Georgia Trend Daily – June 20, 2025

June 19, 2025 Capitol Beat News

Dave Williams reports that Georgia’s unemployment rate fell slightly in April to 3.5%, seven-tenths below the national jobless rate, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. “After holding steady at 3.6% for nearly a year – and recent job growth – we’re proving once again that Georgia’s business-friendly environment and competitive workforce deliver results,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Barbara Rivera Holmes said.

June 19, 2025 Georgia Trend – Exclusive!

Candice Dyer reports, Jill Binkley survived breast cancer twice. A double mastectomy left her shoulders stiff, though, and limited her range of motion. Routine tasks – combing her hair, lifting a mug, holding a child – proved difficult.

June 19, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Allison Mawn reports, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation is giving a $10 million grant to First Tee, a program that combines golf instruction with life skills curriculum to help youth build character. The grant will extend programming established by a $9.5 million grant in 2020, allowing First Tee to reach more youth and strengthen their teen curriculum by offering “access to safe spaces, educational opportunities and positive role models during a traditionally challenging time in adolescence,” according to a news release announcing the grant.

 

June 19, 2025 Capitol Beat News

Dave Williams reports that four Georgia communities will receive $7.5 million in grants through a state program designed to foster economic development in rural counties. The OneGeorgia Authority’s Rural Site Development Initiative helps communities identify, assess, and develop new ready-for-development industrial sites.

June 19, 2025 Appen Media

Hayden Sumlin reports, MarketNsight, one of the Southeast’s leading consultants for housing data and trends, projected a return to rate-driven market during its June 12 update to industry personnel. John Hunt, chief analyst and principal of MarketNsight, said his team’s December 2024 forecast was spot on.

June 19, 2025 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Grace McClung reports, your business pitch could earn you a share of $40,000 in funding this fall in Columbus. Applications are open for LaunchCon, a new pitch competition and entrepreneurship conference coming to Columbus. The deadline to apply is July 30.

June 19, 2025 Augusta Chronicle

Joe Hotchkiss reports that an Augusta factory that helps give distinctive red colors to high-tech coatings and plastics is expanding near Augusta Regional Airport. OXERRA has broken ground on a 120,000-square-foot warehouse at 1895 Doug Barnard Pkwy. as a regional distribution center for a growing customer base, the company announced June 16.

June 19, 2025 The Brunswick News

Gordon Jackson reports, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is considered to be one of the most pristine wetlands in the nation and a candidate for a World Heritage site designation. But something’s in the water involving alligators, and it’s not from fear of attack.

June 19, 2025 Gainesville Times

Staff reports that Democratic candidates vying for a metro Atlanta district seat on Georgia’s Public Service Commission are headed to a July runoff election. Former Atlanta City Council member Keisha Sean Waites claimed 46% of the vote Tuesday in a three-way primary, and Peter Hubbard, chief executive of Georgia Center for Energy Solutions, came in second with 33%.

June 19, 2025 State Affairs

Devyn Woodard reports, voting wrapped up in party primaries for two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission, which has the power to approve or reject rate increases requested by utility companies. The election for the seat in District 2, which covers much of Georgia’s coast and includes Athens and Savannah, has been dominated by the Republican primary, as Democratic candidate Alicia Johnson is running unopposed.

June 19, 2025 Georgia Recorder

Ross Williams reports, what makes a Republican a Republican or a Democrat a Democrat? Or is it the approval of party leadership? That’s the question at the heart of a case recently revived by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the Catoosa County GOP in a 2024 challenge to the ballot access of four Republican candidates.

June 19, 2025 Capitol Beat News

Ty Tagami reports, Federal budget cuts aimed at Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act could eventually cost 16 million Americans their health insurance coverage, and Georgia would not be immune from the impact, a health care advocacy group is warning. The state already lags most of the country in The Commonwealth Fund’s performance indicators.

June 19, 2025 Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Beam report, uncertainty over the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s future is stoking anxiety just 19 days into hurricane season. President Donald Trump said last week that he intends to eliminate the agency that coordinates disaster relief following natural disasters.