Maria Saporta, executive editor, is a longtime Atlanta business, civic and urban affairs journalist with a deep knowledge of our city, our region and state. From 2008 to 2020, she wrote weekly columns and news stories for the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Prior to that, she spent 27 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, becoming its business columnist in 1991. Maria received her Master’s degree in urban studies from Georgia State and her Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Maria was born in Atlanta to European parents and has two young adult children. She launched SaportaReport in February 2009.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 26, 2015
Atlanta’s Project Grad is celebrating its 15th anniversary by ceasing to exist.
The nonprofit that has been instrumental in providing college scholarships to students attending Atlanta Public Schools will be joining forces with the new initiative — Achieve Atlanta.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 26, 2015
Chick-fil-A is taking another step in its transition from a small but fast-growing family business into a major company.
The restaurant chain is expanding its board of directors to include external leaders who can advise Chick-fil-A Inc.’s executives on the growing number of issues facing the company.
Glen Paul Freedman believes in giving credit where credit is due.
Freedman, chairman of Georgia Equality, said Gov. Nathan Deal and Attorney General Sam Olens deserve credit for the state not having had one negative incident since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage on June 26.
Georgia was one of 15 states in the nation that had banned same-sex marriages or had put the issue on hold.
Friends and associates from near and far joined in a retirement celebration for Milton C. Clipper Jr., who served as president and CEO of the public broadcasting entity PBA/Channel 30 and WABE-FM (90.1) for 20 years. Clipper was presented with several gifts – a set of golf clubs, a small metal sculpture and a speedily-done painting of him.
I’m in awe of how Charleston, S.C. has responded to one of the worst crimes of hate and racism that the South has experienced in decades.
Instead of responding with hate, violence and vindictiveness, the fine people of Charleston responded with grace, forgiveness, tolerance and a belief in the ultimate good in the human race.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 19, 2015
At its board meeting June 17, the United Way of Greater Atlanta approved a total investment of $87.3 million in the community to help children, individuals and families in need throughout the 13-county region.
The organization also is wrestling with how leadership and philanthropy is changing in Atlanta’s business community.
For example, while $87.3 million is an impressive number, only $21.6 million of that was available for the United Way Community Impact Fund.
The controversial deal to sell Tyler Perry 330 acres of land of Fort McPherson for only $30 million could close as early as Friday morning.
But on the eve of the transaction, State Sen. Vincent Fort cautioned that the deal is likely unconstitutional and illegal.
A jubilant mood filled the room as the new owners of the Atlanta Hawks met with the local media for the first time on Thursday.
“That was my first press conference ever,” Tony Ressler, the principal owner of the team, admitted after it was over.
It also was the first time that Atlantans were able to get an up close and personal look of the man who will own perhaps the city’s most beloved sports team in 2015.
East Point is gaining national fame – not necessarily for the right reasons.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced late Tuesday that it has placed East Point’s Historic Civic Block on its 2015 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
The Historic Civic Block includes the East Point City Hall, the City Auditorium, the City Library and Victory Park – a contiguous block that has been the heart of East Point since the 1930s.
Atlanta native Rohit Malhotra, executive director of the Center for Civic Innovation, has been awarded the prestigious and coveted “Fellowship” from the global nonprofit Echoing Green.
The 2015 Fellowships were announced Tuesday.
There’s a saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
That’s a message the Georgia Environmental Protection Division needs to hear.
The Georgia EPD has proposed removing all minimum flow requirements along the Chattahoochee River at Peachtree Creek in Atlanta – eliminating a standard that has been in place for nearly 40 years.
A group tasked with helping revitalize the Westside of Atlanta has named Quince T. Brinkley Jr. as its executive director.
The Westside Future Fund, an off-shoot of the Atlanta Committee for Progress, is tasked with generating and coordinating private sector support for the economic revival of the communities located west of the new Atlanta Falcons stadium.
By Douglas Sams and Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 19, 2015
A giant Houston-based real estate investment trust and a group led by TV host Steve Harvey have emerged as finalists to buy and redevelop the 20-acre Atlanta Civic Center.
People familiar with the process say there is a strong possibility the two finalists could end up joining forces and present one winning bid for the project.
Living in Midtown can be full of pleasant surprises.
Friday night was no exception.
Thousands of cycliest – adorned in a colorful variety of costumes and outfits – gathered at Piedmont Park along 10th Street along the meadow for the 3rd Annual Atlanta Moon Ride.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 12, 2015
It probably was a good thing that Jim Hannan, president and CEO of Georgia-Pacific, was out of town on June 9 when the Woodruff Arts Center held its victory celebration of the 2014-2015 annual corporate campaign.
Less than a mile separates the end of the Atlanta Streetcar tracks on Edgewood Avenue and the Atlanta BeltLine.
The City of Atlanta is applying for a $29.3 million grant in federal TIGER to connect these two magnets of economic activity by extending the Atlanta Streetcar to the Irwin Street entrance of the Atlanta BeltLine.
The TIGER 7 grant application outlines a project that would add 1.8 miles of track (round trip) to the existing Atlanta Streetcar at a total cost of $65.4 million.
The plot continues to thicken in the controversial Fort McPherson-Tyler Perry Studios land deal.
Now the City of Atlanta is proposing to spend up to $510,000 to build a new road on the land because Tyler Perry Studios will be closing all public access to the existing major streets that are part of the 330 acres it is buying.
That means that the City of Atlanta will have to build a new road that parallels the existing Walker Street so it will be able to access the property that will be used by the Veterans Administration, the Associated Credit Union and the federally-mandated services for the homeless.
The World Affairs Council of Atlanta re-elected David Abney, the CEO of UPS, as its chairman at its June 15 board meeting.
Clyde Tuggle, chief public affairs and communications officer for the Coca Cola Co., was elected vice-chair.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 12, 2015
Georgia’s business and political leaders are ready to roll out the welcome mat to General Electric Co. if it is truly serious about relocating its corporate headquarters out of Connecticut.
In a highly unusual move, GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt wrote in an email to employees that he had assembled an exploratory team “to look into the company’s options to relocate corporate HQ to another state with a more pro-business environment.”
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 5, 2015
The recipient of the Council for Quality Growth’s 2015 Four Pillar Award will be Dan Cathy, president and CEO of Chick-fil-A Inc.
The Four Pillar Award event, which will be held on Oct. 1 at the Georgia World Congress Center, will have a special twist. The night will shine a spotlight on the Westside community just across Northside Drive from the GWCC and the new Atlanta Falcons football stadium.
