Author Archives: Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 10, 2016

The Atlanta region likes to boast of being a hub of Fortune 500 company headquarters – bragging that it has the third-highest concentration in the country – an assertion included in the video shown in the city’s presentation that helped it recently win the 2019 Super Bowl.

But that’s an overstatement at best.

In fact, Atlanta’s high watermark as a Fortune 500 company region may have come in 2015 when there were 18 companies in the prestigious list.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 3, 2016

When Jenny Pruitt got the call saying she had been selected as the 2016 Four Pillar honoree by the Council for Quality Growth, her first reaction was they had called the wrong person.

“I’m humbled and excited,” Pruitt said of the honor, which will be presented on Oct. 13 at the 27th annual Four Pillar Tribute at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Pruitt, a third-generation Atlantan, is the only the third woman to make the esteemed list (Gwinnett County’s Louise Radloff received it in 2000, and Atlanta’s Shirley Franklin received it in 2009.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 3, 2016

When Mike Thurmond won the Democratic primary election on May 24 for CEO of DeKalb County with 72 percent of the vote against two opponents, he drew support from all parts of the county.

That’s how he can conclude a 90-minute exclusive interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle that focused on some of the most contentious issues dividing DeKalb with an expression of hope.

“I’m so excited and optimistic about the future of DeKalb County,” Thurmond said. “We will be recognized as a national model of local governance. We are going to figure it out. We are the land of opportunity in the metro area.”

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 27, 2016

State business leaders are being asked to join the Chairman’s Circle of Youth Entrepreneurs Georgia – a nonprofit started by Elizabeth Koch in 2006.

Liz Koch is the wife of billionaire Charles Koch, an owner of Koch Industries, which bought Georgia-Pacific in 2005.

The Chairman’s Circle was launched May 19 at a reception at the Center for Civil and Human Rights. The goal of YE Georgia is to make entrepreneurship an educational priority for public schools. So far, YE Georgia operates in public schools in Atlanta, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett. “We’re in 13 schools, and we are serving 360 students,” Mrs. Koch said at the reception. It started in two Atlanta schools serving only 38 students. Since it started, YE Georgia has reached about 2,000 students.

By Maria Saporta and Amy Wenk
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 27, 2016

For Arthur Blank, securing the 2019 Super Bowl was a culmination of a dream that began when he announced he was buying the Atlanta Falcons in December 2001 — nearly two years after the city hosted its last Super Bowl.

“It’s amazing from where Atlanta has come in the last 16 years,” Blank said in an interview in Charlotte, N.C., on May 24 after the 32 owners of the National Football League awarded the 2019 Super Bowl to Atlanta. “My heart is touched by a lot of people. My motivation comes from what we can do for others, in making people happy and seeing the gleam in their eyes.”

It’s been a long and winding road since that day – full of emotional ups and downs as he has had to deal with the daily angst of running a professional sports team.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 20, 2016

The Woodruff Arts Center has tapped Martin Flanagan, president and CEO of Invesco Ltd., to chair its annual corporate campaign for 2016-2017.

The annual corporate campaign has raised more than $10 million to support all the arts and education programming of the Woodruff Arts Center and its divisions: the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the High Museum of Art and the Alliance Theatre.

“We are thrilled that Marty has agreed to chair our 2016 – 17 Annual Corporate Campaign,” said Doug Hertz, board chairman of the Woodruff Arts Center. “Marty and Invesco have been tremendous supporters of the Arts Center for years. Now he is doing even more by continuing the tradition of Atlanta’s most respected CEOs leading our annual corporate campaign.”