Features
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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.
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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.
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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.
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CEO Activism in 2018: Half of Americans Say CEO Activism Influences Government
July 31, 2018
Significantly more Americans in 2018 believe that CEOs who speak out on hotly debated current issues influence the decisions and actions of government (48 percent vs. 38 percent in 2017). This is according to CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, a survey of 1,006 adult Americans.
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Georgia’s Disability Employment Initiative Receives National Recognition for Demonstrating Best Practice
July 26, 2018
Georgia’s Disability Employment Initiative received national recognition this week by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy for demonstrating best practices and delivering superior service.
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Health Care Company That Owns St. Francis Hospital is Being Sold to Private Equity Firm
July 25, 2018
LifePoint Health, Inc. and RCCH HealthCare Partners, which is owned by certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to merge.
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Synovus to Acquire FCB Financial Holdings, Inc. for $2.9 Billion
July 24, 2018
Synovus Financial Corp. and FCB Financial Holdings, Inc. today jointly announced their entry into a definitive merger agreement under which Synovus will acquire FCB Financial Holdings, Inc., owner of Florida Community Bank, Florida’s largest community bank.
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Industry Bus Tour Connects Educators with Industry
July 19, 2018
The 2nd annual Industry Workforce Bus Tour for regional education leaders will be held today in partnership with Columbus 2025, the Greater Columbus GA Chamber of Commerce, and the Muscogee County School District.
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Georgia Lottery Transfers More than $1.14B to Education
July 19, 2018
Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that the Georgia Lottery Corp. transferred its fiscal year 2018 profits, a total of $1,143,514,000, to the State Treasury’s Lottery for Education Account. This is the largest annual transfer on record, bringing the total funding raised for education programs to more than $19.8 billion during the 25-year history of the Georgia Lottery.
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How The Gig Economy Could Aid Planning for Older Adult and Disability Services in Georgia
July 18, 2018
It is well-known that the baby-boom generation is aging, with about 10,000 individuals turning 65 each day. This generation has the longest life expectancy to date and benefits from advances in health care and technology. However, this generation is also more disabled, dealing with more chronic health conditions and managing more prescription medications than previous generations.
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Young Gamechangers to Present Big Ideas to Albany on August 10th
July 16, 2018
Since the beginning of the year 48 of Georgia’s brightest young professionals have researched Albany’s history, met with community leaders, toured campuses and neighborhoods, visited recreation areas, and re-imagined downtown in their quest to come up with big ideas and innovative solutions to some of the area’s most persistent challenges. Their hard work will be revealed when they present their final recommendations to the community on Friday, August 10th at Albany State University.
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First Building of $100 Million Georgia Cyber Center Opens in Augusta
July 11, 2018
Gov. Nathan Deal yesterday attended the opening of The Hull McKnight Building at The Georgia Cyber Center, a first-of-its-kind collaborative cybersecurity center located in Augusta. The $100 million Georgia Cyber Center is the single largest investment in a cybersecurity facility by a state government to-date, with the aim of strengthening the state of Georgia’s position as a national leader in cybersecurity.
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Columbus Interactive Media Fest Offers Glimpse at the South’s Game Industry
July 10, 2018
Columbus State University will host the third annual Columbus Interactive Media Fest on Saturday, July 14th. The event will feature keynote speakers, networking, and lunch with professionals in the gaming industry and those interested in a career in the field.
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Georgia Council for the Arts Awards Grant Funding to 132 Organizations
July 10, 2018
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) announced the recipients of its Partner, Project and Arts Education grants for fiscal year 2019. One hundred and thirty-two organizations throughout the state were collectively awarded more than $1 million in funding.
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In Era Of Government Scarcity, Public-Private Partnerships Bridge Community Needs
July 05, 2018
Solving problems like poverty, or inequities in housing, education or healthcare, is an expensive undertaking, and the gap between what’s required and what’s actually available, especially from public resource pools, is dramatic and widening.
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Summer Travel Report: Trending International Destinations in Every State
July 05, 2018
A new report from InsureMyTrip ranks the top trending international destinations for summer travelers state by state. The data shows twenty-three states favor trips to the United Kingdom, while other states prefer visiting Canada, Mexico or Italy. Results are based on all 2018 travel insurance purchases for international trips with June, July or August departures.
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Hands-Free Law Will Become Effective on July 1st
June 29, 2018
House Bill 673, also known as the “Hands-Free Georgia Act,” will become effective on July 1, 2018. The legislation was introduced during the 2018 Legislative Session, passed both the Senate and House and was signed by Governor Nathan Deal on May 2nd.
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Columbus 2025 Hires New Executive Director
June 28, 2018
After a vigorous selection process, the Columbus 2025 Implementation Committee has named Tabetha Getz as the new Executive Director.
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Hamilton Relay Opens New Relay Center in Columbus
June 28, 2018
Hamilton Relay, a division of Hamilton Telecommunications based in Aurora, Nebraska, has opened a new Relay call center in Columbus, Georgia. The new center, which processes captioned telephone calls for individuals who are hard of hearing, began training classes and operations in April.
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Auburn Mayor Linda Blechinger Elected President of GMA
June 28, 2018
Auburn Mayor Linda Blechinger was elected president of the Georgia Municipal Association during the association’s annual meeting in Savannah on Sunday, June 24th. The city of Auburn has maintained its old southern charm while evolving to attract businesses and provide valued amenities to its residents. Community members, local and state leaders credit much of this redevelopment success to Blechinger.
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How to Develop A Connected, State-Wide Innovation Ecosystem
June 27, 2018
Most entrepreneurs are jacks-of-all-trades who are equipped with the knowledge and abilities to solve business problems as they arise, but there are some obstacles that require a more specialized industry-centric approach. These are the challenges that keep business owners up at night because they don’t have the in-house expertise or resources necessary to develop a solution.
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Aflac Recognized as One of America's 50 Most Community-Minded Companies
June 26, 2018
Aflac announced that Points of Light has named Aflac to its 2018 Civic 50 list. According to their website, Points of Light is the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service. The Civic 50 provides a national standard for superior corporate citizenship and showcases how companies can use their time, skills and other resources to improve the communities in which they do business. The award recognizes Aflac as one of the most community-minded companies in the United States.
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Charlie Harper: Transit Moves Beyond Atlanta
June 26, 2018
Last week Governor Nathan Deal assembled state leaders at Georgia’s Capitol for an announcement. The State would be contributing $100 Million toward building Bus Rapid Transit on Georgia 400 through North Fulton County. The money will leverage $184 Million in Federal Funds granted to build express lanes from I-285 to McFarland Road, bringing traffic relief to one of Georgia’s fastest growing and most congested corridors.
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Georgia Power Named Utility Communicator of the Year by UCI
June 25, 2018
Georgia Power has been recognized by Utility Communicators International as Communicator of the Year and took home the Best in Show award among 17 others in the annual Better Communications Competition held June 21st, in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Georgia Lottery Corp. Celebrates 25th Anniversary
June 21, 2018
The Georgia Lottery Corp. marked its 25th anniversary during a ceremony Wednesday at the Georgia State Capitol. Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin was joined by Gov. Nathan Deal to commemorate the occasion, which was a celebration of the Georgia Lottery, Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program.