ABD Extra

ABD Extra

Georgia Business Minute: Powering up…

Georgia Power reported that its Unit 3 reactor at Plant Vogtle has reached 100% energy output for the first time. The new reactor, just south of Augusta, can generate enough energy to power half-million homes and businesses across the area. Mike Petchenik reports from Atlanta with the latest on this and other stories in this week’s Georgia Business Minute.

Read More »
ABD Extra

Helping you start strong

Carey Pifer, relocation director of Southeastern Residential, sits down with Augusta Business Daily publisher, Neil Gordon to talk about ways in which they help companies relocate their employees. Pifer says that it’s important for companies to consider the family needs of their job candidates. Those interested in learning more about Southeastern Residential can visit www.southeasternresidential.com.

Read More »
ABD Extra

South Augusta’s surge in development: Part one

South Augusta is having a surge of economic development, $3.2 billion worth of economic development to be exact, that few people have seen. Some of the largest companies will be in the Augusta Corporate Park off Mike Padgett Highway. The park is a “Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development (GRAD) Certified” site. One plant, Starbucks, has been in operation since July 2012 as the first company-owned facility to produce soluble products. Those are used in Starbucks via instant and the coffee base for many of the Starbucks bottled and canned beverages.

Read More »
ABD Extra

Mondays with Rick: Take me out to the ballgame!

Dr. Rick Franza, Professor of Management at the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about how minor league baseball enhances the CSRA’s economic development. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: In the Augusta GreenJackets, the CSRA has a minor league baseball team that led all of the Single A teams in attendance last year. How does having a minor league team help the area’s economy? Rick: It’s important because it’s part of the

Read More »
ABD Extra

Simon Says: Giving you good news

Do you want the good news or the bad news? My wife always says give me the bad news then cheer me up! So, last month I reported that the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) area was the worst-performing labor market in Georgia over the last year (bad news), but the Leading Economic Index (LEI) has continued good news. After rising 0.6 percent in February, it increased by 1.2 percent in March using a three-month moving average. The LEI is made up of local (MSA), regional (State), and national indicators

Read More »
ABD Extra

Economic Update: Change is coming!

Just as Mitzi Oxford reported in a top story last week, Coach Dave Holdeman from The Alternative Board of the CSRA and Augusta Business Daily publisher, Neil Gordon talk about Fort Gordon’s name change to Fort Eisenhower and what that means for the area. On the subject of name changes, see which automotive shop in town will also operate under a new name. Get to know the details on all that and more in this week’s economic update.

Read More »
ABD Extra

ABD’s focus on economic development in the CSRA

Augusta Business Daily’s fourth Conference and Expo allowed attendees to learn about local small businesses, meet business owners, and have good old-fashioned networking at SRP Park on May 17. In addition to this, the event consisted of two-panel discussions, with one focusing on economic development and the other on employment recruitment and retention. It was standing room only for the economic development panel, with Lauren Dallas of Augusta Tomorrow as emcee and featuring, Steve Clayborn of Salamis, LLC, Davis Beman of Beman Real Estate, Bob Bigger of SRP, and Derek

Read More »
ABD Extra

ABD’s focus on economic development in the CSRA

Augusta Business Daily’s fourth Conference and Expo allowed attendees to learn about local small businesses, meet business owners, and have good old-fashioned networking at SRP Park on May 17. In addition to this, the event consisted of two-panel discussions, with one focusing on economic development and the other on employment recruitment and retention. It was standing room only for the economic development panel, with Lauren Dallas of Augusta Tomorrow as emcee and featuring, Steve Clayborn of Salamis, LLC, Davis Beman of Beman Real Estate, Bob Bigger of SRP, and Derek

Read More »
ABD Extra

Mondays with Rick: Benchmarking: A key to economic development success

I am a huge fan of benchmarking as a tool for evaluating both progress and success. However, benchmarking is also a great tool for identifying ideas for improvement. My experience with benchmarking has typically come from evaluating and improving business products and processes. In this column, I would like to share with you what benchmarking is, the different types of benchmarking and my past experience of helping to apply benchmarking to an area’s economic development, and how we might apply it in a similar way here in the Augusta area.

Read More »
ABD Extra

Mondays with Rick: Benchmarking: A key to economic development success

I am a huge fan of benchmarking as a tool for evaluating both progress and success. However, benchmarking is also a great tool for identifying ideas for improvement. My experience with benchmarking has typically come from evaluating and improving business products and processes. In this column, I would like to share with you what benchmarking is, the different types of benchmarking and my past experience of helping to apply benchmarking to an area’s economic development, and how we might apply it in a similar way here in the Augusta area.

Read More »