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ABD Extra

Mondays with Rick: Benchmarking: A key to economic development success

I am a huge fan of benchmarking as a tool for evaluating both progress and success. However, benchmarking is also a great tool for identifying ideas for improvement. My experience with benchmarking has typically come from evaluating and improving business products and processes. In this column, I would like to share with you what benchmarking is, the different types of benchmarking and my past experience of helping to apply benchmarking to an area’s economic development, and how we might apply it in a similar way here in the Augusta area.

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Dr. Rick Franza May 22, 2023 No Comments
ABD Extra

Economic Update: ABD Extra Conference and Expo Edition

In this week’s economic update, we take a look at the employee recruitment and retention panel discussion from ABD’s Conference and Expo last week! Darin Myers, who is co-owner of TAB CSRA, speaks about interviewing job candidates and creating company values. This panel was moderated by Mike Petchenik who creates the weekly Georgia Business Minutes and other media for Augusta Business Daily.

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Darin Myers May 22, 2023 No Comments
ABD Extra

Keeping you up on a great product

Keith Perret, State Farm Insurance agent, sits down with Augusta Business Daily publisher, Neil Gordon to discuss hiring and skills to be successful in the insurance business. Perret says companies and employees should find different ways to talk about products to fit consumer needs. For more information, contact Perret at his website: https://www.kpinthehouse.com/.

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Neil Gordon with Keith Perret May 22, 2023 No Comments
ABD Extra

Georgia Business Minute: Just doing our jobs

That’s right. A record number of Georgians are employed. Though the CSRA has fallen short according to recent employment statistics, unemployment reports have remained steady for the ninth month throughout the Peach State. Mike Petchenik reports from Atlanta with the latest on this and other stories in this week’s Georgia Business Minute.

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Mike Petchenik May 22, 2023 No Comments
ABD Extra

Simon Says: Looking at the labor market

The Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area had the worst labor market over the last year of all metro areas in the state of Georgia. The Labor Market Index (LMI) for Augusta fell 0.4 percent from March 2022 through March 2023. Only Hinesville and Warner Robins also saw declining LMIs. The Georgia LMI grew by 0.9 percent over the past year. Columbus had the best labor market over the last year. Across the state, employment increased by 2.8 percent, or 133,400 jobs over the last year. By contrast, Augusta lost 1,100 jobs

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe May 22, 2023 No Comments
B2B Stories

Local entrepreneurs pedal fun experiences into the CSRA

Anthony Jones and his wife, Charity loved pedaling around Atlanta and Nashville on a bar on wheels so much that they decided to bring the business concept to Augusta. In early Dec. 2022, the couple, along with Charity’s sister, Syderist Manuel, launched Pedal Pub Augusta located at 305 12th St. “We always went outside of Augusta to do fun activities, so we decided to bring a little more fun to Augusta, the city we love,” Anthony said. They have two 15-passenger bikes that they use to take customers on 90-minute

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Josh Heath May 21, 2023 No Comments
B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: Networking has many dimensions

Dr. Rick Franza, Professor of Management at the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about the importance of networking and peer groups. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: We just held our successful business networking event, the ABD Spring Expo, last week. Why is networking important for businesses? Rick: Too often, people see networking as a direct vehicle for the benefits they can get from it, but I see it as an indirect

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Gary Kauffman May 21, 2023 No Comments
B2B Stories

CSRA business owner helps customers get back on the road in tight economy

Daniel Shaffer not only repairs cars, but also strives to help his customers facing financial difficulties get back on the road as quickly as possible. Shaffer owns Keep it Rolling Automotive located at 1726-B Barton Chapel Road in Augusta. He will celebrate the business’s second anniversary on Friday, June 9, from noon to 2 p.m., by hosting a free cookout for his new and existing customers. Shaffer said Keep it Rolling specializes in vehicle restorations, but he also provides a variety of other services, including tire installations, brake repairs, oil

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Josh Heath May 18, 2023 No Comments
B2B Stories

Young entrepreneur takes over CSRA workout business

At just 26 years old, Cody Melvin has moved from one educating job to another. He started out teaching sixth grade in Hinesville, GA. Now, his classroom is the gym, and helping members achieve their fitness goals. In February, Melvin bought the Workout Anytime franchise in Aiken. For the young man who loves teaching and grew up going to the gym, it was a great fit. “I loved teaching kids, but Covid was a huge challenge for teachers and students. That’s when I started looking for a different kind of

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Mitzi Oxford May 18, 2023 No Comments
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