Georgia Trend Daily – Feb. 7, 2025
Feb. 7, 2025 Newnan Times-Herald
Freyr Battery abandons proposed $2.6 billion Georgia factory
Laura Camper and Clay Neely report that Freyr Battery US LLC officially announced on Thursday that it will not build its proposed $2.6 billion electric battery factory in Coweta County. Climbing interest rates, falling battery prices and a change in leadership at the company all contributed to the decision, according to Jason Peace, Freyr’s senior vice president of business development.
Feb. 7, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Karen Kirkpatrick reports, as usual, the Georgia General Assembly convened in January with a lengthy to-do list. One of the things at the top of Gov. Brian Kemp’s agenda: tort reform. Kemp says that tort reform is needed to keep Georgia the No. 1 state for business.
Feb. 7, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of Atlanta’s largest companies just appointed a new CEO
Zachary Hansen reports that less than 16 months after NCR split into two companies, the digital commerce half has ousted its short-lived CEO in favor of new top leadership. NCR Voyix announced Wednesday it appointed James “Jim” Kelly as its next president and CEO, succeeding David Wilkinson, who was president and CEO since the split.
Feb. 7, 2025 The Brunswick News
Local industries keeping an eye on tariff effects
Taylor Cooper reports that tariffs could impact industries in any number of ways and while no major effects have been seen yet from tariffs on Chinese imports that went into effect this week, they’re keeping close tabs on the situation, local business leaders say.
Feb. 7, 2025 GlobalAtlanta.com
Gwinnett to Honor Longtime German Investor at Annual Dinner
Trevor Williams reports that the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce is set to honor a German investor with a more than 25-year history in the county at its annual dinner this weekend. Based in Buford, Heraeus Covantics will take home the James J. Maran International Award, which recognizes a foreign-owned company that has put down roots in the county.
Feb. 7, 2025 Rough Draft Atlanta
Atlanta renames Westside Reservoir Park to honor former Mayor Shirley Franklin
Dyana Bagby reports that Atlanta’s largest green space is being renamed for former Mayor Shirley Franklin. The Atlanta City Council at its Feb. 3 meeting approved an ordinance to rename Westside Reservoir Park to “Shirley Clarke Franklin Park.”
Feb. 7, 2025 State Affairs
House passes $40.5B amended 2025 budget with more for hurricane relief, prisons
Tammy Joyner reports that house lawmakers swiftly passed a $40.5 billion budget Thursday that increases spending through June and gives hundreds of millions of dollars more in hurricane aid while beefing up security measures and infrastructure in Georgia state prisons. House Bill 67 passed 166-3 and was immediately transmitted to the Senate.
Feb. 7, 2025 11 Alive
Georgia leaders react as judge pauses Trump administration’s federal employee buyout
Cody Alcorn reports that a federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration’s buyout offer for government employees, just hours before the Thursday midnight deadline for workers to accept the deal. The decision comes as union leaders challenge the legality of the plan, which had already drawn more than 60,000 employees who opted in for the buyout.
Feb. 7, 2025 WABE
Laken Riley Act implementation in Georgia and the US could be hampered by cost
Emily Wu Pearson reports that the federal Laken Riley Act was President Donald Trump’s first law of his second term. It expands the scope of crimes that could place a person living in the U.S. without legal status in immigration detention and in deportation proceedings. Last year, state politicians in Georgia also drafted legislation in Riley’s name after the nursing student was murdered on the University of Georgia campus by a Venezuelan migrant who crossed into the U.S. illegally.
Feb. 7, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Georgia GOP-controlled Senate passes ban on trans girls from school sports teams
Ross Williams reports that the Georgia state Senate Thursday passed legislation banning transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams in schools along mostly party lines, and the bill’s sponsor also suggested that the body will take action to ban puberty-blocking drugs. “The recognition of female sport is important because without a boundary around female sport that excludes male advantage, males would dominate every major sporting competition,” said sponsor Cumming Republican Greg Dolezal.
Feb. 7, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Raffensperger looking to feds to withdraw election lawsuit
Dave Williams reports that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is asking the nation’s new attorney general to withdraw a federal lawsuit challenging election reform legislation the General Assembly passed in 2021. The Biden administration sued to block provisions of Senate Bill 202, which Georgia lawmakers adopted in the wake of lawsuits President Donald Trump filed at the end of his first term challenging the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
Feb. 7, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t rule out run for governor or U.S. Senate
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report that U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene could have dodged the question near the end of her segment at the live taping of the “Politically Georgia” podcast in Washington on Thursday. But instead, she leaned in when asked whether she plans to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff next year.
