Economic data go well with a good whine

Whine and ye shall receive.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was lamenting how there is nobody in the area doing comprehensive market research on the local economy and how that lack of research prevents business leaders, local policy makers – and lowly business journalists – from gauging the true state of economic affairs.

A few days later, my phone rang. It was Marc Miller, the dean of Augusta State University’s Hull College of Business, telling me that my lament (on economic research, anyway) would soon be a thing of the past.

Over lunch at French Market Grille, he introduced me to Mark Thompson, Hull ’s newest professor. It turns out that one of his specialities is local economic forecasting. At his last job in Little Rock, Ark., he was the state economic forecaster at the University of Arkansas’ Institute for Economic Advancement.

Marc and Mark mentioned something that had me salivating even before my meal (Italian Ham & Cheese Po’Boy, chips on the side) arrived – they are creating a monthly economic activity index for the Augusta-Aiken metro area.

That’s right, an actual gauge of the local economy based on objective statistical data. Think of it as the speedometer of local economic activity – expansion makes the index needle rise, while contraction will make it fall.

Dr. Thompson’s beta version of the index (which uses January 2002 as the 100 baseline) reads 110.86 for August, which translates to a 2.04 percent increase in growth from August 2006. In other words, the area’s economy is stronger this year than last year.
Are you salivating yet?

OK, let me put it this way: What they are proposing has never been done in Augusta. What currently passes for an area economic forecast is done annually or quarterly by folks in Athens and Atlanta (no offense) who are looking at a fairly narrow range of state and federal government data.

This metro area has never had a professional economic forecaster – or even a rank amateur, for that matter – compile and analyze a wide variety of economic data (everything from housing permits and hotel/motel stays to electric consumption and airport enplanements) to shed some light on a perennial question: “How’s our economy doing?”

You’ve got to be licking your lips by now.

Dr. Miller and Dr. Thompson plan to unveil the economic index to a select group of business leaders and government officials at a breakfast meeting at ASU on Jan. 15.
I’d like to say my whining is what prompted Dr. Miller to hire Dr. Thompson and create a local economic index, but I can’t. Dr. Miller has been talking about positioning ASU’s business school as an economic authority and “thought leader” in the business community even before he took over as dean. Also, he hired Dr. Thompson months ago.
Still, the serendipity makes me want to whine about some other things, just to see what turns out.

You know, I could really use a million dollars.

SPIN THE WHEEL: There are about a dozen questions I’m asked on a regular basis for which I have no answer. What’s going on with Regency Mall? When is Costco coming to town? Are they really going to build a Bass Pro Shops here?

I’m thinking of writing all the questions on a wheel. That way, I can spin it every morning and take bets on wh ether the question it lands on will be asked during the course of the day.

If that wheel were in existence today, I’d have to take the question “When is the Earth Fare going to open?” off the wheel because I now have the answer: Nov. 14.

If you can’t wait until then to get into the organic grocery store, you can attend its ribbon cutting/benefit party the night before for the Greater Augusta Arts Council. It’s $10 to get in, but you’ll get to sample, according to the company, “roasted garlic aioli, North Carolina pulled-pork sandwiches, cocoa espresso tri-tip steak, local marinated heirloom tomato salad” and “brie layered with local chutney.”

I might go just to try the chocolatey coffee beef.

QUESTION NO. 8: (Insert sound of spinning wheel, gradually slowing and finally stopping) I heard there’s a group of locals starting a venture capital fund. Is this true?

No. But I know that an angel investor road show that stopped in Savannah this month is coming to Augusta in early 2008.

The Georgia Centers of Innovation program (created by Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2003 to bolster growth in several key areas, including life sciences) aligned with Angel Capital Association’s Savannah chapter, Ariel Savannah Angel Partners, to hold a seminar at Armstrong Atlantic State University on Oct. 19. The event was attended by a handful of Augusta start ups wanting to learn more about venture capital and angel investing (which are pretty much the same thing, except that angel investors pony up only a few million dollars).

The chapter says it plans to come to Gaine sville on Dec. 12 and Tifton and Augusta early next year. You’ll know the details as soon as I do.

NICE COSTUME … YOU’RE FIRED! Did you hear the one about the pharmaceutical sales representative who dressed up as the Grim Reaper and went into the intensive care unit of a hospital on Halloween. Me neither, but writer Barbara Pachter said that it happened and that you should think twice about what you wear to the office on Wednesday.

Halloween presents ripe opportunities for employees to make image-busting mistakes, said the author of The Power of Positive Confrontation and NewsRules@Work: 79 Etiquette Tips, Tools, and Techniques to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead.

“Many times, people don’t think about what they say or do in the office,” she said. “Their behavior is on 'autopilot.’”

There goes my idea to dress up in a “libel suit” at the office.*

MOBILE MAYHEM: You might have received during the past few weeks an e-mail claiming that your cell phone number is about to put on telemarketing lists because of some new database. This e-mail also says (pause, insert dramatic announcer voice) you will be charged for these calls unless you register with the government’s Do Not Call list.

It’s a bunch of hooey. Cell phone numbers are not being released to telemarketers, and federal regulations already prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers (which are pretty much all they use) on cell phone numbers. Ignore the e-mail and get the facts at www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/02/dnccellphones.shtm.

TENNIS ANYONE? I misspoke last week when I made reference to the second annual Chamber Challenge Tennis Tournament between the metro area’s top two honchos, Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver and Columbia County Commission Chairman Ron Cross.
The Dekester wasn’t whupped in the first match. He and the Crossster (doesn’t quite have the same ring, does it?) “conceded” the match in the spirit of cooperation before any whupping occurred. So, let the record reflect that Augusta’s mayor is not a two-time loser on the court.

As for their next match up, I recommend something a bit more interesting, say arm wrestling, skee ball or a game of horse.

WE ARE YOUNG, HEARTACHE TO HEARTACHE, WE STAND: Gainfully employed? Check.
Care about the community in which you live? Check.

Under 40 but older than 21? Check.

Well, if you can put down Guitar Hero 2 for a few minutes**, head down to Nacho Mama’s at 6 p.m. Tuesday , Nov. 6 , and meet some people who are just (well, mostly) like you.

They call themselves Young Professionals of Augusta, and they’re having their first meeting to discuss ways to be active through social networking, philanthropy, professional development and cultural awareness.

The man behind the group is Jonathan English, a Lakeside High grad who earned a business degree from Georgia Southern University. He’s working as a GIS analyst at Fort Gordon.

“I came to a realization that young professionals in our area were lacking an outlet and a voice,” he said. “I also felt that there was insufficient leadership in our demographic.”
He has marshaled some folks he knows to serve in officer positions and has tapped Ed Presnell, an SRP Federal Credit Union exec and former Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce president, to serve as the group’s advisory council chairman.

Interested? Head to 976 Broad St. Tell them Damon sent you.

* Sorry; journalist humor.

** Yeah, I know, Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart is harder to play than it sounds. But you’ll make it to the next level in no time.