Category: Latest News

By Maria Saporta

Martin Luther King III was only five years old when his father led the March on Washington and delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech — 50 years ago this month.

Now King’s own daughter, Yolanda, is five years old — and he has dedicated his book — My Daddy — a children’s book about his memories of growing up with Martin Luther King Jr. — to her.

The book is being released on Aug. 6, just in time for the 50^th anniversary celebrations of the March on Washington.

The symmetry among the generations is powerful. Yolanda is named after King III’s older sister, who passed away in May, 2007 when she was only 51. Her namesake is the only grandchild of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, who passed away in January, 2006.

By Maria Saporta

Two Atlanta legends passed away in the last 10 days — architect Cecil Alexander and business leader and philanthropist Charles West.

Much has been written about Alexander’s contributions to Atlanta and its skyline. And a heartfelt memorial service was held for Alexander at the Temple this past Friday (more on that later).

But little has been written about Charles B. West, who also had a profound impact on the building of Atlanta as well as the nurturing of its heart and mind.

West was 92 when he passed away on July 26. One of the West’s greatest contributions was being the founding force behind Skyland Trail in Atlanta, today one of the nation’s leading institutions providing treatment, hope and rehabilitation for the mentally ill.

By Maria Saporta

The proposed $20 million deal by FD LLC to save Morris Brown College, buy some of its property and settle its debt has run into several obstacles, but attorneys for the college Thursday morning asked for more time to resurrect the deal.

U.S.  Bankruptcy Judge Barbara Ellis-Monro agreed to give the Morris Brown group two extra weeks to put together an alternative proposal. The Morris Brown group legally has the exclusive rights to put together a deal on the property through Aug. 26.

“Some of the terms from the buyer that we thought had been (settled) were unable to go forward with the bondholder side of the transaction,” said Anne Aaronson, an attorney with Philadelphia-based Dilworth Paxson, which is representing Morris Brown.

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Falcons issued a letter to the Georgia World Congress Center Authority Tuesday declaring that the south site is not a feasible location for a new football stadium “at this time.”

The letter mentioned several reasons including the fact that Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Friendship Baptist Church and other necessary parcels on the south site had not yet been acquired and the fact that they had been unable to complete environmental and other required testing on those properties.

For those reasons, the Falcons and GWCCA decided Tuesday that the $1 billion stadium would be built on the north site, about a half mile away, at the corner of Northside Drive and Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard. The south site is located next to the Georgia Dome at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Northside Drive.

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Falcons have reportedly decided to drop all negotiations to build the new stadium on the south site and build on the north site.

Lloyd Hawk, chairman of the board of trustees of Friendship Baptist Church, said his attorneys received a call Tuesday morning from Duriya Farooqui, chief operating officer of the City of Atlanta, saying: “The Falcons are definitely going to drop negotiations on the south site and move to the north site.”

The move came as a surprise, because active negotiations were underway with Friendship Baptist Church. The latest proposals and counterproposals were being made as late as Monday afternoon with the gap between the two becoming more narrow.

By Maria Saporta

The walking-talking  history book of the Coca-Cola Co. — Phil Mooney — told members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta Monday that his favorite piece of memorabilia was the first contour bottle — a slightly fatter version of the one that became an international icon.

After working for the Coca-Cola Co. for 35 years, Mooney retired as its archivist in March — becoming the “undisputed dean of corporate archivists” in the country, according to Clyde Tuggle, a Coca-Cola senior vice president who is chief public affairs and communications officer.

Mooney said only two of the original fatter contour bottles exists, and one belongs to company, so he didn’t hesitate to claim it as his favorite.

By Maria Saporta

Hundreds of friends and admirers traveled to Serenbe on Sunday to celebrate the first annual “RayDay” in honor of corporate environmentalist Ray Anderson.

It would have been Anderson’s 79^th birthday.

Anderson, chairman and CEO of Interface, a carpet tile manufacturer, had his environmental epiphany in 1994 after reading “The Ecology of Commerce” by Paul Hawken.

Not only did Anderson set out to change Interface, to make it as sustainable a company as he could; he became an environmentalist evangelist in the corporate world, trying to share the enlightenment that he had been given.

By Maria Saporta

Friendship Baptist Church is moving forward with talks to sell its property to make way for a new Atlanta Falcons football stadium on the site south of the Georgia Dome.

Those talks are proceeding despite the current shift by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority and the Atlanta Falcons to seriously reconsider the north site about a half mile away.

“We are still in talks,” said Lloyd Hawk, chairman of Friendship’s board of trustees.. “We are not doing anything to hinder the process, and we are working towards a solution with the Falcons and the city.”

By Maria Saporta

Although the site for a new Atlanta Falcons stadium is up in the air, community and city leaders are continuing their efforts to draft a community benefits plan.

The 16-member group held its second meeting Wednesday evening at the offices of Invest Atlanta, but it spent a significant portion of the meeting (just as during the first meeting) trying to figure out whether they were working on a Community Benefits Plan or Agreement or Arrangement or something in between.

“I think that’s an important issue to address and an issue that has the potential of tripping us up out of the gate,” said Ceasar Mitchell, president of the Atlanta City Council. “And we don’t want that to happen. We are going to get that issue resolved.”

By Maria Saporta

Reality has set in, and it’s time for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority and the Atlanta Falcons to take a more serious look at the north site for the new $1 billion football stadium.

The Stadium Development Committee of the GWCCA agreed to have the entire board vote at next Tuesday’s meeting on a resolution to conduct an in-depth feasibility analysis of the north site to “review all aspects” of the physical conditions of the north site including engineering, soils, geophysical conditions, wetlands and other environmental issues on the site that is located on the northeast corner of Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard and Northside Drive.

The north site has been the back-up location in case there were problems with the problems with the preferred south site, which is located at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Northside Drive, just south of the existing Georgia Dome.

By Maria Saporta

Months ago, the Atlanta Falcons set an Aug. 1 deadline to determine whether the site south of the Georgia Dome would be a feasible option to build its new $1 billion retractable roof stadium.

But with Aug 1 only eight days away, little progress has been on the preferred south site.

The Georgia World Congress Center has not yet acquired Mount Vernon Baptist Church, which actually sits on what would be the footprint of the new stadium on the south site.

And the City of Atlanta has not yet reached a deal to acquire Friendship Baptist Church across Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, an acquisition that would be necessary so that the street could curve around an expanded south site for the stadium.

By Maria Saporta

Even though he doesn’t live here, Alan Dabbiere has become one of Atlanta’s biggest cheerleaders.

Dabbiere has run two successful technology companies in Atlanta — Manhattan Associates and AirWatch.

“This has been such a tremendous city to do business in,” Dabbiere said at the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday. “We can build meaningful long term businesses here in Atlanta.”

Dabbiere explained that Atlanta has a solid base of skilled employees who have enabled his companies to grow. Unlike Silicon Valley and other well-recognized technology cities, Dabbiere said that there is little continuity in the workforce because employees are offered many opportunities to hop from one company to another.

By Maria Saporta

The Woodruff Arts Center has named a new chief financial officer — Noel M. Barnes. The announcement was made Monday by Virginia Hepner, president and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center.

Barnes most recently served as the chief administrative officer for Edge Capital Partners LLC in Atlanta. Edge provides investment advisory and banking services to individuals, foundations and corporate clients.

Prior to that role, Mr. Barnes served as chief financial officer for Rotunda Corp. (formerly EzGov Inc), a software solutions company that provides software and professional services to federal, state and local governments. He began his finance career as an auditor with Arthur Andersen in Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta

The theme of the fourth annual GeorgiaForward forum is how can we control our own economic destiny by growing from within.

GeorgiaForward, a statewide grassroots organization of interested business, civic and government leaders, is meeting in Atlanta for its two-day annual forum at the Georgia Tech Conference Center.

The theme for 2014 is: “Strengthening Georgia from within.” It is the first time the group, which kicked off the forum on Thursday, has convened in Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta

One of the most popular attractions along the Atlanta BeltLine is making a return appearance this fall — the semi-annual “Art on the BeltLine.”

More than 70 innovative works of performance and visual art have been selected for the largest temporary public art project in Atlanta. Eight miles of paved and interim hiking trails around the 22-mile BeltLine corridor will provide the public space for the two-month long exhibition.

“The Atlanta BeltLine has made public art a priority, and this year is no exception,” said Paul Morris, the recently named new president and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI), said in a statement. “Thanks to our great partners, sponsors and artists, Art on the Atlanta BeltLine will once again allow the public to experience the wonder of the Atlanta BeltLine in new and exciting ways with visual and performance art.”

By Maria Saporta

The Grady Health Foundation has named Renay Blumenthal, senior vice president of public policy for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, as its new president.

The appointment was announced Tuesday morning Grady Health System CEO John Haupert.

“Over a 25-year career, Renay has built strong relationships in this community — with governors, legislators, mayors and county commissioners, and executives of corporations, foundations and civic groups,” Haupert said. “We are thrilled that she will take the foundation’s helm as it marks two decades of service to the community and maps out its next 20 years.”

Blumenthal succeeds Lisa Borders, who recently left the foundation to join the Coca-Cola Co.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta has become a leading North American hub for the forest products and paper industry — a position that’s becoming more solid every day, partly because of the expansion of the Rock-Tenn Co.

Brad Currey, who joined Rock-Tenn as its president in 1978 becoming CEO in 1989,  marveled at what has happened to the business since he retired as the company’s chairman in 2000. He was succeeded by Jim Rubright, a former partner with King & Spalding who was an executive officer with the pipeline group and energy services company — Sonat Inc.

“Jim has turned Rock-Tenn into the most respected company in the industry,” Currey said after Rubright had addressed the Rotary Club of Atlanta at a luncheon program on Monday. “When Worley (Brown) and I ran the company, we were nipping at the heels of the big companies.”

By Maria Saporta

After months of on-again, off-again talks, the City of Atlanta and Friendship Baptist Church have resumed negotiations on the possible sale of the 151-year-old church to make way for the new Atlanta Falcons football stadium.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed met for more than an hour Tuesday afternoon with Lloyd Hawk, chairman of the board of trustees of Friendship Baptist Church, to reopen the lines of communications between the two.

“We all did meet,” Hawk confirmed. “It was a very positive meeting, and we will be scheduling future meetings, probably as early as next week.”

By Maria Saporta

Voting Rights Act. Gay Marriage. Defense of Marriage Act. Filibusters on an abortion bill.

The events of last week — from the various decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court — to the statehouse in Texas, it seems as though we keep fighting the same fights over and over again — just with different twists and new players.

So it was especially heartwarming to attend a screening of two new documentaries produced by Andrew Young Presents — “The Whirlwinds of Revolt” and “1963: The Year that Changed America.”

Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, a civil rights leader who worked alongside with Martin Luther King Jr., has been valiantly telling the stories of that remarkable time in the South’s history of when a non-violent movement was able to change the nation’s laws and the hearts of humanity.

By Maria Saporta

Europe may be down, but it’s certainly not out.

That was the essence of the message that two European ambassadors to the United States shared Thursday with the World Affairs Council of Atlanta during a luncheon program at the Commerce Club.

The program was titled: “How Will Europe Restore Growth?”

In listening to the ambassadors, Europe already is taking the steps to solidify its economy and position it for growth.