Articles by Maria Saporta
Learn4Life, a novel nonprofit that is focused on improving education outcomes in the five-county metro Atlanta region, released its third annual report Monday morning – one that shows slight progress in several indicators.
The “State of Education in Metro Atlanta” is measuring early grade literacy, 8thgrade math proficiency and high school graduation as the key indicators of the region’s overall performance towards its cradle-to-career vision.
Plans to tear down the family home of Atlanta’s first black mayor – Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. – is causing an uproar in the historic Vine City community.The three-story apartment building at 220 Sunset Ave. is adjacent to the home at 234 Sunset Ave. where Martin Luther King Jr. lived until he was assassinated.
Gregory Johnson, the head of Cincinnati’s housing authority who had been picked to be the next CEO of Atlanta’s housing authority, changed his mind. That decision came as a total surprise to Atlanta leaders, who were not notified by Johnson that he had decided to stay in Cincinnati.
The city of Atlanta’s Invest Atlanta has settled a lawsuit with Clark Atlanta University over a property dispute involving land that used to belong to Morris Brown College – including the historic Gaines Hall.
The city of Atlanta is more than three months late in making a $10 million payment to the Atlanta Public Schools as part of the comprehensive agreement both governments reached Jan. 7 on the city’s tax allocation districts.The agreement was considered pivotal in the financing plan for CIM’s redevelopment of the railroad gulch in the heart of downtown.
Had he lived 11 more months, Wilton Looney would have celebrated his 100thbirthday on April 18.Looney became president of Genuine Parts in 1955 before becoming its CEO six years later – remaining in that role until his retirement in 1990.He was succeeded by Larry Prince, who served as CEO of the Fortune 500 company’ until 2005.Tragically, Prince died of cancer on March 5, 2019 at the relatively young age of 80.
Georgia’s life science industry has experienced a 14.9 percent growth in employment during the past decade, according to the results of the 2019 Georgia Life Sciences State of the Industry Report released Wednesday morning.That was nearly double the growth of life sciences employment nationally – 7.7 percent – over the same decade (2007 to 2017).
One of the key executives at SunTrust Bank – Allison Dukes – has chosen to not join the new bank formed by the merger of SunTrust and BB&T.Dukes is the chief financial officer of SunTrust and she already had been identified as one of the SunTrust executives who would be part of the executive management team of the merged bank, which will be based in Charlotte, N.C.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told the Rotary Club of Atlanta Monday that sometimes you can be thankful that legislation never made it out of the Georgia legislature.In this case, he was referring to bills that would have either involved a state takeover of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport or would have created a legislative oversight committee to review the airport’s operations.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian on Monday shied away from commenting specifically about an effort in the Georgia House to create an oversight committee rather than a full takeover of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.Bastian, who spoke before the Rotary Club of Atlanta Monday, gave a brief interview with the Atlanta Business Chronicle after his talk.
An influential group of Gwinnett leaders and transit supporters showed up for a victory party in downtown Lawrenceville at the Slow Pour Brewing Co. SaportaReport will regularly update the results and reaction as the votes come in.
The SunTrust Foundation presented the Westside Future Fund a $5 million grant Monday morning to support more affordable housing and provide entrepreneurial and small business opportunities for community residents.SunTrust CEO Bill Rogers said the grant, the single largest gift in the foundation’s history, had been in works before the bank announced its merger with BB&T.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 8, 2019
A new trail project is planned that will connect downtown’s Centennial Olympic Park to the Atlanta Beltline, near the future Westside Park at Bellwood Quarry.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 8, 2019A first-of-its-kind Boys & Girls Club opened March 4 in the West End community.The John H. Harland Boys & Girls Club: The Innovation and Expression Studio will seek to enrich the lives of its youth with a broad array of arts, cultural and creative opportunities.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 1, 2019The Atlanta Police Foundation has received a $5 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation towards its $35 million Vision Safe Atlanta capital campaign.
The Atlanta Housing Authority is in the final stages of a national search for a new president and CEO – and that decision could set the stage for the future of affordable housing in the city of Atlanta.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on February 22, 2019For Wayne Clough – a former president of Georgia Tech and secretary emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution – it is as if his life has come full circle to his youth growing up in south Georgia.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on February 22, 2019When Dan Cathy first began challenging the Atlanta business community to invest in Atlanta’s Westside, businessman Arthur Blank suggested to the CEO of Chick-fil-A Inc. that he should open a restaurant in the community.
The Fulton County Commission and mayors within the county are considering asking voters for a .2 percent sales tax for transit projects either this November or in 2020.
The 0.2 percent sales tax is expected to generate about $1.2 billion over 30 years.
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Feb. 15, 2019
Leaders behind the Georgia Research Alliance are seeking to gain traction under the administration of newly-elected Gov. Brian Kemp.
