The battle over NDAs

Autumn may as well be TV season for me.

When football isn’t on, I’m chipping away at the latest “Bake Off” episode or the surge of new sitcom seasons — “Ted Lasso,” “The Paper” and now “Abbott Elementary.”

I’m Zachary Hansen, an AJC business reporter, and here’s what to expect in this week’s Georgianomics.

🏗️ New housing on the way

🎤 An open mic along the Beltline

🍷 A spreadsheet sommelier

Let’s get to it.

1. 🤫 Secrets secrets …

… are no fun. Secrets secrets hurt someone.

Yes, that’s a quote perhaps best known from “The Office” — sitcoms are still on the brain. But it’s also a growing sentiment among Georgia voters when it comes to economic development.

Nondisclosure agreements, known as NDAs, are legally binding contracts that require information be kept secret. In the case of economic development deals, NDAs are common between companies and government officials when large projects are in early discussions.

They’re nothing new, but the controversy over how they’re used has increased in many Georgia communities that suddenly learn a data center or large factory is coming to their area.

It’s a tension that could boil over at the ballot box in a few weeks. Pro-business groups have taken notice.

“NDAs are not unusual when you’re siting a location for a very large construction project or investment,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president, chief policy officer and head of strategic advocacy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told me while at a National Press Foundation event in Chicago.

“The difficulty in particular with data centers is there’s a lot of public concern about them,” he continued. “And the NDAs — rather than helping resolve and answer those concerns — have made it harder for people involved to reassure the community.”

That political pressure is clear in Georgia. Look no further than the gubernatorial ads inundating TV audiences tying Rick Jackson and Keisha Lance Bottoms to data center projects. Both have taken steps to try to distance themselves from the industry — Jackson calls for more guardrails and Bottoms proposes a statewide moratorium.

NDAs are just one piece of the puzzle. Other forms of special treatment for large businesses, such as tax breaks and incentives, are facing their own backlash, especially as the tabs for some of those programs grows into the billions of dollars each year.

“Not all tax policy is created equal,” Bradley said. “Tax policy, even tax cuts, can either have a positive impact on the economy, a neutral impact or in some cases even a negative impact.”

But with elections looming, one resident made the political stakes clear.

“If there’s any political official that agrees with that (NDAs) … don’t support it,” Clayton County resident Attania Jean-Funny said. “Don’t support those people that support things like this being done under the table.”

🔍 READ MORE: How one Georgia city went from considering a data center to banning them

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2. New omen for Bowen 🏠

The last major public housing project in Atlanta is getting a new name. Developers and city officials recently gathered to break ground on the second phase of Bowen Homes’ redevelopment, which is now known as Ariel Place at Bowen.

• The phase: Build 112 residential units, joining 151 units that began development in March 2025.
• Overall project: A $700 million-plus effort that includes 2,000 apartments, townhomes and single-family houses along with new commercial spaces and green space.
• Its significance: Bowen Homes capped off Atlanta’s era of public housing projects, and its redevelopment highlights the city’s evolving approach to affordable housing.

🔍 READ MORE: How is affordable housing changing in Atlanta? Just look at Bowen Homes.

3. Did you hear that? 🚨

LOUD Security Systems will christen its new headquarters in Kennesaw on Thursday, and it’s not being shy about the news.

The 52,000-square-foot office is a large expansion for the homegrown Cobb County company, which has been refining its security systems since 1995.

4. Not chicken with customers 🍗

How does the third-largest fast-food chain in the U.S. approach marketing? With a strategy centered around its customers’ experiences, said Chick-fil-A’s Khalilah Cooper, vice president of experience design.

For example, Chick-fil-A features real customers in some of its advertising campaigns, with an open call for stories on its website.

“How we think about media is really to amplify what is already happening in real time with customers, similar to how a microphone amplifies our voice,” Cooper said during a panel last week at the Atlanta Integrated Marketing Summit. “It’s not telling a different story. It’s just making that story feel a little bit more accessible to the audience.”

🔍 READ MORE: Chick-fil-A’s newest business side hustle isn’t a restaurant

5. Gathering to guffaw 🤣

If you heard laughs echoing near Ponce City Market, there’s a reason why.

Whiplash Comedy, a new stand-up club, opened Monday at Ponce City Market and is slated to feature monthly headline shows alongside variety programming, comedy classes and late-night jazz sessions.

It features two showrooms, the “Main Squeeze” with a capacity of 130 and the “Side Piece” for more intimate 40-person events.

6. Worth the squeeze 🍇

Fermenting grape juice and polishing spreadsheets may seem unrelated, but not to Cathy Huyghe.

Huyghe in 2016 co-founded Enolytics, an Atlanta-based software company that analyzes wineries’ customer data to help them boost sales and revenue, retain wine club members and make smarter business decisions.

It’s a niche business Huyghe helped develop after traveling as a journalist covering the wine sector. But it’s one that Huyghe said has long legs, just like a full-bodied Bordeaux.

🔍 In this week’s AJC Her+Story profile, Huyghe crunches numbers on crushing grapes.

7. More top stories

🎯 Targeting seasonal workers: Popular retailer Target announced plans to hire 2,300 seasonal employees for its metro Atlanta stores during the holiday shopping season.

🔋 Charging innovation: Battery manufacturer Duracell debuted its new $56 million global research and development headquarters at Georgia Tech’s Science Square district.

💸 Fine to proceed: VoltaGrid and Serverfarm agreed to pay $42,500 in regulatory fines after starting work on a power plant and nearby data center in Newton County without proper permits. The agreement allows work to begin again.

🚗 Shifting gears: Hyundai Transys, a subsidiary of its namesake automaker, said it will invest $560 million to expand its West Point facility, which also involves hiring 320 new workers.