Georgia Trend Daily – June 28, 2021
June 28, 2021 Macon Telegraph
Macon nonprofit receives $1 million to help fund women, BIPOC entrepreneurs
Jenna Eason reports that NewTown Macon announced earlier this week that the Phil J. and Alice S. Sheridan Foundation pledged $1 million, which will help start Middle Georgia’s first Community Development Financial Institution called NewTown Loans that will help underserved real estate developers and entrepreneurs. The fund has $14 million to use towards the economic revitalization of Macon, and entrepreneurs can find information about applying for the loans at www.newtownmacon.com/loans.
Credit: Robert W. Gaines II
June 28, 2021 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Catching Up With… Dana Rickman
Susan Percy reports, earlier this year, Dana Rickman became president of GPEE, the nonpartisan research and advocacy organization founded by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Economic Developers Association; she was formerly vice president and research and policy director.
June 28, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Federal grant to pay for tech training in high-poverty part of Atlanta
Ty Tagami reports, a west Atlanta nonprofit has been awarded $5.4 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to train 280 people in web development and cybersecurity over four years. The City of Refuge, near Bankhead and Vine City — two Atlanta neighborhoods known for high rates of poverty and crime — will provide the free training to high school graduates via two organizations. DigitalCrafts offers software development and UX design boot camps, and the Carolina Cyber Center of Montreat College prepares cybersecurity workers.
June 28, 2021 Savannah Morning News
Effingham Health rebrands to highlight expanded services
Mary Landers reports, when she started as CEO of Effingham Hospital in Springfield five years ago, Fran Witt got some less than encouraging feedback. “I remember when I first started, I was receiving emails on the website that (said) ‘I wouldn’t come to that hospital’ and ‘I’m bypassing the hospital.’
June 28, 2021 Capitol Beat News
Pay-for-play era about to hit college sports
Dave Williams reports that the landscape of college sports in Georgia is about to change forever. Legislation taking effect July 1 will let student-athletes at Georgia colleges, universities and technical colleges receive compensation for their name, image and likeness (NIL).
June 28, 2021 GlobalAtlanta.com
Atlanta’s New Cricket Franchise to Drive Development With Diversity
Trevor Williams reports that a new Atlanta cricket franchise will host its first match July 31, a milestone boosters of the globally popular sport believe will cement its local fanbase and tap into its growing national momentum. The roster of the Atlanta Fire includes players from Bangladesh, South Africa and Sri Lanka, a coach from Jamaica, and an ownership group originating in Bangladesh with established roots in Georgia’s business community.
June 28, 2021 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Fort Benning will be renamed. Here are some options that are on the table
Nick Wooten reports that Fort Benning’s name will change, and its commander, Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe, said local stakeholders have floated several possibilities for what they want the post to be called when the process is finished. In late July, the commission tasked with removing Confederate names from military assets will visit Benning.
June 28, 2021 Saporta Report
Buckhead resident joins mayoral race amid cityhood debate
John Ruch reports, in a mayoral campaign year where the Buckhead cityhood movement has become a major issue, the race finally has a candidate from that neighborhood — one who previously backed the separation in online comments saying locals should let the rest of Atlanta “burn to the ground.” Robert “Bobby” Wilkes, a real estate investor and former University of Georgia football player, filed state campaign paperwork June 21 to join the crowded race.
June 28, 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Case launches battle over Georgia voting law in courts and campaigns
Mark Niesse and Greg Bluestein report, with a major lawsuit seeking to strike down Georgia’s new elections law, the U.S. Justice Department started a long and difficult voting rights fight that will reverberate in political campaigns while winding its way through the courts. The lawsuit will face a treacherous path after the failure of a sweeping election bill backed by Democrats in the U.S. Senate and the passage of voting bills in Republican-held state legislatures across the country.
