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Employment
Consumer Stories

CSRA apprentices become skilled workers

A local, woman-owned small business has partnered with one of the region’s largest employers to turn students into employees. WesWorks, which manages Savannah River Mission Completion’s project controls initiatives, has hired six graduates from the project controls apprenticeship program at Aiken Technical College as full-time employees. Daniel Faulk, Vice President of Projects with WesWorks, told ABD they have faced challenges transitioning potential employees from their current jobs into project controls. It is a highly sought-after field that is in demand across the country, but companies require applicants with experience. “What

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Dana Lynn McIntyre July 7, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

$225 million investment for the CSRA outskirts

A leading producer of sustainable building materials is establishing its first sawmill in the southeast. Hampton Lumber will invest $225 million in its latest operation in nearby Allendale County, SC, and is expected to create 125 jobs. Headquartered in Oregon, Hampton Lumber is a fourth-generation, family-owned producer of high-quality wood products sourced from sustainably managed forest resources. Operating nine sawmills in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada, the company markets and sells building materials worldwide. Hampton Lumber will construct a state-of-the-art, 375,000-square-foot lumber mill located at Highway 321 and Barker

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Staff Report July 7, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: CSRA economy dips in April

There is a lot of uncertainty and volatility in the economy at the moment, and that can also be seen in the local data. The Augusta Leading Economics Index (LEI) fell 3.8 percent in April from March, but increased 0.6 percent on a three-month moving average. It is 1.3 percent higher than a year ago (0.9 percent using the moving average). Looking at only changes from March, all five components of the LEI deteriorated in April.  Residential construction permits returned to more normal levels after March’s bumper month. Initial claims

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe June 23, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

2 Questions with the Dean: High School Competition

If your high school-aged child has an interest in business, there are a few clubs they can join. In today’s 2 Questions with the Dean—Dean Thompson of the Hull College of Business explains how HCOB is working with high schools on a special competition. ABD: Can you define what DECA and FBLA are, and the actual competition that you have? HULL: There are two different chapters, but they tend to have regional and state-level type competitions that fit within the domain of business. So, one of the things that we

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Neil Gordon June 22, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Augusta airport tenant plans more growth

A stalwart presence at Augusta Regional Airport (AGS) is gearing up for more improvements. In a specially called meeting on June 16, members of the Augusta Aviation Commission approved an amendment to its lease agreement with StandardAero. Under the amendment, AGS agrees to commit $2 million for improvements and repairs to the facilities that the airport leases to the company. Chris Bodine, Vice President and General Manager of the company’s local facility, told ABD the money is for improvements to its existing facility to meet the same standards as their

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Dana Lynn McIntyre June 18, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Mobile lab to boost manufacturing training

A mobile lab that will help provide critical workforce training resources in rural areas of Aiken County has arrived at Aiken Technical College. The three mobile labs were unveiled during an event in early February at the William H. “Billy” O’Dell Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence in Greenwood. It is a collaborative project joining Aiken Tech with Piedmont and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical Colleges. It is targeting needs across a 10-county area. Funding for the labs, $4.9 million, came from the U.S Labor Department through its Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant program.

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Dana Lynn McIntyre June 17, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: 2025 Job Market and Economy

It’s been an interesting start economically to 2025. Dr. Simon Medcalfe did a deep dive into the numbers to see where we started and where we are heading. Here’s the audio version.

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe June 16, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

2 Questions for the Dean: Case Competition

Chances are, you’ve heard about “Shark Tank”. Augusta University’s Hull College of Business does something similar. Here are 2 questions for the Dean to explain Hull’s version and how it promotes getting a taste of the real world. ABD: What is the case competition for students? HULL: So, our Case Competition is an event that we hold every year where students pair up and they form teams. And as a team, they get a case that they then work on with a faculty mentor, they write a memo outlining various

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Neil Gordon June 15, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

CSRA students and others interning at SRMC

More than seventy students from across the country have joined Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) this summer to be a part of its growing internship program. The college interns will be taking on meaningful projects to help SRMC advance its mission of treating the millions of gallons of Cold War legacy radioactive waste remaining in tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS). The students are bringing a fresh perspective to the areas of engineering, environmental science, biology, chemistry, business, communications, and more. SRMC President and Program Manager, Tom Burns, said SRMC

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Staff Report June 12, 2025 No Comments
B2B Stories

USCA to meet the need for electrical engineers

A constantly growing need for trained electrical engineers has prompted USCA to add to its degree program catalog. In a news release, USCA said the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) will focus on teaching students how to design, test, build, and maintain electrical and electronic systems. It will be launched in the Fall 2026 semester. Scott McKay, Dean of the College of Sciences and Engineering, told ABD that adding the new program was a lengthy process. “We basically got a ground swell of interest from our regional industry

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Dana Lynn McIntyre June 10, 2025 No Comments
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