August 2018 Features

  • Sanford Bishop Tackles Federal Budget Deficit with Columbus Residents

    August 30, 2018

    Columbus residents tried their hand at balancing the federal budget during a deficit reduction workshop held by Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), in cooperation with the nonpartisan Concord Coalition, at the National Infantry Museum.

  • Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Establish Partnership

    August 30, 2018

    On Tuesday, the Georgia Chamber and Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce announced the launch of their strategic partnership as their newest initiative to promote inclusive economic growth and development.

  • Georgia Tourism Industry Professionals Honored at Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference

    August 30, 2018

    Several of the state’s top tourism professionals were recognized at the 2018 Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference in Atlanta. Hosted by the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, the annual industry event brought together more than 400 tourism industry professionals from across the state.

  • CSU’s Jim Blanchard Leadership Honors Neely Young with 10th Annual Blanchard Award

    August 28, 2018

    Georgia Trend’s Publisher Emeritus Neely Young received the 10th Annual Blanchard Award for Outstanding Stewardship and Ethics in Business Monday night at the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum, hosted by the Leadership Institute at Columbus State University.

  • LG Casey Cagle Names Georgia’s College & Career Academy of the Year, Business Partner of the Year

    August 28, 2018

    Lt. Governor Casey Cagle concluded his Eleventh Annual Business and Education Summit, uniting education and business leaders from across the state. Recognizing the successful partnership between the school system, local industry, and community leaders, Cagle named Golden Isles CCA as the 2018 College and Career Academy of the Year. In recognition of the company’s innovative partnerships with more than 20 College and Career Academies across our state, Lt. Governor Cagle named Georgia Power as Business Partner of the Year for 2018.

  • New Home for Columbus State's Film Program Opens Following Announcement of New Degree

    August 27, 2018

    Columbus State University is embarking on some exciting endeavors to increase opportunities for students interested in film production. Flat Rock Studio, a former warehouse owned by W.C. Bradley Co. and the new home for the Columbus State University’s television and film production program, opened with a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the 180,000 square foot studio located on an 80 acre lot on Jameson Road.

  • Governor Deal Announces More Than $40M in Development Awards to 60 Communities

    August 27, 2018

    Gov. Nathan Deal announced that 60 Georgia communities will receive a total of more than $40 million in federal assistance to help grow their local economies. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated the funding to Georgia’s Community Development Block Grant program, which is administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

  • CSU’s Leadership Institute to Bring 2018 Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum to Columbus August 27th-28th

    August 24, 2018

    For the 13th year, the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum, hosted by the Leadership Institute at Columbus State University, will bring a lineup of the best and brightest minds in the world to Columbus. This year’s event, themed “Art of Leadership” features leaders in various sectors, including business, education, technology, art, music, film and military.

  • Georgia Banks Earn $2.1B during First Half of 2018

    August 24, 2018

    The 175 banks based in Georgia earned $2.1 billion in the first six months of 2018, according to data released by the FDIC Thursday. Net income for the period was up 31 percent over the same time in 2017.

  • Georgia State Transportation Board Elects New Leadership

    August 20, 2018

    The State Transportation Board elected its new executive leadership team during its monthly meeting on August 16th. Ann R. Purcell was elected unanimously as chairman; Tim Golden was elected vice chairman; and Rudy Bowen was elected secretary. The new positions are effective immediately. Board elections are held annually to ensure that all regions of the state are represented at the executive leadership level.

  • 11th Annual Southern Automotive Conference Makes Georgia Debut, October 3rd–5th

    August 17, 2018

    The Georgia Automotive Manufacturers Association is proud to host the Southern Automotive Conference at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Oct. 3 – 5, 2018. The internationally-recognized event brings together thought leaders, Original Equipment Manufacturers, suppliers and service providers to discuss the latest innovations driving the industry forward.

  • Speaker Ralston & House Rural Development Council Leadership Announce Creation of Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation

    August 15, 2018

    House Speaker David Ralston and the leadership of the House Rural Development Council announced the creation of the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation. The RDC is co-chaired by State Representatives Terry England (R-Auburn) and Jay Powell (R-Camilla). State Representative Sam Watson (R-Moultrie) serves as vice chair of the council.

  • Inside The Ongoing Ugly Door Contest with Edward Gaffney III President of the Overhead Door Company of Columbus

    August 14, 2018

    Georgia CEO sat down with Edward (Ed) J. Gaffney III, owner and president of Automated Door Ways Inc. and Overhead Door Company of Columbus, GA. During our one-on-one, Gaffney takes us inside his business of providing area residents and business owners with new garage doors that not only improve aesthetics and property values, but now come with the latest technology to allow remote function to open, close and receive deliveries when no one is available to sign for packages.

  • Charlie Harper: Talk Of I-14 Grows – But Still Just Talk

    August 14, 2018

    Roughly 25 miles of Texas interstate highway has started making a stir in social media in Georgia and Alabama. Interstate 14 currently runs between Fort Hood and Belton Texas, just north of the Austin metro area. A few students from Georgia and Alabama operating at the “Youth Infrastructure Coalition” have dusted off old plans and are promoting a corridor that would run from Texas to Augusta Georgia, passing through Columbus and Macon along the way.

  • Labor Commissioner Butler to Host Employer Summit in Columbus on August 22nd

    August 10, 2018

    State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler announced that a business summit called Employers in The Know will be held in Columbus on Wednesday, Aug. 22. The event is another in a series of 12 being held throughout the state.

  • Columbus 2025 Kicks Off New Initiative to Strengthen Region’s Talent Pipeline

    August 09, 2018

    Today, Columbus 2025 will kick off a strategic planning process to engage employers, educators, and other community partners in a plan to strengthen the region’s talent pipeline. More than 50 organizations including businesses, educational institutions and workforce organizations will form the new Talent Coalition with the goal of creating a roadmap for talent development, retention, attraction and growth.

  • Significant Progress Made on Vogtle 3 & 4 Construction

    August 09, 2018

    Georgia Power announced that Southern Nuclear has made significant progress on construction of Vogtle 3 & 4 since assuming project management on behalf of the project co-owners (Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities) from Westinghouse following its bankruptcy in 2017.

  • Columbus Water Works Recognized as Utility of the Future

    August 08, 2018

    Columbus Water Works has received this esteemed national recognition by the Water Environment Federation as a Utility of the Future Today 2018 for Watershed Stewardship. The Utility of the Future program seeks to promote and recognize utilities that are building on a foundation of excellent management and help small, medium, and large utilities transform their operations over time.

  • AT&T Announces an Investment of More Than $5.3B in Georgia Networks During 2015-2017

    August 08, 2018

    AT&T has invested nearly $5.3 billion in their Georgia wireless and wired networks during 2015-2017. These investments have boosted reliability, coverage, speed and overall performance for residents and businesses. They also improve critical services that support public safety and first responders.

  • Recap: Georgia Chamber of Commerce Hosts Annual Congressional Luncheon

    August 08, 2018

    On Tuesday, August 21st, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual Congressional Luncheon at the Marriott City Center in Macon. With over 1,500 industry leaders and elected officials in attendance, gubernatorial candidates discussed issues surrounding economic prosperity and the state’s business climate.

  • Survey: One-third of Americans Thought about Starting a Business Last Year

    August 07, 2018

    LendingTree, the nation's leading online loan marketplace, today released its survey of aspiring small business owners, as the company celebrates a new milestone for its small business vertical – surpassing $1 billion in loan volume through LendingTree's small business marketplace.

  • Global Commerce Generates $5.56B in Investments in Past Year

    August 03, 2018

    Gov. Nathan Deal announced that the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce Division helped create a total of 27,373 new jobs during FY 18, generating $5.56 billion in investments. This growth is the result of a record-breaking 419 expansion or relocation projects throughout the state.

  • Final Defense Bill Includes More Than 30 Georgia Priorities

    August 02, 2018

    As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a negotiator for the final defense bill, U.S. Senator David Perdue (R-GA) praises final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. Senator Perdue helped secured more than 30 provisions of importance to Georgia in the annual defense bill, which now heads to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

  • Georgia World Congress Center Authority Breaks Ground on Congress Center Expansion Project

    August 01, 2018

    Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority’s Board of Governors officially broke ground on the Georgia World Congress Center’s first major expansion since 2002. The $55 million expansion project, a component of the Authority’s 2020 Vision strategic plan, features a new 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall affixed between the convention center’s Buildings B and C that, once complete, will create over one million square feet of contiguous exhibition space.

  • AG Chris Carr Reveals Georgia’s Top Consumer Complaints for 2017

    August 01, 2018

    Attorney General Chris Carr announced Georgia’s top consumer complaints for 2017. This announcement falls on the heels of the latest report from the annual survey of state and local consumer agencies conducted by Consumer Federation of America. Georgia was one of forty agencies from twenty-three states that participated in the survey.