By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 7, 2014
The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta could adopt the song “Old Friends” by Simon & Garfunkel as its soundtrack.
It is the “old friends” who have come together to raise $6.8 million of the Center’s $7.5 million campaign since November 2012 to reinvest in the 52-acre facility that serves about 55,000 individuals a year.
By Maria Saporta
Don’t panic. That was the basic message that Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed shared about the lack of funding for the deepening of the Savannah port in the President Barack Obama’s budget that was released last week.
Reed spoke to local business and civic leaders Tuesday during a luncheon speech at the Commerce Club — where he said the news of President’s budget failure to include the federal share of had been misrepresented.
By tapping his Democratic connections within the Obama administration in Washington, D.C., Reed has been one of Georgia’s leading advocates for the deepening of the Savannah port. He has been working closely with Republican Gov. Nathan Deal on those efforts — highlighting their cooperative bi-partisan relationship.
By Maria Saporta
A behind-the-scenes Atlanta business leader who led key organizations at a sensitive time in the city’s history — John C. Wilson — passed away on Saturday night at Piedmont Hospital.
Wilson, a fifth generation Atlantan, served as the president (a position now called chairman) of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce in 1970 — helping foster the idea of Atlanta as the next great international city. He was chairman of the International Air Routes Task Force in 1971 — which helped open Atlanta’s airport to inaugural international service a couple of years later.
Wilson also served as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta as well as several other corporate and civic boards.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on March 7, 2014
The Atlanta Braves are so convinced they will meet their ambitious schedule of building a new stadium in Cobb by April 2017 that they have no Plan B.
“We have not thought about it,” said Mike Plant, executive vice president of business operations for the Atlanta Braves. “A hundred percent of our focus is building that stadium and playing there in April 2017. We are going to do what we said we are going to do. We said we are going to build a great ballpark and destination.”
On Nov. 11, 2013, the Atlanta Braves shocked both the city of Atlanta and the metro area when the baseball team announced it would be building a new $672 million ballpark in Cobb County with $300 million of it in public funds.
By Maria Saporta
Morris Brown College, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, 2012, is shifting gears to try to keep operating.
It no longer is trying to package a development deal for the property it either owns or controls after at least two deals fell apart in the last year at the 11th hour.
On Thursday, lawyers for Morris Brown asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Barbara Ellis-Monro for permission to hire the real estate firm of Jones Lang LaSalle to help it sell either some or all of the 36-acre property along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive just west of where the new Atlanta Falcons stadium is being built.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on February 28, 2014
Just six months after the opening of Junior Achievement of Georgia’s successful Discovery Center in downtown Atlanta, a second center is being planned for Gwinnett County.
The new Discovery Center, which likely would open in August 2015 at the new comprehensive Gwinnett high school campus, would include a Finance Park and BizTown — similar to the real-world simulations at the Chick-fil-A Discovery Center at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta.
By Maria Saporta
As 68,000 soccer fans filled the Georgia Dome with enthusiastic cheers Wednesday night, Arthur Blank was entertaining Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer in his suite during most of the scoreless match between Mexico and Nigeria.
It was not a casual sporting event for either of them. Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons; and Garber are closing in on a deal for Blank to become a new franchise owner for a MLS team that would play in the new Falcons stadium that is supposed to open before the 2017 football season.
The sold-out Mexico-Nigeria match — a prelude the 2014 World Cup in Brazil — was yet another indicator of how Atlanta would welcome professional soccer.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on February 28, 2014
Atlanta is campaigning to become one of a handful of cities to be designated a Global Smart City for Mobility — a move that it hopes will catapult it among the world’s technology capitals.
A contingent of Atlanta mobility executives and economic development leaders were in Barcelona, Spain, from Feb. 24 to Feb. 27 attending the GSMA Mobile World Congress, the largest mobility summit in the world, attracting more than 70,000 people.
By Maria Saporta
Cities can be fanciful and fun.
In fact, if we want our cities to be loved, they must spark our imagination, bring smiles to our faces, give us special memories we can keep forever.
That was the message that Peter Kagayama shared with members of the of the Midtown Alliance at its annual meeting on the morning of Feb. 26 at the Fox Theatre.
Kagayama, who is based in Tampa, is co-founder and producer of the Creative Cities Summit. He has written a book: “For the Love of Cities,” a guidepost for how cities can become more lovable.
By Maria Saporta
In a series of leadership moves at the Home Depot announced Friday, a front-runner for a successor to CEO Frank Blake is emerging.
The Atlanta-based home improvement retailer announced that Craig Menear, 56, has been named president of U.S. retail, effective immediately. That will give him responsibility over most of the company’s operations. Previously Menear was executive vice president of merchandising, responsible for all merchandising departments and merchandising services and strategy; the company’s supply chain network; global sourcing; vendor management; marketing; and online sales.
By Maria Saporta
Once again, the elected officials on the Atlanta Regional Commission reached a stalemate when trying to elect a citizen member from the 11th district.
It is the third time that the body has tried to elect a citizen member from a district that covers three different counties — more than 50 percent is in DeKalb County, the next greatest share is in north Fulton and then there is a sliver in east Cobb.
The citizen member for that district has been Tad Leithead, who is from east Cobb. Leithead was chairman of the ARC until the end of 2013 when he decided to not seek re-election. Leithead’s citizen member term also expired at the end of the year.
At the same time, DeKalb County CEO Lee May proposed Mickey McGuire, an urban planner and policy expert from Dunwoody, to be the citizen member from that district. That set up an election between Leithead and McGuire.
By Maria Saporta
As a nod to the impact he has had on cities, Atlanta’s own Egbert L.J. Perry has been named as chairman of Fannie Mae.
Perry, chairman and CEO of the Integral Group, has served on the board of Fannie Mae since 2008. He will assume his Fannie Mae chairmanship in late March.
“As we continue to support America’s economic recovery through the creation of a better housing finance system, we are excited and honored to have Egbert as our new chairman,” said Tim Mayopoulos, CEO of Fannie Mae. “Egbert’s appointment further reflects our commitment to the continued reform of the nation’s housing finance system.”
Perry founded Integral in 1993 to provide real estate development, advisory and investment management services and is a celebrated innovator in urban revitalization.
By Maria Saporta
Former Mayor Andrew Young used to call Atlanta the gateway to Africa.
On Monday, Atlanta leaders took one big step to open that gateway when they launched the year-long Africa Atlanta 2014 collaboration to highlight and strengthen their cross-cultural ties.
“I’m convinced that Atlanta is well-positioned to become a significant partner,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed at a press conference Monday afternoon at City Hall. He added that six of the fastest-growing economies in the next 15 years will be in Africa, and that Atlanta would like to be a friendly partner in that growth.
The Africa Atlanta 2014 initiative, which has the tagline: “Feel the Soul of Africa in the Heart of Atlanta,” includes dozens of sponsors and partner organizations that will be part of the festivities occurring throughout the year.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on February 21, 2014
The East Lake Foundation has accomplished a rare feat during an economic recession in Atlanta. It has raised more than $75 million in less than three years to build the Drew Charter School Senior Academy.
When one reviews who was on the campaign committee, then it’s easier to understand how they were able to raise that much money during a challenging economy.
By David Luse
I attended an advanced screening of Need For Speed earlier this week. Stars Aaron Paul and Kid Cudi, and director Scott Waugh were available afterward for a Q&A to promote and talk about their film.
The three of them then invited everyone out for pizza at Ormsby’s, a West Midtown hotspot that supports a young, intellectual twenty-something crowd. The hilarious thing was that the owner or manager-on-duty of Ormsby’s disallowed outside pizza. So we were served from a rental Suburban across the street. It was all handled with good humor, and for Ormsby’s part, it was reasonable given that they serve food. Everyone went in for drinks afterward.
Well while sipping on a Reissdorf (they really have a fantastic beer selection) I chatted with the director and squeezed a question out of Aaron Paul. If you don’t care about the movie, skip the next four paragraphs.
By Maria Saporta
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Wednesday that Bernice King should turn over her late father’s Nobel Peace Prize award and her personal Bible to a court-controlled safe deposit box.
The judge said he would hold onto the keys of that safe deposit box until the case has been settled.
Bernice King’s two brothers — Dexter King and Martin Luther King III — have taken legal action against her for not turning over those two prized possessions so they can sell them to a private buyer.
By Douglas Sams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Maria Saporta
Morris Brown College wants to put most of its historic 35-acre Atlanta campus on the market.
The move comes after an attempt to reach an agreement between Morris Brown and Atlanta developer Pope & Land Enterprises Inc. appears to have fallen through. Read the full documents regarding the sale.
The campus is near one of Atlanta’s most ambitious projects — a more than $1 billion stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. Morris Brown is just west of the Falcons stadium site at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Northside Drive, and the future of the campus will be at the center of discussions about how the entire area is redeveloped.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on February 14, 2014
Thanks to an anonymous donor who made a record-setting $103.9 million gift at the end of the year, the Community Foundation was able to enjoy a record-setting year in 2013.
The Community Foundation received a total of $196 million in gifts in 2013 — the most it has received in its 63-year history.
By Maria Saporta
Sixty years ago, MAP International was founded by the late J. Raymond Knighton in Chicago when he accepted a donation of $25,000 in surplus medicines from a leading pharmaceutical company.
That became the mission and working model of the international nonprofit, which now has its global headquarters in Atlanta and its operational base in Brunswick. For the past 60 years, MAP International has been providing medicines, helping prevent diseases and promoting health to create hope and lasting change in communities around the world.
By Maria Saporta
The designers of the proposed Atlanta Falcons stadium released several new images on Feb. 14 to show how the facility will look from multiple vantage points.
The basic design elements are similar to the images that have already been released, but there are several new details that give a better understanding of how the stadium will be positioned in relation to the areas around it.
