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Advantage Capital today announced a $2 million investment in Watkinsville-based GAXtracts, an active pharmaceutical ingredients company focusing on manufacturing and processing products from industrial hemp. The investment, which was made in connection with the Georgia Agribusiness and Rural Jobs Act (GARJA), will support the company with working capital and financing to purchase new equipment, as well as bring 30 new jobs to the local community as the company expands.

“We are excited about this investment. This partnership will allow us to advance our agricultural initiatives in the state of Georgia and provide much-needed jobs in the rural market,” said Don Barden, CEO of GAXtracts.

GAXtracts is Advantage Capital’s fifth investment in connection with the GARJA program. Advantage has now invested $15 million in small businesses across Georgia, which are helping to spur new job creation and economic growth in the state’s rural communities.

“GAXtracts has the type of growth potential that we seek out when partnering with businesses,” said Abhi Chandrasekhara of Advantage Capital. “We customized our investment to put GAXtracts in the best possible position to continue its sustained growth. I am excited to work with our portfolio companies statewide to help them grow, hit the next level, and create lasting economic impact in their local communities and beyond.”

The GARJA program provides growth capital for small businesses such as GAXtracts and stimulates economic expansion in rural parts of the state that have not seen the same kind of economic prosperity urban areas have in recent years.

“When the General Assembly passed GARJA in 2017, they did so with the intent of growing small, rural businesses. GAXtracts is a great example of the program at work,” said State Representative Marcus Wiedower.

As GAXtracts continues to grow with market demand it plans to expand into a new facility in Union Point, bringing jobs to another rural community in a distressed part of Georgia where nearly 1 in 3 people live in poverty.

The hemp market has grown tremendously since the passage of the Federal Farm Bill in 2018 and the Georgia General Assembly passed the industrial hemp protection bill in 2019. Both pieces of legislation lifted regulations, legalizing the crop for cultivation purposes. Over the last few years, the market has grown from a $600 million industry to a forecasted $4 billion industry by 2022.

While GAXtracts’ primary focus is the production of CBD and hemp-derived products, the company has been producing a medical grade hand sanitizer since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, helping to fill an urgent market need for hospitals, law enforcement, first responders, and assisted living and home health care businesses.

“I am proud to see small businesses like this growing here in our community,” said State Representative Houston Gaines. “This is exactly the kind of outcome the legislature looked for and will continue to look for—attracting capital to our great state to ensure Georgia small businesses continue to expand.”

Banks and Mortgage Monopolies Dire Warning for Canadians

Is Canadian Real Estate in for a Big Price Drop? Even in the wake of the deadliest health epidemic of the last century, the Toronto housing market and Vancouver housing market did not crash. And if China had not released its deadly disease, the housing markets would have been roaring right now. It’s like science…

After being delayed for nearly three months due to COVID-19, Georgia’s June 9 primary and general election has turned into chaos at many precincts in metro Atlanta.

Due to the election day meltdown, Fulton County has announced polls will remain open until 9 p.m.

The county elections office said in a statement: “Beginning at 7 p.m., ballots will no longer be scanned but will be placed in provisional ballot envelopes, per O.C.G.A. 21-4-418(d). Today is the first election in most poll workers in Fulton County and across Georgia operated the new election equipment introduced this year.  While the majority of polling places operated smoothly, a number of sites experienced challenges with equipment throughout the day. The extended hours will provide more time for any voters affected by these issues to cast their ballots tonight.”

DeKalb County announced just before 7 p.m. that it was extending voting time at seven precincts:

There have been reports all day of long lines, malfunctioning voting machines, confused poll workers, not enough absentee ballots, and passing the buck on whose fault it was between state and local officials. Gov. Brian Kemp was trending on Twitter for a time in the afternoon as users accused him of suppressing the vote.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said his office would investigate voting issues in both Fulton and DeKalb Counties to root out problems before the November general election. In a statement, Raffensperger called the voting situation in both counties “unacceptable.”

“Obviously, the first time a new voting system is used, there is going to be a learning curve, and voting in a pandemic only increased these difficulties. But every other county faced these same issues and were significantly better prepared to respond so that voters had every opportunity to vote,” Raffensperger said in reference to Fulton and DeKalb.

Local leaders pushed back on the secretary of state’s comments, including DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond. “The Election Day issues relating to the use of state-purchased voting machines represent an attack on the democratic process. The Secretary of State’s office has alleged these issues resulted from a failure of county leadership. If there was a failure of leadership, it starts where the buck should stop, at the top. The eradication of any ‘learning curve’ rests squarely at the feet of the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his office,” Thurmond said in a statement. 

The Georgia Democratic Party also had words for Raffensperger: “The Secretary of State’s job is to provide adequate support and training for counties as he implemented Georgia’s new voting system, and he has failed. Across the state, Georgia voters are waiting for hours to cast their ballots because Georgia’s system is failing them. We demand statewide action by the Secretary of State — the chief elections official in Georgia— to fix this problem immediately before we see these issues for every election this cycle.”

The post UPDATE: Election chaos in metro Atlanta as long lines, malfunctioning machines plague the polls appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

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A suspect wanted in the rape of a Midtown woman has turned himself in to the Atlanta Police Department.

Eric Key, 26, surrendered at APD headquarters in the early morning hours of June 9. He has been charged with sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, rape, and kidnapping.

According to the police report, the victim was leaving her apartment on Juniper Street around 7:30 a.m. on June 7 when she was  approached by Key, who forced her into a vacant apartment and raped her.

APD widely circulated video and surveillance images of Key to the press and social media.

The post UPDATE: Midtown rape suspect surrenders to police appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

Gov. Brian Kemp has deactivated the National Guard from protest-related duty as of 11:59 p.m. on June 8. Kemp thanked the men and women of the state guard and said in a statement “we will continue to monitor activity around the state and remain prepared to respond if necessary.” The National Guard was accused of using heavy-handed tactics – including tear gas and rubber bullets – to disperse crowds of protesters violating the now-lifted curfew.

The two former Atlanta Police officers fired and charged with using excessive force against two college students during the George Floyd protests in Downtown are suing the city. Ivory Streeter and Mark Gardner say their use of force was lawful, and they were fired without a proper investigation, according to a report in the AJC.  The pair want their jobs back. Chief Erika Shields and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are also named in the suit filed in Fulton County Superior Court. Fulton County District Attorney quickly filed charges against the two fired officers and four others involved in the incident on May 30.

The Atlanta Board of Education and Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen have called for work on “dismantling a racist and oppressive system” in statements issued in the wake of the George Floyd protests. In a  joint statement, school board members said they were “heartbroken and upset” by the killings of Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. “But the murders of black men and women by vigilantes and police are not new, and it is important for the Board to reaffirm that Black Lives Matter,” the statement said. “We know we cannot do this work alone. The work of dismantling a racist and oppressive system that has an over 400-year legacy will not be easy and requires people of all communities coming together to address inequities.” The board noted it adopted a strategic plan and equity policy last year and will work with the community on them “so that we can finally see a day where the color of your skin does not predict whether you are likely to be healthy and safe, graduate from high school, be economically stable, or live out your childhood dreams.”

The post Protest Updates: National Guard departs; fired cops sue; APS calls for ‘dismantling’ racism appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

Georgia Aquarium has announced it will reopen to the public on June 15 after shutting its doors for two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As with all other re-openings, there will be state-mandated guidelines for social distancing.

Tickets will be available in two-hour blocks: 9 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and must be reserved online at georgiaaquarium.org. The aquarium will close for an hour between blocks for cleaning and sanitizing. There will only be a limited number of guests allowed in during each block to maintain social distancing.

All visitors must consent to a contactless temperature scan prior to entering the building. Any person exhibiting a fever (temperature of 100.4° or higher) will not be permitted entry. All guests are are urged to ware masks, which will also be available upon entry.

All unique experiences are temporarily suspended and the main entrance of the aquarium will be closed. Visitors will be assigned an entrance area during ticket purchase. All tickets are $32.95, with children under age 3 free.

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