Category: ATL Business Chronicle

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, January 11, 2013

Several new initiatives will be part of the 2013 work plan for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, which will hold its annual meeting on Jan. 15 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Those initiatives will help continue the recent success that the Georgia Chamber has enjoyed in getting its legislative agenda passed.

In 2012, the Georgia Chamber had the “best legislative session we’ve had in 20 years,” said Chris Clark, president of the organization.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, January 4, 2013

Skyland Trail, a nonprofit treatment facility for adults with mental illness, is starting a new chapter in its development.

After 25 years leading the board, Mark West has stepped down as chairman. He will be succeeded by John Gordon, president of Gordon Document Products and managing partner of its sister company — Perfect Circle Renewable Energy.

By Amy Wenk and Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, January 4, 2013

Ten architecture firms are vying to become the lead designer of a new $1 billion stadium for the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s a lucrative project for an industry that’s seen tough years since the Great Recession. Design fees could command 6 percent to 11 percent of the approximately $700 million construction budget, said Richard Sawyer, stadium procurement director.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, January 4, 2013

A new nontraditional private equity firm is focusing on providing longer-term investment for small and midsized companies in Georgia.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, December 21, 2012

As this year comes to a close, several key Atlanta civic leaders will be retiring from positions that have permitted them to make an imprint on our community.

Although they might be retiring, it is expected that they will continue to contribute in their post-retirement.

One of the most enthusiastic civic players — Ann Cramer — is retiring as IBM’s director for corporate citizenship and corporate affairs for the Americas. Cramer has been involved in almost every major community initiative that has been underway in metro Atlanta and Georgia for decades — from education, economic development, the arts, social services and public policy.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, December 21, 2012

Habitat for Humanity International is going from building homes to developing its own retail business.

The international nonprofit known for building and renovating affordable single-family homes since 1976 is now in the social enterprise business.

It is developing a national chain of stores — ReStore — that is selling discount building products, furniture and appliances as a way to generate new revenues so it can build more houses around the world.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, December 14, 2012

Peachtree Road in Buckhead has become Atlanta’s latest example of a “complete” street — a landscaped corridor that is welcoming to bicycles and pedestrians as well as vehicles.

To celebrate the opening of the second phase of the Peachtree Road transformation project on Dec. 11, pedestrian and bicycle advocates joined business leaders and government officials at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the Pinnacle office building across from Phipps Plaza.

By Maria Saporta and Amy Wenk
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, December 14, 2012

As the deal for a new Atlanta Falcons stadium moves closer to the goal line, a parallel effort is under way to make substantive, lasting improvements to the neighboring communities of Vine City and English Avenue.

Arthur Blank, owner of the Falcons and co-founder of The Home Depot Inc., said in an interview Dec. 10 that the true measure of the stadium project’s success will not be the building but how positively it will impact the people living and working in the area.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, December 7, 2012

One of the key civic positions in Atlanta is chairing the annual Woodruff Arts Center corporate campaign, a job that has been held by some of Atlanta’s top executives.

Currently, Paul Bowers, president and CEO of Georgia Power, is leading the campaign, with a goal of raising $9.2 million by May.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, December 7, 2012

Wells Fargo & Co. will donate $1.5 million to the city of Atlanta’s Centers of Hope, the largest single corporate gift the centers have received.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, November 30, 2012

In early November, the Woodruff Arts Center announced that the goal for its 2012-2013 corporate campaign would be $9.2 million — the most ambitious in its history.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, November 30, 2012

Looking forward, the Metro Atlanta Chamber is rewriting its game plan in more ways than one.

For more than 15 years, the influential business organization has been focusing its efforts on three issues — water, education and transportation. Of the three, improving metro Atlanta’s transportation issues was the chamber’s top priority.

But after the regional transportation sales tax referendum failed on July 31 — despite the business community’s investment of $8 million to try to get it passed, the Metro Atlanta Chamber has been surprisingly silent about how the region should address its transportation issues.

Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, November 23, 2012

Thanks to several new partners and sponsors, the College Football Hall of Fame is going forward with construction set to begin in January.

“We have erased the question mark,” said John Stephenson, interim CEO of Atlanta Hall Management Inc., which is coordinating the project. “We are going to build this attraction.”

After a two-year recruitment effort, it was announced in September 2009 that the College Football Hall of Fame had selected Atlanta to relocate the attraction from its home in South Bend, Ind. But the project stalled with slow fundraising during a down economy and because of changes in the leadership.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, November 16, 2012

The Atlanta Beltline will continue expanding its trails, thanks to a $3 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation.

The gift will go toward two projects.

Half of the donation will go towards extending the Eastside Trail by 1.5 miles from DeKalb Avenue through the Krog Street tunnel to Glenwood Avenue.

The other half will go toward buying a strip of land between the Beltline’s Eastside Trail and the Historic Fourth Ward Park as well as developing “the Gateway” — a connecting trail between the Beltline and the park.

By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, November 16, 2012

Key Atlanta companies are rallying around Junior Achievement of Georgia’s plans to create a novel, hands-on financial experience for middle school students.

The facility — to be called Junior Achievement’s Chick-fil-A Foundation Discovery Center – will be located on the mezzanine level of the Georgia World Congress Center’s Building C.

The project will include two virtual cities — JA BizTown and JA Financial Park — that will re-create real-life experiences for middle school students attending Atlanta Public Schools, Fulton County Schools and DeKalb County Schools.