Year-end could bring closing day for Brand Atlanta.

The public/private partnership launched in late 2005 to help create an identity for Georgia's capital may be no more in 2009 because of a lack of money.

The city —- strapped for cash and laying off hundreds of workers —- did not add any more funding for the effort in this year's fiscal budget. The effort had been funded for the past two years largely with proceeds from car rental taxes.

Brand Atlanta Executive Director Melinda Ennis-Roughton said the group has less than $500,000 and laid off its small staff at the end of May and early in June.

Peter Aman, chairman of Brand Atlanta's board of directors, said leaders are looking for funding sources to keep the branding efforts the group started alive —- including going to the state Legislature and asking for an increase in the hotel/motel tax.

But he admitted time is of the essence. "If it doesn't happen in January '09, Brand Atlanta will be suspended for lack of funds," Aman said.

Brand Atlanta's fiscal problems are a far cry from the pomp and circumstance that greeted its creation in 2005. Begun with about $4.5 million in city funds and business contributions, the effort was kicked off with the unveiling of a logo at City Hall, a big celebration at the Woodruff Arts Center and the tagline "Every Day is an Opening Day."

Business leaders and city officials, led by Mayor Shirley Franklin, said Brand Atlanta would help move the needle to make the city more of a destination. Its launch coincided around the opening of the Georgia Aquarium, Atlantic Station and the Louvre exhibit at the High Museum of Art.

But a permanent source of funding beyond city resources was never found.

According to Gregory Pierce, executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Brand Atlanta was never meant to be permanent. It was supposed to be a bridge to develop Atlanta's identity while money was found to help the ACVB also take on branding.

The group's woes come as the city has one of its best opportunities to sell itself to a national and international audience, Ennis-Roughton said. Two exhibits this fall —- Terracotta Warriors at the High Museum of Art and King Tut at the Atlanta Civic Center —- will help cement the city as a destination because it is the only place where the two shows will run simultaneously, she said.

Ennis-Roughton also said Brand Atlanta has been a success, with statistics showing that it increased awareness among meeting planners as well as tourists. Moving forward, the campaign also has forged a partnership with Delta Air Lines and CNN, she said.

Because branding does not happen overnight, those collaborations will only grow and improve the city's standing, she said, adding it would be a shame if they don't continue —- whether through an organization like Brand Atlanta or under the umbrella of the ACVB.

"That's why marketing is so important," Ennis-Roughton said, explaining that Tut did $150 million in Philadelphia in 2007 and Terracotta is expected to be equally popular. "It is an amazing opportunity. To me we are the center of the world this fall."