By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 12, 2010
Eight years ago, even before he opened the Georgia Aquarium, Bernie Marcus envisioned Atlanta having its own version of the London Eye.
The London Eye, now 11 years old, has become one of Europe’s top destinations, attracting 3.7 million riders a year, turning a profit at every rotation along the way.
By Maria Saporta
The message was clear Thursday night.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear that if Atlanta ever wants to host another Super Bowl, it needs to build a new football stadium.
Goodell shared those sentiments during a pre-game reception on the roof-top of the Metro Atlanta Chamber — in front of both Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Gov.-elect Nathan Deal.
Asked about Atlanta’s chances of getting a future Super Bowl, Goodell quickly brought up the possibility of a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 5, 2010
Georgia Tech — with a relatively new president and a new strategic plan — now has an ambitious fundraising campaign goal to match.
On Nov. 12, the university will launch the public phase of a $1.5 billion fundraising campaign that is being chaired by John Brock, CEO of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola
By Maria Saporta
Pedestrians and transit are interdependent modes of transportation.
That point hit home Wednesday evening during PEDS 11th annual Golden Shoe Awards.
PEDS, the group that advocates for pedestrians in metro Atlanta, highlighted the relationship between pedestrians and transit in several of its awards presented in the Dahlberg Alumni Hall at Georgia State University.
The Atlanta Regional Commission won two Golden Shoe awards for “pedestrian-friendly research.” One survey, conducted by Claudette Dillard, showed how most transit riders begin and end their trips on foot.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 5, 2010
Woodruff Park, located in the heart of downtown, will soon be getting a playground.
A unique partnership of civic and business organizations came together to build a playground on the east side of the park.
By Maria Saporta
Two pundits on opposite sides of the political spectrum found themselves agreeing more than disagreeing at Monday’s luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Atlanta.
The “Post Election Panel” was composed of Cynthia Tucker, the liberal Washington, D.C.-based political columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and the conservative Ralph Reed, who is president of the Century Strategies, a political consulting firm, and served as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition.
Tucker started by saying that the “overwhelming issue was the economy”
By Maria Saporta
It was the HUD version of: “You need to get your act together.”
A year ago, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood came to Georgia and warned that the state would not get its share of federal grants until it got its act together.
And when LaHood came to Atlanta last month to award the $47.6 million streetcar grant, he told city leaders that they had gotten their act together, and he hoped the state would follow suit.
The latest message from Washington, D.C. came from Ron Sims, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of
By Maria Saporta
Friday, November 5, 2010
Atlanta is destined to become the national center for autism research and treatment thanks to a unique consortium that was able to attract one of the top autism researchers in the world.
Ami Klin, director of the autism program at Yale University’s School of Medicine, has agreed to join the
By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 29, 2010
Atlanta’s nonprofits now have a new financial tool to help them through the tough times.
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has just launched a new Nonprofit Loan Fund through a unique partnership between Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation and six bank sponsors.
The foundation has set aside $320,000 to be
By Maria Saporta
What a clean sweep.
In one day, Georgians have elected an all white, all male, all Republican slate to fill all the top jobs at the state.
Let this sink in.
We have gone from having a diversity among statewide leaders serving as constitutional officers in terms of women, Democrats and African-Americans to a total “good-ole-boy” administration.
This happened while Georgia is becoming a more diverse state in terms of African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians with more than half of its population being women. The election outcome can lead us to question the whole notion of
By Maria Saporta
Friday, Oct. 29, 2010
Portman Holdings is transforming itself from being identified with its founder to becoming a brand that is recognized around the world.
For decades, the face of the company has been John Portman, a world-renowned architect and developer. But Portman said that the company has become less about him and more about the organization.
In that spirit, the company recently named Ambrish Baisiwala as its new CEO and Richard Jones as its new chief operating officer. John Portman is chairman, and his son, Jack Portman, is vice chairman and has joined the company’s board.
By Maria Saporta
Just a quick “morning after” observation.
One of the winners in yesterday’s election was MARTA — in at least two ways.
The transit agency’s nemesis in the Georgia House — Jill Chambers — lost her bid for re-election. Chambers, a Republican representative from DeKalb County for District 81, lost to Democrat Elena Parent, who won with 52.2 percent versus Chamber’s 47.8 percent.
For the past five years, Chambers has served as chair of the MARTA Oversight Committee (MARTOC) in the House. She has turned that position into a platform for attacking the transit agency in every which way she could.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, Oct. 29, 2010
The drought of women leaders at the Metro Atlanta Chamber is almost over.
Carol Tomé, chief financial officer of The Home Depot Inc., will chair the influential business organization in 2012.
Only one other woman has chaired the Metro Atlanta
By Maria Saporta
Advocates who favor the development of stem cell research in Georgia have a major Republican business leader on their side.
Bernie Marcus, co-founder of the Home Depot who is now a leading philanthropist in scientific and health initiatives, spoke last Thursday at the Life Sciences Summit put on by Georgia Bio.
Marcus, and his wife, Billi, were honored at the Summit for “their commitment in support of bioscience research and medical innovation.”
The Marcus Foundation has supported such organizations as the Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center at Grady Hospital, the Marcus Trauma Center also at Grady,
By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 22, 2010
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. is making a $1 million donation to the National Center for Civil & Human Rights — a move that will bring the center one step closer to being built.
With Delta’s gift, the center has raised a total of $71 million. It needs to get another $14 million in donations before construction on the project can begin.
By Maria Saporta
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed spent most of Thursday in New York meeting with potential investors in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The city (and the airport) is selling about $590 million in tax-exempt bonds to help finance the construction of the new international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson.
Feeling optimistic about his day in New York, Reed told people attending the afternoon session of the Georgia Life Sciences Summit that he felt the bonds “are going to be oversubscribed.”
In a quick interview afterwards, Reed said his optimism was based on
By Maria Saporta
When Arthur Blank talks about there being no finish line, he’s talking not just about his business interests but his own way of looking at the world.
“You need to enjoy the journey,” Blank said at the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Business Growth Expo at the Cobb Galleria on Thursday morning. “Success can be very fleeting. You need to enjoy the journey; have the right people in the boat with you; and move on to the next challenge.”
Blank has had his share of challenges. He was best known as being co-founder of the Home Depot, now the second largest retailer in the United States; today he is better known for being the owner of the Atlanta Falcons. But Blank
By Maria Saporta
Forget my journalistic objectivity. I must admit that I’m in awe of Beverly Scott, MARTA’s general manager.
Here is a woman with unlimited energy and a generosity of spirit who has been able to withstand all kind of attacks, criticisms and prejudices with a smile and an open mind.
When some in the region say that MARTA will never be accepted throughout metro Atlanta, Scott will say we should not get hung up on names, titles and past preconceptions. She has welcomed ideas on how one could create a truly regional transit system, whether it would be called MARTA or not.
by Bill Bolling & Maria Saporta >> Original Story Atlanta, GA – Today we hear from Bill Bolling, executive director and founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. He’s been good friends with journalist Maria Saporta and her family for two decades. And as Maria knows, his work to stop hunger has been going on even […]
By Maria Saporta
If only more male CEOs were as supportive of women as is John Brock, CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises.
Brock spoke at last week’s annual dinner meeting of the Board of Directors Network, an organization that promotes more women on corporate boards and more woman as executive officers on Georgia’s public companies.
CCE’s Brock was invited because that out of its 12 directors, four are women. It is the first year where there’s been some increases in the percentage of women on public company boards.
“The numbers are encouraging,” Brock said of the numbers showing that “there
