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Consumer Stories
Consumer Stories

Local tourism marketing agency celebrates milestone

Destination Augusta, which helps the local tourism and hospitality industries by attracting visitors and promoting the CSRA, celebrated its 25th anniversary in December. Each year, these industries generate more than $1 billion in revenue and support over 20,000 jobs in the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area. Much of that revenue comes from visitor spending. “We have achieved this milestone through creativity, perseverance, and the hard work and determination of so many professional staff members, the many leaders on our Board of Directors, and committed partners and stakeholders,” says Bennish Brown, Destination

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Josh Heath December 22, 2021 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Credit union feeds local hospital workers

For the past 18 months, many local hospital employees have faced unimaginable stress dealing with the pandemic. SRP Federal Credit Union has helped by providing meals to more than 1,000 of these employees through its Random Acts of Kindness program. From Friday, Nov. 26 through Sunday, Dec. 19, the credit union provided either meals or gift cards to workers at some CSRA hospitals, including University Hospital and Aiken Regional Medical Centers. At University Hospital in Augusta, SRP provided 1,000 meal tickets for employees, while at Aiken Regional, 160 night and

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Josh Heath December 21, 2021 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Mondays with Rick: How to recover from bad service

Editor’s Note: With staff shortages abounding in all areas of hospitality, there are more and more “service leaks” that are affecting businesses in the CSRA and elsewhere. Recently, Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of AU’s Hull College of Business, grabbed a meal at a Washington Road restaurant with his family en route to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He had poor experiences at the start of each customer engagement, and only one of the hospitality companies recovered enough to his satisfaction. This conversation was edited for brevity and clarity. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

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Neil Gordon December 20, 2021 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Augusta BizBitz

Are they “winging it”? Wing Stop (or should I say “Thigh Stop”) will continue our apparent insatiable need for some form of fried chicken. A local franchisee is preparing to open another restaurant in the CSRA, this time at the busy Kroger Shopping Center in Evans. What’s amazing to me, is how Wing Stop is growing in the face of exorbitant pricing increases. Have you seen the cost of chicken wings these days? One of my favorite pizza places, charges $1 a piece. Some restaurants are about $17 a dozen!

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Neil Gordon December 20, 2021 No Comments
Cyber

Georgia Cyber Center visionary warns medical community of threats

“It doesn’t matter how big or small your organization is, the cyber threat is real and doesn’t discriminate,” said Heather Roszkowski, the leader of the Cybersecurity and Information System of Augusta University and AU Health, as she addressed a standing room only crowd of about 200 doctors, nurses, practice managers and support staff from the local community on December 14th in Columbia County. Patrick Reynolds (see above) of Cross Link Consulting introduced Roszkowski, the visionary for the Cyber Defense and Enterprise Department housed in Building II of the Georgia Cyber

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Neil Gordon December 17, 2021 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Real Talk Real Estate: Numbers never lie!

As 2021 quickly comes to a close, now would be a great time to look at some of our local sales statistics. When I get the chance to analyze what is happening in our market, it brings a great excitement and hope for the future here in our community. Truthfully, so much of my profession is merely based around opinion, it is nice to see some real time statistics. First of all, I want to make sure everyone knows my numbers are based on residential sales only and from our

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Shawna Woodward, Re/Max Reinvented Evans December 17, 2021 No Comments
B2B Podcasting

Real Talk Real Estate: Investing

It is a hot real estate market for real estate sellers and real estate investors like Paul Myers of Myers House Buyers. In today’s investor update, Paul talks “flipping” on TV vs. real life, how to find good deals and what to do after you close!

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Paul Myers December 17, 2021 No Comments
Consumer Stories

A grieving mom finds the sweet after the sour by redefining the art of baking

This journey for Amber Connor has been bittersweet. She had a great career as a personal trainer, a loving husband/business partner, a young son and another baby on the way. At the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, though, the gym where she worked shut down indefinitely, and she had to shift. She began making and transporting healthy breakfasts and desserts to clients, family and friends who wanted to stay on track with their nutrition goals. It became an unexpected source of income when her regular paycheck stopped. “This business started

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Monique Williams December 17, 2021 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Local gym helps members manage neurological symptoms

Josephine Mack was devastated when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but she has found regular exercise helps her manage her symptoms. Since 2018, Mack has been a member of Day One Fitness – an 8,000-square-foot gym designed specifically for people diagnosed with either Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease located at 257 Beech Island Avenue in Beech Island. “The first day I came here, I felt so much love,” she says. “They couldn’t have a better class.” Mack, who retired from the Richmond County School System after 42 years as a

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Josh Heath December 17, 2021 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Training program to benefit local construction companies

Ben McGhee (pictured at right) works for a local construction company and has been trying to find a pre apprenticeship program for his employees. McGhee – Plumbing Superintendent for Gold Mech in Augusta, was excited to learn more about the Construction Ready program, which prepares Georgia residents for a variety of skilled construction jobs, such as welding, landscaping, and roofing. He and representatives from other local construction companies attended an Employer Roundtable session at the Augusta Public Defender’s Office on Wednesday, Dec. 15 and says the 20-day intensive training program

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Josh Heath December 16, 2021 No Comments
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