Member Economic Luncheon, May 2026

Join us Thursday, May 28th from 11:30am-1:00pm for an informative luncheon featuring a panel discussion by state leaders representing the Data Center Coalition, QTS, Georgia Power, as well as local industry experts. Learn more about a data center’s landscape, their impact in Augusta and the opportunities they create towards regional growth.

Panelists for the luncheon include:

Jeff Greene, is an accomplished economic development professional with 10 years of experience in business attraction, strategic research, and project management. Jeff currently serves as Senior Manager, Economic Development with QTS Data Centers, where he leads the team of economic developers that work in identifying and entering new markets.

Kerry Bridges serves as the Region Executive for Georgia Power’s East Region that is made up of 11-counties serving  approximately 180,000 customers in the greater Augusta area. In this role, he is responsible for providing exceptional community and cross-functional company leadership, strengthening connections with community partners, serving customers across the region, leading company initiatives, and coordinating all company functional activities across multiple counties in Eastern Georgia.

Khara Boender is a director of state policy at the Data Center Coalition (DCC), where she helps in leading outreach and advocacy efforts surrounding a variety of issues impacting the data center industry including water, energy, and tax policy. Prior to joining DCC, Khara served as state policy director at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), where she oversaw CCIA’s engagement with policymakers across the 50 states on legislation and regulations related to antitrust reform, consumer data privacy, content moderation, online safety, artificial intelligence, and digital taxes.