http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider Your source for Atlanta business and civic insights en-us msaporta@ajc.com 2008-08-31T05:53:42-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Your source for Atlanta business and civic insights http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/31/a_note_from_editor_julia_walla.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider This is Maria Saporta’s last column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Maria has decided to take a voluntary buy-out, ending a stellar 27-year journalism career at the AJC, 17 years as a business columnist. The AJC is a much richer newspaper... 6425603@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ 2008-08-31T05:53:42-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/31/we_must_aspire_to_make_atlanta.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider If we were to time travel to 2020, would we find the Atlanta region in disarray? Would we see a pollution-infested city with crowded highways, void of parks and natural forests? Would the region be a place of haphazard developments... 6424703@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ Column 2008-08-31T05:46:27-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/29/metro_atlanta_chamber_reaches.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider Just a few days ago, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce was $300,000 short of its annual membership goal of $3 million. And then the “Spirit of Atlanta” showed up, according to Kessel Stelling Jr., the 2008 chairman of the... 6425903@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ 2008-08-29T16:11:58-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/28/atlanta_changes.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider Atlanta Inc. That’s how my first business column began. It was Jan. 8, 1991. The news at that time was how then-Delta CEO Ron Allen election to Coca-Cola’s board represented an interlocking Atlanta business community. The major banks were locally... 6371103@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ Column 2008-08-28T01:57:56-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/26/sen_johnny_isakson_hoping_for.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, (R-Ga.) in a talk before the Atlanta Kiwanis Club today, used his platform to sell a national energy policy. Isakson has belonged to a “Gang of 10” — five Democrats and five Republicans — in the... 6319603@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ 2008-08-26T14:28:17-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/25/gdots_gena_abraham_impresses_a.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider Despite not feeling well today, Gena Abraham was well-received during her talk to the Rotary Club of Atlanta. Abraham, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, spoke about the reforms she’s undertaking within the agency and her excitement in the... 6288203@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ 2008-08-25T15:25:58-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/24/praise_flows_freely_for_clayto.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider People from all over the country and the world have been coming to Clayton County —- to see how it’s leading the nation. Yes, you read that right. Contrary to all the troubling news that’s been coming out of Clayton... 6261003@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ Column 2008-08-24T10:00:40-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/21/despite_difficult_economic_tim.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider While it may not be the best of times for our local economy, Atlanta’s United Way will not aim low for its 2008 campaign. Ed Heys, a partner with Deloitte who is chairman of the 2008 United Way campaign, said... 6178103@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ Column 2008-08-21T06:17:25-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/18/competitiveness_forum_shows_ho.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider Heads of state, business and academic leaders as well as government dignataries are in Atlanta for the second annual Americas Competitiveness Forum today and tomorrow. At the opening session, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez welcomed about 1,000 people who had... 6100903@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ 2008-08-18T16:24:01-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/17/georgia_should_set_aside_funds.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider Georgia is long overdue to create a dedicated funding source to protect its green spaces for the future. Compared with a host of our neighboring states, which have embarked on aggressive land conservation programs, Georgia’s efforts have been tied to... 6060003@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ Column 2008-08-17T02:54:05-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/14/city_council_vote_monday_key_t.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider The proposed Center for Civil and Human Rights will face a critical vote at Monday’s Atlanta City Council meeting. On that day, the council will decide whether to allocate up to $40 million in funding from the Westside Tax Allocation... 5994103@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ Column 2008-08-14T06:43:06-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/13/american_cancer_society_urges.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider The Atlanta-based American Cancer Society has its own Olympics quest. Dr. Otis Webb Brawley, the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, was in China this past weekend to launch an effort with more than 70 multi-national and Chinese... 5981403@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ 2008-08-13T10:31:43-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/13/kiwanis_honors_one_of_its_own.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider The Atlanta Kiwanis Club showcased a local business leader who usually keeps a low profile. But Sam Friedman’s low profile does not represent the role he has played in the Atlanta community. In recognition of his contributions, Kiwanis on Tuesday... 5964503@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ 2008-08-13T06:06:24-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/12/southern_cos_david_ratcliffe_t.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider It’s becoming a regular featurer — Atlanta’s business leaders guest hosting CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” On Wednesday morning, Southern Co. CEO David Ratcliffe will sit in the guest host chair from 7 a.m. to 9 am. Less than a month ago,... 5949103@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ 2008-08-12T11:09:40-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/entries/2008/08/10/andrew_young_says_obama_would.html?cxntfid=blogs_business_insider The election of Barack Obama would create an immediate economic boost for the United States, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young told me this week. Young, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and I chatted after he gave a... 5900603@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/businessinsider/ Column 2008-08-10T09:23:50-05:00