Category: ATL Business Chronicle

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on September 4, 2015.

As artistic director of the Atlanta Ballet for 21 years, John McFall has seen company go through thick and thin. When he arrived in 1994, the Ballet didn’t even have a development office.

“In the 21 years, there have been plenty of times when I put my head on the pillow, and I didn’t know if we’d be here in a week’s time,” McFall said in an interview Sept. 2. “There were probably a half dozen times in 21 years, which really isn’t so bad. They were more frequent earlier on.”

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 28, 2015.

When it comes to civic involvement, the Atlanta community should not be overly concerned about Southern Co.’s proposed $12 billion acquisition of AGL Resources.

AGL CEO John W. Somerhalder, in an interview on Aug. 25, said AGL will continue to be a stand-alone unit with its own management team and board. And he said if one wants to look at how AGL will operate in the future as a Southern Co. subsidiary, all you have to do is look at the Georgia Power model.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 28, 2015

What a splashy week for Mercedes -Benz USA in Atlanta. If folks in town had not realized that Mercedes-Benz USA has moved its headquarters to Atlanta, they probably know now.

The week started on Monday, Aug. 24, when Mercedes-Benz officially announced it had signed a 27-year agreement for the naming rights to the new Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United stadium.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 21, 2015

Zoo Atlanta continues to get help from its friends.

It has just received a $1 million gift from the Georgia Power Foundation as part of the $20 million capital campaign called “A Grand New View: Elephants, Events and Expansion.”

That brings the total fundraising so far to $6 million, according to Raymond King, president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 14, 2015

Several Atlanta public health organizations are leading an effort sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to curb infant mortality around the world.

Gates is funding the initiative – Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) – with a $75 million grant for the first three years. The intention is for the program to be in place for 20 years. As it steps up its operations around the world, it is estimated that it could cost about $50 million a year. That would total $1 billion – as large a gift as the Gates have ever made.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 14, 2015

Ever since the formation of the “new” Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. in 2010, a lingering question has been whether the company would keep its headquarters in Atlanta. Despite all of CCE’s bottling business now being based Europe, CEO John Brock has insisted that keeping the headquarters in Atlanta made sense.

Until now.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 7, 2015

Back in January 1991, when then-Delta Air Lines CEO Ron Allen was named to the board of The Coca-Cola Co., it provided a closer link between two signature Atlanta companies.

Now Delta has made a similar move. The airline announced July 24 that Kathy N. Waller, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Coca-Cola, is joining its board.

By Maria Saporta and Douglas Sams
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 7, 2015

State economic development officials have made their pitch to General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) to relocate its Connecticut headquarters to Atlanta.

The meeting with General Electric took place the week of July 27 in Fairfield, Conn. and involved the company’s committee investigating its options to relocate, Atlanta Business Chronicle has learned from sources familiar with the discussions.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 7, 2015

When Hank Huckaby was asked in 2011 to cut short his four-month-long tenure as a state representative to join Gov. Nathan Deal’s administration as the chancellor of the University System of Georgia, he asked the governor one question.

“Are you willing to make significant changes?” Huckaby asked Deal. The governor said yes.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 31, 2015

In the ongoing push by Rotary International to eradicate polio around the It only took Camp Twin Lakes 11 months to meet (and exceed) its $2.9 million campaign goal, and now the nonprofit is busy investing those funds to make improvements at its various facilities.

One project that is about to come online is a home for adults with developmental disabilities. It will be located at Camp Rutledge near Madison, Ga.

By Douglas Sams and Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 31, 2015

Amtrak has entered discussions with state transit officials and a major railroad to put a new station on the former site of the Doraville General Motors Co. plant.

MARTA and Norfolk Southern Corp. have held conversations with Amtrak this year about that possibility, people familiar with the talks said.

The discussions come two years after efforts fell through to relocate Atlanta’s historic Amtrak station at Brookwood on Peachtree Street.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 31, 2015

Newell Rubbermaid Inc.’s decision to move its corporate headquarters a quarter mile — from one side of Georgia 400 to the other — is in keeping with the new focus of the company.

“The transformation we are trying to achieve here is to go from a holding company to more of an operating company,” said Michael Polk, who became Newell Rubbermaid’s president and CEO in July 2011 — exactly four years ago. “We’re becoming a brand-centric, innovation-led company.”

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 24, 2015

MARTA is moving forward with plans to bring a rail line to Clayton County.

The rest of the region is eyeing developments in Clayton because that could serve as a template for how MARTA could expand in other metro counties.

The transit agency has been meeting with Norfolk Southern Corp. about the possibility of using the railroad’s right-of-way to build a parallel track so that MARTA could provide exclusive passenger service on that line, according to Rich Krisak, the agency’s chief operating officer.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 17, 2015

Don’t tell anybody, but Georgia Tech has surpassed its $1.5 billion capital campaign. It met that goal last October.

Although it’s not really a secret, Georgia Tech just doesn’t want people to stop giving. It is still out there knocking on doors hoping to raise as much as it can before the campaign officially ends at the end of this calendar year.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 17, 2015

When Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson shared the stage July 13 at the Rotary Club of Atlanta, their interaction would best be described as a love fest.

But there were many plots and subplots at play during their performance.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 10, 2015

This is where Kevin Cantley, president and CEO of the Cooper Carry architectural firm for the past 20 years, remembered the first time he became aware of the Urban Land Institute.

It was in the 1970s when he was at the College of Architecture at Georgia Tech working on land-use maps. He was told to use the ULI coloring system — residential was yellow; office was blue; retail was red; institutional was purple and park land was green.

“That pretty well established in my mind that ULI was important since they had control of the colors,” Cantley said. “I have come to know ULI as the recognized authority of responsible land-use planning.”