Business Coaching

B2B Stories

Latest outlook on small business success

Despite pandemic setbacks, supply chain challenges, inflation, and reports of an impending recession, things seem to be looking up for small business owners in the CSRA. A few key highlights from a Bank of America study on small businesses with a focus on women and minority-owned business owners included: Revenue expectations are at an eight-year high, as 67% of small business owners anticipate revenue growth over the next 12 months. A majority of small business owners are being impacted by inflation (86%) and supply chain issues (68%), causing them to

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B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: ABD Expo, golf outings offer valuable networking opportunities

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 taking advantage of networking opportunities. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: In a few weeks, ABD’s Fall Business Expo will take place, and this is also the time of year when various golf fundraisers are scheduled. Why are those types of events important to local businesspeople? Rick: Anytime you can expand your network it’s valuable, whether through a

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B2B Stories

Broad Street location of incubator announced soon

A partnership between Augusta’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and Augusta Technical College will create a space for business development. The microenterprise center will serve as an incubator for entrepreneurs and small business start-ups, as well as welcoming existing businesses to use the shared space. In a new blog post on the DDA website, consultant, Tara Wood outlined what will be available in the new center. “Temporary workspaces, meeting rooms, a commercial kitchen, technology equipment, and retail space will all be available to accelerator program participants. In addition, there will be

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B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: AU Health becomes Wellstar MCG Health, bolsters area’s options

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 Wellstar’s agreement with AU Health. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: About a month ago, AU Health Systems became part of the Wellstar network and is now known as Wellstar MCG Health. Is this a good move for the Augusta area? Rick: Absolutely! It is for several reasons. The financial picture for AU Health had been pretty bad

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B2B Stories

The death of compromise: UAW strike and government shutdown

Anyone who has been paying any attention to our federal government in recent years has probably noticed that if the art of compromise is not dead, it is surely either on life support or terminally ill. While it has been about forty years since I took a course in negotiation during my MBA program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business from the great Dr. Roy Lewicki, a number of the lessons from that course, and other lessons I have learned from negotiations in the years since, continue to stick

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B2B Stories

Statewide conference in Augusta promotes workforce development

About 150 University System of Georgia educators from the Peach State will be staying over tonight and spending tourism dollars in the Garden City. The annual USG staff council is held at Augusta University’s campus this year. The theme for this professional development conference is, THE VISION – Setting a Course for the Future. “This conference will feature speakers and information sessions designed to build key staff skills to support the strategic plan of the USG: student success, responsible stewardship, economic competitiveness, and community impact,” said Angel Lovett, Chair, Augusta University

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B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: Junior Achievement helps students discover the local economy

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 the new Junior Achievement Discovery Center coming to the CSRA. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: We’ve been hearing about the new Junior Achievement Discovery Center coming to the area. Are there any updates on it? Rick: They wanted it to be open this fall, but now, it’s not going to open until January, and it won’t get

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B2B Stories

Learning from college football coaches: Prime, Dabo, and Freeman

As we certainly know here in the South, the college football season is underway. We are approximately three to four weeks into what appears to be a very exciting season. Based on early performances of the top teams, there appears to be a little more parity than usual, as top five teams, such as Georgia, Texas, and Florida State struggled this past week, while traditional power Alabama has had a couple of rough games in a row. But, as you know, this is a business column, and as I often

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B2B Stories

Team building and project management in the virtual age

A man with 25 years of experience helping companies manage cyber security, data technology, and associated disciplines was the featured speaker at the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Member Economic Luncheon on September 12. Cory Ruth is the Global CEO of Mergence Global, a management consulting firm. He was also a member of the Georgia Technology Authority, collaborating on the creation of the Georgia Cyber Center. Ruth said in the 1990’s, at the behest of his then-supervisor, he enrolled in a series of courses to learn about project management. It

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B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: Financial wellness education impacts employee performance

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 the importance of financial wellness for employees and employers. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: A number of CSRA businesses have begun offering financial wellness classes for their employees. How do you define financial wellness? Rick: Let’s start with financial literacy. In order to be financially well, you need to be financially literate, and that’s part of the

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