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Economics
B2B Stories

CSRA leader leaves for new role; impact felt for decades

Dr. Jermaine Whirl of Augusta Technical College officially accepted the position of Savannah State University  President and will start in April. In the little over four years as the President of Augusta Technical College, he led a whirlwind of development that not only benefitted the student body of the college but served to connect educational opportunities to area businesses that will benefit the CSRA for years to come. Growing the Augusta Tech enrollment: “If you look at our fall enrollment numbers for the year 2022, we had 5,300 individuals enrolled

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Mitzi Oxford and Dana Lynn McIntyre February 12, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

FEMA pushes on for CSRA hurricane help

Even though FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, appears to be on the chopping block under D.O.G.E recommendations, a resource fair to benefit CSRA Hurricane Helene survivors is still on for later this week. The agency is hosting a Housing Resource Fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15, in Augusta at the Henry Brigham Community Center, 2463 Golden Camp Rd. The Housing Resource Fair will bring together federal, state, and local agencies in one place to offer services and resources to families recovering from Hurricane Helene. The

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Staff Report February 11, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Will This DOGE Hunt?

If nothing else, President Trump sure knows how to own the news cycle. As January turned to February, the headlines were dominated by threats of tariffs on Mexico and Canada that have since been delayed due to those countries agreeing to increased border enforcement. When those tariffs were tabled until March 1, attention quickly shifted to the work of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The effectiveness of DOGE’s work so far appears to be in the political eye of the beholder. In today’s column, I would

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Dr. Rick Franza February 11, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: Job Jolts in the CSRA/Georgia

The Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) ended the year with another record employment level. In December, there were 248,400 people employed in the area, the highest on record. Six months in 2025 had record employment, and nine months saw month-on-month employment growth. It may have been ten without Hurricane Helene. Over the year, employment grew by 2,800, or 1.1%. One of my favorite podcasts is a BBC show called More or Less. They like to ask, “Is that a big number?,” in other words, what is the context or comparison?

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe February 10, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Space travel from Augusta!

An organization that focuses on the state of the aerospace industry today and looking to the future has scheduled its annual event to bring industry experts to Augusta. The Skyworx Innovation Exchange is set for March 13 at the Hull McKnight Building at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center. The goal is to showcase new aerospace technologies with presentations from diverse groups in the industry. “We have an original equipment manufacturer for the Advanced Air Mobility, which we have the acronym AAM for, and it’s just the new technologies

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Dana Lynn McIntyre February 10, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Business is booming in South Carolina

Gov. Henry McMaster (R) highlighted business growth, economic development, and education in his 2025 State of the State address. McMaster said the state’s attractive climate for business has translated to more than $44.7 billion in new capital investment and 92,000 jobs. That’s resulted in a revenue surplus of more than $1.8 billion. He said 2024 is continuing the pattern created over the previous seven years. “It was no surprise that 2024 was once again a successful year for economic growth and investment,” he told the joint session of the state

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Dana Lynn McIntyre February 6, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

$4.9 million Manufacturing Training Collaborative

A trio of mobile advanced manufacturing labs that will bring critical workforce training resources to rural areas across South Carolina were unveiled this week. The event at the William H. “Billy” O’Dell Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence in Greenwood was the result of a unique collaborative initiative between Piedmont Technical College, Aiken Technical College, and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College. Funding for the mobile labs’ initiative came from a four-year, $4.9 million Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant provided by the U.S. Department of Labor. The purpose of the grant is to address

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Staff Report February 4, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Unveiling a comprehensive tort reform strategy

Ga. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) unveiled a package of tort reform legislation during a news conference at the state capital. Kemp said the legislation he is proposing will level the playing field in the courtroom for large and small businesses while protecting the rights of individuals to pursue legal action when they are harmed. “First, I believe that business owners have a responsibility to keep their customers and the public safe on their premises, but they should not be held liable for criminal acts of a third party outside of

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Dana Lynn McIntyre February 4, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Security changes at Augusta’s airport

The Augusta Aviation Commission gave the green light to the next step to expand security checkpoints at Augusta Regional Airport. Members approved a work authorization of $449,438 for consultant Mead and Hunt for the terminal checkpoint modernization project. “This is testing. This is everything outside the bounds of the contract is included in this. It is also extra oversight,” explained Elizabeth Giles, Senior Construction Project Manager at the airport. “This is a very technical project. It’s a critical project. It affects every aspect of our operations inside this building. So,

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Dana Lynn McIntyre February 3, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: Kudos to McDuffie and Edgefield

The Bureau of Economic Analysis has released Gross Domestic Product data for the counties of the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) for 2023. Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value of all final goods and services produced in the county in 2023. It is adjusted for inflation. The fastest-growing county in the MSA was McDuffie County at 6.3%, the sixteenth fastest-growing county in Georgia. Edgefield County grew at 6%, the sixth fastest in South Carolina. Burke County’s GDP fell by 2.9 percent in 2023. Overall, the MSA’s real (inflation-adjusted) GDP was

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe February 3, 2025 No Comments
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