Chick-fil-A selects Carrie Kurlander as new communications vice president
By Maria Saporta
From nukes to nuggets.
Carrie Kurlander, vice president of communications for the Southern Co. since September 2009, is joining Chick-fil-A as its vice president of public relations.
She will start her new job in mid April.
Kurlander joined the Southern Co. system in February 2003 as director of corporate communications for the Alabama Power Co. Five years later, she was named assistant to the president and CEO of the Alabama Power Co. before moving to Atlanta to work at Southern Co.’s headquarters.
Carrie Kurlander
“I’m leaving Southern Co. after 10 great years, and they have been very supportive of my plans to seek new vistas,” Kurlander wrote in an email informing friends of her career change.
Chick-fil-A has been conducting a thorough search for a vice president of public relations after the sudden passing of Don Perry last July. Perry had joined the privately-held, Atlanta-based restaurant chain in 1983 and was a key member of the organization.
“I have been so impressed with them during every step of their search,” Kurlander said of Chick-fil-A’s management. “I do love Chick-fil-A’s ‘servant leadership’ culture and am thrilled to be joining the team.”
Before joining the Southern Co. system, Kurlander served as press secretary and communications director for the governor of Alabama. She also was a news anchor and reporter for WSFA-TV from July 1993 to January 1998.
Meanwhile, Paul Bowers, president and CEO of Georgia Power, gave the Rotary Club of Atlanta an update on the construction of the new nuclear power plants being built at Plant Vogtle near Augusta.
During the question and answer session, Bowers explained why there hasn’t been an expected “nuclear renaissance” in the United States.
“You are seeing much more natural gas coming into the market,” Bowers said, which has reduced the immediate demand. But Bowers add that there are 65 reactors being built in the world today.
“A nuclear renaissance is happening globally,” Bowers said.
