Category: ATL Business Chronicle

By Maria Saporta and Doug Sams
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 12, 2013

Thanks to a $5 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Georgia State University now has raised enough money to build a new College of Law building on a key downtown site that is currently a surface parking lot.

The $82.5 million project, to be located just off Peachtree Street just south of the Georgia-Pacific Center tower, will position Georgia State’s professional schools next to downtown’s core business district. Eventually, the J. Mack Robinson College of Business also is planned to go on the same block.

“It really puts the law school in a showplace building at a showplace location,” said Mark Becker, president of Georgia State University.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, April 5, 2013

It’s been quite a week for Cati Diamond Stone. She moved from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Saturday, March 30. Two days later she started her new job as executive director of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Greater Atlanta Affiliate on April 1.

And then she spent her first week on the job giving away $1.9 million in grants to 19 organizations supporting breast health programs.

“This job is the culmination of everything I’ve worked toward in my life,” Stone said. “It was too good to pass up.”

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 29, 2013

The economic recovery has not yet trickled down to United Way of Greater Atlanta.

When United Way holds its campaign celebration April 1 on the center court at Philips Arena from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., it will announce an expected shortfall of $2.7 million from its$80.7 million goal for 2012.

“The campaign is hard,” said Milton Little, president of United Way of Greater Atlanta. “The economy may have some positive signs for some, but for those of us raising money, it’s still a very difficult environment.”

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 29, 2013

In February of 2000, then-Gov. Roy Barnes began coalescing a team of leaders to turn Georgia from a “worst to first” leader in the fields of cancer research and treatment.

He envisioned a $1 billion public-private initiative that would lead to the establishment of a comprehensive National Cancer Institute center in the state, to attracting 150 cancer scientists and clinicians, to building cancer care centers across the state, to becoming a leading center for clinical trials, to creating a tissue bank, and to increasing the survivability rates for thousands of Georgians who had been diagnosed with cancer.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 22, 2013

Philanthropist Stephanie Blank is combining two of her passions — early education and the arts — by chairing the Alliance Theatre’s 2013 A Tony Evening Gala on May 18.

The event will benefit the Alliance Theatre’s educational programming for youth and families. Tony Award-winning actress Jane Krakowski, of TV’s “30 Rock”, will headline the Alliance Theatre’s gala this year.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 22, 2013

The economic and political power of cities and metropolitan areas continues to grow as more and more people gravitate to urban areas — both in the United States and around the world.

Harnessing and leveraging cities’ economic potential holds the key to our ability to compete and thrive. And the world’s top cities, such as Atlanta, must find what makes them unique and distinct as they build their own regional economies.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 15, 2013

Atlanta native Vicki Escarra, formerly the highest-ranking woman executive at Delta Air Lines Inc. as its chief marketing officer, introduced her newest cause — Opportunity International — at a reception at the Buckhead Club on March 11.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 1, 2013

For Hamilton Powell, a 32-year-old Atlanta entrepreneur, it’s all about time.

His one-year-old Atlanta business — Crown & Caliber — buys and sells luxury watches from around the world.

And every time Crown & Caliber makes a sale, the company puts aside $25 in a fund that goes to the nonprofit MAP International to help buy more time for people living in some of the most impoverished parts of the world.

By Maria Saporta and Douglas Sams

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 1, 2013

Atlanta is poised to become a hub for educational technology, says the CEO of a new nonprofit backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Atlanta Business Chronicle reported Feb. 5 that inBloom Inc. has chosen Atlanta for its headquarters. The nonprofit, which will provide technology services to schools as they race to meet new academic requirements, could help make Atlanta a center for a cohesive effort to accelerate student achievement in the United States by boosting personalized learning in schools.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, March 1, 2013

As the top executive for The Coca-Cola Co., Muhtar Kent may be the most global CEO working for the most global company in the world.

It is a role Kent takes seriously. As Coca-Cola’s CEO for nearly five years (his anniversary will be in July), Kent has continued to expand the company’s business and social impact on the world.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, February 22, 2013

The Atlanta-based CDC Foundation has championed an effort to build two new public health buildings in Haiti as a way to help the country continue its recovery from the 2010 earthquake.

The two buildings will be dedicated in Port-au-Prince on Feb. 25.

After the earthquake, Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population was destroyed, forcing its health officials to work out of temporary housing or tents. Haiti also had other public health needs, including a place to conduct epidemiology training and conduct research.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, February 22, 2013

For Atlanta builder Dave Moody, his life’s biggest project has been rebuilding himself after having been sexually abused when he was only 10 years old.

Moody kept that secret buried for 26 years until 1992 when he finally told his wife, Karla.

But Moody wasn’t prepared for what followed — repeated anxiety and panic attacks that left him unable to breathe. After undergoing countless medical tests, through therapy he finally realized that his attacks were connected to the abuse that he had tried so hard to ignore for most of his adult life.

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, February 8, 2013

The Chastain Park Conservancy wants to create an extraordinary space for play.

The conservancy is undergoing a$2.5 million capital campaign to transform its current half-acre, nondescript playground into a 6-acre hillside with green space and a 3-acre active play area for all ages.

“It’s a pretty sad little playground right now,” said Jay Smith, vice chairman of the Conservancy who is leading the fundraising effort. “And it is the only playground in a city park within a five-mile radius. It needs to be replaced.”

By Maria Saporta

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, February 1, 2013

The Woodruff Arts Center’s annual campaign is more than halfway there.

The campaign has raised more than $4.8 million in the first four months of its eight-month effort. The campaign goal is $9.2 million.

The Coca-Cola Co. and the Georgia Power Foundation have each donated $500,000.