Consumer Stories

Big gift to Children’s Hospital from SRP

As a result of an employee-led fundraising campaign, SRP Federal Credit Union presented a ceremonial check of over $7,700 to the Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia this week. SRP team members, La’Kisha Johnson and Charmaine Finch, organized the campaign, which spanned bake sales, PTO drawings, food truck fundraisers, and more. The fundraiser concluded with a total of $7,730.74 raised for the Children’s Hospital, as well as 62 SRP teddy bears donated for children receiving care. Kelsey McCullough, Miracle Network Philanthropy Coordinator for the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, expressed gratitude for

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B2B Stories

U.S. Secretary of Energy on hand for opening of AMC

The latest feather in the cap for USC Aiken opens this morning, and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will join Savannah River National Laboratory leadership and partners for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC), located on the campus of the University of South Carolina-Aiken, will provide a platform for public-private partnerships to improve advanced manufacturing in areas such as additive manufacturing, AI-driven automation, energy resilience, and nuclear applications. This facility will be a catalyst for regional economic and technological growth, while supporting partnerships and technology commercialization. “The

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B2B Stories

SRNS continues workforce development initiatives

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) continues to advance innovation and strengthen research partnerships that deliver solutions for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) critical missions. SRNS recently invited two representatives from Florida International University (FIU) Applied Research Center (ARC) to visit the Savannah River Site (SRS). The collaboration was formalized with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2025, with a shared goal of identifying pathways, increasing the number of interns transitioning into full-service positions, strengthening technical capabilities, and raising ARC’s visibility. “One of our primary goals is to

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B2B Stories

Government Contracting 101

By actively engaging with the government contracting process, businesses in the CSRA can tap into a valuable source of revenue and contribute to economic growth. If the task seems daunting, help is on the way. The government is the largest customer in the country, generating more than $400 billion in goods and services, and more than $100 billion in contracts are awarded to small businesses. Is your business ready to reap those rewards? Tomorrow, Thursday, August 7, from noon until 1:00 pm, Piedmont SCORE will host a webinar on Government

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B2B Stories

Competence can be undermined by lack of honesty and accountability

While it has been a while since I have written a column on leadership, recent events have indicated to me that this is an appropriate time to address what I consider some of the most important and necessary leadership traits. Understandably, we put significant emphasis and priority on a leader’s competence. We expect a good leader to demonstrate expertise, relevant knowledge, and the ability to make sound decisions. Such competence is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for effective leadership. In my opinion, and the opinion of many others, a

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Consumer Stories

Part 2: Video gaming translates to billions of dollars

From Pong and Mario Brothers to today’s high-level titles, video gaming has turned into a multi-billion-dollar industry in the U.S. Part of that is due to the growing popularity of esports. A recent report from Research and Markets (www.ResearchAndMarkets.com)  found that esports is a fast-growing sector within the entertainment industry. The U.S. market size is currently $2.55 billion. It is projected to grow to $18.85 billion by 2035. “The gaming industry in general makes more money than the music industry and the film industry combined every year, eSports is just

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Consumer Stories

New grocer opens in area ignored by other supermarkets

It’s been more than 15 years since Gurley’s supermarket was open at 464 Greene Street in downtown Augusta. For Kroger at 501 15th Street, it has been more than eight years since it closed. Now, a Broad Street entrepreneur has opened the Downtown Corner Store in a modest 3,000 square foot building. The building at 1018 Broad Street used to be “Flowers on Broad.” It’s in between an art gallery and a gift shop in an eclectic block in downtown Augusta— and a few doors down from the owner’s other

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: 2025’s Been a Good Year!

It has been a while since I updated the Augusta Labor Market Index (LMI) because the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis had not updated its website since December. Recently, it did so through April, and the Augusta LMI has increased by 0.5 percent from December and is 1.2 percent higher than April 2024. The LMI measures labor market vitality through five components: employment, unemployment rate, labor force, average weekly earnings, and average weekly hours worked. Over the past five months, employment increased by 1,200, and the unemployment rate fell

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Consumer Stories

Part One: Not your father’s video games

Augusta University (AU) has added to its sports lineup, but not in the traditional sense. This team does not need to even step outside, and it is calling for new members. AU’s Esports program is based in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center, complete with a dedicated room as an arena for activities. It provides opportunities to participate in competitive esports leagues and tournaments using a shared passion for video games to meet other students. Esports at AU had gone dormant following the 2019-2020 season. It was revived in

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B2B Stories

Busy late July for Augusta banker and parent company

The Augusta market president for a Southeastern Bank has had a busy few weeks, from a trip to the New York Stock Exchange, also to receive an honor across the Peach State. All while the parent company of his bank acquired another bank! Chris McLaughlin from Colony Bank in Evans will be serving a three-year term as a member of the Leadership Georgia Bankers Association Board of Directors. Leadership GBA supports the advancement of career bankers by providing leadership development training, serving as a forum through which career bankers can network and

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