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Awards

Local business leaders selected for state honor

William Easterlin III is one of several CSRA business leaders selected for a major honor by Georgia Trend Magazine. Easterlin, President, and CEO of Queensborough National Bank & Trust Co., a role he has held since 1994, has been profiled in the magazine’s premiere edition of Georgia 500: The State’s Most Influential Leaders, which was just published. The edition lists a variety of leaders from across the state, including CEOs, doctors, educators, and economic developers. The magazine placed them in various categories, such as Real Estate, Healthcare and Arts, and

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Josh Heath November 6, 2022 No Comments
B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: Impact looms from Fed’s interest rate hikes

  Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about the Federal Reserve’s most recent increase in the base interest rate and how that could impact businesses. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: Last week the Federal Reserve raised the base interest rate by another 0.75 percent, the fourth time it’s done that in 2022, making the base rate now 3.75 percent. This is an effort to curb inflation.

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Gary Kauffman November 6, 2022 No Comments
B2B Stories

AU economist will look at the road to 2023 at the annual economic breakfast

After the way the economy has waffled and waned during 2022, it could be tough to predict how it will perform in 2023. But Dr. Simon Medcalfe will give it his best shot at his annual Economic Forecast Breakfast next month. Medcalfe, professor of economics at the Hull College of Business at Augusta University and a weekly contributor to Augusta Business Daily, will present a local and regional economic forecast at 7:30 a.m., Dec. 8, in the Dr. Roscoe Williams Ballroom, Jaguar Student Activities Center, Summerville Campus. An RSVP is

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Gary Kauffman November 3, 2022 No Comments
B2B Podcasting

Free Access: The importance of life skills and good manners

Southern cooking show host and entrepreneur, Vera Stewart talks with host, Deke Copenhaver on The Change Maker podcast about the beginnings of her business, food competition appearances, and how she continues to give back to young people teaching them life skills and good manners.  

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Deke Copenhaver November 3, 2022 No Comments
B2B Stories

Augusta Chick-fil-A location celebrates grand re-opening

ABD wondered how many millions of dollars in acquisition or renovation costs Chick-Fil-A paid to expand its store to include the old Mi Rancho property. The operators didn’t want to discuss those numbers or how many millions in increased sales they believe is possible. Chick-fil-A, 3066 Washington Road, celebrated its grand re-opening yesterday morning. The new store has a larger parking lot, a fully updated kitchen, patio seating, two drive-thru lanes, and a drive-thru door instead of a window, according to franchise operator, John Powell. “Employees won’t be leaning out

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Story and photos by Josh Heath November 3, 2022 No Comments
B2B Stories

Young Aikenite builds successful boutique business

The timing may not have been ideal for Brooke Thomas to open a boutique in downtown Aiken. She signed the lease on her Laurens Street shop in March 2020, right before the pandemic shut everything down, but she used the downtime to complete renovations. A few months later, when shoppers began to venture out, Ginger Bee Boutique was ready. Ever since, there has been a hive of activity at her shop. Even at the age of 24, Thomas was ready for that as well. She has a passion for fashion

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Mitzi Oxford November 2, 2022 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: Rural counties harder hit by job loss than metro areas

Last week, I reported the labor force was down 500 people in the local area. Unfortunately, I was not specific about the “local” bit. I was referring to the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), while the headline referenced the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA). These are not the same with the MSA including Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, and Richmond counties in Georgia and Aiken and Edgefield counties in South Carolina. The CSRA is a 13-county region, entirely within Georgia as seen in the map below (source: csrarc.ga.gov). The CSRA does

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe, AU Economics Professor November 1, 2022 No Comments
B2B Stories

Aiken-based saddle company to relocate next year

An Aiken-based business is saddled up and ready to ride to a new location next year, according to Meybohm Commercial Properties. Custom Saddlery, which is currently located at 127 Hedge Road, will move to 390 Croft Mill Road, an 8,100-square-foot facility on a seven-acre property. Founded in 1992, the international company provides a variety of services to its customers, including designing, fitting, and repairing custom saddles. Besides Aiken, Custom Saddlery also has locations in Europe. For more information, visit mysaddle.com or call 803-649-2766.

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Josh Heath November 1, 2022 No Comments
B2B Stories

Graniteville baker competes in NYC Macaron Bakeoff

Joey Blackwell may not fit your vision of a baker of delicate Italian pastries. He’s a self-described “big, burly, bearded guy.” But in the past two years, he has refined his recipe of macarons, started his Mac Daddy Macaron business, and was invited to compete in New York against fellow macaron bakers. “My interest in baking started in 2020 during the pandemic when many of us were staying home,” he said. “My wife and I got hooked on baking shows, particularly The Great British Bake-Off. At about that same time,

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Mitzi Oxford October 31, 2022 No Comments
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