Economics

B2B Stories

Simon Says: Agriculture #s may be misleading

I read Dana McIntyre’s report a few weeks ago, in which Georgia agriculture commissioner, Tyler Harper, claimed that agriculture was a $84 billion economic driver, 17% of the state’s economy. He added that one in seven jobs or 330,000 Georgians are employed in agriculture. That seemed high to me, so I looked up the numbers. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Georgia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2024 was $673,064 million annually. GDP measures the total value of all final goods and services produced in

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B2B Stories

CSRA takes a $6.5 million hit from event cancellations: Chamber events also canceled

A weeklong schedule of activities that was set to kick off today has been canceled. BSidesAugusta organizer, and COO of Security Onion Solutions, LLC, Phil Plantamura shared the update with ABD on Sunday. “Completely canceled. We’ve canceled all events for BSidesAugusta, the Security Onion Conference, and the training. We had a speaker dinner. It’s been canceled, volunteer orientation, and all that has been canceled. We’ve issued refunds to all ticket purchasers, including for the training,” he said. Destination Augusta had estimated the full week of activities, originally set for Sept.

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B2B Stories

CSRA businesses gear up for major hurricane impact

Georgia and South Carolina are bracing for the impact of a major hurricane. Power companies have made final preparations for anticipated damages, including the potential for widespread power outages. With a forecast of flooding and high winds from Hurricane Helene, the storm could still be a Category 1 when it reaches the CSRA, according to WDRW Chief Meteorologist, Riley Hale. “Our area is on the east side of the storm, it’s the bad side. High winds could reach 60 mph or more. We’ve already had 4” at Daniel Field and

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B2B Stories

Continued economic development in Georgia and metro Augusta

The Sept. 20 ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the start of operations at the Aurubis Richmond, LLC plant in south Augusta highlights the growth of new business and job opportunities. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) attended the Friday event. It was held just over a week after Area Development Magazine named Georgia the top state to do business for the 11th year in a row. Kemp met with reporters prior to the event. ABD used the opportunity to ask the Governor if Aurubis is an example of why Georgia continues to lead the

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B2B Stories

The Power of Planning and Prediction

Publisher’s Note: Retired Major General Perry Smith’s views are his own and do not necessarily match those of Augusta Business Daily. This is the first of a two-part article that may be of interest to those of you who love to look into the future. Having been a planner most of my adult life, I have found that serious planning leads to predictions, as well as both wild card and probability analysis. I love to make predictions. However, they only count if I communicate them to others in one of

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B2B Stories

Enduring impacts: How the pandemic reshaped Augusta’s business landscape

From March 2021 to 2022, Georgia’s small businesses were responsible for over 68% of the net employment increase, according to the Georgia Chamber’s Q2 Quarterly Economic Report 2024: Future of Small Business. Small businesses in Georgia employ over 42% of the state’s workforce. In the past five years, these businesses have added 15,000 jobs and generated $10 billion in sales, surpassing national averages for small business employment growth. Overall, Georgia remains an attractive location for small businesses to operate, and these businesses are crucial to the economic health of the

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: Putting different Augusta age groups to work

The Augusta Leading Economic Index fell 0.5 percent in July from June. It remains 0.1 percent higher than July 2023. After a bumper June, residential housing permits returned to normal levels, but represented a 66 percent monthly decline. Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased by 40 percent, as they often do in the summer with new high school and college graduates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished July strongly and inflation declined to 2.3 percent in the south. The price level actually fell from June to July, but was 2.3

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B2B Stories

Large Augusta manufacturer completes phase one; 80 more jobs to come

With a simple cut of the scissors, the $800 million Aurubis Richmond, LLC plant in the Augusta Corporate Park officially joined the Richmond County business community. The Friday ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the culmination of phase one of the project, which has been under construction since 2022. Toralf Haag, CEO of Aurubis AG, told the hundreds assembled for the event that the ribbon cutting was a landmark day celebrating professionals who worked together to achieve a momentous accomplishment. “First and foremost, we are metals for progress, driving sustainable growth across the

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B2B Podcasting

Biz Bits: Top Dawgs

We’re not talking about UGA’s top ranking in college football. As Mike Petchenik shows us doing business in the Peach State is special!

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B2B Stories

Sitting solidly at number two for business

South Carolina leaders are welcoming the 2024 edition of Area Development Magazine’s Top States To Do Business. Georgia holds on to the top spot for the 11th year, but the Palmetto State is in the catbird seat once again. In 2022, it was ranked number 3 and improved to number 3 in 2024. South Carolina muscled its way into the number two spot in 2023 and holds on to that distinction for 2024. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evett (R) was the keynote speaker for the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce’s September

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