Author Archives: Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The state’s efforts to put the historic Olympia building at Five Points out for bid has been stalled for the second time.

The State Property Office was supposed to have opened bids on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. when people interested in buying the historic building would have known how their offers compared to others.

“We have made a decision to not open the bids tomorrow for the Olympia building because we are still in negotiations with Coca-Cola on the lease for their sign on the roof,” Paul Melvin, spokesman for the State Property Office, said Monday afternoon.

By Maria Saporta

In a “welcome to Atlanta” press conference Friday morning, the new general manager and CEO of MARTA — Keith Parker — promised to run an open and transparent agency.

In that spirit, he promised that his new contract would be on MARTA’s website within hours available for public review. A copy was then handed out to reporters showing that he would be receiving a base annual salary of $320,000 during the five-year contract. He will join MARTA on Dec. 10.

By Maria Saporta

As the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s executive committee was meeting Thursday morning to select Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson as its 2014 chair, he was the keynote speaker at the Atlanta Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

Anderson’s talk centered on the themes of value-based leadership and community giving, but at no time in his talk did he give the attendees, who were mostly members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, an inkling that he would be taking on one of the most important business civic roles in the region if not the state.

By Maria Saporta

The Metro Atlanta Chamber has done it again.

The influential business organization has lined up one of the state’s top business leaders to chair the Chamber in 2014 — Richard Anderson, CEO of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines.

The executive committee of the Metro Atlanta Chamber voted Thursday morning to make Anderson the 2013 chair-elect, positioning him to lead the organization in 2014.

It continues the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s string of having some of the most powerful executives in that leadership role. Consider this. In 2011, John Brock, CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), was the chair. The 2012 chair is Carol Tome, the chief financial officer of the Home Depot. And the 2013 chair will be Paul Bowers, president and CEO of Georgia Power.

By Maria Saporta

Major companies in the United States are stepping up to help veterans find jobs and housing to help in their transition from military service back to civilian life.

The companies range from Atlanta-based Home Depot to Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines to New York-based JPMorgan Chase, which has a growing presence in Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta

As the sun emerged from the clouds, the northeast section of the Atlanta BeltLine was officially opened Monday morning — a reminder that all good things take time, effort and money.

Nearly all the players — past and present — were there, providing a historical context of what the project means for Atlanta.

“Today, we are not merely opening a new trail or public space,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “We are showing what’s possible for the future of our city.”

By Chris Schroder, publisher of SaportaReport

Recently, SaportaReport itself has been in the news regarding a contract that publisher Chris Schroder signed with MARTA to begin a Thought Leadership column in the near future. Some writers – and we fear some readers – might be confused as to the nature of our relationship with MARTA. We thought this would be a good opportunity to clarify our journalistic role in the community, as well as our efforts to build innovative revenue streams to support our new model for online journalism.

A little history first

Newspapers, radio and TV stations set up a business model many decades ago to provide for independent and fair reporting. Journalistic insiders call it “church and state,” meaning the sales divisions of these operations sell as much advertising as possible to support the the costs of producing and delivering their content.

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta BeltLine Inc. board Wednesday morning selected Korn/Ferry International in its search for a new president and CEO of the organization.

Korn/Ferry submitted a proposal to do the search at no cost, and board chairman John Somerhalder said the firm met the BeltLine’s criteria to do the search.

The Atlanta BeltLine’s former president and CEO, Brian Leary, parted ways with the development organization in August after controversy over certain expenses made with taxpayer funds.

By Maria Saporta

When it comes to understanding the problem with the nation’s deficit, few Americans are better qualified than Erskine Bowles and Sam Nunn.

Bowles co-chaired the Simpson-Bowles Commission, which had been established to make recommendations on how the nation should address the problem of its growing deficit. That effort, while hailed by public policy leaders around the country, has not yet been fully adopted by Congress or the current administration.

Former U.S. Sen. Nunn (D-Georgia) currently co-chairs the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to educating the public about the causes and consequences of federal budget deficits, the long-term challenges facing America’s unsustainable entitlement programs, and how to build a sound foundation for economic growth.

By Maria Saporta

It’s a movement that’s finally beginning to take hold in Atlanta — turning city streets over to people rather than cars.

On Sunday, Atlanta Streets Alive created a car-free five-mile route that created a loop along the Northeast BeltLine stretch to North Highland to Virginia Avenue to where it crossed with the BeltLine.

Although it is too early to get an official headcount, it is thought that at least 20,000 Atlantans participated in Sunday’s Atlanta Streets Alive event.

By Maria Saporta

Three wise men were in Atlanta Thursday at three separate events singing from the same fiscally-responsible hymnal.

Erskine Bowles, co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, was the keynote speaker at breakfast of the 3rd annual national conference of Purpose Built Communities, started by developer Tom Cousins and run by former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

Recently, Bowles is best known for his role with the Simpson-Bowles Commission, which is seeking a bipartisan solution to reduce the national debt. The commission was repeatedly mentioned during Wednesday night’s presidential debate, with both Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama heralding the initiative but neither fully embracing it.

By Maria Saporta

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood likes his job, and he likes Atlanta.

Both facts were obvious on Tuesday during the 26th International Air Cargo Forum & Exposition, which is being held in Atlanta through Thursday. Interestingly enough, Atlanta was the site of the very first International Air Cargo Forum in 1962, and the convention returned to the city 50 years later.

After being introduced by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, LaHood told the crowd that Reed was one of his favorite mayors.