For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the fast food franchise, Steak N Shake was a hit. Even though they are making a comeback nationally, Augusta is not on the list of profitability. Mike Petchenik has the latest in today’s Biz Bits.
The Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce has honored the men who have been leading the ambitious road projects in East Central Georgia. This is the 10th year that road projects in the Department of Transportation’s District 12 have been funded by a transportation special purpose local option sales tax (T-SPLOST). The individuals recognized were Phil Wahl, James Kendrick, Mark Ivey, Ben Tarbutton III, and James Alfriend who make up the Citizen Review Panel (CRP) that oversees progress. Assisting the panel was Don Grantham, a former GDOT board member, and former
Dylan James graduated from the Savannah College of Art & Design with a BFA in Dramatic Writing. He has studied both the ‘show’ and ‘business’ aspects of show business since childhood, and writes through sociological analysis, seeking relevance in the art and commerce for the moment. In today’s column, he offers his opinion on the Hollywood labor strikes and the facts on their economic impact for Georgia. It’s been nearly seventeen weeks since the Writers Guild of America (WGA) reached their negotiation deadline with the Alliance of Motion Picture &
Georgia is celebrating 50 years of the Georgia Film Office. Yesterday, Governor Brian Kemp announced another blockbuster year for the film and television industry as the Peach State surpasses New York in the number of film studios and sound stages. The state hosted 390 productions, represented by 31 feature films, 55 independent films, 241 television and episodic productions, 40 commercials, and 23 music videos between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, amounting to more than $4 billion pumped into Georgia’s economy. Augusta is a big part of the industry’s
A local ambulance service is offering paid training for a position that pays $50,000 a year. Gold Cross Emergency Medical Service is offering a three-week class to become certified as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR). EMR is a relatively new category in the field of emergency medical services. It was created as a result of staff shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Georgia just started allowing us to do this over a year ago, because COVID-19 just wreaked havoc with everybody, and there’s a huge shortage of healthcare and EMS too,”
During the past few years, I have written often about leadership. In most of those columns, I typically highlighted characteristics that were found in strong leaders. While I still ascribe to the belief that all good leaders have most of those characteristics, such as accountability, empathy, integrity, authenticity, and many others, sometimes, a leader is at his or her best when a leadership situation brings out his or her best traits. Fortunately, there are times when the right person arrives at the right time, and such was the case when
This news might make you move. Dance companies in the area are growing the local economy. Mike Petchenik explains in today’s edition of Biz Bits.
The University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center invites local business owners to participate in its Strategic Growth Academy this upcoming October. The program is targeted towards business owners to help them learn about strategic planning as a way to grow their business. According to the course description, attendants must be able to attend each of the classes and will work in groups, using case studies to develop strategies. The class will meet on Tuesdays, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for the following dates on each of the listed
The woman who brought the first student-operated cybersecurity center to Augusta Technical College sees a long future for the facility. Augusta Tech is the first school in the Technical College System of Georgia to have a Security Operations Center (SOC). The students in the college’s School of Cyber and Design Media get hands-on experience, working with real-world applications. Tammy O’Brien, academic dean of the School of Cyber and Design Media, said the students operate the SOC in a classroom setting. “They learn how to operate and run the SOC looking
I watched a lot of U.S. Open tennis over the last two weeks and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the U.S. Open had been paying women equal prize money for 50 years, thanks to the efforts of Billie Jean King. The other majors only started equal prize money for men and women this century (Australian Open in 2001; French Open in 2006 for champions and all rounds in 2007; Wimbledon in 2007). Unfortunately, if you are not an elite female tennis player, you are unlikely to earn the
