Monthly Archives: December 2009

Column: United Way’s 2009 chair to stay on for 2010

Date: December 29th, 2009, 9:31 am

By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 18, 2009

Finding a business executive to chair the 2010 United Way campaign has been a challenging task. Given the tough economic environment, interested CEOs have had to beg off, at least for this coming year.

So United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta Inc. is doing something it has never done before — having the same Continue reading →

Posted in ABC Articles | Leave a comment

Southface celebrates Winter Solstice with special awards

Date: December 21st, 2009, 3:21 am

By Maria Saporta

Today is the winter solstice.

But Southface, a non-profit that promotes green building practices, decided to celebrate the winter solstice six days early by highlighting some “outstanding energy-efficiency contributors in our community,” according to Judy Knight, who handles communications for the organization.

Although I attended Southface’s Winter Solstice party, I had to leave early before the awards were handed out.

So Knight graciously agreed to send me a recap of what happened.
Continue reading →

Posted in Latest Reports | Leave a comment

As GWCC’s Graveline retires, officials pledge to keep politics out of search for successor

Date: , 3:00 am

At Dan Graveline’s retirement party last week, the theme of those paying him tribute was the same. They all credited Graveline for his professionalism in running one the best convention centers in the United States.

Graveline is the only executive director that the Georgia World Congress Center has known in its 33-year history. He came to Atlanta after a group of state officials went on a tour of convention centers in the mid-1970s and met Graveline, who was then assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

In short, when searching for someone to run its new convention center, state leaders turned to a professional who understood the meeting and convention industry. That was 1976.

Now the state is facing the same challenge — selecting the ideal person to run one of the largest convention centers in the Continue reading →

Posted in Maria's Metro | 3 Comments

Carless in Atlanta — seeing city’s streets and neighborhoods on foot

Date: December 20th, 2009, 9:16 pm

By Guest Columnist E. FRED YALOURIS, director of design for Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

I am often asked about my decision to move to Atlanta without a car, and, if there is time, I like to take the opportunity to bore my listener with the story of how I made this decision.

I had come to Atlanta a month before starting work at the BeltLine to attend a public meeting at City Hall. It was on a beautiful spring day, Saturday afternoon, May 2, 2008. The sun was shining, the outside temperature was 64 degrees, and you could smell the spring blossoms in the air.

It was such a nice afternoon, that, after an excellent public meeting, I decided to walk the nine or ten blocks up Peachtree to my hotel. To my naïve surprise, except Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Columns | 8 Comments

Tom Bell joins SecurAmerica

Date: , 12:02 am

By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 18, 2009

One of Atlanta’s top real estate executives is teaming up with one of the city’s top security executives in a bid to build the top U.S. security company.

Tom Bell, who served until July 1 as CEO of Cousins Properties Inc., is joining forces with Frank Argenbright’s fast-growing SecurAmerica LLC, a provider of contract security services.
Continue reading →

Posted in ABC Articles | Leave a comment

Rep. John Lewis says MARTA needs region, state support

Date: December 19th, 2009, 11:57 pm

By Maria Saporta

U.S. Congressman John Lewis (D-Atlanta) made one thing perfectly clear Friday evening — MARTA is near and dear to his heart.

Lewis was the honorary host of MARTA’s celebration of its 30th anniversary of providing rail transit in addition to buses. Lewis was interviewed by public affairs and policy consultant Jeff Dickerson about the past, present and future of transit in the region.

Lewis proclaimed his love for MARTA in the following ways:

“MARTA is a shining example of what can be done,” Lewis said. “We wouldn’t be Continue reading →

Posted in Latest Reports | Leave a comment

MARTA celebrates 30 years of bus and rail in Atlanta region

Date: December 17th, 2009, 6:32 pm

By Maria Saporta

Thirty years ago, Atlanta was riding high. MARTA had just opened the first leg of its rail transit system on the east line.

Atlanta was the envy of the nation in its ability to have won federal transit dollars to build one of the few modern rail systems in the country (San Francisco and Washington D.C. were the other two cities on the move).

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, metro Atlanta lost its way when it came to expanding and operating its rail transit system. The reasons are multi-dimensional and complex.

So now we are a metro area with a Continue reading →

Posted in Latest Reports | 2 Comments

Column: Mayor Reed will retain elite business group

Date: December 16th, 2009, 8:35 am

By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 11, 2009

The Atlanta Committee for Progress, the top-caliber business advisory group established by Mayor Shirley Franklin, is being kept intact by Mayor-elect Kasim Reed.

“I think they have been an invaluable resource during the last five to six years,” Reed said in an interview. “I Continue reading →

Posted in ABC Articles | Leave a comment

Ivan Allen family shines on — now at chamber’s front door

Date: December 14th, 2009, 8:43 pm

By Maria Saporta

Two historic gas lights now bookend the entrance of the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

Both gas lights stand in honor of two Atlanta legends — Ivan Allen Sr. and Ivan Allen Jr.

They were just moved from the backside of the chamber’s headquarters to the much more prominent location along Andrew Young International Boulevard at Centennial Olympic Park.

Chamber officials on Monday celebrated the move along with members of the Allen family and executives of Atlanta Gas Light, and its parent company, AGL Resources. Continue reading →

Posted in Latest Reports | 1 Comment

Atlanta Beltline project begins to take shape with new executives, projects

Date: , 7:11 am

By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 11, 2009

The Atlanta Beltline is beginning to take shape, both the visionary 22-mile redevelopment ring around the central city and the organization shepherding the project.

Brian Leary, who became president of Atlanta BeltLine Continue reading →

Posted in ABC Articles | Leave a comment