In his role as President of the Augusta Economic Development Authority, one of Cal Wray’s responsibilities is to bring new businesses to Augusta. For the second year in a row, his efforts have been recognized. Wray has been named one of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers for 2022 by Consultant Connect, a national firm that helps to connect site selection consultants with economic developers. He was also selected in 2015. Honorees are chosen by their peers and site selectors. “To me, it’s always exciting because those you work with

The Augusta Leading Economic Index (LEI) fell 0.2 percent in July from June, the first monthly decrease since November 2020. It remains 5.3 percent higher than in July 2021, though the rate of increase has halved from November 2021. Adverse movements were seen in initial claims for unemployment insurance and real deposits in local banks. The positive movement was seen in residential permits and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (at the end of July). Job openings were essentially unchanged. Because job openings are the last bit of data used in