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B2B Stories

Former TV News Anchor helps lead “She Got Game” event

While a mostly male crowd was at Augusta National this past weekend for the Masters, an all-female group of 70 took part in the 2nd Annual empowerment event, “She Got Game.” One of the women, Barclay Bishop (Lyles), shared lessons learned after her retirement from WJBF.  “Barclay sank the winning shot with her story on the pivot.  Being transparent and honest, she shared how she stepped away from a successful career in television to be a stay-at-home mom, allowing her to read her own script instead of someone else’s,” said

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Neil Gordon April 14, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Startup summer is underway in Aiken

Events designed to spur entrepreneurship and business start-ups in Augusta and Aiken have begun. A series of workshops through Venture Lab Aiken are part of Startup Summer.  Make Startups, based in theClubhou.se at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC), joined with the Aiken Chamber of Commerce, Western SC, South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA), and Magnate Angel Group. The first Founders Friday workshop was titled Ideas Are Flimsy. Scalable Businesses Are Engineered. “The workshop is really centered around the idea that most founders come to me and they say,

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Dana Lynn McIntyre April 7, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Pitching solutions for community problems

Augusta University (AU) undergraduate and graduate students were joined by non-student entrepreneurs for the 2026 INNOVATE: Pitches with a Purpose Pitch Competition. This is the seventh year for the event, coordinated by AU, the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC), along with partners Vinea Capital, Aurubis Richmond, LLC, and VA (Veterans Affairs) Health Administration. The competition, created in 2019, is a 5-minute platform for teams to pitch their ideas to address challenges and improve our community. The goal is to address local challenges, support startups, and drive regional growth.

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Dana Lynn McIntyre March 30, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Business Leader Passes Away

Visitation is set for 6 P.M. today for a former longtime car dealer in the CSRA. Ray Bourne passed away on Sunday at the age of 85. Bourne was credited for developing the land and building Bourne Toyota, then a state-of-the-art dealership/service center on 3069 Washington Road, before selling it in 2004. Ray and his surviving wife, “Honey” Maurica M. Bourne, operated it for nearly 10 years there and received several industry and local awards, and were also known for their strong faith and philanthropy.  The property was retrofitted for several

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Neil Gordon March 18, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

FBI man becomes CSRA businessman to continue investigations

Chuck McKee spent 20 years working for the FBI. Now he leads the FBIS (Forensic Brothers Investigation Services) unit in the Augusta/Aiken area and TrustVault.  TrustVault is a “Good Housekeeping-like seal of approval” for people’s character and perhaps the companies they work for. McKee’s FBI career brought him to the Augusta region in 2005, and he worked in the following fraud divisions: Healthcare Mortgage—McKee investigated those who misrepresented their mortgage applications related to employment, bank account information, property repairs, and more. Counterintelligence—McKee looked into employees at Fort Gordon, NSA, Plant

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Neil Gordon January 26, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Teaching veteran business owners how to thrive

A training program designed for Metro Augusta’s large veterans’ community is underway at the Accelerate Augusta microenterprise center on Broad Street.  ABD first wrote about Mission: Accelerate Lab in the Jan. 5 edition. It is a partnership with Accelerate Augusta, Mission United, and the United Way of the CSRA. It was created to help veteran-owned businesses succeed and develop a pipeline to hire veterans and military spouses.  “If you’re brand new, or if you’ve been in business for a few years, the goal of the program is to help vets

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Dana Lynn McIntyre January 23, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Busy year ahead for Accelerate Augusta

Augusta’s newest small business incubator is laying out an ambitious schedule for its first full year in operation. Executive Director Shaun Andrews told ABD they will be focusing on what he called the Three “Fs”: Foundation, funding, and the future for entrepreneurs. Accelerate Augusta, a partnership between Augusta Technical College and the Downtown Development Authority, officially opened in October 2025. It is in the former Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce building at 600 Broad Street. The microenterprise center was created to support entrepreneurs, start-ups, and help local small businesses develop

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Dana Lynn McIntyre January 5, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Looking for the next great ideas in Augusta

The submission period is open for the 2026 INNOVATE: Pitches with a Purpose Student Pitch Competition. There are opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs to participate as a judge or become a sponsor. This is the seventh year for the event, sponsored by Augusta University in partnership with the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC) and VA (Veterans Affairs) Augusta Health Care. “First round submission will actually be due February 6, and that is just the ideation phase. We just need five slides of the idea of the problem that

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Dana Lynn McIntyre December 17, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

How to juggle 4 balls in the air without dropping one

When Samantha (Sam) Corujo needs quiet time, she’ll relax on the balcony of Summer House Realty, overlooking Augusta National. It’s a welcome retreat from her traditional real estate office downstairs and three other businesses she’s built. So, how does she juggle all four companies? For the highly energetic entrepreneur, it’s a combination of discipline, exercise, micro-bursting, and creating think time. ” I get up, I go to the gym early, and then I come home, and there’s that little sacred two-hour window of time where I can handle all my

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Neil Gordon November 18, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Helping entrepreneurs while checking off your Christmas List

There is a special retail event tomorrow at Augusta University (AU) on a campus more commonly associated with cybersecurity. The Holiday Maker’s market is on Friday from 11 AM to 3:30 PM at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC) on Grace Hopper Lane. Tina Baggott, AU’s interim executive vice president for Strategic Partnerships and Economic Development, told ABD the market has two goals. First, to offer early Christmas shopping with unique items created by students and faculty. The second purpose is to foster entrepreneurship, particularly among student vendors.

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Dana Lynn McIntyre November 13, 2025 No Comments
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