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Simon Says: Progress on CSRA home buying experience

In the last month of February, the interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped below 6% for the first time since fall of 2022. That, coupled with a key affordability study, is providing some good news to potential homebuyers. This decline in interest rates should provide some relief to potential homebuyers who have found housing increasingly unaffordable over the last three to four years. Housing is defined as unaffordable if housing costs (principal, interest, tax, and insurance) are greater than 30% of median income.  The graph below, which comes from

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe, AU Hull College of Business Economics Professor March 10, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

84 Scholarships, 200 Students, $260k

Businesses and individuals who give financial support to students at Aiken Technical College (ATC) were introduced to their beneficiaries. The Aiken Tech Foundation sponsored its annual breakfast, bringing together students receiving scholarships with the businesses or individuals whose financial contributions support their education. “Our students come away from this experience with a little bit of gratitude in their heart, and then our donors come away with this feeling fulfilled that they’ve done some good in the world today,” Kym Johnson, Foundation Director, told ABD. Will Williams, President and CEO of

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Dana Lynn McIntyre March 9, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Inaugural event organizers calling on support from businesses

Earth Day will look a little different this year. Businesses have an opportunity to support an organization that is dedicated to preserving a unique park near the border of North Augusta and Augusta. The North Augusta Brick Pond Park Committee, in partnership with the North Augusta Beautification Foundation, has scheduled an event calling people to visit the park near the municipal building. “We’re so gifted in North Augusta. We have 36 city parks, and we have this beautiful water feature of the Brick Pond right here in downtown,” committee member

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Dana Lynn McIntyre March 6, 2026 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Facebook’s parent company gives grants to CSRA entrepreneurs and others

As the parent company to Facebook and Instagram, Meta targets its grants to projects that support technology-centric education and community programs in communities where they have a data center. The Aiken Data Center is under construction in the Sage Mill Industrial Park. Among the grant recipients is the Make Startups Institute, an extension of MakeStartups.org, based in theClubhou.se, in collaboration with the Aiken Chamber of Commerce and Western SC. “We’ve been helping to get the Aiken Innovation District really up and running,” explained Eric Parker, co-founder of Make Startups. “We’re

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Dana Lynn McIntyre March 5, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

CSRA Businesspeople to Make Cotton Exchange A Thriving Space for Work & Fun

In September 2004, this reporter attended a huge grand re-opening of the Cotton Exchange building when Georgia Bank & Trust opened a downtown Augusta branch. After South State bought GB&T in 2017, it remained a bank until closing within the last few years as Augusta’s Riverwalk lost its luster and some businesses. Soon, Dr. Troy Akers and his wife, Nancy, will restore the historic Cotton Exchange building, after recently purchasing it. It’s reopening as corporate office space and an upscale event venue. They’ll honor the building’s legacy, which was constructed

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Neil Gordon March 4, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: Year-over-Year Growth in Metro Augusta

There are fears of inflation, but the numbers for the Augusta Leading Economic Index seem to be heading in the right direction. The Augusta Leading Economic Index (LEI) ended the year 1.8 percent higher than in December 2024.  Because of the government shutdown in the fall, the release of data for November and December was delayed until last week for some components of the LEI. Specifically, new privately owned housing units authorized increased in November and December by 21% and 17% respectively, although the total number of permits for 2025

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe, AU Hull College of Business Economics Professor March 3, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Aerospace experts land in CSRA for key conference

Aerospace experts from education, business, and the military are in Augusta this week for the Seventh Annual Innovation Xchange. The one-day event is on Thursday, March 5.  Diane Johnston, Director of Innovation and Business Development at Augusta Regional Airport (AGS), told ABD the forum will focus on new aerospace technologies. “We have panelists come from all over the world to present about some of the things that they’re doing, some of the technologies that they’re dealing with,” she said. “It allows people to get into the room and network and brainstorm

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Neil Gordon March 2, 2026 No Comments
Consumer Stories

Big changes at AU after Hurricane Helene

AU’s three campuses, Summerville, Health Science, and Forest Hills, lost thousands of trees in the hurricane-strength winds during Hurricane Helene in 2025.  The Community Foundation for the CSRA (CFCSRA) and Sand Hills Garden Club joined with Augusta University (AU) to repopulate its tree canopy following the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene. The most noticeable was the huge Deodar cedar tree at the main entrance to the Summerville campus. That is where the garden club and CFCSRA stepped in. Shell Berry, President and CEO of CFCSRA, told ABD the garden club

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Story by Dana Lynn McIntyre & Photos by Michael Holohan from AU February 27, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Company chases lofty goals in the CSRA

A bank added its third local location as part of a 160-branch expansion with emphasis on the Southeast.   The Aiken Chamber welcomed local and regional executives from Chase Bank to open its newest location at 481 Fabian Drive in the Hitchcock Plaza in Aiken near Old Navy, TJ Maxx, and other retailers. The branch is a newly constructed, standalone building, staffed by employees from Aiken and nearby communities and featuring both a drive-up ATM and a vestibule ATM for added convenience.  Aiken Branch Manager Brandee Gonzalez shared insight with guests during the morning get-together with

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Neil Gordon February 26, 2026 No Comments
B2B Stories

Simon Says: What County Had the Highest Per Capital Personal Income?

Did residents in Aiken, Columbia, and Edgefield County make the most money? In 2024, Columbia County had the highest per capita personal income in the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), and McDuffie County had the largest increase over 2023. Personal income is defined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis as “the income received by, or on behalf of, all persons from all sources: from participation as laborers in production, from owning a home or business, from the ownership of financial assets, and from government and business in the form of

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Dr. Simon Medcalfe, AU Hull College of Business Economics Professor February 25, 2026 No Comments
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