News Conference

Mayor Kelly Girtz hopes the new arena will be a “foundation of higher wages” for Athens residents

Lucy Grey Shields

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz speaks to University of Georgia students on Dec. 1, 2023 in the Fine Arts Building Balcony Theatre about The Classic Center Arena. The Classic Center Arena is set to open in August 2024. (Photo/Lucy Grey Shields)

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz is confident that The Classic Center Arena in downtown Athens will have many benefits for the local economy. The arena, which is set to open in August 2024, will bring with it 600 new jobs with starting salaries of $15.85 an hour. 

The mayor hosted a press conference with students from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication regarding the construction of The Classic Center Arena and the economic benefits the arena will bring with it. 

Of those benefits, the mayor emphasized how the arena will benefit the Athens economy, through jobs for Athens residents and starting salaries that reflect the MIT Living Wage Calculator. The MIT Living Wage Calculator is a tool created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to determine a livable minimum wage for specific areas based on the cost of living in a community

Girtz discussed the low-wage employment class in Athens, which can in part be attributed to the popularity of service sector jobs in the area. He hopes that the new jobs and high base pay for employees will boost the Athens economy and support 

“For over 200 years there’s been, sadly, a permanent low-wage employment class in Athens. And we want to push the floor up. So, The Classic Center has agreed that they’re going to conform to the living wage calculator that MIT publishes every year,” said Girtz. 

Girtz hopes that by requiring the jobs related to the arena to pay employees $15.85 an hour, other businesses will follow suit. 

“We wanted to see the arena be a foundation for higher wages for people in the service sector in Athens,” said Girtz.

Girtz also noted that the arena would bring entertainment to Athens. The Classic Center Arena will act as a venue for concerts, events such as Disney on Ice and the home for a new hockey team in Athens. 

Third-year marketing student Carlie Tellone is excited about the new arena, specifically to see the new hockey team. 

“I know that there’s gonna be like the hockey team, which it’s really gonna be fun to support an Athens sports team other than just UGA football,” said Tellone.

Social media posts from throughout the press conference.

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Why I Wrote the Story:

I attended the news conference with Mayor Kelly Girtz on Dec. 3, 2023. At the news conference, Girtz discussed The Classic Center Arena, a new event space coming to Athens. Because I have been writing on the business beat all semester, I was immediately interested in the way that this arena would impact jobs in Athens. When Girtz informed us that the arena would add 600 jobs with a starting salary of $15.85/hour, I knew that this was the most newsworthy element of his presentation. I asked a question at the news conference, which gave me the skill of preparing a question and asking it with confidence.

Beat Q&A

Q&A: Ana Ramos, owner of Con Cariño

Lucy Grey Shields

Ana Ramos, a third-year fashion merchandising major at the University of Georgia, founded Con Cariño, a handmade swimwear company, in 2023.

Q: How did you decide to name your company?
A: Well, I am of Spanish heritage so I chose it in Spanish and “Con Cariño” translates to “with love” so I wanted to make all my bathing suits by hand so kind of my my quote or whatever is “Bikinis Hechos Con Cariño” so bikinis made with love.

Q: And then what inspired you to start your company?
A: I always just felt like there was something missing in swimwear. I always felt like, a lot of my friends and I would complain about how they would be cool bathing suits, but they would be so expensive or they would just be not super good quality or certain designs that we wanted that just weren’t there and I just really felt there was a need for a handmade individual bikini maker, I guess.

Q: Okay, so I saw on your Instagram that your bikinis are handmade. How did you start making them?
A: It was a lot of trial and error. I saw how they fit. I started outlining my own bathing suits, making them for me. And then I got compliments and I started making them for my friends and yeah, now I kind of venturing into other sizes which is good and kind of other styles because I started just making triangle string bikinis. And I’m trying to make one pieces and different bando styles stuff.

Q: What is something unexpected you’ve learned about owning your own business so far?
A: That it’s hard to make a profit. It’s like you do all the buying and all of the fabric is expensive, all of the materials (are) expensive, plus the E-commerce and all that stuff, plus the labor that you do making it and stuff. So you have to up-price a little bit and then that’s just kind of hard just because people are like, oh that’s really expensive for a bathing suit. You don’t even if you lower it then you’re not going to get a profit.

Comments trimmed for length and clarity.

Instagram post.

Lucy Grey Shields on Instagram: “Beat Q&A- Ana Ramos, a third-year fashion merchandising major at the University of Georgia, founded Con Cariño, a handmade swimwear company, in 2023.”

10 likes, 1 comments – lucygreyshields.news on November 8, 2023: “Beat Q&A- Ana Ramos, a third-year fashion merchandising major at the University of Georgia, founded Con Cariño, a handmade swimwear co…”.

Why I Wrote The Story

I researched for my Q&A by looking at Ana Ramos’ personal Instagram account, the Instagram account for Con Cariño and the website for Con Cariño. I couldn’t find much from these three ways of researching, mainly just names, products being sold, price ranges and a few other facts. Throughout the Beat Q&A I learned a lot about interviewing. At first, I was too dependent on others to help me find people to interview, but I learned that the best way to get an interview is to put myself out there and ask sources/companies directly. I also learned that a 20 minute interview lasts a lot longer than I expected it to. I ran out of questions after about 15 minutes, which led me to have to come up with questions during the interview itself. I also want to start taking notes on my computer during interviews because my questions were on my computer so going from computer to notepad led me to miss important notes. 

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