By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 27, 2012
KIPP Metro Atlanta — a charter school nonprofit organization that has been focused on middle school and high school students — will launch its first elementary school in July.
By Maria Saporta
For once, good news.
When it came to riding bicycles to work, City of Atlanta enjoyed the highest rate of increase in the nation between 2000 and 2009, according to a report released by the Alliance for Biking & Walking.
The report showed that bicycle commuting in the City of Atlanta increased by 386 percent in that decade.
But one of the reasons Atlanta’s numbers were so strong was because its base was so low.
By Maria Saporta
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Wednesday that he has problems with the recommendations of the Regional Transit Governance Task Force. Reed was one of the members of that task force.
The recommendations that have been put in a draft bill include several issues that could be detrimental to the Atlanta region, and especially its largest transit system — MARTA.
“I’m going to be calm and thoughtful, but at this point I don’t have a very favorable view of the bill,” Reed said. “I have real unreadiness about it.”
By Maria Saporta
Robert Dale Morgan, who helped put Atlanta on the map for major sporting events, passed away Sunday from complications related to a brain tumor. Morgan was only 50 years old.
Morgan was key in the creation of the Atlanta Sports Council, and he headed the efforts to bring and host the 1994 and 2000 Super Bowl games to the Georgia Dome.
Morgan left Atlanta and moved to Houston where he took on several roles as president and CEO of the 2004 Houston Super Bowl XXXVIII Host Committee as well as president and executive director of the 2011 Houston Final Four.
By Maria Saporta
Chris Leinberger was genuinely surprised.
Leinberger, the urban land use strategist and developer who also is a visiting fellow of the Brookings Institution, was the keynote speaker at Partnership Gwinnett’s Redevelopment Forum — put on by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.
The half-day economic development conference at the Gwinnett Place Marriott in Duluth on Friday, Jan. 27, focused on redevelopment opportunities in the suburban county.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 27, 2012
Two-thirds of metro Atlantans donated money to causes that were important to them in the past year, 50 percent of local residents donated their time and 36 percent participated in political activities.
Those are just some of the findings of a new study done for the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta on the level of philanthropic investment and engagement in the Atlanta region.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 20, 2012
The tide has turned for the Georgia Research Alliance.
A year ago, the public-private research and innovation organization was fighting for survival. Gov. Nathan Deal had proposed in his first budget, which had been put together by the administration of former Gov. Sonny Perdue, to slash GRA’s funding from nearly $17 million to $4.5 million.
By Maria Saporta
At Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential luncheon Wednesday, something became clear — the non-profit leader has arrived.
Bill Bolling, the founder and executive director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, was honored as the 2012 Georgian of the Year.
Even Bolling has called himself “an outlier” leader — someone who does not mirror our traditional perception of leaders — business executive or elected officials.
When Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed attends President Barack Obama’s “State of the Union” speech in Washington, D.C. tonight, he will attend with the belief that the Democratic President will win re-election in November.
Reed, who was the keynote speaker at an Atlanta Press Club luncheon today at the Capital City Club downtown, said he believes Obama will win, but that it will be a much closer race than it was in 2008.
Asked to analyze the Republican presidential primary race, Reed responded reluctantly.
By Maria Saporta
One of Atlanta’s leading business and civic leaders — Barry Phillips — passed away Monday of congestive heart failure.
Phillips was former chairman of the Kilpatrick, Cody, Rogers, McClatchey & Regenstein law firm, which is now known as Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton. He joined the firm in 1954, and he stayed with the firm for 43 years until he retired in 1997.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 20, 2012
A philosophical divide between Martin Luther King III and his younger siblings over plans to commercialize The King Center, a not-for-profit foundation, led to his decision to resign as president on Jan. 17.
By Maria Saporta
Thanks to a unanimous vote by a city authority, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights is moving forward.
Invest Atlanta, the new name of the Atlanta Development Authority, voted Friday morning to give the attraction flexibility in how $28.5 million of Tax Allocation District (TAD) dollars could be spent by the developers of the Center.
Doug Shipman, president and CEO of the Center, said that the authority basically was supporting the decision to build the attraction in phases.
By Maria Saporta
Veteran Atlanta fundraiser Nancy Rigby has been named vice president of Cox Foundations. She will join Cox on Feb. 15 reporting directly to Jim Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises.
Rigby has been serving as vice president and campaign director at Coxe Curry & Associates, Atlanta’s leading fundraising consulting firm, where she counseled organizations on strategic direction for fundraising, leadership and organizational sustainability.
During her tenure at Coxe Curry, Rigby worked with several non-profit organizations helping facilitate or direct their campaigns.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 13, 2012
The historic Imperial Hotel is under new ownership.
A joint venture between Atlanta-based Columbia Residential and Columbus, Ohio-based National Church Residences negotiated an agreement with the state of Georgia and city of Atlanta to buy the building at 355 Peachtree St. downtown and rescue it from full foreclosure.
By Maria Saporta
Martin Luther King III is resigning as president of the King Center, effective immediately.
In a statement that will be released to the general public later today, King III said he will be devoting his future efforts “towards launching a new organization that will focus on supporting a new generation of young drum majors for justice worldwide.” He plans to announce further details in the coming weeks.
King III’s resignation follows a release issued by the King Center on Jan. 9 announcing that Bernice King would be taking over as CEO — replacing her oldest brother in that role.
By Maria Saporta
It’s live.
The King Center Imaging Project’s website — www.thekingcenter.org/archive — is making its debut on the holiday honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. led a team of partners to digitize hundreds of thousands of documents from MLK Jr. and othef Civil Rights leaders and organizations so they could made available to people around the world who have access to the internet.
By Maria Saporta
ToolBank USA has a new board president — Nick Costides, vice president of information services with UPS.
Costides succeeds outgoing board president, Corky Martin, an executive with the Home Depot. He will remain on ToolBank USA’s board as immediate past president.
ToolBank USA’s board are the “guiding strategic force” behind the governance and development of the organization,
By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 13, 2012
In the 20 months that Martin Luther King III has been president and CEO of The King Center, he has been putting together a $100 million investment package for a major renovation of the 30-year old facility as well as plans to preserve his father’s legacy for generations to come.
By Maria Saporta
The Clean Air Campaign has established an inaugural list of Platinum Partners.
To qualify as a Platinum Partner, at least 20 percent of all employee or tenant trips to a worksite had to involve alternatives to driving alone.
The effort, which is called “In Good Company,” includes a list of 130 employers and landlords — including some of the largest companies in metro
By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 6, 2012
When Ed Heys becomes the new chair of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 9, he will take over an organization that has changed in several significant ways in just the past couple of years.
