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Consumer Stories
Consumer Stories

Local Army Veteran opens second health café

Franchisee Antwaun Wade opened his second Smoothie King location at Eisenhower Crossing, 3970 Harper Franklin Blvd.  Eisenhower Crossing is located near a major intersection of Jimmie Dyess Parkway and Gordon Highway. It is anchored by Kroger and opened in 2024.  In April of 2024, Antwaun opened his first Smoothie King at the Villages at Riverwatch. “We are beyond excited about this new opportunity to serve another section of our community, especially Fort Gordon,” said Wade. The Smoothie King team celebrated over the weekend with a ribbon-cutting and party. Wade is an Army veteran, retiring

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Neil Gordon August 5, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Masters golf cart supplier adds to its’ golf client list and sustainability footprint

More than 160 electric vehicles will be shipped to Europe from a manufacturing facility in Augusta. E-Z-GO and Cushman ELiTE Series vehicles will be used at the 2026 Solheim Cup event in the Netherlands, which pits the top 12 female golfers from the United States competing on the LPGA Tour against their top European counterparts from the Ladies European Tour.  The 2026 Solheim Cup will take place from Sept. 7-13 at Bernardus Golf, a prestigious championship golf course in Cromvoirt, Netherlands, which has also hosted the European Tour’s Dutch Open.

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Neil Gordon August 5, 2026 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Simon Says: Big swing in jobs in Augusta

The Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had the highest employment growth of all Georgia metro areas in 2025.  Did that trend continue from January to June of this year? The answer is a resounding “no.” In the first six months of 2026, employment in Augusta fell by 300 to 253,900 in June. The state of Georgia, including non-metro areas, added 5,800 jobs so far this year, and 5,200 of them were in Atlanta. Other metro areas to add jobs were Athens and Columbus, both +700, while Valdosta added 600. Warner

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe, AU Hull College of Business Economics Professor August 4, 2026 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Pet Care Company building new store on Furys Ferry Road

There’s another friend in the pet business to make sure your dog or cat can thrive and stay alive for many years to come. Soon, you and your pets will be invited to a grand opening. An experienced professional and pet care lover is opening at 229 Furys Ferry Road and the Riverwatch Parkway in the Furys Ferry Station. A few restaurants used to be in the space, so there is a patio that will be utilized for pets and their owners. The locally owned boutique offers curated essentials for

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Neil Gordon August 4, 2026 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Members to receive a nice surprise in their August bill

It’s not every day that consumers get money back by doing business with a successful organization. That’s the case this year for members of a CSRA cooperative. Many of the 30,000 utility members of Jefferson Energy Cooperative will be sharing in a return of more than $4.5 Million. These capital credits will be divided amongst the members based on their electricity usage, if they had service in 2025. Most will receive the credits on their August bill. Traditionally, JEC retires capital credits on an average rotation of approximately 25 years.

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Neil Gordon July 24, 2026 No Comments
Consumer Stories

A new way to party like it’s 1999

Publisher’s Note: Startup Summer is the next step in Venture Lab Aiken (VLA). It is a collaboration among the Aiken Chamber of Commerce, Make Startups in theClubhou.se in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC) and South Carolina. $500,000 in seed money is available.  Music is a big part of Skyler Bates’ life. For him, part of the pleasure comes from enjoying music with friends. He is developing 432Bleu to recreate that experience by bringing in the human element. “432Bleu is a virtual concert space that prioritizes the guests’ ability

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Dana Lynn McIntyre July 24, 2026 No Comments
Awards

Augusta picked as #1 rising city in America

LinkedIn, a platform dedicated to connecting business leaders together, just released its annual survey. Some of what the CSRA takes for granted caught the attention of LinkedIn and NBC News. Those ranking cities were impressed by our top employers such as SRS, AU, and the US Army. (Photo above by Michael Holahan, Augusta University) Top industries hiring are the many CSRA hospitals and healthcare businesses, along with higher education and Electric Power Generation, such as Plant Vogtle. The median household income is $55,485, and the average home listing price is

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Neil Gordon July 23, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Play Ball with technology

Publisher’s Note: Today is part four of our ongoing Startup Summer series. It’s part of Venture Lab Aiken (VLA), organized by the Aiken Chamber of Commerce, Make Startups in theClubhou.se in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC) and South Carolina Research Authority. $500,000 in seed money will be distributed. The ABS system started this year in Major League Baseball.  In the future, baseball fans and coaches can use a different device being developed to work in the strike zone. It is called PlateLogic, and Paul Musick came up

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Dana Lynn McIntyre July 23, 2026 No Comments
Awards/Celebrations

Hurricane Helene and 40 years of serving the CSRA

Hi-Tech Power Systems, Inc has been catching its collective breath since the Fall of 2024 through their 40th Anniversary in the Summer of 2026. “The hurricane was quite the experience. We thought the ice storm of 2014 was bad, but it was nothing compared to Helene, “ said President Beverly Whiteside.  Our office had damage as well as some of our employees’ homes, so our access was limited, but our employees stepped up and did what they could for our customers.” This photo indicates what Hi-Tech techs encountered at various homes

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Neil Gordon July 21, 2026 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Simon Says: Minimum Wage

I was at an economic conference in Denver two weeks ago and went to a session on the minimum wage (so you don’t have to!). Economic theory is clear on the effects of hiking the minimum wage: employers demand less workers and so employment falls. Unfortunately, the empirical observations are not as clear-cut. Some of the trouble lies in isolating the effect of minimum wage laws from other factors that affect employment, such as the general economy or competition from other firms. There are also differences in the data economists

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe, AU Hull College of Business Economics Professor July 21, 2026 No Comments
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