobb and Johns Creek, and where I’ve happily had my vehicles serviced over the years.

But like many business owners I’ve come to know through ECBA and elsewhere, that’s only the start of what Carter means for the community.

He’s also the current president of the Rotary Club of East Cobb, which next weekend will stage its biggest fundraiser, the Dog Days Run.

The Rotary Club is involved in charitable work in this community and beyond to an amazing degree, and has set a goal of raising $100,000 from that event that it will give out to more than 20 non-profit organizations.

Carter touched on this effort earlier this month at the ECBA regular business luncheon, which was themed around the ideas of business and community building.

“We’re typical of a lot of small businesses in East Cobb in that we give back to the community,” Carter said.

He calls what he advocates “cause marketing” and at the luncheon representatives of other Cobb non-profits spoke, including Shelly Owen of the Cobb Community Foundation, which she says connects “donors who care with causes they like.

“We’re not the fixer of the problem, but we’re the convener of those who can.”

She said the CCF last did an extensive human needs assessment in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic, and will be conducting another one this fall.

CCF helps connect major and corporate donors with its Corporate Community Champions program.

“It’s an awesome way to connect with others in the community,” Owen said.

On a small-business scale, Honest-1 is involved in efforts to raise awareness for breast cancer that started by selling pink wiper-blades.

He urged his fellow business owners to think creatively about how they can help, by donating items or products or services from their businesses, as well as expertise.

An Air Force veteran, Carter has has held cookouts for veterans at his shop on East Cobb Drive and has supported the work of United Military Care, an East Cobb non-profit that assists veterans and next weekend will have its We CARE Vet Fair at the Cobb Civic Center.

It’s a place for veterans who need services, help navigating the Veterans Administration bureaucracy, and basic assistance with food, housing and medical care.

Leenie Ruben, a retired marketing professional who does community outreach for United Military Care, has found the value of associating with the ECBA, and attends many events.

She said at the luncheon that the work of UMC continues to grow, with the ranks of veterans in Cobb County swelling to more than 44,000.

Another longtime ECBA member, Susan Hampton, has spearheaded the organization’s sponsorship of an appreciation dinner for Cobb Police Precinct 4 staff and the entire Cobb Fire and Emergency Services Department.

She’s expanded that advocacy into a role with the Cobb County Public Safety Foundation, a non-profit that supports local public safety professionals.

Next Saturday, that group also will have a benefit event, the First Responder 5K Run/Walk, at The Battery Atlanta.

Hampton, a former East Cobb Citizen of the Year, also is involved with the East Cobb Lions Club, which conducts 15,000 eye screenings a year for children in need.

These are all examples of what MUST Ministries CEO Dr. Ike Reighard offered to urge business owners and leaders to start “kicking your buts.”

“I would like to help, but . . . ” is the common refrain that Reighard, also the senior pastor of Piedmont Church in East Cobb, said he has heard in many years of community advocacy.

He picked up on the theme of cause marketing by explaining that “people look for companies and organizations that are oriented that way.”

He rattled off many things that “volunteering does for you,” including making new friends and staying connected with people close, instead of resorting to screen companionship.

“You get surrounded by people who have the same values that you have,” Reighard said. “And you’re building friendships along the way. It makes you happier.”

Volunteering “also gets you out of your comfort zone. The day your memories are greater than your dreams, you’re dead in the water. It gives you a sense of purpose.”

Carter said the work of blending business and serving community is an easy “win-win” for both.

“Our goal is to help build a better community.”

If you’d to get involved in any of these organizations financially and/or as a volunteer—and you don’t have to be a business owner—here are their links: