W HA T ’ S IN S I D E
May 2014 • The CSRA’s Only Monthly Business Magazine
Medac moving to N. Augusta.................5 Buzz Bits...................................................... 8,9 Mill on Park opens in Aiken.................. 13 Businessperson of the Month.............. 18 Careers & Education section................. 23 Startup Augusta aids businesses........ 26
North Augusta preps for growth Downtown merchants seek proactive solutions
By Stephen Delaney Hale How do you prepare for business growth and change? And how do you do so without piling on an extra layer of rules for small businesses? Those two questions were asked about a dozen times one afternoon in mid-April by a group of North Augusta business owners. The meeting with leaders of the city and leaders of business support organizations was spearheaded by Shelley Craft, co-owner of The Men’s Refinery and Special Effects Hair Studio. The initial purpose of the group is to form a downtown development council for North Augusta that will inform people about growth opportunities, and encourage growth without extra government restrictions. “This is what you get when you make me sit still for three ice storm days,” Craft said. “I had too much time to think about this.” Project Jackson and the expansion of Georgia Regents University into downtown Augusta and from the new Cyber Command at Fort Gordon, as well other growth along the edges of the city mean changes are coming to the downtown area. “Things are coming to downtown North Augusta, not just Project Jackson, but a lot of growth including developments out Martintown Road,” said Craft, who is a member of the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. “My initial goal here is to create a downtown development council.” She said there is a need to manage changes coming to the city. “There is a big need, but, if we don’t start small, we won’t get anywhere,” she said. Before the meeting, Craft went door to door among downtown businesses asking owners and managers their opinions of forming some kind of council or downtown business alliance to cope with issues from imminent growth. “It was surprising to me to find that most people don’t See NORTH AUGUSTA, page 5
Project Jackson along the river will mean growth for North Augusta’s downtown business area.
Growing bigger: A business owner’s dream – or dread
By Gary Kauffman, Editor Expansion. It is the goal of nearly every business owner, but it is also the cause of a lot of anxiety. In my years working with small businesses in Indiana, I listened to dozens of business owners talking about their ideas for – and their fears of – expansion. I saw the gleam of excitement in their eyes, followed by furrowed brows of worry about whether it was the right thing to do. The scenario for many small businesses is that the owner works hard to build a successful business and then one day finds himself or herself in a position where they are working 12-hour days and struggling to stay ahead of the pace of the customers. Sometimes it’s a space issue – can they display and store enough product to keep the customers
they have and draw in new ones? But expansion means taking a risk – financial, of course – but also a risk in reputation and in doing what made the business fun in the first place. The first thing a business owner needs when considering expansion – before gathering the finances, before scouting out a new location – is patience. “The biggest thing is to be careful and not do it too fast,” said Tammy Garner, who has expanded her Anytime Fitness franchise from one location to four in 10 years. “Make sure you have all your bases covered.” Mark Harrell, owner of Scrubs of Evans, said he spent See EXPANSION, page 2