Georgia Trend Daily – Oct. 13, 2025

Oct. 13, 2025 The Brunswick News

Georgia Power recaps improvements in the year since Helene

Staff reports, a year after Hurricane Helene battered the East Coast, Georgia Power is marking the anniversary by highlighting its efforts to strengthen the electric grid and modernize infrastructure that keeps homes and businesses powered. While Helene did not deal much damage to the Golden Isles, the company called it the most destructive storm in its history.

Oct. 13, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!

Building a Better Workforce

Patty Rasmussen reports, if Georgia’s workforce was a highway system for the state’s economic development, it would be covered with orange cones. Constant tweaks to programs and initiatives crop up like new exit ramps on Interstate 285.

Oct. 13, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia firm makes $2B bet AI and automation can transform farming

Zachary Hansen and Amy Wenk report, farm equipment makers like AGCO and technology companies are pouring billions into automation and artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency of farms and minimize their environmental impact. Boosting crop yields feeds more people per planted acre and helps defend against the effects of climate change.

Oct. 13, 2025 Athens Banner-Herald

Manufacturer of heating and air products building new plant in Monroe

Wayne Ford reports that a heating and air conditioning company that opened its first facility in Athens in 1982 before relocating, announced recently that it is building a new manufacturing facility in Monroe that is expected to create between 150 to 175 new jobs. MGM Products reported the $38.5 million project will be constructed in the Piedmont Regional Industrial Park off U.S. Highway 78.

Oct. 13, 2025 Rough Draft Atlanta

New accelerator initiative invests in local fintech startups

Staff reports that several Atlanta financial technology startups are set to receive a major boost to their operations through a new initiative called the “Pinnacle Atlanta Innovation Accelerator.” The Pinnacle Atlanta Innovation Accelerator is a 12-week program that is investing $500,000 into five local “fintech” companies ($100,000 each), along with providing mentorship/coaching opportunities for each respective owner.

Oct. 13, 2025 Rome News-Tribune

Rome poised to renew downtown business improvement district

Diane Wagner reports that the Rome City Commission will hold a public hearing Monday on plans to renew and expand the ordinance governing the downtown business improvement district. Commissioners meet at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall, 601 Broad St. During a 5 p.m. pre-meeting caucus, they’re scheduled to hear a presentation on the BID.

Oct. 13, 2025 Marietta Daily Journal

Cobb nonprofit lifts families out of poverty through intensive mentorship

Hunter Riggall reports, the prospect is simple: work hard and you can achieve financial success. That’s the American dream, at its core. But it doesn’t pan out for everybody.

Oct. 13, 2025 Gainesville Times

Gainesville to clear city’s largest homeless camp as new shelter prepares to open

Ben Anderson reports that city’s largest homeless camp, located along Flat Creek, has grown to more than 200 residents. The city’s water department posted signs this week notifying residents that crews will begin performing long-planned sewer maintenance and stream restoration Dec. 1  means they will have to go.

Oct. 13, 2025 Valdosta Daily Times

Valdosta welcomes Ga. Trust Ramblers

Marty Steiner reports that the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation will Ramble around Valdosta and Lowndes County this weekend. This will be the Trust’s first Valdosta Ramble since 1989.

Oct. 13, 2025 WABE

Mass federal worker firings, reinstatements and more chaos for hard-hit Atlanta CDC

Jess Mador reports that it was another weekend of chaos and uncertainty for federal employees at the Atlanta-based United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Late Friday, the Trump administration’s firings of more than 4,000 federal workers included more than a thousand at the CDC.

Oct. 13, 2025 State Affairs

When sidewalks come too late: Families mourn as safety upgrades stall

Beau Evans reports, since 2018, hundreds of pedestrians in Georgia have been injured or killed by vehicles along roads and near intersections while billions of dollars in projects to improve walking safety and traffic flow in those areas have dragged on for years, sometimes even decades, according to a State Affairs review of Georgia Department of Transportation records.

Oct. 13, 2025 Georgia Recorder

Georgia Republicans say they fear local elections could help Democrats in statewide utilities race

Alander Rocha reports that a unique off-year election for two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission, a body responsible for regulating utilities in the state, has Republicans vocally concerned, especially considering concurrent municipal elections that they worry could favor Democratic mobilization. Early voting starts Tuesday for the Nov. 4 election, which will decide the fate of two incumbent Republican commissioners on the PSC — Tim Echols of District 2 and Fitz Johnson of District 3 — who are being challenged by Democratic candidates Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard, respectively.

Oct. 13, 2025 Capitol Beat News

Doctors warn cost-cutting strategy could force them from independent practice

Ty Tagami reports that an initiative by insurance companies to reduce high-cost doctor visits could cause physicians to abandon private practice and work for big hospital chains, independent practitioners are warning. They say the trend could drive up patient costs.

Oct. 13, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia utility regulators rake in cash from business interests

David Wickert and Caleb Groves report, arly voting begins Tuesday for two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission, and Republican incumbents Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson are both on the ballot — Echols for the first time in years, and Johnson for the first time ever. Legal battles over how the state elects PSC members has delayed regular elections to the powerful-but-obscure board, but that hasn’t stopped members from raising money for their campaigns — often from businesses with a stake in their decisions.