The financial fallout continues over the troubled nuclear construction projects in the Southeast, as Moody’s Investors Service on Monday slashed the credit rating of SCANA Corp. and its subsidiary that had been building a nuclear plant in South Carolina. The new rating action cites the hardening political climate in the Palmetto State as detrimental to SCANA’s financial posture.
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Posted inLatest News
Opening of new Chick-fil-A on the Westside brings together top CEOs and residents
The eve before the opening of the new Chick-fil-A restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive was a night unlike any other in Atlanta’s history.
The “haves” and the “have nots” huddled indoors and ate dinner in the warmth of a new Chick-fil-A restaurant on the Westside of downtown on Wednesday night braving below-freezing temperatures and ice-covered streets.
Posted inLatest News
State Sen. Chuck Hufstelter questions financial plan for Plant Vogtle
At Friday morning’s Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable (SART), State Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome) strongly criticized the financial plan to pay for the two new nuclear power plants at Plant Vogtle.
Hufstetler, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, openily criticized Senate Bill 31 that passed in 2009 that approved the financial plan for Plant Vogtle. It was called the Georgia Nuclear Energy Financing Act, which permitted the utility to begin recovering the costs of financing the construction of the new nuclear plants from consumers before they came on line.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta Mayor Bottoms names 38-member transition team
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Thursday announced a 38-member transition team that includes the CEOs of Delta Air Lines and UPS as well as Killer Mike and rapper T.I.
“The 38-strong transition team represents a tremendous amount of diversity and depth,” said Bottoms, who was flanked by her two transition co-chairs – Vicki Palmer, a retired executive from CCE; and Larry Gellerstedt III, CEO of Cousins Properties.
Posted inLatest News
Former House leader takes reins of environmental affairs firm he’s served since 2012
Another page of Georgia’s environmental history is turning at the state Capitol. Joe Tanner, a former commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, is turning the keys to his lobbying and consulting firm over to former House Majority Leader Jerry Keen – who has lobbied for the firm’s clients since 2012.
Posted inLatest News
Report on ‘nuclear, climate injustices in U.S. South’ released as PSC weighs fate of Plant Vogtle
A new report names the South as the nuclear hub of the United States and calls for an end to all federal funding for Plant Vogtle, along with greater protections for women and the minority, typically low-income communities where nuclear facilities have been built.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta Audubon Society adds four board members in effort to expand outreach
The Atlanta Audubon Society has added four board members as part of its ongoing effort to expand its outreach and restore habitats so they are pleasant places for birds and people to spend time.
Posted inMetro Business, Thought Leader
Atlanta Courts Companies and Investors in NYC and Declares Itself “Center of Holiday Shopping and Entertaining”
More than 30 executives from leading Atlanta companies, such as UPS, The Home Depot, First Data, Intercontinental Exchange and Mercedes-Benz USA, convened in New York City to celebrate the region’s success in business, talent attraction and innovation. With Fortune 500 and high-growth companies represented, metro Atlanta is the first U.S. region to gather at the […]
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
Column: Atlanta Committee for Progress develops blueprint for next mayor
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 13, 2017
The high-powered Atlanta Committee for Progress has developed a blueprint for the city as a way to help provide a smooth transition for the next mayor.
ACP, which was created in 2003 by then-Mayor Shirley Franklin, includes many of the top business and civic leaders in the Atlanta region. It has helped launch a host of initiatives, including the Atlanta Beltline, acquisition of the Martin Luther King Jr. papers, pension reform and the Westside Future Fund.
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
Column: Frank Blake, Dan Cathy to join JA Atlanta Business Hall of Fame
Two top Atlanta business leaders — Frank Blake and Dan Cathy — will be inducted into Junior Achievement’s Atlanta Business Hall of Fame on Feb. 24, 2018.
They will join a list of 91 influential Atlantans who have been recognized for their significant contributions to Atlanta’s civic and economic vibrancy.
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
Business leaders go all out to help win Amazon’s HQ2
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Sept. 22, 2017
Metro Atlanta leaders, working in concert with state of Georgia, are pulling out all stops to lure Amazon’s HQ2 to the region.
The prospect of winning Amazon’s second headquarters with the potential of 50,000 new jobs has captured the attention of all the major players in the state and the region.
“Amazon is the Olympic moment for economic development in metro Atlanta,” one business leader said of the possibility. Another called it the equivalent of a “corporate Super Bowl.”
Posted inLatest News
Arthur Blank and Tony Ressler privately present their visions for downtown revitalization
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler both made presentations to the high-powered Atlanta Committee for Progress Friday morning.
The two team owners revealed their vision on how development and community revitalization around their sports facilities could transform downtown Atlanta.
The closed meeting, held in Cox Enterprises offices in Ponce City Market, included many of top business leaders in the Atlanta region as well as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta Police Foundation raises record $20 million for campaign
The Atlanta Police Foundation celebrated raising $20 million for its most recent “Cutting Edge, Cutting Crime” campaign – far exceeding its initial goal of $12 million.
At the annual “Crime is Toast” breakfast Thursday morning, the chair of that campaign – Jeffrey Sprecher – made the announcement at the end of the event.
Posted inLatest News
PSC gives Plant Vogtle a vote of support as legal fees rise, creditors sue for payment
Georgia’s utility regulating agency voted Tuesday for an action intended as a show of support for the struggling Plant Vogtle. Meanwhile, in bankruptcy court, filings show lawyer fees are mounting and creditors are claiming they aren’t scheduled to paid for labor and supplies.
Posted inColumns
“Grieving” for Plant Vogtle has begun. What now?
It’s official: those responsible for the epic, multi-billion dollar construction failure unfolding at the Plant Vogtle nuclear plant are starting to experience the Five Stages of Grief.
Posted inLatest News
Westside’s At-Promise Youth Center seeks to be a game-changer
The tagline says it all: “Our Youth are At-Promise, Not At-Risk.”
The At-Promise Youth Center in English Avenue officially opened after a warm ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 1 – the culmination of dozens of partners in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
The $2 million-plus facility will be a place to divert young people from having a possible experience in the criminal justice system. Instead, it will be a place that will seek to get to the root causes of juvenile-behavior issues and be a place to their lives around.
Posted inColumns
An Alabama scandal with a lot of bounce
Next door in scandalacious Alabama, they’ve moved on from the philandering former governor and the former House speaker, currently out on bond. Lately the big question has been, who are “Attorney No. 1” and “Employee No. 1?”
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
Column: Two nonprofits win awards from Community Foundation
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 16, 2017
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has named Literacy Action and Trees Atlanta as the recipients of its 33rd annual “Managing for Excellence” awards.
The recognition is one of the most sought-after awards among Atlanta’s nonprofit organizations. The Community Foundation rewards nonprofits that are exceptionally well-run with outstanding management and governance practices combined with innovative thinking.
Posted inATL Business Chronicle
Atlanta companies double down on clean energy following Trump announcement
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on June 9, 2017
Atlanta-based corporate giants and major companies with an Atlanta presence stopped short of joining the chorus of criticism Democrats and environmentalists heaped on President Donald Trump’s decision June 1 to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement.
But The Coca-Cola Co., Delta Air Lines Inc., The Home Depot Inc., and others firmly renewed their commitments to pursuing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, goals set forth by the 2015 Paris accord.
Posted inColumns
Atlanta joins other cities in grassroots support of Paris climate change agreement
A grassroots movement is rising to support the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – despite the decision by the Donald Trump administration to withdraw U.S. support of the globally historic accord.
One of key power centers of this grassroots response in support of the Paris Agreement is the City of Atlanta.
“Cities have the leadership role especially in the United States,” said Stephanie Stuckey, the Chief Resiliency Officer for the City of Atlanta, which is one of the 100 Resilience Cities Initiatives pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation.
