Darin Myers

Free Access: It’s a new year! Time to make your business stronger

Darin Myers is the local facilitator of The Alternative Board (TAB), a peer-to-peer advisory board designed to help company leaders maximize their opportunities and work through challenges. Darin recently retired after a 30-year career in the nuclear industry as the leader of Plant Vogtle I and II. He has proven success in strategic planning and alignment, employee development, organizational performance improvement, accountability, and coaching. Recently, he started a family business in Augusta focused on home health care, providing him the knowledge and experience surrounding small- to medium-sized business operators. Now

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Consumer Stories

Business Lunch Review: Goolsby’s

Editor’s Note: Wes Hennings never met a meal he walked away from and is an opinionated eater! Each Thursday he shares the results of a business lunch he’s had with a colleague as a way to advise our business community on the good, bad and the tasty across the CSRA. He doesn’t let ABD or the restaurant know where he is going and his opinions are his own. He grades the restaurants he visits on a 1-5 scale with “5” being outstanding. We call this our “Real Business Lunch Review”.

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B2B Stories

CSRA bakery to expand nationwide in 2023

Many people’s New Year’s resolutions involve getting more exercise or losing weight, but Amber Connor’s resolution for 2023 is to expand her dessert business. Connor owns Sinless Sweets located at 4336 B Washington Road in Evans, which sells a variety of treats, such as cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and peanut butter balls that contain less sugar, fat, and calories than desserts sold by other bakeries. Its motto is “Treats Without the Cheats.” She plans to grow the business in three ways: offering more catering services, using the food truck for more

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Top Story

Augusta nonprofit providing jobs for adults with disabilities makes national news

It’s not every day that a local nonprofit is featured on the national news. But last month, ABC’s “World News Tonight” with David Muir ran a story about an Augusta organization that provides job opportunities for adults with physical and mental disabilities. The Augusta Training Shop located off Walton Way at 1704 Jenkins St. allows its employees to work on various projects, such as restoring furniture and creating home décor, including Christmas decorations. It was founded in 1947. The employees work various schedules Monday through Friday, according to the nonprofit’s

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Awards

Regional award for Aiken Tech’s Community Benefit Report

The businesses who support Aiken Technical College have some bragging rights. As ABD has reported previously, Aiken Tech works closely with the business community including partnerships with Savannah River Site (SRS), Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS). Aiken Technical College received regional recognition for its 2021 Community Benefit Report from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR). The annual publication was recently awarded the bronze Medallion Award in the NCMPR’s District 2 annual report category for its engaging

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Consumer Stories

Augusta staffing company awards new car to a hard-working employee

Some companies reward positive work performance with a pizza party. But an Augusta-based staffing company recently gave one of its employees a brand-new car. On Wednesday, Jan. 4, Sizemore, Inc.’s President and CEO, Preston Sizemore delivered a 2023 Kia Rio to Maria Juilia Rodriguez, a housekeeping supervisor with the company’s Fulfillment Center in Tampa. Rodriguez has worked for the company since Jan. 2022, according to Joey Warren, Sizemore’s senior corporate communications coordinator. “It was open to all non-administrative employees companywide,” Warren said. “We announced the contest in June.” At that

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Consumer Stories

Startup businesses expected to skyrocket in 2023

When Jessica Gaskins moved Maddi P Boutique from Warrenville to Aiken last year, she knew it might not be easy. She and her team stuck with it and together, they have created a successful small business. Are you ready to be your own boss? Do you prefer flexibility over big profits? Are you dissatisfied with corporate America? Not ready to retire? Maybe, like Gaskins, you’ll be running a new business in the coming year. Business statistics from 2022 show that over 3.8 million new business applications were filed in the

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Consumer Stories

North Augusta entrepreneurs establish endowment for local technical college students

Jack and Judi Poole understand the value of education, which is why the North Augusta business owners have established a $25,000 endowment at Aiken Technical College to provide scholarships for its students. The college will decide how the money will be distributed to its students, and the couple plans to donate $25,000 annually to the endowment. The Pooles own Vampire Penguin, a dessert shop located at 507 Georgia Ave., Suite A that sells shaved snow treats in a variety of flavors. They bought the franchise a little over a year

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: Mixed bag of labor market news for Augusta Metro area

The Georgia Department of Labor announced that the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in November. However, as the news release stated, unemployment rates normally decline in November as the economy enters the holiday season. After seasonal adjustment to take account of this known trend, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis calculates the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to be 3.4%, up from 3.3% in October. This is the first seasonally adjusted increase in the unemployment rate since February 2022. There was some good labor market

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