Fri, April 03, 2026

Facebook-f Youtube Instagram
Newsletter Sign up
Show Support
Menu

Economics
B2B Stories

Thousands attend 11th annual TechNet Augusta

TechNet Augusta 2024 is a three-day event that kicked off on August 19. Activities are held at the Marriott Augusta, the Augusta Convention Center, and the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center. According to a news release from Destination Augusta, the 2023 conference brought almost 6,000 attendees, with more than half coming from outside Georgia and South Carolina. It translated to a $5.4 million economic impact last year. “Since 2013, Augusta has been proud to host this esteemed event, which brings together some of the brightest minds in technology, defense,

Read More »
Dana Lynn McIntyre August 20, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: Rest of 2024 Economic Outlook

As I write this week’s economic commentary, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is up over 500 points on lower initial claims for unemployment insurance, and lower inflation, and robust retail sales data. The rise in the DJIA is a leading indicator for the local economy as it is highly correlated with local firm’s share prices. Rising share prices reflect the markets’ expectation of future firm cashflows and profitability. Locally, initial claims for unemployment insurance lag the national releases, but climbed slightly in May and June. Inflation in the South

Read More »
Dr. Simon Medcalfe August 19, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Breaking ground on CSRA’s small business future

It’s a $2.3 million project that Augusta Technical College (ATC) and the city’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) predict will be a cornerstone for small business development in Downtown Augusta. A ceremony to kick off Accelerate Augusta was held yesterday to bring the region’s newest small business incubator and microenterprise to fruition. Dirt was shoveled, but this is really a renovation project led by longtime CSRA contractors, McKnight Construction. Housed in the former headquarters for Augusta Metro Chamber in the I. M. Pei Building located at 600 Broad Street, the center

Read More »
Mitzi Oxford August 13, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: Interest rate cut would help CSRA economy

On Friday, August 2nd, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that U.S. employment increased by 114,000 in July. This represents a slowdown in job generation over the last four years. The slowdown in employment growth hit stock hard, but raised the prospect of an interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s September meeting. While July employment numbers are not yet available for the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area, employment growth has been static in the last six months. After increasing from 244,000 in July 2023 to 246,200 in November 2023, employment

Read More »
Dr. Simon Medcalfe August 12, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Economic growth and business development accelerate tomorrow

Construction begins tomorrow for what is hoped to be a cornerstone for small business development in Downtown Augusta. The groundbreaking will bring the region’s newest small business incubator and microenterprise called Accelerate Augusta. Housed in the former headquarters for Augusta Metro Chamber in the renovated I. M. Pei Building located at 600 Broad Street, the center will offer essential resources, mentorship, and opportunities for growth. With a partnership between Augusta Technical College (ATC) and Augusta’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA), funding for the $2.3 million project was allocated through congressional funding.

Read More »
Mitzi Oxford August 11, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Update on multi-million dollar renovation project

Progress is being made on a comprehensive cancer treatment center to be located in the former Medac Building at 150 Bluff Avenue in North Augusta, SC. These development efforts represent total investments of over $35,000,000 into North Augusta, including $20,000,000 invested into the former Medac Building. Following Medac’s acquisition by Coronis Health, the Board of North Augusta Forward recognized the opportunity for the building to better support downtown revitalization by increasing the density of employees and customers using the building. Working with Palmetto Peach Development, a Master Plan was developed

Read More »
Mitzi Oxford August 8, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: 3-year high—CSRA jobs update

The national unemployment rate in June hit 4.1%. While still historically low, it represents the first time in 30 months that the unemployment rate exceeded 4.0%, going back to November 2021. In the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has also risen recently. It hit 4.0% in June, up 0.4 percentage points since March. The last time the unemployment rate was 4.0% was three years ago in June 2021 (see graph below). Across the counties of the MSA, unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) have increased quite dramatically

Read More »
Dr. Simon Medcalfe August 5, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

August in Augusta: $4.2 Million

Augusta is known as the Cyber City and this month, there will be a financial bump for the community, thanks to a big conference in the middle of the month. Tourism professionals from Destination Augusta and the Augusta Sports Council estimate that about 8,255 visitors will be attending meetings, reunions, events, and sporting events in Augusta’s River Region and will generate at least $4,183,810 in total estimated economic impact (EEI) in August 2024. More than 3/4’s of the economic impact will come from a week-long conference at Tech Net Augusta

Read More »
Staff Report August 4, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Leading the way in workforce development and education

Editor’s note: As Dr. Rick Franza reported, Georgia is once again getting high marks as one of America’s Top States for Business. This story follows up on how Augusta is plugging into the Education and Workforce rankings. Two of Georgia’s highest rankings put the Augusta metro at the forefront of the Education and Workforce categories with rankings of #8 and #4 respectively. “Workforce, obviously from the Chamber’s perspective, it’s comforting to see that we ranked fourth overall in the workforce,” Russell Lahodny, President and CEO of the Columbia County Chamber

Read More »
Dana Lynn McIntyre July 16, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

#4 in 2024: Georgia’s ‘Top State for Business’ Streak Continues

Last week, CNBC released its 2024 list of “America’s Top States for Business,” which ranks all fifty states. CNBC has been publishing this annual list since 2007 and for the 17th consecutive year (there was no published list in 2020), Georgia has ranked in the Top Ten, including a ranking of fourth both this year and last. While CNBC regularly makes changes to both the metrics and their relative weights used to determine the rankings, it is a credit to our state that it consistently remains highly ranked. There is

Read More »
Dr. Rick Franza July 16, 2024 No Comments
Load More