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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
B2B Stories

Entrepreneurial Summit wraps up with lessons learned

The Startup Champions Network (SCN) fall summit is in the books, and attendees carried the flavor of Augusta with them as they departed. The network, started in 2014 to provide leaders of entrepreneurial ecosystems the support and tools to foster success, holds two summits each year. This marked the first time Augusta has been the host. Leading the Augusta event were Eric Parker and Grace Belangia, co-founders of theClubhou.se, based in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Technology Center. They are also behind Make Startups Augusta, a project to nurture entrepreneurship.

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Dana Lynn McIntyre November 10, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

“Bad Asses” host National Summit in CSRA for the first time

On Tuesday, some of the leading experts on business start-ups and entrepreneurship will convene in downtown Augusta. The Startup Champions Network fall summit will get underway with an opening reception on November 4th and presentations beginning on November 5th. Between 150 and 200 are expected to attend the summit. Destination Augusta estimates an economic impact of nearly $167,000. This marks the first time Augusta has been selected to host the twice annual event. “If I’m allowed to say so, because we’re kind of badasses,” quipped Eric Parker, co-founder of Make

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Dana Lynn McIntyre October 31, 2025 No Comments
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