B2B Stories

Simon Says: Companies I admire, Part 1

I was first introduced to Brewdog’s Nanny State alcohol-free beer by my brother four years ago. Since then, I have enjoyed their Hellcat IPA, a collaboration with Iron Maiden lead singer, Bruce Dickinson. I recently tried their Lost Planet First beer, which they claim is the first carbon-negative beer. They take more carbon from the air than they emit by using wind turbines and a bio plant to power their brewery and by planting trees. They have invested 15 million pounds (about $18 million U.S. dollars) in more than 9,000

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Consumer Stories

Lily Henson takes leadership at Piedmont Augusta Hospital

Piedmont Augusta Hospital (formerly University Health Care System) will be under new leadership when the new year begins. Piedmont announced that Dr. Lily Henson will become the new President and CEO of Piedmont Augusta on Jan. 9, 2023, replacing retiring CEO, James Davis. Henson is currently CEO of Piedmont Henry Hospital. “I am excited about this opportunity and look forward to meeting and working with the outstanding physicians and staff members in Augusta,” Henson said. “I believe we will be able to achieve great things together as we continue the

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B2B Stories

How to Spend Your End-of-Year Vacation

As we move through the first full week of December, we can begin to anticipate the end of the calendar year. Since Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on Sundays this year, many businesses are giving their employees the last week of the year off from work. In addition, most are also off on January 2, and many are taking days off in the week leading up to Christmas, particularly with Hanukkah running from December 18-26. Therefore, many of us have anywhere from one to two weeks away from

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B2B Stories

Georgia nonprofit leader shares inspirational story with local business owners

Jon Jackson has found a way to turn his pain into a purpose of helping others. Jackson, a retired U.S. Army Ranger, sustained a traumatic brain injury in combat and now struggles with PTSD. In 2014, he founded STAG VETS Inc., a non-profit organization that uses farming to help rehabilitate and reintegrate veterans dealing with those same issues. The program offers veterans a variety of services, including treatment and agricultural job training. Jackson established Comfort Farms in Milledgeville, which was named after his friend, Capt. Kyle Comfort, who was killed

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B2B Stories

Manufacturing mogul awards grant to Aiken Tech machinery programs

Haas Automation is the largest machine tool manufacturer in the United States. If the name Gene Haas doesn’t ring a bell, you may be familiar with his Stewart-Haas NASCAR team or his Formula One racing team. Aside from his businesses and sports endeavors, there’s the philanthropic side of Haas. His Foundation has donated millions in support of manufacturing training programs and computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine tool training programs throughout North America. Aiken Tech recently received a donation of $10,000 from the Gene Haas Foundation which will fund scholarships for

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Consumer Stories

Local light display serves as holiday tradition for many CSRA families

Every November and December, Mark Jackson loves to see families spending time together and enjoying a festive holiday experience. Jackson, the managing partner of Lights of the South located at 633 Louisville Road in Grovetown, said that’s his favorite part of running the seasonal business, which opened for the 2022 season on Friday, Nov. 18 and will close on Friday, Dec. 30. He has co-owned the business for six or seven years, but he said it’s been around for nearly 20 years. “I like seeing people in the holiday spirit,”

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Consumer Stories

Local foundation awards nonprofit grants, calls on business community for help

The Community Foundation for the CSRA has announced that more than $616,000 will be awarded to local non-profit organizations, thanks to help from individual donors and community partners, such as the Masters Tournament. But there are numerous opportunities for businesses to provide funding for nonprofits, according to Shell Berry. Berry, President and CEO of the Community Foundation, said she would love to find businesses willing to fund organizations that didn’t receive money from the Community Grants Fund this year. “We’d love for more to participate; all the organizations have been

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B2B Stories

Scammers now use text messages to snare the unaware

Several months ago, I received an alarming text message: $699 had been charged to my PayPal account for a Pixel 6 phone! It was alarming for several reasons: I had purchased a Pixel 6 phone earlier in the year, and I only use PayPal to receive payments and knew I only had about $3 in the account. The text provided a phone number to call, purportedly to PayPal, if I questioned the purchase. I called, but after several minutes of the person at the other insisting I go online to

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Digital Marketing

Free Access: Add a social media influencer to your digital marketing

Last week, we talked about six trends in digital marketing we expect to see in 2023. This week, we will dive into influencer marketing. If you recall a couple of months ago, we shared about one of our clients, Callie Richards of HotPinkandGlitter.com, in our intro to online influencer’s article (read it here). Callie has grown from 500,000 TikTok followers to more than 620,000 in the past three months. The Rise of Social Influencers Social influencers realize huge gains in popularity and effectiveness. Influencer marketing has emerged as a powerful

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