The Development Authority of Richmond County, which focuses on industry, is now seriously talking about whether to hire someone to concentrate on retail recruitment. The possibility came up at the board’s meeting Thursday.
Executive Director Walter Sprouse said such a recruiter would put an emphasis on south Augusta, where there is room to grow.
One of the hang-ups is coming up with the money to pay such a person. The development authority gets its funding through the industrial revenue bonds it issues and administers, but it can’t do bonds for retail projects, hence no real revenue stream.
“So, that means that our discussions will be with local government on how the possible new position can be funded,” Sprouse said.
AZZIZ TALKS FED: Ricardo Azziz, the president of Georgia Health Sciences University, is talking shop with the Atlanta Fed. The podcast of the discussion on the medical economy will be available on the Fed’s Web site when released this week.
The podcast can be found here.
LOGISTICS: Augusta-based RBW Logistics is going to run the warehouse of a specialty consumer-goods company in Savannah, Ga., near the port.
RBW maintains eight facilities and more than 1.5 million square feet of warehouse space in the Augusta area.
FIFTH OPEN: The fifth location of Georgialina Physical Therapy Associates is open in Aiken, 452 Fabian Drive.
Georgialina Physical Therapy employs more than 30 people and also has locations in North Augusta, west Augusta, south Augusta and Evans
CUSTOMERS LIKE THE STAGECOACH: Mergers generally have a negative effect on customer satisfaction, but Wells Fargo was able to maintain the top spot that Wachovia held in the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index for large banks. Wachovia was No. 1 in this index for eight years straight.
The survey was conducted over the summer by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
