By Maria Saporta
There was lots of patting on the back at he Rotary Club of Atlanta’s luncheon Monday with Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as the keynote speaker.
Donohue was introduced by Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, who said Donohue was “making an incredible difference in Washington.”
Williams also told a story of when Donohue, president and CEO of the American Trucking Association, was being considered for the top chamber job in 1997.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, June 10, 2011
Atlanta’s sixth-largest bank will move to Midtown’s Atlantic Center Plaza, where it will put its name across the top of the 24-story tower — instantly raising its profile.
Regions Financial Corp. plans to consolidate employees from several offices across North Atlanta where its leases are expiring. It wanted to bring its staff under one roof, make its real estate footprint more efficient and save costs, said Bill Linginfelter, the bank’s area president for Georgia and South Carolina.
The biggest advantage, though, might be visibility. The Downtown Connector cuts through Midtown and it’s lined with some of Atlanta’s most prominent office towers.
It’s the same advantage that has drawn banks from other parts of the city to Midtown, including Citizens & Southern
By Maria Saporta
Transit and alternative modes of transportation should make up half of the project list now being put together by the Metro Atlanta Regional Roundtable.
That’s the position taken in a “white paper” prepared by the Livable Communities Coalition and its Fair Share for Transit Initiative that is being presented to the roundtable in time for its meeting Thursday morning.
The roundtable’s project list will be on the ballot in 2012 as part of the one penny regional transportation sales tax. The roundtable will have to complete its proposed list by Oct. 15 of this year.
By Maria Saporta
Forty years ago, voters in Cobb, Gwinnett and Clayton counties said “no” to MARTA — and that led to the rail transit system being built in only two counties — Fulton and DeKalb.
Fast forward to 2011. On Wednesday morning, leaders in Cobb, Gwinnett and Fulton held a summit to encourage the development of a regional transit system — especially in the north metro area.
The Metro Atlanta Northern Crescent Transit Summit is the outgrowth of a growing partnership between the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce as well as government leaders in those jurisdictions.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, June 3, 2011
Broadcast television is alive and well.
That was the theme at the annual meeting of Atlanta-based Gray Television Inc. held on June 1.
“It has been pretty much of a roller coaster ride with the economy,” said Robert Prather, president and chief operating officer of Gray Television. “2009 was the worst year ever for the broadcast television industry. But 2010 turned out to be the best year in our history. And 2011 has started out better than many of us expected.”
By Maria Saporta
Friday, June 03, 2011
Atlanta has for years taken great pride in being a top five city for Fortune 500 headquarters.
In fact this year, Fortune magazine proclaimed Atlanta was tied for third (up from fourth) with Dallas, with each city having 10 Fortune 500 company headquarters. The Fortune 500 issue was published May 23.
But Fortune’s list is flawed.
Atlanta’s true rank actually is several notches lower, according to a review by Atlanta Business Chronicle of different communities with large clusters of Fortune 500 headquarters.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America is celebrating the news that it has reached its $15 million capital campaign goal.
The “When Tradition Meets Tomorrow” campaign is being invested in building new facilities at the Bert Adams Scout Reservation near Covington and to make improvements at the Woodruff Scout Reservation and Allatoona Aquatics Base.
The campaign was chaired by Gary Fayard, executive vice president and chief financial officer for The Coca-Cola Co. Steve Sitton, president of the Atlanta Area Council and president of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets for the Southeast region, also helped get the campaign to reach its goal.
By Maria Saporta
Maybe it’s a good sign for Home Depot that its annual meeting Thursday morning only lasted 70 minutes.
The low-key annual meeting hit a poignant emotional note when Home Depot Chairman and CEO Frank Blake introduced four associates from Joplin, Mo. Blake awarded them with the company’s “Angel Award” in the name of their fellow associate, Dean Wells, who died during massive tornado while trying to protect customers.
Shareholders gave the Joplin associates a long and enthusiastic standing ovation, and they applauded when Blake spoke about Joplin, saying: “We are committed to the community, and we’re rebuilding that store.”
Overall, the comments and questions from shareholders were respectful and thoughtful — sometimes from opposite ends of the
By Maria Saporta
Atlanta has been a city all too willing to tear down its history.
But for several decades, the Atlanta Preservation Center has been working toward changing Atlanta’s reputation.
The Atlanta Preservation Center has just released its 2011 list of Most Endangered Historic Places. The list includes 19 of Atlanta’s most significant buildings, neighborhoods and landscapes that the center believes “are in danger of being demolished, redeveloped or lost due to neglect.”
The Atlanta Preservation Center has been publishing an endangered list since 2001, and it has been successful in helping preserve some of the city’s most important
By Maria Saporta and Lisa R. Schoolcraft
Friday, May 27, 2011
The National Center for Civil & Human Rights is closing in on its fundraising goal — which would allow it to break ground this fall and open in October 2013 — giving Atlanta a “signature” destination to match its civil rights legacy.
The center’s leaders have raised $75.5 million in donations and pledges for the attraction, which will be located on the same block as the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola on land donated by the soft drink company.
Another $9.5 million still needs to be raised before construction can begin. That will cover the $85 million building costs and permit the center to open without debt.
By Maria Saporta
As the Georgia World Congress Center Authority lunch board meeting took place Tuesday, the Atlanta Thrashers were announcing that they were moving to Winnipeg — the second time that the city has lost a professional hockey team.
Oddly, the topic of the Atlanta Thrashers leaving the city never came up at the GWCC Authority meeting.
Although there is no official tie to the Thrashers, the hockey team has played in Philips Arena — across the street from the GWCC convention center — for the past 11 years. The GWCC does own and operate the
By Lisa R. Schoolcraft and Maria Saporta
Friday, May 27, 2011
The College Football Hall of Fame plans to open bigger, and later, than first expected.
But leaders say the extra time will allow them to raise the rest of the funds for the $82 million project and open debt-free in September 2013. That would be six months later than originally projected, and just prior to the Chick-fil-A Kickoff football game in Atlanta.
The Hall of Fame, which is relocating from South Bend, Ind., is planned for downtown Atlanta in what is now the Green parking lot of the Georgia World Congress Center, near Marietta and Baker streets.
The project is now planned for 75,000 square feet, 50 percent larger than the original 50,000-square-foot concept. It will include a 3-D theater, interactive displays of college football greats, have an event space designed as a football field, and house the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame displays.
By Maria Saporta and Doug Sams
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Georgia State University is trying to acquire the Equitable building, one of the most familiar office towers on the downtown Atlanta skyline.
In an e-mail today to faculty and staff, J. Mack Robinson College of Business Dean H. Fenwick Huss said, “an opportunity has arisen whereby the college may be able to move our offices much closer to the location of the anticipated Academic Building.”
Huss also said if the purchase of Equitable is successful, “We expect space in Equitable would be available for [college of business] administrative and faculty offices within two years.”
The university is a major player in downtown Atlanta real estate.
In 2007, the Georgia State University Foundation purchased the SunTrust building; a two-block area that includes the 26-story office tower at 25 Park Place; a three-story bank building; a six-story annex building; a four-story vacant building and an eight-story parking deck.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, May 20, 2011
The city of Atlanta will open a Center for Women Entrepreneurship in the former home of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at 72 Marietta St. N.W. downtown, Mayor Kasim Reed announced at the “CEO Luncheon” of the Atlanta Business League on May 17.
Reed was named the 2011 CEO of the Year by the 78-year-old organization that promotes economic opportunity for Atlanta’s African-American businesses.
Reed said the idea behind the Center for Women Entrepreneurship is a “very simple” one.
By Maria Saporta
At Southern Co.’s annual meeting in Callaway Gardens Wednesday, a theme came through loud and clear — it’s time for one of the nation’s largest utilities to become more focused on renewable energies and reduce its emphasis on coal.
The overwhelming majority of shareholder questions and comments revolved around Southern’s commitment (or lack thereof) to increasing its portfolio of renewables — especially solar and wind.
By Maria Saporta
Maybe there will be a Screen on the Green season in 2011 after all.
The City of Atlanta has just sent out a media advisory about a “major announcement” concerning the 2011 Screen on the Green season.
Several weeks ago, the Piedmont Park Conservancy announced it was canceling the popular outdoor movie series because it had been unable to secure a top corporate sponsor.
The media advisory, however, strongly implies that the situation has changed.
By Maria Saporta
The Midtown Alliance has selected its next president and CEO — Kevin Green, currently executive director of the Clean Air Campaign.
Green will succeed the well-respected Susan Mendheim, who has served as president of the Midtown Alliance (originally the Midtown Business Association) since 1982.
Green has been executive director of the Clean Air Campaign for the past four years. The organization helps implement innovative transportation and air quality programs for employers, commuters and schools througout the Atlanta region.
By Maria Saporta
The partnership between the City of Atlanta and the State of Georgia continues to strengthen.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed told members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta Monday that on June 1, he and Gov. Nathan Deal will be traveling together to Washington, D.C. to meet with more than “half a dozen cabinet officials” about several issues including the deepening of the Savannah port.
“I hope I’m not stealing the governor’s thunder,” Reed said. “We’ll be working shoulder to shoulder now with only one thing in mind — what’s best for the City of Atlanta and what’s best for the State of Georgia.”
By Maria Saporta
Friday, May 20, 2011
After seeing its budget slashed during the last legislative session, the Georgia Research Alliance appears to be regaining favor among state leaders.
The board of the Georgia Research Alliance passed a resolution May 12 to support the integration of Georgia Centers of Innovation with the Georgia Research Alliance. The Centers of Innovation were launched in 2003 by the state to provide technological support to businesses and startups.
Currently, there are six Centers of Innovation in the fields of aerospace, logistics, agribusiness, energy, life sciences and advanced manufacturing.
“The centers were envisioned as being a bridge between these industry clusters and the universities,” said Mike Cassidy, president of the Georgia Research Alliance.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, May 20, 2011
The Atlanta Press Club, which is launching a Hall of Fame for renowned journalists and media professionals, is announcing its first class of inductees.
The 2011 Hall of Fame inductees will be:
• Ted Turner, the media titan who is best known as the founder of CNN and Turner Broadcasting System Inc.
• Furman Bisher, the noted sportswriter, editor and author who began his career in 1938 and joined The Atlanta Constitution in 1950.
• Tom Johnson, president of CNN in the 1990s and former publisher of the Los Angeles Times.
• John Pruitt, longtime anchor of Channel 2 Action News on WSB-TV and 11Alive News on WXIA-TV, who retired at the end of 2010.
• Alexis Scott and the Scott family, publishers of the Atlanta Daily World, the city’s respected and pioneering African-American newspaper founded in 1928.
• Henry Grady (1850-1889), the legendary editor of The Atlanta Constitution (the inaugural posthumous award).
