Water Damage Restoration in Augusta, GA

Spring brings new beginning and opportunities, and, in 2024, Augusta is one community showcasing how Georgia helps industries thrive.

Syensqo Breaks Ground on New Battery Material Facility

In April, Syensqo began construction on a new battery-grade polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) manufacturing facility in Augusta that may well become the largest PVDF production facility in North America.

Born from a demerger of Solvay, Syensqo Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and Chief North America Officer Mike Finelli explained how the decision underscores “the strategic importance of Augusta as a key player in the EV supply chain along the burgeoning Battery Belt.”

Syensqo leaders reinforced that local and state partnerships were deciding factors in choosing Augusta to support the company’s future. Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson thanked Syensqo in return, highlighting their more than two decades in the community as “a premier, quality employer.”

The Augusta Economic Development Authority echoed that sentiment, sharing, “Syensqo fits the community’s goal of creating well-paying, skilled manufacturing jobs and shows once again that Augusta-Richmond County is the right place for manufacturing to not only locate but to grow and expand.”

Learn more here.

StandardAero Launches Expansion of Services

Operating in Augusta since 1974, StandardAero services approximately 425 aircraft and 500 turbine aircraft engines each year from their current facility.

With evolving industry realities, the company realized its facilities needed to adapt, too. This meant that a new hangar and engine shop moved to the top of its “to do” list, with these projects officially kicking off in April 2024.

“The new facility will add over 60% of new space to our existing footprint,” said Chris Bodine, Vice President and General Manager of StandardAero’s Augusta facility. “The current facility was built in the 1970s, when aircraft were a lot smaller. The new facility will allow us to support additional super mid-size to large cabin aircraft for airframe and avionics while also significantly expanding our engine shop to further support many of those aircraft.”

“The expansion will allow us to work on larger Dassault Falcon, Gulfstream, and Bombardier aircraft and also meet the rapidly growing MRO needs of HTF7000 series engine operators,” added Tony Brancato, President of StandardAero Business Aviation.

The new facility will be adjacent to the Augusta Regional Airport, one of eight regional commercial airports in Georgia that play a key role in supporting the state’s soaring aerospace industry.

Totaling $11.1 billion in exports in 2023, aerospace and defense products are the largest Georgia export by dollar value and land Georgia as a top five state for overall aerospace exports in the U.S. The state’s logistics infrastructure includes Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the deepwater ports in Savannah and Brunswick, and thousands of miles of rail and highway systems. These assets help companies move products – no matter the size and weight – to markets across the globe.

Learn more about StandardAero’s expansion here, and meet with Georgia Department of Economic Development investment and trade experts at events such as EUROSATORY 2024 and Farnborough International Airshow 2024.

GF Casting Solutions Announces Its Foundations for U.S. E-mobility Market

GF Casting Solutions AG (GF Casting Solutions) has exciting plans for the U.S. e-mobility market, including a state-of-the-art, LEED-certified high-pressure die casting facility in Augusta.

“Building a High-Pressure Die Casting Facility is a very long-term investment. The new facility will complete our footprint to become truly global in the e-mobility market,” explained Carlos Vasto, President of GF Casting Solutions.

Estimated to begin operations in 2027, it will produce cast aluminum parts, with a special focus on large structural components for the automotive industry. The facility will be built at the Augusta Corporate Park, a Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development (GRAD) site. GRAD-certified sites are just one of the speed-to-market solutions that Georgia offers, and the company will also work with Georgia Quick Start to develop its future workforce.

At the time of the announcement, Vasto shared, “The location is ideal for addressing the thriving automotive industry in the region.”

Over the last few years, Georgia has asserted itself as a core piece of the rapidly developing “Battery Belt” and e-mobility industry in the Southeast. Learn more about the state’s e-mobility ecosystem here.

Case Story in Summary

Augusta is an example of many of the elements that have propelled Georgia’s economic success over the last decade. To name a few examples, Georgia has:

Communities in every corner of the state benefit from the state’s business-friendly environment, and Augusta is just one such community featured on the 2024 International VIP Tour. The tour gave members of Georgia’s Consular Corps a first-hand look into a few of the factors that make Georgia unique. Learn about how five featured manufacturers built their success in east Georgia.

King Charles III's landmark address to Australia's Parliament House on Monday was disrupted by a protesting lawmaker who shouted at Charles, "You are not my king."

Charles was finishing his address at the Great Hall of Parliament House when Sen. Lidia Thorpe, an Indigenous senator, approached the stage and began shouting, accusing British colonizers of taking Indigenous land in Australia.

"You committed genocide against our people," shouted Thorpe, an outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights. "Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us -- our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people."

"You are not our king, you are not sovereign... You destroyed our land," she said.

The cameras and the crowd inside the Great Hall turned towards Thorpe as Charles and his wife Queen Camilla watched her outburst without any visible reaction.

Thorpe was eventually stopped from approaching Charles and was escorted out of the chamber.

Buckingham Palace has not commented on the incident, which came during one of Charles' most important engagements on his first official visit to Australia as monarch.

Charles and Camilla landed on Friday for a five-day tour of Australia, one of the 15 Commonwealth realms where Charles is sovereign. The tour is Charles' first visit to an overseas realm since he became king in 2022 following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

When Charles was crowned in 2023, the new king faced protests in several Commonwealth countries, including Australia.

Some voices in Australia's indigenous communities, known as the country's First Nations people, have expressed apathy towards the coronation, pointing out that their land was stolen under the crown when British settlers first arrived in Australia.

At the time of the coronation, Australia's Republic Movement Co-chairman Craig Foster told ABC News that the moment marked, "an opportunity to think about our broader path forward and need for full and final independence."

King Charles III seen in new photos after cancer diagnosis

Australia's current Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who was by Charles's side at his address to Parliament Monday, has made it known that he is in favor of the country becoming a republic and has not ruled out holding a referendum on the matter in the future.

During their visit to Australia, Charles and Camilla have taken time to attend a church service in Sydney and visit the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier in Canberra.

A royal source told ABC News about their visit, "Their Majesties are deeply grateful to the very many thousands who turned out to support them, and are only sorry they didn't have a chance to stop and talk to every single one. The warmth and scale of the reception was truly awesome."

On Wednesday, Charles will travel to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

King Charles visits cancer center in 1st return to public duties since cancer diagnosis

The trip overseas for Charles and Camilla also comes as the king has slowly made a return to work following his cancer diagnosis.

Buckingham Palace announced on Feb. 5, that Charles had been diagnosed with cancer but has not disclosed publicly what type of cancer Charles was diagnosed with, nor what type of treatment he is undergoing.

In announcing Charles' return to public duties in April, the palace noted that Charles is still undergoing treatment but has been approved to remove some public-facing duties.

ABC News' Zoe Magee and Britt Clennett contributed to this report.

HURRICANE HELENE: Latest updates on the recovery — 24/7

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - If you haven’t been out of your house since Hurricane Helene hit the CSRA last Friday, here’s what you should know ...

The roads are largely driveable in Augusta.

It’s not normal by any stretch of the imagination.

There’s still lots of debris, trees are toppled all over the place, and you still may not have power or water service at your house.

But you can easily get out and find supplies, as long as you have a car.

“I actually drove from this location to Wrightsboro Road along the Washington Road corridor,” Mayor Garnett Johnson said Thursday during a news conference at the Augusta Utilities building downtown. “All of the lights were working.”

Don’t worry about gas; there’s plenty of it now.

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There are still some roadway obstructions deep inside older neighborhoods, but major thoroughfares are mostly clear – especially those that double as state highways.

There are still a lot of traffic lights out, so officials remind drivers to treat them as four-way stops. The Georgia Department of Transportation is on the ground Thursday in Richmond and Columbia counties installing four-way stop signs at its intersections, and it’s delivering about 100 repaired signal heads to Augusta.

Electricity is still out for a lot of homes, but it’s back on along major traffic corridors, so there are plenty of businesses open now.

Beech Island grandparents die hugging each other as tree falls on home

John Savage said his grandparents were found hugging one another in the bed, adding that the family thinks it was God’s plan to take them together, rather than one suffer without the other.

That includes probably at least half the gas stations.

And speaking of gas stations, you won’t see the hourslong lines that were common as recently as Monday, when one of our reporters had to wait for four hours.

Today, you’re mostly able to drive right up to a pump without a wait at all.

There are no traffic jams around grocery stores and no blocks-long lines of cars at Costco. And there are no lines of people waiting to get into supermarkets.

Stores are well-supplied with plenty of items – including ice.

Ga. electric utilities say Helene is worst disaster to ever hit them

Georgia’s biggest electric utilities both say Hurricane Helene was the most destructive disaster in their history.

Your biggest obstacle may be the curfew imposed by Johnson. So if you go out, you should get your business done by the time it starts.

If you’re on foot, watch out for traffic, and be aware that most of the aid locations are ideally set up for drive-thru service.

It’s not lost on Johnson that the city’s neediest residents probably can’t take advantage of these aid locations.

He said city officials are working on that, and if people can’t get out to get what they need, call 311 and the city will find a solution. Johnson said community “strike teams” are out there getting services to those in need, including some transportation and services for people not able to make it to aid locations.

On Friday, the city added some faith-based partners who will work to get supplies where they’re needed.

If you normally get around by bus, you’re out of luck there. While most drivers feel fine on the roadways, Augusta Transit administrators don’t think the roads are ready for buses yet.

While some restaurants are open again, others aren’t. That’s partly because the city is requiring a new inspection and permit before they can reopen.

Another thing that’s more or less back to normal is garbage service.

Pickup was delayed this week but will be on a regular schedule next week, city officials said at Thursday’s news conference.

If you have some food that’s gone bad in your refrigerator or freezer, the city understands. The fee at the landfill will be waived for food waste if you show an ID with a Richmond County address.

As far as storm debris, start piling it up by the curb. A contractor will start picking it up next week.

The contractor will make two to three passes through the city, and GPS tracking will ensure every street is driven.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

LISTEN: The pace of recovery from Hurricane Helene in Georgia is only beginning to match human need in places like Valdosta and, as GPB’s Grant Blankenship reports, in Augusta.

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Credit: Grant Blankenship / GPB News

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The pace of recovery from Hurricane Helene in Georgia is only beginning to match human need in places like Valdosta and Augusta.

Both cities were hard-hit by the Friday, Sept. 27 storm.

By Monday morning, Augusta was in the second day of having no city water. So firefighters and volunteers handed out bottled water at a handful of spots around the city such as the city offices downtown.

Most people put the water in their cars. But not Shaday Collins.

"Yeah, we ain't got no car; so right now we just got to make it," she said.

Collins said she’s grateful for the help. But into Day 4 after Helene, she says she’s struggling, like now, walking 4 miles carrying a 24-bottle package of water on top of her head.

"We're running out of candles, running out of batteries," she said. "Everybody right now is kind of in survival mode because everything is very limited."

That includes food. A lot of it in her refrigerator has spoiled, she said.

Collins will walk through Tyrone Hill’s neighborhood around East Boundary Street before she makes it home. Hill said things are looking desperate there.

"All the stores down have been looted so there is — it's not even no food in the community," he said.

The Dollar General was emptied. It’s now boarded up. The gas station around the corner was emptied last night, too, but the owner is open again. Still, the gas pumps don’t work.

State officials say the National Guard is in the city. Hill’s not seen them yet.

"There ain't no National Guard out," he said. "At least not in my community where I live at."

Help is coming. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency is setting up 13 more food and water distribution sites around Augusta. Their locations will be listed on the GEMA website.

Meanwhile, Georgia Power says it could be Saturday before the power is back in Augusta. Statewide, the utility said Monday approximately 370,000 customers were still without power due to Helene, the most destructive storm in the company's history.

Tags: weather Storms Helene Georgia Augusta