The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech has named Amy Love program manager of its ATDC @ initiative, which takes the incubator’s education, resources, and programming to various cities across the state.
In her role as statewide coordinator, Love will work with ATDC catalysts in current ATDC @ cities: Athens, Augusta, Peachtree Corners, and Savannah.
“In each of those cities, she will work as a partner to the catalyst, helping to facilitate resources that are here in Atlanta to take them to the ATDC @ regions,” said Jane McCracken, ATDC’s assistant director. “With her extensive background in economic development, Amy will also help us better understand the needs of our various ATDC @ communities, because the needs of the startups being formed there will be very different.”
Love also will work with senior ATDC leadership as the ATDC @ program is rolled out to other cities across Georgia.
Love comes to ATDC from South Carolina, where she launched a number of initiatives that have had an impact on improving economic competitiveness. She launched the South Carolina Department of Commerce Office of Innovation in 2013, and become the state’s inaugural innovation director. In that role, she developed and oversaw a $5 million state grant-making portfolio of investments in incubators, accelerator programs, tech talent initiatives, and technology hubs both in and outside of urban areas.
“We are excited to have Amy join us,” said Jen Bonnett, ATDC’s general manager. “Her experience and expertise in technology, economic development, and financial portfolio management makes her a great asset in our efforts to work with our ATDC @ cities to help them build and develop their technology startup communities.”
Love was formerly marketing and communications director and spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Commerce. Prior to that, Love was part of the startup team and the deputy executive director of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness.
In the early 2000s, Amy lived in Europe and worked in international corporate communications for German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom and its mobile line of business T-Mobile. During graduate school, she developed and ran the public information program for USDA Rural Development in South Carolina.
Love has a master’s degree in public relations from the University of South Carolina and a bachelor’s degree in English from Furman University. She is a Leadership South Carolina (LSC) Class of 2007 graduate and served on the LSC Board of Trustees. Love is a Fellow of the seventh class of the Liberty Fellowship, part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. In 2014, she received the SCRA Knowledge Economist Award for efforts to advance and strengthen the technology-based economy of South Carolina and build the technology community for the public good.