Georgia Trend Daily – March 18, 2020
March 18, 2020 WABE 90.1
Georgia Power, AT&T Among Providers Suspending Disconnections During Coronavirus Pandemic
Lauren Booker reports that Metro Atlanta service providers are offering relief for those affected by the coronavirus outbreak. This comes in handy for locals because the coronavirus pandemic is keeping many inside their homes due to social distancing measures.
March 18, 2020 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Macon’s welcome addition
Mary Ann DeMuth reports, shortly before COVID-19 came to Georgia, Irving Consumer Products (ICP) officially opened its new tissue plant in Macon. The $470-million facility is employing more than 200 workers who are producing paper towels and bathroom tissue, much-needed commodities these days.
March 18, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta’s low-wage workers: most at risk, first to be cut in crisis
Michael E. Kanell reports that as virus-linked actions slam the brakes on the metro Atlanta economy, the first to be hurt are the workers who are already in the most precarious positions, earning low wages and living paycheck to paycheck. The impact will be bad for workers and their employers as well as for the broader economy, according to experts.
March 18, 2020 Atlanta Business Chronicle
UPS to assist White House with drive-up coronavirus testing sites
Eric Mandel reports that UPS says the White House has tapped the company to assist with planning and logistics for a yet-to-be finalized coronavirus testing operation. United Parcel Service Inc. said the administration’s Rapid-Response Taskforce for Coronavirus Testing Sites reached out for support in opening and operating drive-up, community-based testing sites in several cities for the widespread COVID-19 virus.
March 18, 2020 The Center Square
Report: Georgia has 21st-lowest effective tax rate in U.S.
Jason Schaumburg reports that Georgia is the 21st-friendliest tax state among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to a new report from the personal finance website WalletHub. In its report, WalletHub determined an overall effective tax rate by adding together a state’s effective tax rate in four areas: income, property, vehicle and sales/use taxes.
March 18, 2020 GlobalAtlanta.com
Georgia’s ‘State of Trade’ in Flux as Outbreak Clouds Outlook
Trevor Williams reports that last Thursday, as a panel of trade experts took the stage, it was still unclear how Georgia‘s economy would be just a few days later. For the most part, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and World Trade Center Atlanta’s State of Trade breakfast was looking back at a year where Georgia posted a 1.5 percent increase in exports and a record $143.3 billion total in trade, even as the U.S. as a whole saw exports decline at a time marked by trade spats.
March 18, 2020 Rome News-Tribune
Ball adding fourth manufacturing line for new smaller cans
Doug Walker reports that there were lots of smiles, but no handshakes, when Ball Container revealed plans Tuesday to add additional manufacturing capacity to its operations in Shannon. The announcement came during a meeting of the Rome-Floyd County Development Authority.
March 18, 2020 Athens Banner-Herald
UGA, other Georgia colleges cancel spring graduation ceremonies
Lee Shearer reports that the University of Georgia has called off its spring graduation exercises, scheduled for May 8, officials announced Tuesday. At least two other Georgia public colleges, Georgia Southern University and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, also said they would call off graduation exercises. Graduating students will still receive diplomas.
March 18, 2020 Brunswick News
Belk, Cumberland Island ferry close due to virus concerns
Staff reports that the first major store in Brunswick announced today it is closing due to concerns over COVID-19 and public safety, and in Camden County, the operator of the ferry in St. Marys shuttling tourists to and from Cumberland Island is suspending service. Suspension of the ferry service will deal a blow to the tourism industry in St. Marys.
March 18, 2020 Gainesville Times
Georgia limited to 100 COVID-19 tests a day, state officials hope to double by week’s end
Megan Reed reports that COVID-19 testing in Georgia remains relatively limited, but the state is working to expand its testing capabilities, state officials said in a press conference call Tuesday. In January, the only testing available in the country was through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health.
March 18, 2020 Cherokee Tribune News-Daily, Capitol Beat News
Gov. Kemp signs $27.5 billion mid-year budget
Dave Williams reports that Gov. Brian Kemp signed the fiscal 2020 mid-year budget Tuesday, including a late addition of $100 million to help with Georgia’s response to coronavirus. The General Assembly passed the $27.5 billion plan covering state spending through June 30 last week shortly before suspending the 2020 legislative session indefinitely because of the coronavirus crisis.
March 18, 2020 Albany Herald, Gwinnett Daily Post
Gov. Brian Kemp: Some price gouging is happening in Georgia amid coronavirus outbreak
Curt Yeomans reports that Georgia is seeing a rise in price gouging amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19, Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters during a video conference call on Tuesday. The far-ranging update covered a wide range of topics, from medical preparedness to the impact on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
March 18, 2020 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Anyone’s race: Ossoff leads, but Democratic contest for Perdue’s seat is wide open
Greg Bluestein reports that overshadowed by Georgia’s other U.S. Senate race and overwhelmed by coronavirus, the Democratic contest for Republican David Perdue’s seat is wide-open just two months before voters head to the polls.
