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
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Nov. 11, 2016
Women now hold almost 13 percent of the board seats at Georgia’s public companies, a new study by nonprofit group Onboard shows. Of the 952 board seats at Georgia’s public companies, women hold 123, according to the group’s “Women in the Boardroom: 2016 Georgia Public Companies Study”. That’s the highest since the study began 24 years ago.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber has named Deisha Barnett as its new senior vice president of marketing and communications – beginning on Nov. 29.
Most recently, Barnett has spent the last nine years working with Walmart Inc., where she rose through the ranks to become the senior director of corporate communications.
By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Nov. 11, 2016
Virginia Hepner, president and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center, will retire on May 31, five years after taking the helm of the third largest arts center in the country.
In an exclusive interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle, Hepner said it is the right time for her to leave the cultural institution.
“It’s a 24-7 job the way I choose to do it,” Hepner said, who had signed on for a maximum of a five-year contract. “I really want more flexibility in my life, and I’m blessed to be able to afford that. These jobs are pretty much all consuming.”
Although Georgia is still a red state, the island of blue known as metro Atlanta is getting bluer.
Between the presidential elections of 2012 and 2016, three metro counties switched from voting primarily for Republican Mitt Romney to voting primarily for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Those three counties were Gwinnett, Cobb and Henry.
By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Nov. 4, 2016
It has been a jaw-dropping season for philanthropic giving in Atlanta.
On Nov. 2, the Woodruff Arts Center announced it has raised $110 million for its Transformation Campaign — $10 million more than its goal.
The $110 million includes $25 million to endow 11 chairs for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians, a goal that was reached two years ahead of schedule.
Twenty years ago, actress and activist Jane Fonda and feminist Gloria Steinem kicked off the first annual Numbers Too Big to Ignore – a major fundraiser for the Atlanta Women’s Foundation.
On Thursday, they returned for the 20th anniversary – held only two days after the Presidential election.
By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Nov. 4, 2016
The agreement to spend $192.5 million to dramatically renovate Philips Arena likely will lead to the redevelopment of the area between Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Underground Atlanta and Centennial Olympic Park, according to both Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Tony Ressler, the principal owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
The renovation of Philips, announced on Nov. 1, also will include $142.5 million in public financing, a stark difference from the model that built Philips Arena.
Two Atlanta business leaders have launched a new effort – the Atlanta Friendship Initiative – aimed at bridging divides in our community.
The idea is for two people of different races or ethnic backgrounds to agree to become friends. They pledge to see each other once a quarter and bring their families together once a year in fellowship.
As I write this column, on the day before the presidential election, it is without knowing who will be leading our country for the next four years.
A comment I often heard during this election season, often with humor was: “If (fill in the blank) is elected president, I’m leaving the country.”
It just so happens that I’m trying to become a Spanish citizen – a move that speaks more to my heritage than my political beliefs.
Original Story on WABE by Maria Saporta The $192.5 million renovation plan for Philips Arena could also include upgrades to land between Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Underground Atlanta and Centennial Olympic Park. According to this week’s Atlanta Business Chronicle, that includes what some call the “gulch.” The gulch is the property under the Georgia World Congress Center […]
By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Oct. 28, 2016
Achieve Atlanta, a nonprofit helping graduating high school seniors attend and stay in college, has received an unsolicited three-year grant of $600,000 from Kaiser Permanente of Georgia.
The grant will enable Achieve Atlanta to add a college counselor in four high schools in distressed areas of Atlanta to help students apply and pay for college.
“We really wanted to focus on areas where there were poor health outcomes,” said Madelyn Adams, director of community benefit for Kaiser Permanente of Georgia. “Better education leads to better health outcomes. Achieve Atlanta was the right place for us to be. I really admire how transparent they are and how they know where they want to go. It really appealed to us.”
Raising more than $10 million over its goal, the Woodruff Arts Center’s Transformation Campaign ended up raising $110 million more than two years ahead of schedule.
The record-breaking campaign ended up receiving a multimillion dollar undisclosed gift from the Coca-Cola Co. to support the renovation of the Alliance Theatre. As a result, the main stage will be named the Coca-Cola Stage at the Alliance Theatre when the renovated venue opens in the fall of 2018.
By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Oct. 28, 2016
Two top Atlanta business leaders have launched a new initiative aimed at healing strained race relations, with hopes it could spread to other cities.
Bill Nordmark, an Atlanta business consultant and former president of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, and John Grant, executive director of the Celebration Bowl and former CEO of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, have formed the Atlanta Friendship Initiative. The concept is to pair up two people from different racial or ethnic backgrounds and have them become friends. They agree to get together once a quarter, and then once a year to bring their families together in fellowship.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and majority Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler were all smiles Tuesday when they announced that they had reached a $192.5 million deal to revamp Philips Arena.
The 30-year agreement would keep the “Hawks in downtown Atlanta for decades to come,” Reed said at the press conference in his Ceremonial Office at City Hall.
Veteran parks and conservation advocate George Dusenbury IV has been named the Georgia State Director for the Trust for Public Land.
He succeeds Curt Soper, who moved to the Pacific Northwest this summer to accept a position as executive director of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust.
In his new role, Dusenbury plans to focus on improving access to parks in Atlanta, expanding conservation efforts around the Chattahoochee River and working in partnership with individuals and organizations throughout the state.
Original Story on WABE by Maria Saporta Back when he was working at the Southface Energy Institute in the mid-2000s, Adam Deck came up with the idea of creating a nonprofit that would recycle building materials, keeping them out of landfills. He started working on a business plan, but had a hard time getting traction. […]
News of AT&T acquiring Time Warner brought up all these feelings of “cudda, wudda, shudda” for Atlanta.
Not only does Time Warner own the formerly-independent Turner Broadcasting System – including CNN, which is based in Atlanta but controlled from New York.
But Texas-based AT&T acquired the former Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., a move that changed the city’s telecommunications profile forever.
For the third year in a row, transportation continues to be the top concern in the Atlanta region – mentioned by 25 percent of the population.
The results of the fourth annual Metro Atlanta Speaks public opinion survey were to be announced at the Atlanta Regional Commission’s State of the Region breakfast at the Georgia World Congress Center.
More importantly, the respondents expressed strong support for public transit with 73.5 percent said transit was very important and another 18.7 percent said it was somewhat important.
By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Oct. 21, 2016
The Lifecycle Building Center has just been able to acquire its 70,000-square-foot warehouse with 3.5 acres — thanks to the Kendeda Fund’s help in facilitating an acquisition loan.
The property includes a historic warehouse and a newer building at 1116 Murphy Ave. in southwest Atlanta — a location the nonprofit has been leasing for five years. The warehouses are filled with construction materials, from cabinets to doors to sinks to anything one can find in homes or office buildings.
It’s hard to mention Cobb County and transit in the same sentence without stirring up all sorts of emotions.
That actually was the intent of Advance Atlanta, a group of millennials who care deeply about our region’s future, when they held a program – Transit Talk: Cobb – on Oct. 20.
