Author Archives: Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

A drama-filled vote for a new chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission went for 12 ballots before any candidate received the needed 20 votes from the body that oversees the 10 metro counties.

At the end of the day, the new chairman of the metropolitan planning and implementation body will be Kerry Armstrong, a citizen member from Gwinnett who has been on ARC’s board since 2008. Armstrong is a senior vice president with Pope & Land Enterprise, which he joined in 2012. Armstrong will become chairman in January, 2014.

By Maria Saporta

Kevin Campbell has been tapped as the advisory service leader of PwC US — succeeding Reggie Walker who recently assumed the role of managing partner of PwC’s Greater Atlanta market.

Campbell will be based in Atlanta and will oversee a growing team of more than 400 advisory service professionals  in PwC’s Atlanta, Nashville and Birmingham offices. PwC also is known as the PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting and consulting firm.

When Walker led that practice, the advisory service business out of Atlanta achieved double-digit annualized growth over the last five years.

Campbell has more than 20 years of experience as a consultant with PwC. He will oversee a team of consultants that provide a broad platform of advisory services, including deals, management and technology consulting and forensics.

By Maria Saporta

Executives with the Atlanta Braves were in a celebratory mood Tuesday night after the Cobb County Commission voted 4 to 1 in favor of the agreement to build a $672 million stadium near the I-75 and I-285.

“This is a most significant and historic day for our franchise,” said John Schuerholz, president of the Atlanta Braves, after the vote. “This gold standard franchise is joining with this gold standard county. We are thrilled with how this turned out tonight.”

The meeting of the Cobb Commission lasted for more than two-and-a-half hours with most of the time being turned over for public comment.

About 275 people filled the standing-room only meeting area and dozens of others were able to watch the proceedings from an overflow room.

By Maria Saporta

A host of international leaders and celebrities were on hand for the “pre-announcement ceremony” Friday morning of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates — a prestigious event that will be held in Atlanta from Nov. 15 to 19, 2015.

Atlanta competed against several other cities to host the summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, only the second time the gathering will have been in the United States.

Atlanta won the event thanks to the enthusiasm of Prof. Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize who has made Atlanta his second home; as well as Mohammad Bhuiyan, CEO of the Yunus Creative Lab, who will be the CEO of the 2015 Summit.

“Atlanta deserves to be the host city for the Nobel Laureates for many reasons,” Yunus said Friday mentioning the city’s history in civil and human rights. “Atlanta has a great tradition of fighting for human rights.”

By Maria Saporta

An overwhelming majority of Cobb County residents believe county commissioners should delay Tuesday’s vote for a new Braves stadium so that public hearings can take place, according to a newly released poll by Washington, D.C.-based Lincoln Park Strategies.

The poll, taken between Nov. 19 and Nov. 20 of 750 likely voters in Cobb County, showed that 81 percent supported delaying the vote. That strong majority crossed all party lines (Republicans: 80 percent; Independents: 78 percent and Democrats: 85 percent).

“That is something that we rarely see — 81 percent is huge,” said Stefan Hankin, president of Lincoln Park Strategies. “Even 65 percent of the supporters of the stadium support a delay.”

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta business leaders enthusiastically welcomed the news that Hala Moddelmog will be the next president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber Thursday morning.

Moddelmog, 57, a Georgia native who has been the top executive at Church’s Chicken, Arby’s and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, was the unanimous choice of the Chamber’s search committee, its executive committee and its board, according to Paul Bowers, the 2013 chair of the Chamber who is also president and CEO of Georgia Power.

Moddelmog will be the first woman to serve as president of the influential business organization, which was founded in 1859, and now has more than 4,000 company members in the greater metro Atlanta area. Moddelmog will succeed Sam Williams, who has served as president for 17 years.

At the Atlanta Regional Commission’s State of the Region breakfast on Nov. 1, national urban observer Chris Leinberger declared the end of sprawl in metro Atlanta.

Sixty percent of development in the last four years had gravitated towards walkable urban places — primarily in the City of Atlanta close to transit. Walkable town centers in the suburbs also could expect future investment, Leinberger said as he repeated: “Sprawl is over.”

Tad Leithead, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, released the results of a new “Atlanta Speaks” survey of residents from throughout the region.

“A majority of our residents believe in transit,” Leithead said, adding that they also believed in the “redevelopment of older areas in our region.”