Georgia Trend Daily – Sept. 4, 2025
Sept. 4, 2025 Georgia.gov
Gov. Kemp: Korean Magnet Facility to Create More than 500 Jobs in Columbus
Staff reports that Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced that JS Link America Inc., a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of JS Link, intends to invest about $223 million to establish a new rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing facility in Columbus. The new facility will create more than 520 new jobs in Muscogee County, Georgia.
Sept. 4, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Looking Back, Planning Ahead
Ben Young writes, this year we celebrate our 40th Anniversary. It’s incredible to think of the legacy Georgia Trend has established over those four decades.
Sept. 4, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coca-Cola bet $5B on Costa Coffee. Here’s why it might be brewing up a sale.
Amy Wenk reports that Coca-Cola in 2019 closed on one of the largest acquisitions in its history. The Atlanta beverage giant, best known for its carbonated sodas, paid roughly $5 billion for a leading British brand, Costa Coffee.
Sept. 4, 2025 Savannah Morning News
Georgia’s growers and researchers think grocery store peaches are ripe for an upgrade
Jillian Magtoto reports, for wholesale growers like Pearson who ship peaches up to thousands of miles away, chilling peaches immediately after harvest prevents peaches from softening, overripening, then bruising during their rocky rides in trucks and planes. Still, it’s no secret that store-bought peaches just don’t taste as good as the ones freshly plucked at a U-Pick orchard or just turned tender at a farmers market.
Sept. 4, 2025 Georgia Ports Authority
Georgia Tech study shows East Coast gateway best choice for Atlanta cargo
Staff reports that Georgia Tech researchers found shippers save money, boost reliability and achieve comparable average transit times when they land Atlanta-bound cargo at the gateway port of Savannah, instead of a West Coast port. “While vessel transit from China to the U.S. West Coast is shorter than East Coast transits, supply chain rehandling and congestion can lead to delays,” said Benoit Montreuil, Executive Director, Supply Chain and Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech.
Sept. 4, 2025 Newnan Times-Herald
DHL to build new distribution facility on Yamaha campus
Clay Neely reports that Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation and DHL Supply Chain are moving forward with plans that could bring a new $60 million to $90 million distribution facility to Yamaha’s Newnan campus. The proposed 784,700-square-foot building would be dedicated solely to Yamaha operations and marks a major investment in both logistics and the local community.
Sept. 4, 2025 Macon Telegraph
EV startup says power, zoning have delayed Fort Valley plant, jobs. What we know.
Lucinda Warnke reports, representatives seeking to bring an electric vehicle plant to Fort Valley addressed concerns with delays Tuesday in a news conference, as organizers of the project had gone quiet in recent months. Imola Automative USA’s representatives said Tuesday that the group is behind schedule after running into issues with power supply and local bureaucracy.
Sept. 4, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal
Nurse practitioner advocacy company moves HQ to Cobb County
Jack Lindner reports that NPHub, a nurse practitioner advocacy company, is relocating its headquarters to Cobb County as part of an expansion plan to provide more jobs to nursing professionals. Danny Wong, a spokesperson for NPHub, said the company employs about 10 team members in Atlanta, and plans to expand their Cobb presence to 25 to 30 employees within the next two years.
Sept. 4, 2025 Valdosta Daily Times
Georgia’s Rural Center moves under state Ag Dept.; new director hired
Staff reports that Georgia’s Rural Center for Innovation and Prosperity has fully transitioned from the University System of Georgia to the Georgia Department of Agriculture and has hired Charles “Charlie” Fiveash as its new executive director, Ag Commissioner Tyler Harper announced Aug. 28. Fiveash, who was recommended by Harper, received unanimous approval from the Georgia Rural Development Council. His appointment was effective Aug. 15.
Sept. 4, 2025 Macon Melody
New species of bass identified in Ocmulgee River
Casey Choung reports that researchers at the University of Georgia, Emory University, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the University of North Georgia published a paper Aug. 19 naming two new species, which were informally dubbed as Bartram’s bass and the Altamaha bass. Macon is home to the Altamaha bass, which can be found above Georgia’s fall line in the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers.
Sept. 4, 2025 Georgia Recorder
Third-place finisher requests recount in special state Senate as runoff looms
Ross Williams reports that the special election to choose the next state senator in a suburban Atlanta district is going to a recount ahead of a Sept. 23 runoff. Steve West, the third-place finisher in the race to replace Republican former state Sen. Brandon Beach, requested the recount Wednesday, a spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said.
Sept. 4, 2025 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
New candidate joins the 2026 Columbus mayoral race as field grows to 7
Brittany McGee reports that candidates have begun filing their paperwork to run for Columbus mayor in the 2026 election, a race that won’t have an incumbent because Mayor Skip Henderson is completing the last of his two terms. The nonpartisan election for Columbus mayor will be May 19, 2026.
Sept. 4, 2025 Capitol Beat News
Former CDC leaders worry about the agency’s direction, impact on public health
Ty Tagami reports, former leaders of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gathered at the Georgia Capitol Tuesday at the invitation of Democratic lawmakers to express their concerns about the future of the Atlanta-based disease-fighting agency and the potential impact on the public. The timing follows President Donald Trump’s decision last week to fire CDC Director Susan Monarez one month after the U.S. Senate confirmed her to the role.
Sept. 4, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jon Burns eyes property tax cuts ahead of election-year legislative session
Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and his allies in the state Senate are pledging to slash and eventually eliminate Georgia’s income tax if he’s elected governor. But House Republicans, who get the first crack at tax legislation, have a different focus.
