Employee Benefits

Ex-Major Leaguer makes pitch to help CSRA businesses save on health benefits costs

Drive, hard work and asking questions propelled Tom Mastny to a three-year Major League baseball career. Now, he’s using those same attributes to help CSRA businesses contain health care costs. Mastny is CEO of The Pennant Group, a health benefits company that helps employers dig deeper to discover the reasons for high health costs and then find ways to reduce or contain those costs. “It’s the ‘hidden paycheck,’” Mastny said about the health care costs. “Most employees don’t understand all the things taken out of their check, and if you

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Consumer Stories

AU Health finally gets the green light to build Columbia County hospital

Between 2010 and 2020, Columbia County’s population grew by more than 25 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite this growth, the county still doesn’t have its hospital. The closest hospital is Doctor’s Hospital, which depending on where you live in the county could mean a half-hour drive. But that won’t be the case much longer. Augusta University Health System CEO, Katrina Keefer said she and her staff are currently in the design phase for a new five-floor, 100-bed hospital in Grovetown. It will be located just off Exit

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B2B Stories

Brace yourselves for the second orthodontics location

A local orthodontist will soon give Columbia County residents another reason to smile. Dr. Lee Andrews II of Rogers & Andrews Orthodontics, whose office is located at 3545 Wheeler Road in Augusta, plans to expand his practice by opening a second location just off I-20 Exit 190 in Grovetown. Andrews and his staff held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site located at 785 Gateway Center Blvd. near Home2 Suites on Thursday, March 10. Alison Andrews, the orthodontist’s wife, said a construction crew has already begun grading the property, and the

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B2B Stories

Big career changes are icing on the cake for the See family

Susan See was a practicing attorney with Fletcher, Harley, and Fletcher for 25 years. Her husband, James, worked for Rainbow Homes for 35 years. They gave it all up to bake cakes. Two years ago, they opened Nothing Bundt Cakes in Evans. Just over a week ago the doors opened at their second franchise in Aiken. It’s been a sweet transition for both, and cakes are flying off the shelves at both locations. “A friend told me about Nothing Bundt Cakes because she knew of my love for entertaining,” Susan

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B2B Stories

Masters Week: All In or All Out?

  Don MacNeil is the former Marketing Director of Windsor Jewelers and long-time on-air radio professional.   Is it just me, or… Masters Week: All In or All Out? If you’re reading this, chances are you have some degree of self-promotion planted somewhere and at some cost. This would be the moment – nearly your last – to consider whether running your ads during Masters Week would boost your business or be a waste of time. Consider: A significant number of our neighbors leave town for the week. Are they

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Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned From Cyber Attacks

Nowadays, if you do not have an I.T. or Cyber protection plan, you could be putting your clients at great risk and your employees in a tenuous situation as well. In today’s Vodcast,” Cross Link Consulting founder Patrick Reynolds, invites you to “save the date” on a Cyber conference and provides some tips on how to prevent a Cyber attack.

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Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned: Show up every day with integrity

Twenty-eight years… That is 10,220 days and 1,344 weeks. During this time, I experienced the death of MTV, the release of the first cell phone, the rise of social media/share culture and the beginnings of Super Savers, now known as Home Direct of Augusta, my direct mail advertising company. When I first started in the advertising industry it was the late 90’s, men’s shorts became longer, Walkmans and cassette tapes were abundant, and power suits were a thing. The advertising company I worked for was Jones Intercable’s Cable Coups, a

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B2B Stories

Local real estate professional featured in Georgia magazine

Nancy Carolyn Powell earned her real estate license as a teenager and has more than 20 years of experience in the industry. As her business, Powell & Associates, Inc. has grown, so has her commitment to mentoring the next generation of real estate professionals. The March issue of Georgia Trend Magazine features profiles of Powell, a local broker, and owner of Powell & Associates, Inc., and five other influential female business leaders. Her mother, Marcene Powell, founded the company in Lincolnton in 1992, and she worked for her for many

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B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: How the pandemic accelerated automation, remote work, and other new business models

  Dr. Rick Franza, is the Dean of the Hull College of Business who discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, we take a look at how business models have changed as a result of the pandemic. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: Looking back at the last two years, what new or changed business models do you see? Rick: The pandemic didn’t necessarily create a lot of new business models but it accelerated a lot of business models. For

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