Posts

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.

By Maria Saporta

Gov. Nathan Deal appears willing to wade into the rocky waters of transit governance in the Atlanta region.

The governor signed an executive order Wednesday to create the Transit Governance Task Force, which will be co-chaired by House Majority Caucus Chair Donna Sheldon (R-Dacula) and Senate Transportation Committee Chair Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga).

“The metro Atlanta region has a multitude of transit agencies that work independently of each other,” Deal said in a statement. “The study committee found that commuters, transit stakeholders and the general public would benefit from oversight, streamlining and coordination of the individual transit systems in the metro Atlanta region. This represents the next step in the process, where we move toward drafting legislation that can make a real difference.”

By Maria Saporta

Georgia’s own Michael Thurmond will be a behind-the-scenes player on the national stage when President Barack Obama unveils his new jobs plan on Thursday.

A program started by Thurmond when he was Georgia’s labor commissioner could become the cornerstone of a plan to stem America’s deepening unemployment crisis.

Several national media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, have reported that Obama is consider proposing a nationwide version of the Georgia Works program when he unveils his jobs package during a speech before Congress on Sept. 8.

“I remain convinced that Georgia Works has national implications,” Thurmond said in an interview earlier this year when he became a partner with the Georgia law firm of Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer. “It has the potential to become the solution to the unemployment crisis in America.”