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Margaritaville, hotel development slated to demolish two historic buildings

Two historic buildings will be demolished if the proposed development of a 21-story hotel and Margaritaville resort and restaurant overlooking Centennial Olympic Park is approved.

The Downtown Development Review Committee met Thursday morning at the offices of Central Atlanta Progress where architects described why the developer is seeking six zoning variances for the proposed design.

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Column: Two Atlanta nonprofits merge to better serve people with disabilities

As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Feb. 9, 2018

Two Atlanta organizations serving people with disabilities have merged, sparking a “coming home” for both nonprofits.

The Bobby Dodd Institute (BDI), a nonprofit that provides job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, has merged with All About Developmental Disabilities (AADD), an organization that has offered direct services for people with developmental disabilities for more than 60 years.

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Column: Effort launched to make metro Atlanta a ‘welcoming region’ 

As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Feb. 2, 2018

The national nonprofit Welcoming Americawould like for metro Atlanta to become a “welcoming region,” one that would embrace people of all races and ethnicities.

The nonprofit, which is based in Decatur, so far has reached agreements with 103 cities around the country that are now welcoming cities, including five in our region: Atlanta, Brookhaven, Clarkston, Decatur and Norcross.

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Column: Atlanta CEO Jim Stephenson to chair U.S. Chamber of Commerce 

As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Jan. 26, 2018

When Jim Stephenson, chairman and CEO of Yancey Bros, becomes chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on June 7, he will be the second Georgia businessman to lead that organization in less than 10 years.

Tom Bell, former CEO of Cousins Properties, served as U.S. Chamber’s chair in 2010/2011, and he still serves on its board.

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Georgia Research Alliance CEO Mike Cassidy to retire

As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Jan. 26, 2018

Mike Cassidy, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliancesince 2000, will be stepping down by the end of the year.

The Georgia Research Alliance with its high-powered public-private board has led the state’s technology and innovation efforts since its founding in 1990. Cassidy joined the organization in 1993 as its fourth staff member.

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Atlanta Community Foundation reaches $1.1 billion in assets

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has reached a new milestone – it now has $1.1 billion assets, according to its unaudited 2017 Annual Report released on Tuesday.

The annual report also states that the Foundation awarded $100 million in grants to 3,100 nonprofit organization – locally, nationally and internationally. More than 70 percent of those grants were made to nonprofits in the 23-county metro Atlanta region, the Foundation’s area of expertise.

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Column: United Way moves into new open, collaborative HQ near Georgia State University 

As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Jan. 19, 2018

The United Wayof Greater Atlanta moved across the alley way to its new digs on Jan. 16.

The space in the Loudermilk Conference Center, downtown by Georgia State University, used to be leased by the Atlanta Regional Commission, which has moved to Peachtree Center.

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Column: Chamber asks legislators to help protect Georgia’s brand

As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Jan. 12, 2018

The Georgia Chamber of Commercewill ask elected officials and people running for office to take an oath that doctors usually take – first, do no harm.

The coming year will be especially sensitive for Georgia’s business climate. Not only is the state in a fierce competition to lure the Amazon HQ2 to Georgia. It also will be a year when Georgians will elect a new governor, lieutenant governor and a host of statewide cabinet positions.

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In his new job at Goodwill, Keith Parker is focused on income inequality

As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on January 5, 2018

When Keith Parker was a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University, he would buy his clothing and furniture from Goodwill.

That sparked his affinity for Goodwill — he has been a regular donor since graduating from college, and he has served on the boards of the Goodwill of San Antonio and Goodwill of North Georgia.

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Parkland student leaders get inspiration from Atlanta’s history

The Power to Inspire fundraising for the Center for Civil and Human Rights Thursday night bridged the nonviolent student movement of the 1960s with the anti-gun violence student moved of today.

Three of the student leaders from Parkland, Fla. joined members of the Atlanta March for our Lives student leaders to tour the Center before the gala dinner.

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Shareholder proposal on diversity receives surprising support, catches Home Depot’s attention

A shareholder proposal at Home Depot’s annual meeting today received 48 percent support – a showing that caught the attention of the company’s board and management.

The shareholder proposal, presented by the Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, urged the company to prepare a diversity report on its workforce.

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San Diego focus on affordability parallels conversations in Atlanta

SAN DIEGO, CA – Housing affordability and homelessness are front-and-center challenges in San Diego – a region where 46 percent of the area is dedicated for conservation that is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Indian reservations as well as military land.

The focus on affordability parallels the conversations occurring in Atlanta, which has become increasingly focused on being a region where the people of modest income can still afford to live.

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San Diego has an hour-glass economy of well-paid and low-paid jobs with little in the middle

SAN DIEGO, CA – On the second day of the metro Atlanta LINK trip to this southern California city, Georgia leaders discovered differences and similarities between the two regions.

In San Diego, one out of every four jobs is related to the military, generating an economic impact of $50 billion a year and employing up to 140,000 people in the south California region.

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Metro Atlanta LINK trip lands in San Diego

The Atlanta delegation arrived in San Diego Wednesday morning – West Coast time – spending its first stop at Liberty Station, a redeveloped Naval training center that has been turned a complex of art galleries, shops, offices and restaurants.

Mark Cafferty, president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., told the Atlanta delegation that Liberty Station is one of the most successful redevelopments of a former military complex in the United States.

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Starbucks’ executives on Morehouse campus discuss race, racism

Talk about timing.

Morehouse College hosted a town hall meeting Thursday afternoon with Howard Schultz, founder and executive chairman of Starbucks; and Rosalind Gates Brewer, Starbucks’ president of the Americas and chief operating officer.

The town hall, which had been planned for month, took place less than a month after two black males were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia for hanging out at the café without buying anything.

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