Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) has received $300,000 in funding for its new Griffin Bell Golf and Conference Center from the Sumter County Development Authority. The new conference center will provide a place for entrepreneurs and business owners to meet and collaborate on activities that will result in future growth for Americus and the county. The original conference center was built in 1946 and served as a country club before it was acquired by the University System of Georgia. Maintaining the same location and footprint, the newly designed center will enable GSW to host large events and conferences as well

Conventional wisdom suggests hops can’t be grown in Georgia’s warm, muggy climate. That’s why most of the aeromatic plants used to flavor this country’s beer come from the Pacific Northwest. But, Mike Barber, owner of Yorkville Hops and Produce, is on a mission to change all that and put Georgia on the map for hops and craft beer production. This very short video shows how his hops grow. Find out more about Barber’s trendsetting operation in “Homegrown Hops” in this month’s issue of Georgia Trend. Video by Mike Barber. Do you follow us? Find us on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and

Who do you think is the state’s most effective lawyer? Now through Friday, July 12, 2019, you can tell us. Georgia Trend magazine’s annual Legal Elite listing will highlight the state’s most effective lawyers in 16 different practice areas. The list of the state’s Legal Elite, as chosen by their peers, will appear in the December 2019 issue. Any attorney who lives and works in Georgia and is a member of the Georgia bar is eligible to nominate a peer. You cannot nominate yourself, but you can nominate attorneys in your own firm, as long as you put forward an equal or greater number of

Invest Atlanta is partnering with the Atlanta Beltline Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) and the Westside Future Fund to help meet the city’s housing goals for people who earn 60 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) or below. Recently, the Invest Atlanta board of directors approved tax-exempt bond financing and grants for two large multifamily developments along the Atlanta Beltline and one in the Westside neighborhood. Madison Reynoldstown, located along Memorial Drive with frontage on the Beltline’s Eastside Trail, received approval for $17 million in bond financing and a $2 million grant from the Beltline Affordable Housing

In response to the state’s critical welder shortage, the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) recently rolled out the first of four mobile welding labs that will enable local colleges to better address industry needs and meet the demand for more workers. Each lab is equipped with six high-tech welding booths, virtual welders and instructional resources for training. The labs will be shared among TCSG’s 22 colleges to help them respond to the short-term training needs of businesses and industries throughout the state. Use of the mobile welding labs will increase the colleges’ ability to customize programs with flexible schedules