Employment

B2B Stories

Getting back to normal at the airport

Augusta Regional Airport urges travelers to brace for ongoing delays — as employees scramble to recover from missed paychecks and wait for back pay. Even though the 40-day federal shutdown has officially ended, Augusta Regional Airport leaders say the effects are far from over — not only for passengers, but for the more than 80 TSA and FAA employees now scrambling to catch up on bills, repay loans, and recover from more than a month without a paycheck. At the same time, flight schedules remain unstable, and a 6% nationwide flight reduction

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: Bad Job News & Pay in Georgia/Carolina

With the continued government shutdown and no new official economic news releases from federal agencies, I again turn to the ADP employment report for the latest jobs market data. The ADP report is based on national payroll data from more than 26 million U.S. employees, who come from ADP clients, like the ones getting serviced for payroll and HR in West August. This is about 1 in 5 private sector employees, and 1 in 6 covers total employees. The data they have does skew towards larger firms and firms located

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B2B Stories

Grade Inflation: Both a Cause and Sign of America’s Weakening Competitiveness

Publisher’s Note: When interviewing a candidate at your business in the CSRA, do you expect their GPA to be a true indicator of how dedicated and intelligent he or she is? Students’ grades are up across the country from a while ago until now by 10-20%. But why? Dr. Rick Franza takes a look at an academic challenge that needs course correction. Grade inflation has been rampant on college campuses for decades, particularly since COVID, when this trend became exceedingly evident and problematic.  Having done my undergraduate work in the late

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Consumer Stories

Rallying around Federal workers at Augusta’s airport

As the Federal government shutdown enters its second month, employees at Augusta Regional Airport (AGS) are rallying around coworkers going without a paycheck. Impacted employees include those working with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Those employees are part of what are considered “essential workers” who must continue to report to their jobs. Nationwide, an estimated 730,000 essential workers are going without a paycheck. Herbert Judon, Jr., the airport’s executive director, briefed members of the Aviation Commission on how the shutdown is being felt at

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Consumer Stories

World-famous company partners with Aiken Tech

A company whose name personifies quality and luxury is joining with Aiken Technical College (ATC) to train new employees. An information session on Thursday will go over how to enroll. Rolls-Royce Power Solutions America is collaborating with the school to create a new, pre-apprenticeship program. Dr. Steven Simmons, Dean of the School of Technical and Continuing Education, told ABD that it will provide individuals with the basic knowledge and skills of a particular discipline, like machine tool technology, to have those skill sets prior to going into a full apprenticeship

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: ADP job survey is telling for Georgia/South Carolina

Publisher’s Note: ADP is a major employer in Augusta and has represented more than 26 million employees through payroll and HR-type services since 2010. Today, Dr. Simon Medcalfe utilizes their numbers as an alternative to Uncle Sam. Although the continued government shutdown has restricted timely economic data releases, there is still economic data to be found from other sources. The latest ADP report indicated that private employment fell by 32,000 in September (we do not have the official government data for September). This was on top of a smaller 3,000

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B2B Stories

SRS and AI/Data projects

While the Columbia County government and taxpayers continue to argue over the pros and cons of building a data center in Appling—very quietly, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has local officials anticipating new missions at the Savannah River Site (SRS). These missions involve AI, a Data Center, and potentially big contracts for CSRA companies. By The Numbers The request is on behalf of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). SRS is one of four selected for AI (artificial intelligence) infrastructure and generation projects. There are 10 tracts, totaling 3,103

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B2B Stories

The Shelf Life of Leadership – Part 2

Publisher’s Note: Dr. Franza has his clipboard and is back on the football field this week, continuing his column looking at similarities between college football coaches and your bosses in the CSRA. Is there such a thing as a shelf-life for either? How can people in leadership direct their teams long-term? Since my column last week, two more college football coaches were fired, Jay Norvell at Colorado State, and the more high-profile firing of Florida’s Billy Napier. However, neither of these firings can be characterized as “shelf-life expirations”.   Both Norvell

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B2B Stories

Onboarding CSRA new hires the right way—right away!

Companies face challenges with hiring new employees and retaining those they have. Sometimes, how an employee is brought on board can make all the difference. Employers from Child Enrichment and PC Techware were among attendees who appreciated the lessons shared by TeKay Brown-Taylor, President and CEO of Brownstone Mediation Services. It was presented by the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce at its Third Thursday event on October 16. Her topic was “Beyond the Job Posting: How to Keep Employees Engaged and Loyal.” Brown-Taylor said there are important steps that need

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B2B Stories

Unique career education and training starts tomorrow!

Augusta University (AU) is beginning a series of workshops to help military veterans, active duty members, and their families understand what local programs and services are available. The program is called the Military Community Engagement Series. It starts on October 21 with the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). The goal is to make AU a hub of information for the military community. “I have found that many times, students or the community may not venture into something that’s unknown,” Stefane Raulerson, AU’s Director of Military and Veteran

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