B2B Stories

B2B Stories

FIFA World Cup and Augusta!

Although FIFA activities will be centered around Atlanta, Destination Augusta jumped on the opportunity to sell the Garden City to those millions of tourists visiting to watch the World Cup competition. It is part of the “Make Yourself at Home in Georgia” campaign. “We participated in a cooperative advertising placement, digital advertising placement in the United Kingdom, which is one of our biggest international markets for the state of Georgia, alongside Canada and Germany,” Karen Lee Davis, Chief Marketing Officer with Destination Augusta, told ABD. “Those who are going to

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Awards

CSRA “C” Store Owner wins national award in midst of legal battles

Greg Parker, owner of several CSRA Parkers Kitchen stores and more than 100 regional stores, just won a national industry award. At the same time, he’s involved in several legal issues related to the Murdaugh family in the Low Country of South Carolina. Earlier in December, Parker was in Austin, Texas, to accept the 2025 Retailer Executive of the Year award by Convenience Store News. The award coincided with Parkers Kitchen’s 50th year in business, while surpassing 100 stores in Georgia and South Carolina. Parker is routinely lauded for his

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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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B2B Stories

A look back and ahead for economic growth

ABD spoke with the leaders of the Richmond, Columbia, and Burke County economic development offices, as well as Western SC and the SRS Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO), about their favorite accomplishments of the past 12 months and what is anticipated in the next 12. At the Augusta Economic Development Authority (AEDA), President and CEO Cal Wray said supporting the county’s existing industries topped his list. “With all of the tariff conversation and uncertainty, with the administration change and with politics, and with this last excise tax that the Commission looked at

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B2B Stories

Jerry Maguire was right: Show Me the Money

One of the biggest hurdles facing any budding entrepreneur or small business owner is how to find the seed money to grow the idea. A national organization, which has a chapter in Aiken County, offered solutions to the dilemma in a recent online seminar titled “Finding Grants and Sponsorships: Locate Opportunities, Apply Confidently, Stand Out to Funders.” The online seminar was led by Cheryl Smith, CEO of Dewlyn Nonprofit Services (https://dewlyn.com/), who also provides services to small businesses. Her presentation included where to find grants and how to successfully apply.

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B2B Stories

Augusta spotlighted in “Selling Georgia” campaign

Did you know the “Augusta Adventure” made the cut as one of the best trips to take by The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD)? Explore Georgia, the GDEcD office that promotes tourism in the Peach State, has released the 2026 Travel Guide and best places to visit. It breaks down the state by region and highlights areas tailor-made for daytrips. This year, Metro Augusta is one of those spotlighted. “Any guide, whether it’s the Explore Georgia guide or the guide that we create in Augusta, it’s all meant to

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B2B Stories

Chamber leaders reflect on past and plan for the future

ABD spoke with the leaders of the Richmond, Columbia, and Burke County Chambers of Commerce, as well as those in Aiken and North Augusta. They looked at accomplishments in 2025 and set their sights on 2026. At the region’s largest Chamber of Commerce, Angie Cox, President and CEO of the Augusta Metro Chamber, said 2025 kicked off with a fresh start after recovering from Hurricane Helene. “I think a reenergized approach to engage our members, and we tweaked some programming,” she said. “We were able to change some timing on

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: The economics of Christmas Trees in the CSRA

The Medcalfe family bought their Christmas Tree from Clarks Hill Christmas Tree Farm last weekend. I know this is late by American standards, but the English don’t have the Friday Thanksgiving tradition. We have been cutting down live Christmas trees since our sons were little boys. We have always enjoyed making an afternoon of the activity, taking the dogs, drinking hot chocolate, decorating, and enjoying the scent in the house. The Farm Bureau has just provided some economic data on Christmas tree farming. Over half of all Christmas trees are

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B2B Stories

Construction underway for training facility at SRS

The first phase of construction of a non-nuclear operations training facility has started at the Savannah River Site (SRS). A news release from Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) said the High-Fidelity Training and Operations Center (HFTOC) is a component of the plutonium pit production mission on-site. “The SRPPF Project team has now started work to transform the existing HFTOC building into a key asset for the pit production mission. SRNS is collaborating with NNSA and our partners as we work with a sense of urgency to deliver on this national

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B2B Stories

Veterans’ cemetery in Augusta is closer to reality

Just a week before Christmas, the Georgia Department of Veterans Service (GDVS) announced a significant milestone in the decades-long effort to create a state veterans cemetery in Augusta, since the closest one is (pictured) in Milledgeville. A news release from GDVS has learned from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that there is now an opportunity for grant funding to support building a state veterans cemetery near Gracewood State School and Hospital. “Augusta has applied before, but we were too far down the priority list for the available funding

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