Articles by Maria Saporta
The Junior League of Atlanta celebrated its Centennial Monday by giving away three grants worth a total of $1 million to local nonprofits in Atlanta.
“Today’s event was 100 years in the making and 10 years in planning,” said Deanna Anderson, this year’s JLA president, at the luncheon Monday held at the Piedmont Driving Club. “The million dollars represents 10 years of fundraising. We have finally arrived.”
The state agency overseeing the construction of the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium knew in February there were possible issues that could delay its opening.
That was when the Atlanta Falcons approached members of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA), the state agency that will own the project, to inform them of potential construction delays. The possible complications stemmed in part from the one-of-a-kind retractable roof, GWCCA executive director Frank Poe said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
By Maria Saporta When I heard that Fulton County Commissioner Joan Garner passed away earlier today, it hit me hard. Joan was a fellow breast cancer survivor. We fought the good fight at almost the exact same time, and we knew we would be forever linked in that sisterhood none of us had ever wanted […]
The opening of the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium has been delayed again.
The new stadium is now scheduled to open with two Atlanta Falcons preseason games – one against Arizona on Saturday, Aug. 26, and the other versus Jacksonville on Thursday, Aug. 31.
The revised schedule will have the greatest impact on previously-scheduled matches in August of the Atlanta United soccer team. It is not known when or where those two games will be played.
For the first time in recent memory, a regional consortium is addressing public education in metro Atlanta.
Learn4Life, a collaboration of four regional entities, released its baseline report Tuesday for how students are doing across five counties and eight school districts in the Atlanta region.
By Maria Saporta As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on April 7, 2017 Civic leaders Lila and Doug Hertz will be recognized as the Philanthropists of the Year on the 35th annual celebration of National Philanthropy Day on Nov. 9th at the Georgia Aquarium. The Greater Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals […]
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on April 7, 2017
When Southern Co. turned 100 years old in 2011, the Atlanta-based energy giant commissioned a company history entitled “Big Bets: Decisions and Leaders that Shaped Southern Co.”
The printed synopsis on the book jacket puts it this way: “Big bets are pivotal decisions leaders make when the stakes are high — decisions that forge a successful path or retrieve a lost cause at a critical crossroads. Big bets can determine a company’s destiny or reshape its future.”
By Maria Saporta On the morning of the official opening day of the new Atlanta Braves stadium at SunTrust Park, Terry McGuirk and Mike Plant took a moment to reflect on the journey that brought the team to Cobb County. McGuirk, chairman and CEO of the Atlanta Braves, and Plant, president of development, were part […]
Atlanta will continue to play a pivotal role for Turner and its media properties –including CNN, whether or not the merger of AT&T and Time Warner goes through.
That was one of the messages Turner CEO John Martin shared with the Atlanta Press Club Thursday during a Newsmaker luncheon.
Retired Atlanta Police Chief George Turner has a new job.
Turner will become vice president of safety and security for the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena beginning on May 1.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 31, 2017
After 20 years as president and CEO of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Susan Neugent will be retiring at the end of May.
Neugent, the longest-serving CEO among Atlanta’s major arts and cultural attractions, will be passing the baton to Jennifer Grant Warner, who has been with Fernbank for 18 years – currently serving as its executive vice president and chief programming officer.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed held a press briefing Friday to reinforce what a good steward his administration has been with the city’s finances.
Reed had repeatedly said his goal was to leave the city with a “rainy day fund” of $175 million – the amount the city has in its reserves at the end of his second term as mayor (January, 2018).
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 31, 2017
Work will soon begin on a grand new $45 million park on Atlanta’s Westside.
A final design for the 16-acre Rodney Cook Sr. Park in the historic Vine City community shows a park that will have something for everyone.
It will have a large pond that will be hold storm water in the event of a major flood. It will have a splash-pad, a playground, a great lawn with a natural amphitheater, a performance plaza, a picnic pavilion, courts for multi-use sports, a fitness area, a boardwalk, an overlook and terraced pools.
From the outset, I must disclose that I co-chair the Atlanta Press Club Debate Committee, a role I’ve held for the past two decades.
On Wednesday night, we had a couple of firsts when we put on a debate with the candidates running for the 6th Congressional District seat most recently held by Tom Price, who was named by President Donald Trump to become the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The back-and-forth leadership struggle continues at Morehouse College, one of the best known historically black colleges in the United States.
The rift bubbled to the surface when the Morehouse Board of Trustees decided in January to not renew the contract of President John S. Wilson, who has been in office for the past four years.
After the faculty passed a vote of no-confidence in the College’s Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Davidson last month, the board issued a statement in response earlier this week.
This week on The Local Take I speak with Maria Saporta founder of Saporta Report, an in depth journalistic news service with a focus on metro-Atlanta. I speak with Maria about several recent reports on the Westside including her conversations with Authur Blank (Owner Atlanta Falcons) and Dan Cathy (Owner Chick-Fil-A). She shares with our listeners her reporting on the Westside redevelopment master plan that was led by Dhiru Thadani and a project involving the Atlanta University Center and the Federal Government to address flooding on the Westside.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 24, 2017
David Martin, executive director of the Georgia Council on Economic Education since 1982, will be retire on June 30.
Mike Raymer, the associate director and chief program officer, has been tapped to succeed Martin starting July 1 – running the organization that has helped train tens of thousands of Georgia teachers by strengthening their ability to teach students economics since its founding in 1972.
The Georgia Council helps teachers at both public and independent schools across the state, and Martinhas been coordinating the efforts of 12 college and university-based Centers of Economic Education.
The splintering of leadership at Morehouse College, which is commemorating its 150th anniversary this year, has gotten worse – not better – in the past three months.
In January, the Morehouse Board of Trustees decided to part ways with President John S. Wilson upon the completion of his current contract in June.
By Dave Williams and Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 24, 2017
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said he remains confident Georgia lawmakers will approve his plan for an arts tax in the city, even though time is running out on the 2017 legislative session.
Reed unveiled a proposal in late January asking Atlanta voters for a tenth-of-a-penny increase in the city sales tax to provide a dedicated stream of funding for the arts. But with just three days remaining in the session including March 24, no bill had been introduced and the deadline for doing so had come and gone.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 17, 2017
Agnes Scott College received a prestigious honor on March 12 when the American Council on Education (ACE) gave it the 2017 Award for Institutional Transformation.
Agnes Scott received the award for institutions with student populations of 5,000 or less while Brandman University of Irving, Calif., received the award for institutions with more than 5,000 students. The award of $10,000 is given by ACE and Fidelity Investments.
