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B2B Stories

Simon Says: Mixed bag of CSRA Economic News

There was mixed economic data for the Augusta Leading Economic Index (LEI) in August. As my wife says, “Give me the bad news, then cheer me up.” Residential building permits fell 8.6 percent in August to 290, the lowest monthly number this year. New data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reported that there were fewer dollars in local banks on June 30, 2024 than a year earlier. While this may represent consumer optimism and strong retail sales, it does reduce the capacity for future spending. The good news is that

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe October 28, 2024 No Comments
B2B Podcasting

SRP Ballpark Apartment Developer plans next project

In nearly two years, there will be more than 300 new apartment units in the CSRA. Fansler Construction, a contractor from Jacksonville, Florida is ready to build another high-end complex in the CSRA. Fansler Construction took the lead on Riverside Village, a 315-unit luxury complex adjacent to Greenjackets stadium in North Augusta. Their second project in the CSRA is also in North Augusta, a 343-unit complex located off Knobcone Ave. near Interstate 20. According to a news release, the project will feature seven 4-story buildings, seven townhome buildings, and five

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Staff Report October 28, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Teaching small businesses how to create retirement funds

Volunteers from the Aiken office of SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) recently held a workshop to teach small businesses how to create retirement plans ranging from simple to sophisticated. Led by Will Rogers and Damon Cline of Confident Life Wealth Management at Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC., the workshop looked at differences between defined-contribution plans and defined-benefit plans. Cline said there are two basic plans businesses can consider, a Simple Employee Pension (SEP) plan or a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA. “These SEP plans are fully employer-funded,

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Dana Lynn McIntyre October 27, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

FEMA administrator tours Augusta damage

FEMA Administrator, Deanne Criswell spent Wednesday in Augusta discussing clean-up efforts with city leaders. Criswell joined Mayor Garnett Johnson, Administrator Tameka Allen, and Chief Antonio Burden, Fire Chief, Augusta Fire/EMA for a briefing prior to taking a tour of damaged areas. “I had an opportunity to fly over the Augusta area to see the damage, but I had a good opportunity today to talk with the mayor and his team about what their concerns are now that we are moving into the long-term recovery phase,” said Criswell. “I also had

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Dana Lynn McIntyre October 24, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Businesses pitch in to help students impacted by Helene

Hurricane Helene prompted the cancellation of an in-person fundraiser, but organizers converted it to an online event to help students. The Aiken Technical College Foundation sponsors an annual scholarship and fundraiser. It had been set for Oct. 17, but the event was transformed to raising money for the Student Emergency Support Fund. The original event included a raffle. “So what we decided to do is we had these wonderful items donated to our raffle that we said, ‘Well, hey, we can still go ahead and have an online raffle and

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Dana Lynn McIntyre October 23, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Sustaining students with food post-Helene

An organization known for job training, education, and food preparation is combining its strengths to nourish students at a school in Augusta’s Olde Town neighborhood. Helms College, part of Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA, is providing meals to students at Heritage Academy. Haley Wesley, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Brand Advancement, told ABD it is a win-win partnership for the college and the school. “These are our Helms College culinary students preparing these meals, being supervised by our faculty, who are chefs. It also was such

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Dana Lynn McIntyre October 22, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Sometimes A New Voice is Needed

Shortly after the Atlanta Braves ended their 2024 season by losing to the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs, the team decided not to bring back three of their coaches for the 2025 season. (Note:  All three coaches are under contract for 2025 and will be paid their contracted salaries.) The most notable of those coaches was their primary hitting coach, Kevin Seitzer. Seitzer has been a major league hitting coach for most of the past eighteen years, with the last

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Dr. Rick Franza October 22, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: We may be in a recession

The Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area economy is in a recession, according to one indicator. The Sahm indicator hit 0.6 in August and a reading higher than 0.5 indicates a recession. The Sahm indicator is named after its creator, Claudia Sahm. The Sahm Recession Indicator signals the start of a recession when the three-month moving average of the unemployment rate rises by 0.50 percentage points or more relative to the minimum of the three-month averages from the previous 12 months. In August, the local unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent for

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe October 21, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Bringing help directly to South Carolina residents

Staff from more than 22 agencies set up in the USC-Aiken Convocation Center to help walk residents harmed by Hurricane Helene through what assistance is available. Representatives from state agencies including the South Carolina Departments of Health and Human Services, Insurance, Motor Vehicles, and Public Health were joined by FEMA and the Small Business Administration (SBA) from the federal government. It began as an initiative following a series of destructive floods the Palmetto State experienced beginning in 2015. “Governor McMaster continued it with several hurricanes,” Brooke Bailey, Director of Strategic

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Dana Lynn McIntyre October 21, 2024 No Comments
B2B Stories

Helene leaves $2 billion tourist destinations in shambles

Fall is in the air. The leaves are changing. Families from the CSRA and beyond would normally descend upon Western North Carolina to soak in the orange, red, and yellow leaves that beckon. A three-and-a-half-hour drive for a getaway to Asheville and surrounding towns might be an annual family plan this time of year. Nothing is normal right now for our neighbors in the so-called Land of Sky region. While the CSRA is still in recovery mode from Hurricane Helene, parts of the scenic attractions in Western North Carolina are

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Mitzi Oxford October 21, 2024 No Comments
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