Category: Sections

By Maria Saporta

At a board meeting of the Metro Atlanta Chamber Thursday morning, the new general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport said he was delighted with the response to the bidding process for new concessionaires.

On Wednesday, Hartsfield-Jackson held its “Industry Day” to give potential bidders an opportunity to learn more about the process and the opportunities.

“We had between 400 and 500 people there,” said Louis Miller, who became Atlanta’s new airport general manager last fall, after the meeting. “We have very few people upset with how we put the proposals together.”

By Maria Saporta

It was always a pleasure to receive hand-written letters from Don Gareis.

In his elegant penmanship, Gareis always had a supportive and positive message about a column I had written or observation that he had on Atlanta’s business and civic community.

And he always would sign off each letter with the following: “Your No. 1 fan.”

So when I heard Gareis had passed away on Jan. 13, I immediately felt the void he had left behind, not only my life

By Maria Saporta

How lucky we are to live in Atlanta, the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement.

This point hits home every year during the King birthday holiday weekend, and this year has been no exception.

This past Saturday Jan. 15, on King’s actual birthday, the first annual Civil Rights film festival was launched at the King Center.

The documentaries were produced by Andrew Young Presents and featured our

By Maria Saporta

It’s not all kumbaya in metro Atlanta.

When the Atlanta Regional Roundtable met Thursday afternoon to squeeze in Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on its executive committee, it was obvious that the region is more fractured that it once was.

Members of the Roundtable objected to what they said was a backroom-type deal between House Speaker David Ralston and the other members of the executive committee to get Reed on the executive committee by getting Norcross

By Maria Saporta

The Georgia World Congress Center Authority board has named a new chairman — Tim Lowe, chairman and managing partner of Lowe Engineers.

Lowe succeeds Robert Prather, CEO of Gray Communications, who has been on the GWCC board for 18 years — eight of them as chairman.

“It’s been three years this time,” said Prather, who helped chair the board during the transition from its founding executive director Dan Graveline to the current executive director Frank Poe.

By Maria Saporta

It appears that Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed will be on the powerful five-member executive committee of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable.

Thanks to the involvement of House Speaker David Ralston, it is expected that Reed will become part of the Roundtable’s executive committee at its meeting next Thursday

The executive committee of the

By Maria Saporta

The long-time executive of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is moving to Washington, D.C. to become president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington later this spring.

Steve Rakitt has been CEO of the Atlanta Federation for the past 10 years.

“Steve has served our community with vigor and conviction for the past 10 years,” said Robert Arogeti, chairman of the Federation’s board, in a statement. “However, we are excited for the

By Maria Saporta

A couple of interesting new hires have taken place at the Metro Atlanta Chamber — a vice president of government affairs and a vice president of transportation.

Two executives will be joining the organization as vice presidents in the public policy division reporting to Renay Blumenthal, the senior vice president.

Jeff Wansley, who currently is vice president of government affairs for Equifax, will be joining the Metro Atlanta Chamber as vice president of

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Life Financial Group today announced plans to sell its headquarters building on Auburn Avenue.

It has retained Red Rock Global and Colliers International to privately market the building to potential buyers.

The five-story building, constructed in 1980, is owned debt-free by Atlanta Life, which would remain as the building’s anchor tenant.

“As Atlanta Life Financial Group continues its transformation into a diversified financial services company, it behooves

By Maria Saporta

It was a lunch of compassion.

When Progressive Redevelopment Inc. and CaringWorks held their annual gathering on Dec. 9 at the Atlanta Biltmore, several themes prevailed. In this time of economic suffering, it is a time to care for those less fortunate than us.

The first speaker was former Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders, who received the inaugural “Courage to Care Award” from the two organizations.

Borders weaved a tale of how she was