A new cannabis dispensary is headed to the Augusta area; a new cookie shop is opening off Walton Way Extension; and a pair of charities are celebrating milestones to fill jobs and to fill stomachs.
Here's a brief look at openings, closings and other changes in Augusta-area business:
Trulieve
WHERE THERE’S SMOKE: Columbia County will be one of the newest locations of a dispensary chain that sells medicinal marijuana.
The website for cannabis retailer Trulieve lists 4218 Washington Rd. in Evans as the future address of its fifth Georgia location. It will occupy Unit 1 of a recently constructed multitenant commercial strip opposite the shopping center anchored by Academy Sports.
Trulieve was one of the first two cannabis dispensaries to be granted a license by the state of Georgia to sell medicinal marijuana. Since establishing its first store in Macon earlier this year, other Trulieves have opened in Marietta, Newnan and Pooler. Columbus also is on the company’s list for future Georgia dispensaries.
When Trulieve acquired rival Harvest Health Harvest & Recreation in 2021, Trulieve became the nation’s largest cannabis company at the time but was later overtaken. Curaleaf is widely considered the biggest currently, with a market cap of $2.34 billion.
Dirty Dough Cookies
ANOTHER SWEET DEAL: Plans appear on-schedule to bring a new sweet-shop chain specializing in cookies to the Augusta area – and it’s not Crumbl.
Dirty Dough Cookies franchisees Mike and Maycie Ralphs visited the company’s home office in Utah in July to undergo training to learn how to manage their forthcoming location at 3602 Exchange Ln. in Augusta, just off Walton Way Extension. The new store will open in a new commercial strip between a McAlister’s Deli and a V’s Barbershop.
What makes it “Dirty”? It refers to the fillings, layers and other mix-ins that comprise one of the business’ over-the-top cookies. From its website: “Driven by the belief that the best people and cookies go deeper than what you see on the surface, we focus on what’s inside. That’s what really matters.”
The Augusta Dirty Dough is so far one of just two publicly announced for Georgia. The other, in Roswell, is expected to open in September.
Golden Harvest Food Bank
ROOM FOR MORE: A regional food bank is cutting the ribbon Aug. 29 on its renovated and updated Volunteer and Administration Center.
Golden Harvest Food Bank is holding the ceremony at 8:30 a.m. at the charity’s Augusta campus, 3310 Commerce Dr.
The volunteer packing and sorting area has been renovated, and a new entrance "to better share our mission with the community, as well as increased office and conference room space," Golden Harvest said in a statement.