Category: Maria’s Metro

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 13, 2014

Georgia’s business history will soon be taking its place alongside the historical markers sprinkled all over the state.

The Georgia Historical Society is launching its board-approved Business History Initiative to fully recognize the contributions that the state’s significant companies have made to the evolution of the South, nationally and globally.

Center for Civil and Human Rights will boost conventions and tourism, serve as a forum for issues such as diversity, human trafficking and oppression

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 13, 2014

As the new Center for Civil and Human Rights prepares for its unveiling on June 23, it already is being woven into the business fabric of Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 6, 2014

Not only did SunTrust Banks CEO Bill Rogers set a record-breaking goal – $9.5 million – for the 2013-2014 Woodruff Arts Center campaign, but Rogers and his campaign team also ended up surpassing it – raising $9.6 million – a historic high for an annual campaign that dates back to 1968, the Woodruff Arts Center told Atlanta Business Chronicle.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 6, 2014

Sitting with Bernice King in the administrative offices of The King Center, it begins to sink in how heavy a load she is carrying.

She is the CEO of the King Center, which was founded by her mother to preserve the legacy of her father, the late Martin Luther King Jr., the renowned civil rights leader with a national holiday set aside in his honor.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 6, 2014

The two upwardly sweeping panes of curved glass reaching 32 feet into the sky will lift the hearts and minds of visitors approaching the new Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Etched into the two panes of glass are quotes from two internationally renowned leaders — Margaret Mead and Nelson Mandela — and water will ripple down the glass.

By Doug Sams and Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 6, 2014

For the first time, MARTA plans to find out how much desire developers have to build high-rise mixed-use projects over the transit authority’s urban train stations.

MARTA will solicit a “request for expressions of interest” later this summer to lease the air rights over intown train stations. Although MARTA would not specifically identify them, the stations are thought to include North Avenue, Midtown, Arts Center and Lenox.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 30, 2014

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is calling it the “dual challenge” — building an “iconic” world-class football/soccer stadium and transforming the adjacent communities.

And Blank is quick to point out that transforming the communities will be tougher to accomplish than building a stadium and it is a multi-decade undertaking.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 23, 2014

After 35 years at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Bill Bolling has told his board and his staff that he will be stepping down from his day-to-day role of executive director so he can step up his community work in the next year.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 23, 2014

The Atlanta History Center is about to reshape its own history.

After reaching its largest-ever capital campaign goal of $21.1 million, the Atlanta History Center will begin construction on an extensive renovation of its campus, including its signature building that houses the major exhibit space and the ballroom.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 16, 2014

The Woodruff Arts Center has named Paul Garcia, chairman of Global Payments Inc., to step in as its 2014-2015 campaign chairman.

Last October, the Center announced that Steve Cahilane, then president of Coca-Cola Americas, was going to be heading up that annual campaign.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 16, 2014

PHILADELPHIA – A delegation of 111 metro Atlanta leaders, who just returned from a study mission to Philadelphia, learned how Drexel University hopes to bridge its campus with its surrounding community by building over rail yards near the 30th Street Amtrak train station.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 9, 2014

The Council for Quality Growth has tapped real estate businessman Steve Selig as the recipient of the 2014 Four Pillar Award.

The award is one of the most prestigious annual recognitions given to leaders who have had a major impact on the Atlanta region – from Tom Cousins to Arthur Blank to Shirley Franklin to Johnny Isakson to John Portman.

“It reads like a Who’s Who. These are all people I’ve looked up to and learned from,” Selig said in an interview from his company’s offices on Spring Street. “It’s overwhelming.”

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on May 2, 2014

United Way of Greater Atlanta enjoyed its second consecutive increase in its fundraising campaign, announcing April 29 that its 2013 campaign raised $74.15 million.

Milton Little, United Way’s president and CEO, said it also was the third increase in four years, which was an indicator that the Atlanta economy had stabilized.

“We celebrate our success but we don’t take it for granted,” Little said. “The reality for all of us in this fundraising world is that the challenges still persist. But the worst direct impact of the recession is behind us.”