B2B Stories

Challenges get the best of local restaurant and take-out business

Editor’s note: The best part of my job is writing about new businesses. During the interview process, the excitement is palpable. The hardest part is telling the story of the ones that close. Telling those stories brings a different set of emotions to the table. Like most entrepreneurs, Jennifer Steller, owner of A Steller Kitchen, followed her dream which was to open a restaurant. Along the way, she endured some big challenges, including opening her doors in the midst of Covid and later her husband was diagnosed with two brain

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Darin Myers

Coach Darin: How to be an agile leader

It’s altogether likely that business conditions in 2024 will be at least as tumultuous and unpredictable as they were in 2023. For that reason alone, it’s important to begin the process by which you become an agile business leader or improve on your current agile leadership skills. The times demand it. Here are tips to keep in mind for your agile leadership journey: Look for new opportunities. Business agility is valuable insofar as leaders have the capacity and inclination to jump at new opportunities as they arise. In the New

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B2B Stories

Putting empty Augusta buildings back to work

Augusta-Richmond County will soon see a series of vacant buildings finding new life for different purposes. The most recent is the former Rite Aid/Eckerd Drugs store on Walton Way at 15th Street. It re-opened on Feb. 8 as a retail store and training center for Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA. That came on the heels of Goodwill turning the former Georgia Federal Bank on Washington Road at Furys Ferry Road into its welcome center for Helms College. Both locations had been commercial tracts, generating property taxes for

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Awards/Celebrations

3rd generation family business celebrates 75th year

Nuts and bolts go together and without both, you can’t produce strong equipment. They are designed to work so that they strengthen whatever they are holding together. Stafford Nut and Bolt understands the concept, which is why they’ve been around for 75 years. The family-owned business was founded in 1949 and acquired by owner and President, James Stafford’s grandfather in 1952. Based in Augusta, Stafford Nut and Bolt specializes in industrial supply and has become a cornerstone of the local business landscape. James Stafford, the president and owner, reflected on the company’s

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B2B Podcasting

How much is your honey worth?

Heads up! Don’t miss Wednesday, February 14. It’s Valentine’s Day. You don’t want to end up in the doghouse. Mike Petchenik has more on big spending for the big day.

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: Augusta LMI in the middle of the pack

The fastest-growing Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) labor market in Georgia for 2023 was Dalton, followed by Columbus and Rome. Dalton’s Labor Market Index (LMI) which includes employment, unemployment, labor force, hours worked, and average weekly earnings, increased by 2.9% in 2023. Columbus LMI grew by 2.6% and Rome by 2.3%. Augusta grew at 1.1% as did the state of Georgia as a whole. Perhaps surprisingly, some MSAs that have racked up strong growth in the last few years were less robust in 2023. Atlanta’s LMI grew by just 0.8%, Gainesville

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B2B Podcasting

Important CSRA business meeting

This week is one that can change the fortunes of local companies wanting to grow. Mike Petchenik explains more in today’s Biz Bits.

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B2B Stories

Enoch Tarver Business Law Firm Mourns Loss of Partner

The following was a late Friday afternoon statement Augusta Business Daily received from Ed Enoch. For many years, Partner Ed Tarver collaborated with Enoch on various legal matters, including complex business contracts and discrimination lawsuits from their law offices on Wheeler Road. “Honorable Edward Jerome Tarver, former United States Attorney, and State Senator, died this morning from complications following surgery in December. Ed’s wife, Carol and I appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have already received from the community. Ed was a significant and important figure in our

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Consumer Stories

Revitalizing the Downtown Augusta/Medical District area

A building on one of Augusta’s main thoroughfares has been re-purposed and was re-opened for business on Feb. 9, while work is underway at a well-known building on Broad Street. Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA have converted the former Rite Aid/Eckerd Drug store on 15th Street at Walton Way into its newest Goodwill Retail Training Store and Donation Center. “We commend the Goodwill organization for their work and workforce development, job skills, training, and hospitality, all of which are represented in their retail stores and their donation

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B2B Stories

Sweet smell of baking success

With her husband’s encouragement, Angela Dragano started her own business three years ago, La Vita Bella, which means ‘It’s a beautiful life.’ Indeed, it’s been beautiful for this entrepreneur who has mastered custom cakes, catering, and event coordination from setup, to decorating and food. Last week, she moved her commercial kitchen from her home to a new location, 908 Dougherty Road in Aiken. La Vita Bella’s hours will vary depending on their custom catering and cake orders. The days and times the new shop will open to the public will

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