Education

Consumer Stories

Boost in manufacturing and nursing development programs to benefit CSRA

The U.S. Department of Labor has selected three colleges including Aiken Tech to form a consortium to develop a virtual Workforce Innovation Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Nursing — two sectors the agency identified as priority workforce needs. This comes with a large grant from the DOL to accomplish the task. Piedmont Technical College (PTC) and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College (OCtech) are also included in a grant to address the needs of those two sectors. Combined, the three technical colleges are expected to have a big impact on the CSRA and

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Consumer Stories

Technical college offers forklift training program to local inmates

A group of local inmates is now eligible for jobs in the logistics industry, thanks to a partnership between the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and Augusta Technical College. The college recently offered a two-day continuing education forklift certification course to 12 men who were about to be released from jail in Augusta. The detention center paid for the program. The college’s President, Dr. Jermaine Whirl said they chose a program that could be taught at the jail. He said the inmates were very excited about completing that program, which combined

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ABD Extra

More large-scale development headed to North Augusta

A more than 1,700-acre development is reportedly coming to the North Augusta area. Information surfaced with a post on the Twitter feed of Eureka Earth, an Augusta-based company specializing in “shared robotics and autonomous systems.” Its social media and website feature aerial photos, primarily of the Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters tournament. The tweet included a name for the development, Cypress Shoals, and a link to the developer’s website. The website for Cypress Shoals said it will be a multi-generational, mixed-use development that will include residential lots, condominiums

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Consumer Stories

Will Artificial Intelligence take your job?

In case you missed Richard Brashear’s column last week, here is the link. How GPT-4 can boost your business marketing. Read it and read it again. He has done several columns about AI capabilities and the impact on marketing your business, but this article sent me down a research rabbit hole. As Brashear has reported, AI has revolutionized the digital marketing industry. In simple terms GPT-4 is an artificial intelligence model that is used to generate text, most of which comes from absorbing the internet, all of it. “From a

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Consumer Stories

Local company hosts book drive to benefit students

For many children, reading over the summer sounds like punishment, but one local business owner hopes to change that with help from the business community. Tim Cox, the owner of Leisure Time Pressure Wash & Restoration located on Columbia Road in Martinez, is hosting a book drive this month and next month with the goal of providing one book to every student at Warren Road Elementary School in Augusta, where his wife, Tiffany teaches. He said the school’s enrollment is about 600 students. “We figured we have to come up

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Consumer Stories

Local business owners honor father’s legacy by establishing entrepreneurial scholarship fund

Wilkes Goolsby is honoring his father’s legacy by helping local high school students achieve the dream of business ownership. Goolsby is co-owner of Goolsby’s, a popular family restaurant that specializes in Southern cuisine located at 4460 Washington Road, Suite 9 in Evans. Every year on March 24, the restaurant hosts Richard Goolsby Day, which honors his father, the restaurant’s founder who died in a car accident on Feb. 10, 2021. March 24 was his birthday. On Friday, Goolsby’s celebrated the second annual Richard Goolsby Day. All sales and donations collected

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B2B Stories

Local college addresses nursing shortage with new building

Out with the old, in with the new. The demolition of one of Aiken Technical College’s oldest buildings has begun, marking a significant time in the College’s history. It also marks the future as one of the building projects includes the construction of a new Nursing Education Center. As ABD has previously reported, the nursing shortage is a concern in the CSRA. Aiken Tech has added evening nursing classes and now plans to address the growing need for nurses in the CSRA through new construction. In the next few months,

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Consumer Stories

Construction begins for Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative

A 60,000-square-foot facility, expected to drive sustainability of the manufacturing sector, is in the works for USC Aiken. The project is a partnership between USC Aiken, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM), and North Wind Construction Services, LLC (NWCS). The AMC will combine the capabilities of the DOE National Laboratories, industrial enterprises, and educational institutions to drive practical, cost-effective solutions to many of the most challenging environmental cleanup and energy security challenges while facilitating the long-term sustainability of the manufacturing sector. The new facility will be

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B2B Stories

Thoughts from the General: Surrounded by excellence, insights from Emory University

Next month, I will have the pleasure of teaching executive leadership at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. These Emory scholars are pursuing a Master of Business Administration at one of the highest-ranking business schools in the world. The following is feedback from a similar session which was conducted last year. During the question-and-answer period, I realized that I was surrounded by amazing folks—most of whom were smarter than me. The questions were sharp. No one chose to give a mini-speech. Professor Jeff Rosensweig was my host. Jeff has been

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B2B Stories

Job training and placement for military earns award for local college

Underemployment is one of the greatest issues faced by returning veterans — and by their spouses, who often lose ground through constant relocations. Aiken Technical College has earned a national award for programs aimed at reversing that trend and helping them prepare for their education and career. Aiken Tech has been presented with a Military Friendly® School award by Viqtory’s Military Friendly® brand. This is the 12th consecutive year the College has received the designation. The College also received the Military Friendly® School gold award for exceeding standards. Final ratings

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