B2B Stories

B2B Stories

Bridging Business Gaps with Apprentices

Leadership from an apprenticeship program at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) explained the significance of the program to business leaders. Coordinators from the DELL Student TechCrew led the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce’s Good Morning North Augusta breakfast. The program focused on the current partnership between SRNS and the Aiken County Public School District. Abigail Bowman, the college partner curriculum and pipeline development lead with the apprenticeship programs, said a program like apprenticeships cannot exist without partners, adding it has created a valuable workforce pipeline for students and the site.

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B2B Stories

CSRA Businesses Focus on Finding the Future for Students

Just as ABD reported on North Augusta’s presentation for bridging the gap between business needs through apprentice programs, comes an expo sponsored by the Columbia County Chamber Foundation and the Columbia County School District. The goals for both are very aligned with CSRA employment needs. The expo focuses on exposing parents and students to career opportunities for the future. The initiative will align the educational, technical, and trade sectors with the businesses, showing parents and students the pathways to obtain a future quality career. Each company will list the main

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B2B Stories

Businesses Partner with Richmond County Students

The Metro Augusta Chamber of Commerce is calling on businesses to participate in a program to give rising juniors and seniors a glimpse into career possibilities. Applications are being accepted from businesses and students for the Students2Work program. The program is coordinated by the Student Workforce Committee, which is a subcommittee of the Business Education Advisory Council (BEAC). “The council is made up of about 30 business partners within the community that come from varying backgrounds, and they discuss things such as students to work program, the student shadow program

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B2B Stories

CSRA leader leaves for new role; impact felt for decades

Dr. Jermaine Whirl of Augusta Technical College officially accepted the position of Savannah State University  President and will start in April. In the little over four years as the President of Augusta Technical College, he led a whirlwind of development that not only benefitted the student body of the college but served to connect educational opportunities to area businesses that will benefit the CSRA for years to come. Growing the Augusta Tech enrollment: “If you look at our fall enrollment numbers for the year 2022, we had 5,300 individuals enrolled

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B2B Stories

FEMA pushes on for CSRA hurricane help

Even though FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, appears to be on the chopping block under D.O.G.E recommendations, a resource fair to benefit CSRA Hurricane Helene survivors is still on for later this week. The agency is hosting a Housing Resource Fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15, in Augusta at the Henry Brigham Community Center, 2463 Golden Camp Rd. The Housing Resource Fair will bring together federal, state, and local agencies in one place to offer services and resources to families recovering from Hurricane Helene. The

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B2B Stories

Protecting benefits for CSRA military survivors

Both of Georgia’s U.S. Senators support a bipartisan bill that could yield support for Metro Augusta’s military population. Called the Love Lives On Act of 2025, it is championed by Senators Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) with nearly two dozen co-sponsors, including Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.). This legislation specifically amends Title 10 and Title 38 of the U.S. Code. Currently, benefits from the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs are terminated if the surviving spouse remarries before the age of 55. If passed, the new law

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B2B Stories

Will This DOGE Hunt?

If nothing else, President Trump sure knows how to own the news cycle. As January turned to February, the headlines were dominated by threats of tariffs on Mexico and Canada that have since been delayed due to those countries agreeing to increased border enforcement. When those tariffs were tabled until March 1, attention quickly shifted to the work of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The effectiveness of DOGE’s work so far appears to be in the political eye of the beholder. In today’s column, I would

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: Job Jolts in the CSRA/Georgia

The Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) ended the year with another record employment level. In December, there were 248,400 people employed in the area, the highest on record. Six months in 2025 had record employment, and nine months saw month-on-month employment growth. It may have been ten without Hurricane Helene. Over the year, employment grew by 2,800, or 1.1%. One of my favorite podcasts is a BBC show called More or Less. They like to ask, “Is that a big number?,” in other words, what is the context or comparison?

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B2B Stories

Space travel from Augusta!

An organization that focuses on the state of the aerospace industry today and looking to the future has scheduled its annual event to bring industry experts to Augusta. The Skyworx Innovation Exchange is set for March 13 at the Hull McKnight Building at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center. The goal is to showcase new aerospace technologies with presentations from diverse groups in the industry. “We have an original equipment manufacturer for the Advanced Air Mobility, which we have the acronym AAM for, and it’s just the new technologies

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B2B Stories

Random thoughts on 20th Anniversary of Columbia County Chamber

Circa 2005, I vividly remember a meeting at the Sunrise Grille in Martinez with the first Columbia County Chamber President, Gordon Renshaw, and a few of his volunteers. Over scrambled eggs and home-fried potatoes, they talked with me about helping them sell memberships as a help to the community. Fast forward to the modern-day Chamber—there have been two full-time employees growing the membership! 20 years ago, the scrappy Columbia County Chamber was the stepchild in town to the well-established Augusta Metro Chamber. I even sensed some friction and a bit

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