Posts

By Maria Saporta

Georgia needs to extend the same kind of tax credits to the music industry as it has the film and video industry.

That was one of the themes that three veterans of Georgia’s music industry share with members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta at the Monday luncheon.

The members of the panel included:

Joel Katz, a high-powered Atlanta-based entertainment attorney with Greenberg-Traurig, has been a major player in Georgia’s music scene for decades;

Dallas Austin, a songwriter, music producer, filmmaker, movie producer and musician who helped turn Atlanta into a center for urban music through the hip hop label LaFace and working with a number of local and national acts; and

Chuck Leavell, a Georgia tree farmer and keyboardist who has played with the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and has been touring with the Rolling Stones for three decades.

By Maria Saporta

The Georgia Department of Economic Development elected a new chair — Charles Tarbutton — at its board meeting on Sept. 16.

Tarbutton, who has been serving as vice chairman of the GDEcD board, is assistant vice president of the Sandersville Railroad Co., a short-line freight railroad primarily serving kaolin, forest products and plastics industries in Central Georgia.

In 2008, Tarbutton served as chair of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

Tarbutton succeeds Ben Hinson, who is president and owner of Mid Georgia Ambulance in Macon. He had served on the economic development board since 2007.

By Maria Saporta

The Metro Atlanta Chamber has named Paul Bowers, president and CEO of Georgia, to become its chair for 2013.

Bowers, who became president of Georgia Power on Jan. 1, has quickly emerged into one of the state’s key business leaders.

In addition to his upcoming role at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Bowers has been asked by Gov. Nathan Deal to help in the water negotiations between Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Bowers also was instrumental is getting former Georgia Chancellor Erroll Davis to become the interim superintendent of the Atlanta Public Schools; and he has become involved in efforts to raise money to develop the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta

One of the nation’s business leaders — Jeff Immelt — told Atlanta executives Wednesday that if they want their companies to thrive, they can’t sit on the sidelines unwilling to invest in the future.

Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE (General Electric), also is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, an appointment made in January.

“If you are not investing, you are going to lose because there’s no great tailwind,” Immelt said. “If you are waiting on Washington to be confident again, really you are better off watching reruns of a Falcons game. I don’t think it (an economic recovery) is going to come from Washington. It’s got to come from you. We need confidence.”

Immelt was the guest of the Metro Atlanta Chamber at one of its Insights on Leadership programs. He was interviewed by Metro Atlanta Chamber President Sam Williams on a variety of

By Maria Saporta

The Transportation for America, a coalition that promotes smarter transportation investment, has ranked Atlanta as the worst metro area in providing seniors access to mass transit.

Such a ranking is especially devastating for metro Atlanta — a region that is projecting a dramatic increase in senior citizens.

The report — “Aging in Place, Stuck without Options” — determined that the majority of the nation’s metro areas with a population of more than 1 million people provided seniors with poor access to transit.

The number of senior citizens with poor access to transit will continue to grow as the baby boom generation continues to get older.

By Maria Saporta

Until Thursday, it had been at least seven years since a governor had attended a board meeting of the Georgia Research Alliance — the public-private entity charged with helping the state develop its technology sector.

At one time, it was an annual tradition for the governor to address the high-powered board of the alliance, which is composed of top business leaders and the presidents of the six research universities in the state.

Gov. Sonny Perdue broke that string when he only attended one board meeting early in his administration.

But when Gov. Nathan Deal came to the GRA meeting Thursday, the feeling of estrangement between the alliance and the governor’s office had totally dissipated.