By Maria Saporta
The Georgia Wildlife Federation has a new president and CEO.
The Federation’s board has selected Todd Holbrook, former deputy commissioner of Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources, to head the organization beginning on Jan. 1, 2013.
Holbrook, who lives in Conyers, is joining the Federation after spending 27 years with the Georgia DNR in several roles — assistant director of the Wildlife Resources Division and chief of Game Management.
By Maria Saporta
Literacy Action, Georgia’s largest nonprofit provider of adult basic education, has a new president and executive director — Austin Dickson.
Before joining Literacy Action, Dickson served as director of philanthropy for Action Ministries, a statewide, faith-based, homeless services and basic needs organization. He also has worked for the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta on its regional and environmental initiatives.
Dickson is a Texas native and a graduate of Texas Christian University. He earned master’s degrees from the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, where he was the student body president.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 26, 2012
Agnes Scott College will publicly launch its $100 million “Greatness Before Us” campaign on Oct. 26.
More than half of the money — $58.2 million — has already been raised during the quiet phase of the campaign.
The same evening, the college also will launch its 1889 Society — for individuals and foundations that have given $500,000 or more to the institution, according to Elizabeth Kiss, president of Agnes Scott.
By Maria Saporta
Key state leaders believe the deepening of the Savannah Port will go forward no matter who is elected as president on Nov. 6.
Gov. Nathan Deal said Tuesday, after a Georgia Chamber of Commerce “State of the Ports” luncheon, that he was relieved when the project received final federal approval a few days ago.
“We are fortunate that they made this designation before the election,” Deal said. “It’s an indication that this won’t be held up for political reasons.”
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 26, 2012
Atlanta’s presence at the national United Way organization continues to grow.
Atlanta native Stacey Stewart has become the first-ever president of United Way USA — the No. 2 leader within the international organization.
Stewart reports to Brian Gallagher, CEO of United Way Worldwide, who worked for the United Way of Greater Atlanta from 1990 to 1996.
By Maria Saporta
It’s hard to believe.
When Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid announced on Friday a major reorganization of its executive team, all the top executives were white males.
Now this is for a consumer-based company that has women as its main customers.
In unveiling its reorganization, the company also announced that Penny McIntyre, who had been head of the company’s consumer group, was leaving to pursue other interests. Two other executives were casualties in the reorganization — Ted Woehrle, chief marketing officer; and Paul Boitmann, chief customer development officer.
By Maria Saporta
The East Lake Foundation has named Lawrence Schall, president of Oglethorpe University, as its new board chair.
Schall , who is succeeding Lillian Giornelli as chair, will join the foundation’s 13-member board, serve a two-year term. Giornelli will continue to serve on the board as vice chair and as head of its fund-raising committee.
Schall said he sees his new role as the foundation’s board chair as an extension of his role as Oglethorpe’s president. Oglethorpe has been one of the partners at Drew Middle School, and Schall has been encouraging the university’s students and faculty to become more involved in the community.”
By Maria Saporta
So far this year, there have only been 171 new cases of polio in the world — and those cases were in only three countries — Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. That compares to 467 new cases at this time in 2011.
In 1988, when Rotary International adopted polio eradication as one of its priorities, polio infected and disabled about 350,000 people a year in more than 125 countries.
On World Polio Day — Oct. 24 — Rotary Clubs across the world had reason to celebrate. Since 1988, Rotarians have contributed more than $1.2 billion towards the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 19, 2012
Georgia manufacturers don’t place a high premium on innovation and they don’t take advantage of research and development tax credits to invest in new technology.
Those are some of the results in the 2012 Georgia Manufacturing Survey that was released Oct. 16 at the Next Generation Manufacturing conference held at Georgia Tech’s Academy of Medicine.
By Maria Saporta
It has become one Georgia’s of the most-anticipated lists — the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation list of “Ten Places in Peril” across the state.
The 2013 list, the eighth annual list, was released on Wednesday morning. It includes a golf course, a log cabin and a rest stop. But the common theme among the 10 places is that the Georgia Trust hopes that by shining the spotlight on these historical locations, it will enhance the chances that they will be preserved.
“We hope the list will continue to bring preservation action to Georgia’s imperiled historic resources by highlighting 10 representative sites,” said Mark C. McDonald, president and CEO of the Trust.
By Maria Saporta
Expect Southwest Airlines to leverage its acquisition of AirTran by going international.
In a talk Monday to the Rotary Club of Atlanta, Gary Kelly, CEO of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, said the airline plans to not only fly to AirTran’s current destinations but to other places in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and the northern parts of South America.
“Yes, we intend to keep the international destinations that AirTran is currently serving,” Kelly reassured the audience. “The demand for international travel is very, very strong. We think we have a lot of great opportunity to grow internationally.”
By Maria Saporta
The state’s efforts to put the historic Olympia building at Five Points out for bid has been stalled for the second time.
The State Property Office was supposed to have opened bids on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. when people interested in buying the historic building would have known how their offers compared to others.
“We have made a decision to not open the bids tomorrow for the Olympia building because we are still in negotiations with Coca-Cola on the lease for their sign on the roof,” Paul Melvin, spokesman for the State Property Office, said Monday afternoon.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 19, 2012
When Home Depot announced on Sept. 14 that it would be shutting its remaining seven stores in China, craziness and employee unrest followed.
Carol Tomé, chief financial officer of The Home Depot Inc., who has been overseeing the company’s Chinese investment for 18 months, provided Atlanta Business Chronicle an exclusive inside account of what happened, and she also shared her insights about doing business in China.
By Maria Saporta
In a “welcome to Atlanta” press conference Friday morning, the new general manager and CEO of MARTA — Keith Parker — promised to run an open and transparent agency.
In that spirit, he promised that his new contract would be on MARTA’s website within hours available for public review. A copy was then handed out to reporters showing that he would be receiving a base annual salary of $320,000 during the five-year contract. He will join MARTA on Dec. 10.
By Maria Saporta
As the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s executive committee was meeting Thursday morning to select Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson as its 2014 chair, he was the keynote speaker at the Atlanta Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.
Anderson’s talk centered on the themes of value-based leadership and community giving, but at no time in his talk did he give the attendees, who were mostly members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, an inkling that he would be taking on one of the most important business civic roles in the region if not the state.
By Maria Saporta
The Metro Atlanta Chamber has done it again.
The influential business organization has lined up one of the state’s top business leaders to chair the Chamber in 2014 — Richard Anderson, CEO of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines.
The executive committee of the Metro Atlanta Chamber voted Thursday morning to make Anderson the 2013 chair-elect, positioning him to lead the organization in 2014.
It continues the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s string of having some of the most powerful executives in that leadership role. Consider this. In 2011, John Brock, CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), was the chair. The 2012 chair is Carol Tome, the chief financial officer of the Home Depot. And the 2013 chair will be Paul Bowers, president and CEO of Georgia Power.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 12, 2012
Atlanta BeltLine will dedicate its first major leg — the Eastside Trail — on Oct. 15, a 2.25 mile pedestrian and bicycle path connecting Piedmont Park with Inman Park.
It also will give the public an opportunity to experience the ambitious project, which eventually will be a 22-mile ring around the central city with trails, parks, transit with new residential, office and retail developments.
“Now is a good time to lead this effort because we can continue the momentum,” said Lisa Gordon, who has been acting chief executive of the organization since August when Brian Leary stepped down amid controversy. “The good news is that I’ve been with the team for almost three years as COO.”
By Maria Saporta
Major companies in the United States are stepping up to help veterans find jobs and housing to help in their transition from military service back to civilian life.
The companies range from Atlanta-based Home Depot to Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines to New York-based JPMorgan Chase, which has a growing presence in Atlanta.
By Maria Saporta
As the sun emerged from the clouds, the northeast section of the Atlanta BeltLine was officially opened Monday morning — a reminder that all good things take time, effort and money.
Nearly all the players — past and present — were there, providing a historical context of what the project means for Atlanta.
“Today, we are not merely opening a new trail or public space,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “We are showing what’s possible for the future of our city.”
By Maria Saporta
Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 5, 2012
The United Way of Greater Atlanta has selected its 2013 campaign chair — Pat Falotico, senior state executive for IBM in Georgia.
Falotico has been serving on the United Way board for more than a year and has chaired IBM’s internal campaign for the past four years.
“I see this a great opportunity,” Falotico said. “I love United Way, and it also gives me an opportunity to represent IBM in the community. I’m really excited about it.”
Chairing the annual United Way is one of the most demanding civic jobs in town. The campaign chair heads up the effort that has been raising more than $80 million a year for the past several years.
