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Consumer Stories

Restaurant moves from Richmond to Columbia County

A kid-friendly ice cream shop is out and an adult-oriented restaurant is in on 3830 Washington Road in the West Town Shopping Center. Munchie’s Snacks will replace Frosty Rolls, next to a long-time tenant, Little Dutch Bakery. Ramiro Galvan also owns Taqueria El Rey, a popular Mexican restaurant in the same shopping center. Galvan is also known for his community service with food donations and volunteerism to help young entrepreneurs. He also made news in the summer of 2022 when he opened Munchie’s Lab on 1022 Walton Way to satisfy

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B2B Stories

Broad Street is smokin’ with development

The off-market sale of a historic mixed-use building at 1246 Broad Street in Downtown Augusta has been announced. The property, home to upscale retailer Fireside on the ground floor and residential tenants upstairs, was purchased by an investment group represented by Meybohm Commercial. Downtown Augusta is currently experiencing a wave of new developments, including The Standard on Greene Street and the Lamar Building. These projects, along with upcoming streetscape improvements and the recently announced funding for a new James Brown Arena, are expected to increase foot traffic and make downtown living

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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

Peering into the economic outlook crystal ball

Augusta University (AU) continued a longtime tradition of putting a spotlight on the area economy over the past year and predictions for the coming year. Dr. Simon Medcalfe led the university’s annual Economic Forecast breakfast on Thursday. Medcalfe, a professor of economics at AU and contributor for the Augusta Business Daily, began with an overview of changes in types of business, percentage of employment, and population growth. Between 2004 and 2023, Medcalfe said the mixture of industries, including hospitality, healthcare, education, and manufacturing, while looking different on the surface, remain

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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

Rooted Coffeehouse expands as Alumni Cookie Dough retools

Apparently, coffee and cookie dough just don’t mix. The Evans franchisee of Alumni Cookie Dough had high hopes when she cut a deal to share space with the owners of Rooted Coffee House earlier in 2023. Recently, Jen Harpley, the ACD franchisee decided to transition out of Suite 213 at the Meybohm Building in Evans Town Center. Rooted is transitioning into more space as construction is underway for a big expansion project that will be ready in 2024. Heather Needles, co-owner of Rooted Coffeehouse said, “We’re excited to curate a

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Consumer Stories

CSRA Executive dips his toes in unchartered waters

Neil Gwynne was more known in the CSRA in a suit and tie leading 130 managers and 3,500 associates for Amazon, including at the fulfillment center in Appling. This spring and summer, you may see him work a bit more in swim trunks during his first full season as a PoolWerx franchisee. Gwynne feels like a whole new person and was candid recently during a franchisee spotlight that PoolWerx distributed nationally. “Eventually, I got tired of being in the corporate world, I really wanted a better work-life balance. Amazon isn’t

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Consumer Stories

Restaurant cracks into CSRA market

Eggs Up Grill is planning to open its 83rd location in Evans in 2024, serving up many popular breakfast items, such as omelets, breakfast sandwiches, French toast with fresh fruit, breakfast potatoes, and popular sides like bacon and sausage. Eggs Up franchisees freshen menus each season.  Eggs Up Grill will land at 1200 Town Park Lane off of North Belair Road. Jordan Trotter Commercial Real Estate represents the shopping center owner and also recruited EUG to open in the vacant 1200 square foot space. This building is located just in

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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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B2B Stories

Robust sales report kicks off Christmas buying

Gloomy predictions for a less-than-healthy holiday sales season were dispelled by a report this week from the National Retail Federation (NRF). During the five-day period from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, NRF found a record 200.4 million consumers hit stores and websites. That surpasses last year’s 196.7 million and far exceeds the NRF’s prediction of 182 million shoppers. “We attribute that turnout to a number of factors certainly,” said NRF President and CEO, Matthew Shay. “It speaks to the way consumers are feeling, but also the deals that were out

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