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Posted inGuest Column

Micro-lender contributing to economic rebound a loan at a time

by Teresa Johnston

By Guest Columnist GRACE FRICKS, founder and CEO of the non-profit Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs

Small business is the backbone of the economy; the engine for economic recovery.

You won’t find a politician, a pundit or an economist who will disagree with that statement. But by 2008, with our economy in full slide, most lenders tightened the purse strings to the extent that a significant population of small business owners – those defined as microentrepreneurs – couldn’t get access to the money they needed to create or maintain their enterprise.

Posted inDavid Pendered

D.C. to Metro Atlanta: “No guarantee of federal funding for road, transit projects” in transportation sales tax

by David Pendered

Congress and the Obama administration have made it clear that Georgians will vote July 31 on the proposed transportation sales tax with no clue as to how much money the federal government may pay to support the projects.

This news is significant in metro Atlanta. The 10-county region is counting on the federal government to pay nearly 12 percent of the total $7.1 billion cost (in today’s dollars) of the road and transit projects to be built if voters approve a 1 percent sales tax for transportation.

Without the federal funding, it seems unlikely that all projects will be completed. Neither a contingency plan, nor a priority list of projects, was part of the recommendation from the Atlanta Regional Roundtable, the group of 21 elected officials that created the construction list.

Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater

‘Bully’ — movie of five kids evokes raw feelings with raw footage

Avatar photo by Eleanor Ringel Cater

The biggest bully in the much-talked-about documentary, “Bully,” isn’t some vicious kid — though we see evidence of their cruelty in the faces of those they’ve attacked.

Rather, it’s an adult. An assistant principal, actually, named Kim. One of those bluff, pseudo-cheery types —her students are her “golden cherubs” — she gives you the creeps early on.

Posted inLatest News

Metro Atlanta arts leader Flora Maria Garcia to take similar job in Orlando

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

A regional effort to build a regional arts and cultural mindset is losing its leader.

Flora Maria Garcia, CEO of the Metro Atlanta Arts & Culture Coalition, will become the new president and CEO of the United Arts of Central Florida starting May 29.

Garcia has been CEO of MAACC since 2007, when she succeeded Bill Nigut, who is now the Southeast Regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Posted inLatest News

Washington, D.C.’s public school chief continuing dramatic reforms

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Washington, D.C. — Education reform is alive and well in the nation’s capital.

Members of metro Atlanta’s LINK delegation were enamored with Kaya Henderson, the chancellor of Washington, D.C. public school system, after she addressed regional leaders about the change underway in one of the highest-profile systems in the nation.

Henderson joined the staff of the Washington, D.C. public schools in 2007 as part of the Michelle Rhee administration.

Posted inLatest News

Cobb’s David Connell rejoins LINK group; said he made a mistake

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Washington, D.C. — Cobb Chamber of Commerce President David Connell humbly stood before members of the metro Atlanta LINK delegation Thursday morning after to apologize.

The day before, as Connell was going through security at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, he was detained for having a handgun in his bag. He subsequently was arrested and taken to the Clayton County jail.

Connell finally rejoined the LINK delegation Thursday morning, and he went to the podium to address what had been the buzz of the trip on Wednesday.

Posted inLatest News

LINK 2012 — Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray heralds city’s vitality

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Washington, D.C. — The nation’s capital is enjoying a burst of population growth, Mayor Vincent Gray told the metro Atlanta LINK delegation Wednesday evening.

Gray welcomed Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and about 100 other civic leaders at dinner held at the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

After losing population for several decades, Washington, D.C. added 30,000 residents between 2000 and 2010.

Posted inLatest News

2012 LINK trip — Maryland’s investment in life sciences and education paying off economically

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Baltimore — A 100 civic leaders from Atlanta, on the 16th annual LINK trip, arrived in the largest city in Maryland Wednesday witnessing a city that has strategically sought to be an economic leader in bio-science and cyber security.

Although Baltimore can be overshadowed by the Washington, D.C. metro area, the city also recognizes that its economic strength can be attributed in great part to the ample presence of federal dollars in the community.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 1

Tom Key’s Moment was choosing between Atlanta and a great job offer in the bright lights of New York

Avatar photo by adminmegan

Tom Key has graced Atlanta audiences with many dramatic productions at Theatrical Outfit and the Alliance Theater, but the curtains rose on his own dramatic Moment 26 years ago when he was offered a chance to lead a theater in New York City.

With echoes of nightly off-Broadway standing ovations for his one-man show still ringing in his head, Tom instead chose to nurture his talents in Atlanta – his “home place in the American South.”

Posted inDavid Pendered

Earth Day’s ideals are evident in DeKalb County’s new renewable fuel facility at its Seminole landfill

by David Pendered

Methane gas captured in a landfill in DeKalb County will be transformed into fuel for vehicles at a futuristic facility where the ceremonial ribbon was cut Monday.

This example of renewable bio-fuel is just the sort of technology that was hoped for by participants of the first Earth Day, in 1970. Sunday marks the 42nd celebration of an event that now involves millions of people in at least 192 countries.

DeKalb’s new facility, which will create compressed natural gas from the methane gas, joins another methane recovery operation at the county’s Seminole Road Landfill. The first recovery facility captures methane for use by Georgia Power, which burns it to drive turbines that create electricity.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

Gary Edwards challenges stereotypes of accountants – and stereotyping in general

by Michelle Hiskey

It’s that season of certainty – tax season, representing one element of life we can all truly count on. And those who do the counting for us—accountants—are similarly bound by stereotypes: suits and numbers, professionally bound to never deviate from a norm.

Then there’s Gary Edwards, who naturally draws attention with his South African accent. His charisma builds as he tells stories from his world travels and shares insight about building friendships an increasingly global industry.

But he’s more than a stereotype buster. He’s also had his own assumptions shattered.

Posted inMetro Business, Thought Leader

Atlanta a global hub for technology innovation

by SaportaReport

By Larry Williams Vice President, Technology Industry Development, Metro Atlanta Chamber A recently released report on the state of Georgia’s technology industry has aimed a spotlight on some of the most exciting and encouraging news for the future of the economy, not just in Georgia and Atlanta, but in the United States and even globally. […]

Posted inTom Baxter

At filing time, Sonny’s Gift funds a modest ‘tax triumph’

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

“Filing feels good! Share your tax triumph with your friends!”

That’s the cheery message, along with that familar FB button, which greets you on TurboTax this year when you’re finished with the annual ordeal. I’ve embraced social media, but posting my “tax triumph” on Facebook is pushing it just a little too far. It’s vaguely un-American to post the news of your tax filing as if you’d just bought a new puppy.

Shame, too, because for once, I have something to share. Quite unexpectedly, our household has been the beneficiary of Sonny’s Gift.

Posted inLatest News

Fast Track Forward Initiative, which is promoting transit for the July 31 vote, will hold kick-off April 25

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Proponents of transit in metro Atlanta will be kicking off the Fast Track Forward Initiative to inform voters on what is at stake when they go to the polls on July 31.

The Livable Communities Coalition of the Metro Atlanta will be holding a kick-off event on Wednesday April 25 at the restaurant, Shout, at Colony Square from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Doug Hooker, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, will be the keynote speaker.

Several efforts are underway to publicize and promote the one percent regional transportation sales tax referendum in July.

Posted inMaria's Metro

Deciding Atlanta’s streetcar future —lines along Peachtree, 10th Street and MLK belong high on the list

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

When the City of Atlanta first started envisioning a streetcar renaissance, the centerpiece idea was the “Peachtree Streetcar.”

Study after study showed that the corridor that had the greatest potential for ridership, economic development and private funding was along Peachtree Street from downtown to Midtown and eventually towards Buckhead.

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