Category: ATL Business Chronicle

By Maria Saporta and J. Scott Trubey
Thursday, September 24, 2009, 10:28pm EDT
Modified: Friday, September 25, 2009, 1:00am

Many outstanding issues remain for Atlanta to land the College Football Hall of Fame, though officials said Thursday they are confident they can pull it off.

Executives with the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the National Football Foundation (NFF) acknowledge funding and a site for the $50 million facility have not been finalized. There is also a sunset provision in July 2010 after which

By Maria Saporta and Doug Sams
Friday, September 25, 2009

Cousins Properties Inc., one of the largest real estate companies in the Southeast, is entering a new era — armed with a new CEO and a third of a billion dollars in new capital.

Larry Gellerstedt III, who became the CEO of Cousins (NYSE: CUZ) on July 1 after the accelerated departure of CEO Tom Bell, is demonstrating his understated style of leadership.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, September 18, 2009

Two global organizations are partnering with each other — United Parcel Service Inc. and UNICEF.

The Atlanta-based UPS Foundation is making a two-year, $1 million commitment to UNICEF to improve the emergency response capacity for its disaster preparedness program in the Asia-Pacific region.

The gift, which includes $700,000 in cash and $300,000

By Maria Saporta
Friday, September 11, 2009

The Southern Center for International Studies, an Atlanta institution since 1962, is in a major state of transition.

The center’s headquarters at 320 West Paces Ferry Road recently was sold to the Watson-Brown Foundation of Thomson, Ga., which plans to restore the historic residence designed by famous Atlanta architect Philip Trammell Shutze.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, September 4, 2009

After five years, David Ratcliffe stepped down as chairman of the Georgia Research Alliance at the organization’s quarterly board meeting on Sept. 2. Ratcliffe is chairman and CEO of Southern Co.

He was succeeded by Bill Linginfelter, area president for Georgia and South Carolina for Regions Bank, who has been serving as vice chairman.

John Rice, vice chairman of General Electric Co., was elected as the new vice chairman.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, September 4, 2009

In the end, it all comes down to memories.

On Nov. 16, 2006, Jill Albert passed away from cancer entrusting her husband, Jon Albert, and their two young children to carry on her legacy of family and fond memories.

That’s how the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation was formed. The national foundation based in Atlanta provides families with a terminally ill parent a special gift of lasting memories.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, August 28, 2009

John Somerhalder may not know what this year’s United Way goal will be until moments before the campaign kicks off on Sept. 1.

Somerhalder, CEO of AGL Resources Inc., who is chairing this year’s United Way campaign, is still meeting with executives to push the goal number “as hard as we can.”

The 2008 United Way campaign raised $80.5 million,

By Maria Saporta and Dave Williams
Friday, August 28, 2009

The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority’s (GRTA) decision to award two contracts worth up to $4.5 million without competitive bidding is being questioned by several people in both the public and private sector.

The two sole-sourced contracts have been awarded to McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm, to advance Gov. Sonny Perdue’s IT3 initiative, which stands for Investing in Tomorrow’s Transportation Today.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, August 21, 2009

The economy is experiencing a “global reset,” according to Peter Evans, director of Global Strategy and Planning for Atlanta-based GE Energy.

During this global reset, American businesses have a choice to lead a “fast green growth” world or follow a “slow brown” strategy.

Evans shared that message at a New Sustainable

By Maria Saporta
Friday, August 14, 2009

The possible move of Atlanta’s largest daily newspaper out of downtown concerns civic leaders and one of the city’s most accomplished journalists.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been laying the groundwork to move from its current downtown home to a location that likely

By Maria Saporta
Wednesday, August 12, 2009, 11:38am

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is laying the groundwork to move the newspaper from its current downtown home to a location that likely will be outside the city limits.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, August 14, 2009

The Buckhead Community Improve-ment District has tapped Atlanta civic leader Jim Durrett as its new executive director.

Durrett currently is executive director of the Livable Communities Coalition, a 4-year-old coalition of about 40 civic organizations dedicated to promoting smart-growth practices in the Atlanta region.

By Maria Saporta

Talk about timing.

On Sept. 25, 2008, Emory University announced a $1.6 billion fundraising campaign — the largest such campaign of any university in Georgia.

“We announced the public campaign right when the economy went soft,” said Sonny Deriso,

By Maria Saporta
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Friday, August 7, 2009

At 9 a.m. on July 23, the phone rang in Mike Garrett’s office.

It was Gov. Sonny Perdue. Would Garrett, president and CEO of Georgia Power Co., be willing to serve as the “quarterback” of the state’s efforts to get congressional authorization to use Lake Lanier for drinking water and help resolve the dispute between Georgia, Alabama and Florida over water allocation?

By Maria Saporta
Friday, July 31, 2009

Central Atlanta Progress is working with city officials to secure $3.1 million to help revitalize the Auburn Avenue corridor.

Those funds are part of $42 million of unspent Atlanta Empowerment funds allocated to the city about 15 years ago to help distressed communities.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, July 24, 2009

The final numbers are in for Atlanta’s United Way 2008 campaign.

Several amazing developments occurred among local companies despite one of the worst economic climates in metro Atlanta’s history.

By Maria Saporta and J. Scott Trubey
Friday, July 24, 2009

Delta Air Lines Inc., recently criticized by African-American leaders for its diversity record, has taken a key step.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, July 24, 2009

The defining moment in Ralph de la Vega’s life happened when he was 10 years old.

By Maria Saporta

Metro Atlanta has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, but its income and job growth has not kept up with population.

By Maria Saporta – Friday, July 17, 2009

Back in the day, metro Atlantans were well-represented on the boards of the major banks doing business in the city.