Georgia Trend Daily – Aug. 14, 2026
Aug. 14, 2026 GlobalAtlanta.com
Beyond Tariffs: Georgia’s Belgian Investors Take the Long View While Adapting to Trade Pressures
Trevor Williams reports, when Belgian pharmaceuticals firm UCB announced its $2 billion investment in Gwinnett County this year, few Georgians knew the company had already been in the state for three decades. That changed when the “sleeping giant” awoke with a plan to create 330 more jobs at Rowen, a new development focused on life sciences innovation, said Mark Smith, head of government affairs.
Aug. 14, 2026 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!
Economic Development around the state
Christy Simo reports, Yancey Engineered Solutions, a division of Austell-based Yancey Bros. Co., is opening a new manufacturing facility in Crisp County. The $5.7 million investment will create 300 new jobs.
Aug. 14, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta’s Equifax to pay $100M after miscalculating credit scores
Rosie Manins reports that Atlanta-based consumer credit reporting giant Equifax will pay $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing it of misreporting millions of credit scores because of a coding glitch in 2022, court records show. The settlement is “by far the largest class-action settlement ever achieved under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,” and provides compensation for around 4 million people nationwide, lawyers for the class members whose scores were affected said Wednesday in a court filing.
Aug. 14, 2026 The Current
Georgia Power extends deadline for PSC to consider its contract with OpenAI
Mary Landers reports, with a deadline a day away and staff at the Public Service Commission prepared to raise objections to its contract terms with data center operator OpenAI, Georgia Power on Thursday bought itself more time to negotiate. “The company has agreed that the filing date of the contract for the purposes of a 30-day review cycle will be July 27, 2026 to allow Staff additional time to consider the contract,” Brandon Marzo, an attorney representing Georgia Power wrote to the PSC in a letter dated Aug. 13.
Aug. 14, 2026 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Judge sets hearing date for Columbus data center lawsuit. Read city’s latest arguments
Kala Hunter reports, on Monday, Judge John Martin of the Superior Court in Muscogee County set a hearing date for the Keep It Rural LLC lawsuit challenging the Columbus Council’s process of creating the technology overlay district ordinance signed into law June 16. The ordinance comprises rules allowing a hyperscale date center to be built within the consolidated jurisdiction of Columbus and Muscogee County.
Aug. 14, 2026 Rome News-Tribune
Proposed data center at Battey terminated
Adam Carey reports that a proposed data center at the Battey Business Complex on North Division Street is dead according to the Rome-Floyd County Development Authority Board Chair Jimmy Byars, after Atlas Development ended its agreement with RFCDA. The authority signed a $5.7 million term-sheet with Atlas last year for the remaining 100-acres of the complex, with a data center planned.
Aug. 14, 2026 Decaturish
DeKalb County sued over moratorium on new data centers
Dyana Bagby reports, Shadowbox Studios and an affiliated real estate company want a judge to rule that DeKalb County’s moratorium on data centers is illegal and give the companies the go-ahead to build a massive facility in south DeKalb. According to a lawsuit filed Aug. 5 in DeKalb County Superior Court, Shadowbox Studios and Henrico 183 have spent more than $30 million to develop a data center on a nearly 200-acre property at 3600 International Park Drive.
Aug. 14, 2026 State Affairs
Georgia testing AI tools across state government
Jack Rutherfor reports, at a stately government building just outside the Gold Dome in downtown Atlanta, a little-known government technology authority occupies three of the seven floors. That agency is the Georgia Technology Authority. Best known for providing general IT services to other departments in state government, it now sits in the driver’s seat of rolling out and vetting Georgia’s use of artificial intelligence.
Aug. 14, 2026 Georgia Recorder
Georgia board adds certain HIV diagnoses to conditions that can bypass Medicaid work requirements
Alander Rocha reports that Georgia health officials moved to include low-income people living with certain HIV diagnoses among those considered “medically frail,” meaning they would not have to satisfy work requirements to qualify for Medicaid coverage. HIV had initially been left off the list, which sparked concern from advocates who said they were puzzled by the decision.
Aug. 14, 2026 Capitol Beat News
Healthcare costs are a potent political issue in Georgia, but more for Democrats than Republicans
Ty Tagami reports, with healthcare costs continuing to rise, the issue could prove to be a potent one in Georgia’s upcoming election for governor. Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has made it a core part of her campaign, blaming Republicans for refusing to accept Medicaid expansion as a solution.
Aug. 14, 2026 GPB
Rick Jackson rolls out economic policy aimed at boosting minority-owned businesses
Sarah Kallis reports that Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson is rolling out a new economic policy focused on minority-owned businesses. Jackson visited Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Corridor where he announced his Legacy Corridors policy, focused on investing in small businesses in historically Black business districts around the state.
Aug. 14, 2026 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Communism, Shariah and executions: Georgia GOP push politics of the past.
Greg Bluestein reports, Republicans’ annual Tillman Rally has graduated from a sweltering airport hangar to a swanky lakeside venue, but it still acts as a gauge for the mood of Georgia’s grassroots conservatives. This year, it sometimes felt like a walk back in time.
