Atlanta’s major business, economic development and political players packed into the newly-opened Signia by Hilton hotel at the Georgia World Congress Center on Jan. 31 for the 2024 Central Atlanta Progress and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District annual meeting and awards ceremony.
CAP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a “safe, livable, diverse, economically viable, accessible, clean, hospitable and entertaining” downtown area. Central Atlanta Progress is composed of corporations, local businesses, regional leaders and civic groups. The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, created by CAP, is a public-private partnership that creates a community improvement district.
Central Atlanta Progress President AJ Robinson said the area is the city’s future and “where Atlanta began.”
“No other area can claim it; we’ve been at it longer than anybody else,” Robinson said.
The luncheon looked at downtown Atlanta project progress in 2023 and plans for the coming years, particularly ahead of being a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Boston Consulting Group projects will generate over $400 million in economic benefits for the city.
Robinson said it is key that people realize that “downtown is for everyone.”
Every year, the meeting also honors several award recipients through CAP and ADID. Central Atlanta Progress awarded the Marcus Downtown Economic Impact Award, The Warner Bros. Discovery Community Leadership Award and the Dan & Tally Sweat Award.
At the Jan. 31 luncheon, Georgia-Pacific received the economic impact award, which is given to a person, company or project that helped to revitalize downtown Atlanta. The corporation has funded restorations for the Oakland Cemetery Visitors Center and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and has worked with the local Habitat for Humanity.
CAP gave the Atlanta native and co-founder of Atlanta Influences Everything Bem Joiner the community leadership award. As leader of the brand and creative agency, Joiner aims to harness the city’s influence to positively impact communities.
Craig Jones, the board chair of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District for the past 20 years, received the Sweat Award for being dedicated to “doing the right thing” for downtown. As board chair, he works with nonprofits in the city to develop and revitalize the area.
ADID also gave out several awards: Ambassador of the Year went to Lorne Coleman, who was honored for his commitment to representing the organization’s ambassador force in public events and meetings. William Lawson won Public Space Clean Employee of the Year for his 14 years of service to the “clean team,” and Rodney Wolfe won Homeless Outreach Employee of the Year.
Officers Ayesha Abdul-Hakeem and Ariel McDonald were honored as the Atlanta Police Department Zone Five Officers of the Year.
Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens credited the organizations with helping Atlanta’s rapid growth and economic development.
“This is what moving forward looks like,” Dickens said.
The mayor also stressed the importance of collaboration on large-scale projects — calling Atlanta a “group project.”
In 2023, CAP and ADID made strides with ongoing project “The Stitch,” aimed at reuniting the city’s downtown connected with a “cap” over the space, as well as a multimillion-dollar investment in transportation and public space that kicked off with a protected bicycle lane on MLK Jr. Drive and sidewalk expansion on Courtland Street.
The area has also seen major projects like the Signia Hotel, where the meeting was hosted, or the ongoing work on the $5 billion Centennial Yards development that will create millions of square feet in retail, hotels, office space and apartments.
Toward the end of the meeting, CAP staff honored Wilma Sothern, the longtime Vice President of Marketing at Central Atlanta Progress. Sothern was the longest-working staff person at CAP and spent 23 years as the marketing vice president.
The CAP team surprised Sothern with a take on the phrase “Atlanta Influences Everything,” rewriting it to say “Wilma Influenced Everything” through her decades of communications work.
Longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution political cartoonist Mike Luckovich also presented a commissioned cartoon to Sothern, announcing her retirement among the high-rise buildings that decorate downtown.
