Augusta, GA
Augusta sees $740K economic impact from events in February
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – March is just around the corner, but the city of Augusta is taking time to celebrate hundreds of thousands of dollars brought in through February through events like the Augusta half marathon, conferences, and more.
February was a busy month for Augusta, from conferences to sporting events more than 4000 people visited the CSRA, bringing an economic impact of over $740,000 to the city.
Local businesses also felt the love from visitors and sales and hope it continues into spring; hoping this early rush becomes their new normal.
“We definitely saw an uptick. I mean, there’s all the events that have been happening downtown, new bars that have been opening downtown, restaurants all coming together. I think people starting to realize that downtown’s place to be so February was great. If you compare it to last year. It’s tremendous. Yeah, big difference between last year and this year,” said Manny Hatzis, owner of Manny’s Sports off Broad.
Manny’s Sports off Broad has seen more people walk in their doors, especially from out of town.
“Comparing numbers, we don’t really see a big tick until like maybe March and then you get this of course we get our masters uptick. But really this early is kind of unique. So it’s nice to see that,” he said.
They are hoping to stay busy, helping not only their business but also Augusta grow.
“I also think that all the events that we’ve had, and all those little shows that we’ve had really helped a lot. And I look forward to more of those with the new James Brown Arena in the future,” said Hatzis.
And when events come to town, they’re ready. Some events, like the Augusta Half Marathon do what they can to support local businesses.
“We’ve been really conscientious about using more local businesses in our race. So for example, the metal design and the t shirt design, it’s from a local artist, Jason Craig. And we’ve gotten the year from a local, you know, local business here, and we’ve done the screen printing from a local business,” said Michelle Pippin, Augusta Sports Council CEO.
Allowing more money to go right back into the city, bringing more people back to the CSRA.
“These new restaurants that have opened up and all these other clubs that have opened up, people can now make it a destination. Downtown can be a destination and that’s a great thing. That’s what it was in the old days. I think it’ll start doing that again,” Hatzis said.
With Masters coming up, local businesses hope this wave continues into March and April.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta University’s Healthy Grandparents program had its Christmas party Sunday.
Santa is continuing his trip across the csra and was at the party to give presents to the kids.
The program was started in 1999 to support grandparents raising their children.
They help with necessary services like food assistance and transportation.
We spoke with one of the grandparents about the program.
“My grandchildren love it. They do a lot of things going on the year, like summer camp and all that stuff, book bag, getaways,” said Carolyn Thompson.
The program has helped more than 660 families, 900 grandparents, and 1,300 grandchildren.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
Augusta, Ga. – In a game that saw 19 lead changes, Georgia College and State prevailed over Augusta 99-91 in overtime Saturday at Christenberry Fieldhouse. The Jaguars fall to 2-2 in Peach Belt Conference play and 6-7 overall. The Bobcats are now 3-0 in conference play and 6-2 overall.
C.J. Jones of GCSU was the star of this one as he poured in 42 points to lead all scorers and also grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
The Jaguars fell behind midway through the second half, but with just one second left in regulation, T.J. Baker hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime. But in the extra period, GCSU outscored AU 18-10 for the winning margin.
Luis Nonfon, who had another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, started the scoring in overtime and gave the Jags the 83-81 lead. GCSU then rattled off five straight points to take the lead, one they would not surrender.
The Jaguars had five players in double figures led by Elías Pálsson who tallied 22 points while grabbing eight rebounds. T.J. Baker and Tobias Prall each had 18 points while Charlie McBeath scored 13.
Augusta hit on just 35% of their shots from the field while GCSU hit on 52.5%. The Bobcats outscored Augusta 46-22 in the paint and went 8-18 from three-point range while Augusta finished 10 of 29 from deep. From the foul line, both teams went 29-36.
Other than Nonfon grabbing double figures in rebounds, Pálsson eight rebounds and was a perfect 12-12 from the foul line.
Next up for the Jaguars will be a battle with Reinhardt University on Thursday at 11 a.m., part of Columbia County Education Day.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Richmond County started a search for an armed robbery suspect Saturday evening.
They started the search on the 3700 block of Wheeler Road after an alleged armed robbery at an SRP ATM.
The suspect is described as a 40-year-old black male, wearing all black, a face mask and a camouflage jacket.
The suspect fled the area on foot in an unknown direction.
The sheriff’s office used K9 Units, along with the drone unit, to search.
This investigation is in its early stages, and no further information is available at this time.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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