Articles from the Atlanta Business Chronicle
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 29, 2011
Glen W. Rollins sat on the next-to-last row at the Rollins Inc. annual meeting on April 26 while the other company directors sat on the first two rows.
What a difference a year can make.
At last year’s annual meeting, Glen Rollins was executive vice president of Rollins Inc., president and chief operating officer of the company’s largest subsidiary — Orkin; and the heir apparent to run the family-owned company.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 29, 2011
A hometown executive soon will be taking the reins of SunTrust Banks Inc. , the largest financial institution based in Atlanta.
The naming of William H. Rogers Jr. as SunTrust’s next CEO reinforces the bank’s Atlanta roots, and it could enhance the possibility that the institution will remain an independent bank based in the city.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 22, 2011,
Thanks to a unique public-private partnership, the Atlanta Community Food Bank is turning toward the sun for part of its energy needs.
The food bank and Radiance Solar have just completed a state-of-the-art photovoltaic solar array at the nonprofit’s headquarters in West Midtown thanks to a grant from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 22, 2011
Zoo Atlanta has just received the largest philanthropic gift in its history — $5 million from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, part of the Robert W. Woodruff family of foundations.
The grant will go toward the zoo’s current $25.7 million capital campaign, the attraction’s first fundraising campaign in a dozen years.
The centerpiece of the campaign will be the building of a new amphibian and reptile complex to replace the 1960s-era reptile house that currently is in disrepair.
By Maria Saporta
April 15, 2011
One can toast again at the Governor’s Mansion.
Economic developers were pleased that Gov. Nathan Deal has decided that alcohol can be served at the Governor’s Mansion — reversing a ban that had been put in place by former Gov. Sonny Perdue.
“As Gov. Deal said about Sunday alcohol sales — he doesn’t drink; he simply believes in democracy,” Deal spokesman Brian Robinson wrote in an e-mail. “The same applies in this scenario.”
That attitude was cheered by people who are charged with attracting new investment to Georgia.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 15, 2011
In the coming decade, it is possible that several devastating diseases could be close to being eliminated — such as polio, blinding trachoma, river blindness and measles.
A common denominator in those efforts is a relatively unknown Decatur-based nonprofit — the Task Force for Global Health.
The Task Force was founded in 1984 by global health leader William Foege as a way to get different, and sometimes competing, organizations working together on a common goal to immunize children.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 8, 2011
The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta Inc. is changing the way it awards grants to its member charities — a move that is being welcomed by many while causing concern for others.
United Way, which gives grants to about 200 social service agencies, has been retooling itself from being an organization that is only a pass-through of money for charities to being one that strategically sets goals for maximum community impact in the areas of education, income, health and homelessness.
“We’re changing from an entitlement environment to a competitive grant environment so that the grants you receive are based on outcomes rather than what you received last year,” said Milton Little, president of Atlanta’s United Way. “That’ll be a pretty significant change.”
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 8, 2011
The leading flag bearer for “new nuclear” in the United States — Atlanta-based Southern Co. — is as committed as ever to a nuclear renaissance.
That is despite the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 10 — an event that is leading many utility companies and foreign governments to put their nuclear plans on hold.
But not Southern Co., which is moving forward with its plans to build two new nuclear units (Units 3 and 4) at Plant Vogtle near Augusta — the first new nuclear projects in the United States in three
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 1, 2011
For 26 years, the No. 1 advocate for Atlanta’s trees has been Marcia Bansley.
As a tree’s age can be measured in rings, Bansley’s tenure as the founding executive director of Trees Atlanta can be measured in trees. Under her leadership, Trees Atlanta has planted or distributed 81,000 trees.
Now Bansley has decided to retire, effective in mid-May, when she intends to begin studying architecture. She will join Trees Atlanta’s board.
Filling in as interim director will be Connie Veates, a past president of Trees Atlanta’s board.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, April 1, 2011
Atlanta business leader Dick Anderson is headed to Washington to become chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve System, effective April 18.
Anderson, a former executive of BellSouth Corp. and AT&T Inc., also will serve as director of the Federal Reserve System’s management division. In all, about 1,000 people will be under his supervision.
“To me, it’s the marriage of business and public service,” Anderson said. “It is a really high impact policy-making organization during the biggest economic challenge that we have faced in recent times. What makes it so appealing is that it is so central to the economy.”
By Maria Saporta
Friday, March 25, 2011
A partnership between a builder, a developer, a public relations executive and a homeless shelter is growing great rewards — literally.
Downtown Atlanta unveiled its first community garden March 23 in a what will be a unique way to provide healthy food, job training and therapy to more than 500 homeless and recovering men currently served at the Atlanta Mission.
The Atlanta Urban Garden is located on a 2.36-acre property, managed by The Integral Group LLC, has sat vacant waiting to be sold and redeveloped. The land sits across Centennial Olympic Park Drive from the
By Maria Saporta and Urvaksh Karkaria
Friday, March 25, 2011
AT&T Inc.’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile will put Atlanta in the catbird seat in wireless communications.
AT&T Mobility, the wireless arm of Dallas-based AT&T and the fastest-growing part of the company, is headquartered in Atlanta.
“I think this deal and this merger can be nothing but good news for Atlanta,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, in an exclusive interview March 23. “Atlanta will be home to a unit of AT&T that is the growth engine, that will continue to grow for the foreseeable future, and that’s a good thing.”
De la Vega also said that plans call for AT&T Mobility’s headquarters to remain in Atlanta
By Maria Saporta
Friday, March 18, 2011
For the first time since 2007, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. is launching a new national advertising campaign. The theme is “Keep Climbing.”
Simultaneously, the airline is launching a marketing campaign aimed specifically for an Atlanta audience by reaffirming its local ties to the community. The title of the Atlanta campaign is: “It’s more than headquarters. It’s home.” The ads also include a logo that says: “70 years as Atlanta’s hometown airline.”
Just one perk of the Atlanta celebration is that Delta has been sponsoring free valet service at Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza for the month of March.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, March 18, 2011
A broad-based coalition of business, civic and community leaders are urging Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to do everything he can to prevent the Atlanta Public Schools from losing its accreditation.
The blue-ribbon Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP) told Reed March 14 that the school system must become his top priority and that he should explore every avenue available — including state involvement — to break the governance logjam that currently exists on the Atlanta Board of Education.
While leaders fell short of calling for a state
By Maria Saporta
Friday, March 11, 2011
United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta will announce March 11 that it has met its annual campaign goal for the first time since the 2007 campaign — albeit by a slim margin.
The 2010 goal had been set at $80.2 million, and United Way leaders will announce that it raised $24,500 over their goal.
The campaign was led by John Somerhalder, CEO of AGL Resources Inc., who had agreed to lead the campaign two years in a row.
“It took me two years to get it basically right,” Somerhalder said. “Every step along
By Douglas Sams and Maria Spaorta
Monday, March 14, 2011
Cousins Properties Inc. has won the right to bid on a project that would turn a downtown Atlanta collection of parking lots and rail-lines known as the “Gulch” into a transit hub.
Cousins (NYSE: CUZ) beat out other local developers including Jacoby Development Inc. and H.J. Russell & Co.
The Georgia Department of Transportation, which has been looking for a master developer to build the terminal, selected Cousins on Monday afternoon.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, March 11, 2011
It was Jan. 3, 2007. Frank Blake, a relatively unknown executive at The Home Depot Inc., had just been named CEO following the sudden departure of the controversial Bob Nardelli.
Blake’s appointment caught many by surprise. Although he had been promoted to Home Depot’s vice chairman several months before, Blake had little retail experience and had never run a major public company.
Even Blake was caught off guard. When board members told him he had the job
By Maria Saporta
Friday, March 4, 2011
The National Center for Civil & Human Rights is closer to being realized.
On March 7, the center will hold three different events where it will provide an update to community stakeholders about the project’s funding, programming and the current status.
Most significantly, center officials are expected to announce they plan to break ground on the center this fall, which means that the new attraction would open in 2013.
Center leaders have said they would not break ground until they had raised at least 80 percent of the project’s construction costs. As of October, the center had raised $71 million out of the $85 million needed. It had just received a $1 million gift from Delta Air Lines Inc.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, March 4, 2011
Two of Atlanta’s most veteran technology investors, John Imlay and Sig Mosley, are passing the torch.
Melanie Bialko Leeth, who has been working with Imlay and Mosley for nearly 20 years, will be taking on greater responsibility in managing both Imlay Investments and the endowment of the Imlay Foundation.
Imlay will turn 75 in August, and Mosley will turn 65 in September. A year ago, the duo announced they would stop investing in new technology startups. But the investors are as busy as ever. Imlay Investments still has a portfolio of 37 companies, which it continues to nurture.
In a March 1 interview, Imlay described Leeth as “the heir apparent” to overseeing the investments for Imlay’s business and foundation interests.
By Maria Saporta
Monday, March 7, 2011
The National Center for Civil & Human Rights on Monday got a $1 million boost from The Arthur Blank Family Foundation and unveiled revised plans for a more affordable and efficient building.
The center now has raised $73 million to date. It still needs $12 million before breaking ground, which is set for October.
Center leaders have said they would not break ground until they had raised at least 80 percent of the project’s construction costs. Opening is planned for 2013.
