Category: Maria’s Metro

By Amy Wenk and Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 26, 2013

Conversation is kicking around again about scoring a Major League Soccer team for Atlanta.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has long wanted to bring an MLS franchise to the city.

Now, he’s got another chance.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 19, 2013

California-based DPR Construction firm is the new owner of Hardin Construction, an Atlanta-based builder that was founded in 1946. The previously announced deal closed on April 15.

From now on, the combined company will be named DPR except in the Atlanta market (Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee) where it will be branded as DPR Hardin Construction.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 19, 2013

MARTA has retained auditing firm KPMG LLP to conduct an internal investigation of possible misappropriation of assets in the operations headed by Ben Graham, the transit agency’s chief information officer.

KPMG is being retained by MARTA to conduct “forensic technology services” that likely include “the identification, collection, filtering, processing and/or hosting of electronically stored information,” according to an engagement letter from KPMG to Keith Parker, MARTA’s relatively new general manager.

By Doug Sams and Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 19, 2013

Almost four years after he took over running Cousins Properties Inc., CEO Larry Gellerstedt believes the Atlanta real estate company is once again playing offense.

Gellerstedt cites the company’s recent public offering of more than 14 million shares as proof. It raised about $165 million in net proceeds, a large portion of which is set aside to help finance the acquisition of 816 Congress Avenue, an Austin, Texas, office tower.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 12, 2013

In one of the more novel gifts that the Woodruff Arts Center has ever received, Wells Fargo is committing $2 million over the next five years to create a teen outreach initiative that will cross all four of the center’s divisions.

The first annual Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Program — which will involve a two-day “teen takeover” of the Woodruff Center campus on April 26 and 27, will involve an American Idol-like competition for best Atlanta talent on Friday night as well as live music, dancing, workshops and other entertainment on Saturday.

By Maria Saporta and Doug Sams
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 12, 2013

Thanks to a $5 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Georgia State University now has raised enough money to build a new College of Law building on a key downtown site that is currently a surface parking lot.

The $82.5 million project, to be located just off Peachtree Street just south of the Georgia-Pacific Center tower, will position Georgia State’s professional schools next to downtown’s core business district. Eventually, the J. Mack Robinson College of Business also is planned to go on the same block.

“It really puts the law school in a showplace building at a showplace location,” said Mark Becker, president of Georgia State University.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 5, 2013

It’s been quite a week for Cati Diamond Stone. She moved from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Saturday, March 30. Two days later she started her new job as executive director of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Greater Atlanta Affiliate on April 1.

And then she spent her first week on the job giving away $1.9 million in grants to 19 organizations supporting breast health programs.

“This job is the culmination of everything I’ve worked toward in my life,” Stone said. “It was too good to pass up.”

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 29, 2013

The economic recovery has not yet trickled down to United Way of Greater Atlanta.

When United Way holds its campaign celebration April 1 on the center court at Philips Arena from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., it will announce an expected shortfall of $2.7 million from its$80.7 million goal for 2012.

“The campaign is hard,” said Milton Little, president of United Way of Greater Atlanta. “The economy may have some positive signs for some, but for those of us raising money, it’s still a very difficult environment.”

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 29, 2013

In February of 2000, then-Gov. Roy Barnes began coalescing a team of leaders to turn Georgia from a “worst to first” leader in the fields of cancer research and treatment.

He envisioned a $1 billion public-private initiative that would lead to the establishment of a comprehensive National Cancer Institute center in the state, to attracting 150 cancer scientists and clinicians, to building cancer care centers across the state, to becoming a leading center for clinical trials, to creating a tissue bank, and to increasing the survivability rates for thousands of Georgians who had been diagnosed with cancer.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 22, 2013

Philanthropist Stephanie Blank is combining two of her passions — early education and the arts — by chairing the Alliance Theatre’s 2013 A Tony Evening Gala on May 18.

The event will benefit the Alliance Theatre’s educational programming for youth and families. Tony Award-winning actress Jane Krakowski, of TV’s “30 Rock”, will headline the Alliance Theatre’s gala this year.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 22, 2013

The economic and political power of cities and metropolitan areas continues to grow as more and more people gravitate to urban areas — both in the United States and around the world.

Harnessing and leveraging cities’ economic potential holds the key to our ability to compete and thrive. And the world’s top cities, such as Atlanta, must find what makes them unique and distinct as they build their own regional economies.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 15, 2013

Atlanta native Vicki Escarra, formerly the highest-ranking woman executive at Delta Air Lines Inc. as its chief marketing officer, introduced her newest cause — Opportunity International — at a reception at the Buckhead Club on March 11.