Monthly Archives: September 2010

Great cities embrace great public art

Date: September 19th, 2010, 9:13 pm

By Guest Columnist FRANK MANN, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield of Georgia.

I consider myself very fortunate to have traveled a great deal throughout my adult life both for pleasure and for business. I am continually impressed and even amazed that major cities all over the world have made such strong commitments to the display of public (and in many cases private) art.

This becomes evident regardless of the city one travels to including older cities in the United States, like Chicago and New York, where many wonderful paintings and sculptures adorn their streetscapes, building lobbies and outdoor plazas and fountains. Most often parks Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Columns | 11 Comments

Ga. Chamber taps Chris Clark, state agency, as its president and CEO

Date: September 17th, 2010, 9:47 am

By Maria Saporta and Dave Williams
Friday, September 17, 2010

The next president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce will be Chris Clark, a “public servant” who has been commissioner of the state Department of Natural Resources since November 2008.

As of Nov. 1, Clark will succeed George Israel, a former mayor of Macon who has been the business organization’s chief for the past seven years. Israel will stay on as president through the end of October.
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Case made for CEOs as urban statesmen at TEDxAtlanta

Date: , 9:41 am

By Maria Saporta

The nationally-known TEDx has sprouted roots in Atlanta.

On Tuesday, the latest TEDxAtlanta took place at Unboundary in the Northyards business park near Georgia Tech and had a theme of “Re-Solve.” About 1,000 people from 41 countries attended through the Livestream webcast.

Speakers were asked to give the “speech of their life” in about 20 minutes.

One of the speakers was Metro Atlanta Chamber Sam Williams, who spoke about “CEOs as Urban Statesmen.”

After giving a two-minute sweep of Continue reading →

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Column: Arts Center raises its 2010-2011 fundraising goal

Date: September 16th, 2010, 7:17 am

By Maria Saporta
Friday, September 10, 2010

Maybe the local economy is looking up.

When the Woodruff Arts Center kicks off its 2010-2011 fundraising campaign Sept. 14, its goal will be more than what it raised during the last two years.

The goal will be $8.8 million, compared with last year’s goal of $8.6 million, which it missed by about 2 percent. The year before, it raised $8.6 million, about $400,000 short of its $9 million goal.
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Fulton County mayors to say “no” to regional penny sales tax for transportation

Date: September 15th, 2010, 8:39 am

By Maria Saporta

The effort to pass a regional transportation sales tax has just become more challenging.

At 10 a.m. press conference this morning (Wednesday), all the mayors in Fulton County with the exception of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed will stand on the steps of the Georgia Capitol and announce their opposition to the proposed sales tax.

In a media advisory that I just received, it states that the “Fulton County Mayors from the north to the southern end of the county, have banded together to express
Continue reading →

Posted in Latest Reports | 9 Comments

KSU governance center was ahead of its time

Date: September 14th, 2010, 7:11 am

By Maria Saporta
Friday, September 10, 2010

Corporate governance is a key term in today’s business vocabulary as the public has gotten to know the failings of Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Mark Hurd, Enron Corp.’s Kenneth Lay and WorldCom’s Bernie Ebbers.

That wasn’t the case 15 years ago when Kennesaw State University formed its Center for Corporate Governance.

Today, the Center has become a national resource on corporate governance issues by conducting research, by serving as an Continue reading →

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Reed’s choice for airport gm — Louis Miller — is a surprise

Date: September 13th, 2010, 4:26 pm

By Maria Saporta

Well I really got this one wrong.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed named Louis Miller as his pick for general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — a move that surprised me as well as people involved in the airline and airport industry.

Louis Miller is the former CEO of Tampa International Airport. He was one of three finalists that included John Clark, the current general manager of the Indianapolis airport, and Lester Robinson, the former general manager of the Detroit airport authority.

At different times, Clark and Robinson Continue reading →

Posted in Latest Reports | 4 Comments

Regional transportation sales tax doomed to fail in 2012 if MARTA issue isn’t addressed

Date: September 12th, 2010, 9:22 pm

WARNING: To people who want voters to pass the regional transportation sales tax: Fix the inequities towards MARTA.

A regional sales tax will not pass without enthusiastic support from people living in the City of Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb counties. But if the language now included in House Bill 277 is not changed, residents in the MARTA counties will realize that the regional sales tax is not in their best interest.

For nearly 40 years, people living in Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb have been investing billions of dollars in a one-cent sales tax to establish the MARTA bus and rail system — the back bone of all transit services in the region.

HB 277 does call for an additional penny sales transportation tax for the 10-county region (of which as little as 15 percent or
Continue reading →

Posted in Maria's Metro | 10 Comments

Column: Atlanta group rescues its 20,000th refugee

Date: , 9:11 pm

By Maria Saporta
Friday, September 3, 2010

The Atlanta office of the International Rescue Committee will hit quite a milestone on Friday, Sept. 3.

On that day, the Atlanta office will welcome its 20,000th refugee — Raeda, a single, Catholic woman from Baghdad who escaped persecution against ethnic and religious minorities by fleeing first to Jordan.

Now she will begin her new life in Atlanta with the help of the local office of the IRC.
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As cash gifts decrease, Hands On Atlanta sees increase in volunteerism

Date: , 8:41 pm

By Guest Columnist GINA SIMPSON, president and CEO of Hands on Atlanta.

Since I joinied Hands On Atlanta in November 2008, there has never been a dull moment.

We have seen a tremendous surge in volunteerism over the last year, a welcome development because the need is greater now than it has ever been.

With the economic downturn and increased unemployment, we saw a 30 percent increase in our volunteer efforts in 2009. Many people have chosen to volunteer as a means of networking with potential employers, while meeting critical service needs in the Continue reading →

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