By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 7, 2011
In mid-December, a delegation from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce had a chance to visit with Gov.-elect Nathan Deal to talk about the organization’s agenda.
“It was like sitting down with someone over a cup of coffee at a local café,” said Doug Carter, president of Don Carter Realty in Gainesville and chair-elect of the Georgia Chamber. “He’s an everyday person who just happens to be our next governor.”
By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 7, 2011
From Ghana and Senegal to the Netherland Antilles, travelers can now fly nonstop from Atlanta to each of these destinations on Delta Air Lines Inc. And starting Jan. 20, you can add Luanda, Angola, to the list.
Delta’s international growth out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the past five years has helped transform the global profile of metro Atlanta. And Delta and Hartsfield-Jackson are showing no signs of slowing their international growth.
Quite the contrary.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 31, 2010
Georgia could lose hundreds of millions of dollars if it were to adopt an Arizona-type immigration bill, according to leaders in the Hispanic and international communities.
But those leaders are concerned that state leaders are moving toward adopting such a bill without considering the economic ramifications.
The Joint Legislative Committee on Immigration Reform has been meeting to consider new Georgia legislation, and Gov.-elect Nathan Deal said during the campaign
By Guest Columnist REBECCA SERNA, executive director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition.
The city of Atlanta recently took on an exciting new challenge – to rank among the top 10 most sustainable cities in the United States.
Following the announcement, Atlanta was selected as one of nine U.S. cities to pilot a new sustainability index for cities. Sustainable Atlanta, the city’s nonprofit partner in achieving these goals, plans to include miles of bike lanes and percentage of
“Fair Game,” as you may or may not remember, was the title of Valerie Plame’s best seller, which itself was taken from Dick Cheney’s comment about her back when he was Vice President.
To wit: “Valerie Plame is fair game.”
Playing fair, however, was another matter altogether as we see in Doug Limon’s fine new film, starring Naomi Watts as the out-ed CIA agent and Sean Penn as her outspoken husband, Joe Wilson
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
Happy New Year!
It will be easy to say good-bye to 2010 — a year that tested our perseverance, faith and inner strength. The economy was sluggish and there was a general sense of malaise — to use a word often associated with our own President Jimmy Carter.
A new year always brings optimism — that we can start anew, that we can wipe the slate clean and that the speedometer goes back to zeroes. As someone who loves numbers, I can’t help but take joy in the fact that the year started with a four-of-a-kind — 1-1-11.
Looking ahead, it appears as though the economy is beginning to purr and that we will be able to reach a level of comfort and
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 Guest Columnist JOHN NAUGLE, an advocate for declaring Atlanta — the City of Peace.
As we finish celebrating 01/01/11, we are beginning the second decade of the thousand-year period of human history called: The Peace Millennium (Years 2000-3000).
Atlanta, how will you grow in this special year and new decade? In our organization’s opinion, Atlanta is the best positioned city on Earth to excel and become a beacon of peace to the entire world. This dream, born in the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and “I Have A Dream”, can soon enough experience reality.
As civic, government and business leaders unite to build the global peace legacy of Dr. King’s birth city it will be transformed. The City of Atlanta will fulfill its great
By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 31, 2010
When it comes to transportation, metro Atlanta is at a tipping point.
So believes Jim Durrett, who was elected as the new MARTA board chairman on Dec. 28, succeeding attorney Michael Tyler, who rotated off the board.
Durrett also understands that the role MARTA will play
By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 17, 2010
For Andrew “Bo” Young III, the son of Atlanta’s former mayor, his new role as CEO of GiveLocally.net combines his family’s altruism with his business interests.
The for-profit website is a grass-roots philanthropic endeavor that matches generous people with individuals and families at a critical time in their lives.
Special offer to SaportaReport readers — a pair of tickets to the Cirque de Soleil’s Ovo. A pair of tickets will be given to two people who write the best comments at the end of this post. See details below.
Call me a Cirque de Soleil aficionado.
When the first Cirque came to Atlanta in 1991, it was a completely novel experience. My mother, who was then executive director of the Alliance Francaise d’Atlanta, quickly became involved because the French Canadian circus was looking for as many Atlanta friends as possible.
We were invited to the opening show and the post opening night reception when we were able to mingle with all the performers and partake in this new phenomenon of an animal-less circus.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 17, 2010
Georgia’s Altamaha River in the southeast part of the state could be called Georgia’s Amazon River. It is one of the most pristine and undisturbed river systems in the state.
And thanks to two decades of persistent focus and commitment by The Nature Conservancy of Georgia, it will be protected in perpetuity.
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
Friday, December 10, 2010
Destined to become one of Georgia’s most prestigious awards, Georgia Tech’s inaugural Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage will be given to former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn.
The prize, accompanied by a $100,000 award, will be awarded at the Ivan Allen College’s Founder’s Day luncheon on March 15. The annual prize is being made possible through an endowed $2 million gift made in 2008 by the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 10, 2010
“Hi partner.”
That’s the way environmentalist Ted Turner greeted David Ratcliffe, the recently retired CEO of Southern Co., at a meeting in Turner’s Atlanta office building on Dec. 6.
The two men — legends in their respective fields — had agreed to sit down for an interview to discuss how their relationship has evolved from being adversaries to being business partners in a groundbreaking solar joint venture in New Mexico.
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
By Maria Saporta
Friday, December 10, 2010
One of the most highly sought-after parking lots in downtown Atlanta is being turned into a solar energy demonstration project.
Ted Turner, one of Atlanta’s most notable business and philanthropic leaders, has built-out the first phase of the “Luckie Street Solar Project” on a 2-acre parking lot he owns adjacent to Turner’s headquarters, formerly
By Guest Columnist BRUCE GUNTER, president of Progressive Redevelopment Inc.
Years ago, the Atlanta Business Chronicle ran a regular series of articles entitled “The Romance of Real Estate,” which chronicled the story of the rise and fall of prominent buildings.
Located at the entrance to downtown Atlanta, on Peachtree Street at Ivan Allen Boulevard, the Imperial Hotel merits such story telling today. It has risen and fallen a number of times over the course of its 100 year history, with the latest fall currently underway due to a pending foreclosure by Fannie Mae.
Nonetheless, the Imperial has proven to be resilient over the years, and it is likely that it will emerge again under new ownership and be given a fresh start.
