Editor’s Note: Wes Hennings never met a meal he walked away from and is an opinionated eater! Each Thursday he shares the results of a business lunch he’s had with a colleague as a way to advise our business community on the good, bad and the tasty across the CSRA. He doesn’t let ABD or the restaurant know where he is going and his opinions are his own. He grades the restaurants he visits on a 1-5 scale with “5” being outstanding. We call this our “Real Business Lunch Review”.
Those creative “kids” over at Peak Talent Solutions have done it again. They have managed to find some humor in our volatile employment situation in the CSRA, things are just not the way they always were.
After Dr. Simon Medcalfe recently delivered his annual Economic Outlook Forecast, the numbers changed again, making it even more expensive for all of us to buy gifts this holiday season. Publisher Neil Gordon has more in this video minute.
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
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
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
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!
“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
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
