Category: ATL Business Chronicle

By Maria Saporta and Amy Wenk
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on November 13, 2015

The vision to reinvest in Centennial Olympic Park as it nears its 20th anniversary has just received a major boost with a $10 million donation from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation.

The Woodruff grant is the lead gift in a $25 million campaign that’s being launched by the Georgia World Congress Center. A majority of the campaign ­— $13 million — will go towards the acquisition and demolition of the Metro Atlanta Chamber building.

The land underneath the Chamber building will be converted into additional park space, and it will open up new vistas towards the Georgia World Congress Center and the College Football Hall of Fame.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on November 6, 2015.

The prestigious Robert W. Woodruff Foundation has named Thomas J. Lawley as its newest trustee, filling the void created with the passing of longtime board member Jimmy Sibley in September.

The Woodruff Foundation, the largest in the Southeast, had assets of more than $3.15 billion at the end of 2014. It gave away 43 grants worth a total of $121.5 million last year.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on November 6, 2015

More Georgia companies are reaching a critical mass where women directors have real influence on corporate boards.

That’s the finding of the 2015 study by OnBoard, an organization that has monitored the number of women on Georgia’s corporate boards for the past 23 years.

OnBoard defines critical mass as a board that has at least three women who make up at least 25 percent of its members. A study by Wellesley College determined that was the threshold when women were really listened to.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 30, 2015

Two major attractions opened in downtown Atlanta last year within two of months and within yards of each other — the Center for Civil and Human Rights and the College Football Hall of Fame.

Although both attractions are quite different, the parallels between them are striking. They both were years in the making, slowed down in part by the economic recession. Both became civic initiatives with community leaders understanding how they could help define Atlanta as a destination, especially around Centennial Olympic Park.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 23, 2015.

For decades, real estate leader Sam Friedman kept a personal secret. Until now.

Friedman, president and CEO of AFCO Realty, has had lupus — a chronic auto immune disease — since he was 19.

But Friedman has decided to go public because he is hoping to shine a light on the disease as a way to help others through the Georgia Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA).

Two years after adding a Ferris wheel to the city’s skyline, the owners of SkyView Atlanta look to bring thrills to downtown.

SkyView co-owners Todd Schneider and Al Mers plan to build the 225-foot-tall SkyTower Atlanta, incorporating three new rides overlooking Centennial Olympic Park. The attraction will be built alongside the 20-story Ferris wheel but will rise about 25 feet higher.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 16, 2015.

Although Atlanta will not host the 2015 Nobel Peace Laureates Summit in November, a significant international event will be taking place here after all.

The Fulbright Association will be holding its 2015 annual conference in Atlanta at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14 — the first time the prestigious alumni organization has held its U.S. gathering outside of Washington, D.C.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 16, 2015.

Top business leaders are lining up to support the Westside Future Fund, a high-powered umbrella organization that’s been formed to coordinate the planning, fund-raising and revitalization efforts in the communities west of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium now under construction.

Westside Future Fund Chairman Richard Dugas, CEO of PulteGroup Inc. (one of Atlanta’s newest Fortune 500 companies), sat down with Atlanta Business Chronicle on Oct. 14 for his first in-depth interview about the initiative since he was tapped to lead the effort last December.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 9, 2015.

The United Way of Greater Atlanta has set a high bar this year for its annual campaign: $77.7 million, a 3 percent increase over what was raised during the last campaign.

The campaign is being chaired by David Mangum, president and chief operating officer of Global Payments. Mangum called the goal “a stretch,” but he said he believed it was achievable given the generosity of the Atlanta community.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 9, 2015.

For more than 30 years, Decatur-based The Task Force for Global Health has been quietly saving and improving the lives of millions of people around the world.

Its secret sauce? Collaboration.

On Oct. 12, pioneers in global health will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Task Force at an event at the Carter Center by challenging itself and its partners by asking: What will it take to end diseases of extreme poverty?

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 2, 2015.

As Virginia Hepner prepares to address the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Oct. 5, she will reflect on her challenging tenure as CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center — and she will be looking at what’s around the corner. When she marked her three-year anniversary leading the largest arts and cultural organization in the Southeast, Hepner signed on for another three-year contract.

But don’t ask her if she’s having fun.

“It’s a really challenging job for anybody,” she said.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 2, 2015.

Earlier this year, Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy made a plea to local leaders to help revitalize the blighted communities on the west side of downtown as a way to bridge the divide between the haves and the have-nots.

Now Cathy is putting money where his mouth is. Chick-fil-A Inc. will be locating one of its stores at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard next to the existing Walmart. As the first Chick-fil-A in that part of town, the store is expected to create at least 50 to 60 jobs in that community.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 2, 2015.

The sale of Underground Atlanta has been delayed until Jan. 15 as the city of Atlanta works through what Mayor Kasim Reed described as a “solvable problem.” The city of Atlanta’s sale of Underground Atlanta to WRS Inc., a real estate company based in Mount Pleasant, S.C., for $25.75 million included a parking facility that is owned by the state of Georgia.

As part of the Underground deal, the city and the state were supposed to have swapped property so that the parking facility could be included in the sale.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 25, 2015.

Twenty-five years page ago, a grassroots in Atlanta nonprofit planted a seed that has turned into a national movement.

That seed was Hands On Atlanta. On Oct. 3, Hands On Atlanta will celebrate its 25th anniversary with Hands On Atlanta Day when as many as 6,000 people and more than 80 companies will work on 100 community projects throughout the greater Atlanta area.

“It has become a way of life,” said Gina Simpson, president and CEO of Hands On Atlanta. “It’s not just monetary. It’s a way to make giving a way of life. We have seen children as young as five years old come out and volunteer.”

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 25, 2015.

Atlanta developer Jim Cumming has done well over the decades buying and selling real estate — not giving it away.

So when Bill Garrett, president of the Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School, looked Cumming straight in the eye and asked if he would give the nonprofit the seven-story Oxford Industries building in downtown Atlanta, Cumming quickly answered: “Impossible. No way. We will do something. But we are not giving you the building.”

Then a couple of nights later, Cumming woke up at 3 a.m. thinking about Cristo Rey and Garrett.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 18, 2015.

About 20 years ago, an anonymous donor appeared on the Atlanta scene, giving away millions of dollars in an out-of-nowhere, yet strategic way.

When the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra was about to layoff nine musicians in the mid-1990s, a gift of $4 million (with some matching challenges) helped save the day.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 18, 2015.

Georgia Tech has received a $30 million grant from the Kendeda Fund to develop the most environmentally-sound building ever constructed in the Southeast.

The “Living Building Challenge 3.0” education and research center that will be built on Georgia Tech’s campus is so important to the anonymous donor behind the Kendeda Fund that she has agreed to go public with her identity. She is Diana Blank, the first wife of Arthur Blank, a co-founder of The Home Depot Inc. and owner of the Atlanta Falcons.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 11, 2015.

One of Atlanta’s most treasured families will have its name on one of Atlanta’s most treasured institutions.

The Glenn family recently agreed to have the new Wellness Clinic at Skyland Trail be named in honor of the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, one of Atlanta’s more private philanthropies.

The Glenn Family Wellness Clinic, which opened in March, is the first facility in Atlanta to offer integrated medical care for adults who have been diagnosed with a mental illness.