Education

B2B Stories

“Achieving” success for students in the CSRA

A center that brings together nearly 30 businesses, governments, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations to give middle school students a leg up in life has opened. The Junior Achievement (JA) Discovery Center of the CSRA held its grand opening on January 11. The center is a partnership with JA, the Columbia County School District (CCSD), and the Richmond County School System (RCSS). This is JA’s 6th center in Georgia and one of 30 nationwide. John Hancock, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of Georgia, said it started with a phone

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B2B Stories

New courses at Augusta Tech can help diversify local skillsets

Skills continue to grow in the area as Augusta Technical College plans to launch three diverse programs at the start of this Spring 2024 semester. The Cyber Crime Specialist, Junior Web Developer, and Specialty Printing classes are technical certificate credit (TCC) programs. “It meets more of a specific need,” explained Dr. Tammy O’Brien, Dean of the School of Cyber and Design Media. “This is a great way for students to begin at one point, and then advance further into the degrees that we offer, that these three TCCs are actually

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B2B Stories

Schools to receive financial bump in the new year

Georgia’s public schools are in line for two different financial boosts. One is to provide funds for school safety. Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday announced the amended budget he will submit to the General Assembly when the legislative session begins in January will include more than $100 million annually to be used for school safety and security. It will provide every public school in the state $45,000 to use at the district’s discretion. “We could have a school resource officer in every school, if that’s what the locals do,” Kemp

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B2B Stories

Richmond County schools leaders outline legislative priorities

Richmond County School System (RCSS) leadership and the Board of Education laid out its priorities for local elected officials during the annual pre-legislative session. The district presented members of the local delegation, including Representatives Karlton Howard (D-District 129), Lynn Gladney (D-District 130) and Brian Prince (D-District 132, Chairman of local delegation) and Senator Harold Jones, their list of five priorities for the 2024 legislative session. The district is particularly concerned with the possible expansion of publicly funded, private school options. The district opposes the creation of any new program or

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B2B Stories

Simon Says: There’s an economic benefit to wildlife management

My son graduates from the University of Georgia (UGA) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Sciences on Friday. He has done some pretty cool stuff in his degree including collaring lions in Namibia and rocket-netting ducks in Louisiana. Next year, he starts work at the Savannah River Ecology Lab on the Savannah River Site. Wildlife management can be viewed from an economic perspective. For example, there are benefits and costs associated with game animals. Hunters enjoy the outdoors and the meat it provides. Studies of the benefit of hunting deer

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B2B Stories

Fresh start for a familiar building in Augusta

A 20th-century building that was a hub of activity in Augusta is being re-purposed for 21st-century use. The former headquarters for the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce will become an incubator for new businesses and an accelerator for exciting businesses. A partnership between Augusta Technical College (ATC) and Augusta’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will turn the building at 600 Broad Street into a microenterprise center. It will be called Accelerate Augusta. ATC President, Dr. Jermaine Whirl said the main room can be used for business owners to pitch their businesses,

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B2B Stories

CSRA colleges offer options for hungry students

If you run a business, you offer a lunch break and probably take one yourself, even if it’s a working lunch with a client. Your future employees are in college and may not have the luxury of even eating lunch. Aiken Technical College is establishing a way to help with those needs through a new student-centered food pantry thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of the CSRA. The ATC Foundation has received $13,500 to transform the College’s unused cafeteria space into the food pantry, add appropriate appliances and

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B2B Stories

Multimillion-dollar CSRA business gets help from local college and foundation

The inventory value of horses and their equipment in Aiken County is $68 million. The horse business includes stabling, saddles and bridles, feed, workout rings, riding apparel, and farrier fees, not to mention the visitors who spend money attending polo and steeplechase events. This fall, Aiken Technical College partnered with the Aiken Horse Park Foundation to create a new equine technician course through the College’s Office of Continuing Education. The inaugural cohort of students were recognized during a completion ceremony yesterday at Great Oaks Equine Assisted Programs location, 1123 Edgefield Highway

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B2B Stories

For employers, it’s a war out there!

The Georgia Chamber Foundation has issued its 4th quarter economic report, and the title, the War for Talent, sums up what the state is facing. The report looks at where Georgia stands in filling current job openings and anticipating future needs. It states that Georgia’s current workforce participation rate is about 61%, meaning 40% of adults are not engaged in the workforce. That translates to 3.2 million Georgians. At the same time, there are more than 350,000 job openings in each quarter. The Chamber Foundation says the War for Talent

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B2B Stories

Augusta Tech to facilitate hiring through Georgia’s new online portal

As one of the 22 schools in the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), Augusta Technical College (ATC) is ready to help students use the new Labor Exchange Platform (LEP). The platform, announced on Nov. 21 by Gov. Brian Kemp, is part of the state’s WorkSource Georgia program, which is administered by TCSG’s Office of Workforce Development. ATC President, Dr. Jermaine Whirl said they are waiting for some final instructions from the state to create portal access on the school’s website. “That information will be housed under our Career Services

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