Georgia Gwinnett College has officially renamed its Allied Health and Sciences building in honor of longtime public servant, business leader and ORS Senior Vice President Don Balfour, recognizing his lasting impact on both the institution and the state.
Howard Franklin, CEO of Ohio River South, joins host Karen Jagoda to shine light on the evolving political, economic, and demographic landscape of the American South. The question is how these shifts have changed the electorate and created opportunities for a new wave of political candidates. The most effective ways to reach Southern voters still include traditional in-person engagement alongside digital outreach to reach urban, suburban, and rural communities.
The team at Ohio River South delivers intelligence each week on southern politics, policy making and public sector business, in the top newsletter under the Gold Dome.
Chaos and compromise defined the final hours of the 2026 Georgia General Assembly session, but key issues were punted. The legislature passed a significant, income tax cut while leaving the budget and long-term tax reform unfinished.
When Mayor Andre Dickens delivered his fifth State of the City address this week, he spoke to an audience that extends far beyond Atlanta’s borders. That audience, our state legislature, holds the key to Georgia’s next decade of growth — a key that can only be turned through stronger, more formal city-state collaboration.
Standing on the corner of Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, in the Sweet Auburn district that birthed the Civil Rights Movement — where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born and now is home to rows of thriving Black-owned businesses — you can almost hear the echoes of an earlier era.
Big South Insights is a dispatch from Ohio River South that delivers timely intelligence, sharp analysis, and strategic perspective on the politics, policy shifts, and power players shaping the American South—because understanding this region is essential to understanding where the country is headed.
In the past year, navigating the second Trump administration has proved a tall order for government officials across the country. Yet nowhere has that divide been felt greater than in medium- to large-sized cities, often led by Democrats, and located in red states.
Actionable insights to position the South as a leader in tech and a trusted innovation ecosystem.
