Georgia Trend January 2017 Issue Cobb County Economic Development Community Profile

georgiatrend.com 5 January 2017
COVER STORY
FEATURES
2017 Georgian of the Year: Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black
Growing the Georgia Brand
BY SUSAN PERCY
An emphasis on economic development and an expanded Georgia Grown program are strengthening the
state’s $74-billion agribusiness industry thanks to Gary Black.
18
BLOGeditor@georgiatrend com facebook.com/georgiatrend @GeorgiaTrend georgiatrendblog.com
JANUARY 2O17 • VOLUME 32 • NUMBER 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS
28
Hall of Fame
PROFILES BY ELLEN BERMAN AND JENNIFER HAFER
Hank Huckaby andAlicia Philipp join Georgia Trend’s
Most Inﬂuential Hall of Fame.
31
100 Most Influential Georgians
of 2017
EDITED BY KAREN KIRKPATRICK AND CHRISTY SIMO
The 2017 roster of the state’s top leaders and people
making an impact on the lives and livelihoods of all
Georigans.Plus,a list of Notable Georgians.
54
Military Might
BY RALPH ELLIS
Georgia’s nine military installations have a $20-billion
economic impact on the state.
70
Gate of Opportunity
BY KAREN KIRKPATRICK
The mission of Berry College – to provide an
excellent education to people from all social and
economic backgrounds – is one that Martha Berry
laid out more than 100 years ago.
Coming in February: 2017 Georgia Trustees;
Heart Health; 2017 Legislative Guide; The Georgia
Lottery; Live, Work, Play Cities
ON THE COVER
Jennifer Stalcup photographed
Agriculture Commissioner
Gary Black on his farm in
Commerce for Georgia Trend.
CONNECT WITH US: instagram.com/georgiatrend

UPFRONT
8 READER FEEDBACK
Career academies,keeping it simple and more.
14 ORGANIZATIONS
BY CANDICE DYER
AgapeYouth and Family Center strengthens its
NorthwestAtlanta community and aims to end the
cycle of generational poverty.
14 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AROUND THE STATE
BY CHRISTY SIMO
AnnouncementsinDeKalbCounty, Augusta,BibbCounty
and more.
15 POLITICAL NOTES
BY SUSAN PERCY
This year’s legislative session,new Board of Regents
ofﬁcers,state commissioner changes and more.
17 TRENDSETTERS
International Access, Deep Local Roots
BY K.K.SNYDER
Dentons US is the only global law ﬁrm in Georgia and
reaches every state through its Dentons 50 network.
COMMENTARY
10 FROM THE PUBLISHER
Let’s Get Something Done
BY NEELYYOUNG
At the On BoardAtlanta event,local decision makers
brainstormed new ways of tackling today’s issues.
12 BUSINESS CASUAL
In Celebration of Writers
BY SUSAN PERCY
The 2016 Georgia Writers Hall of Fame induction
ceremony was a time to celebrate the state’s most
storied writers.
88 ECONOMY
The Economic Outlook for 2017
BYJEFFREY HUMPHREYS
By nearly every measure,the outlook for Georgia’s
economy in 2017 is very good.
90 SUSTAINABLE GEORGIA
Ready to Adapt
BY BEN YOUNG
Georgia’s DNR is marshaling resources and supporting
coastal efforts to prepare for rising sea levels.But is it
enough?
OUR STATE
59 COBB COUNTY
A Bright Tomorrow
BY RANDY SOUTHERLAND
Baseball,millennials and mixed-use development.
79 AMERICUS
SUMTER COUNTY
Shaking Things Up
BY K.K.SNYDER
Development,manufacturing and higher education.
DOWNTIME
86 GEORGIA FARE
Let’s Make a Fort!
BY KRISTA REESE
Interesting cocktails,menu makeTiconderoga Club
a standout.
86
79
The Magazine Of Georgia Business, Politics & Economic Development Since 1985TABLE OF CONTENTS
59
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59

EDITORS IN CHIEF AND PUBLISHERS
Neely Young and Ben Young
EDITORIAL STAFF
Managing Editor Christy Simo
Associate Editor Karen Kirkpatrick
Editor-At-Large Susan Percy
Dining Editor Krista Reese
DESIGN STAFF
Creative Director Penny Alligood
Senior Photographer Jennifer Stalcup
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Ellen Berman, Mary Anne Dunkin, Candice Dyer, Ralph Ellis,
Jennifer Hafer, Jeffrey Humphreys, Lori Johnston, Tom Oder,
Bonnie Smith, K.K. Snyder, Randy Southerland
CONTRIBUTING GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Koko Hunt
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Daemon Baizan, Russ Bryant, Koko Hunt, Matt Odom, Herb Pilcher,
Becky Stein
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Millard B.Grimes
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READER FEEDBACKUPFRONT
Preparing a Future Workforce
Thank you for profiling Georgia’s College & Career
Academy program and the great benefits it provides to
students [“Blurring the Lines,” by Ellen Berman, Decem-
ber 2016]. As the agency that houses this ground-break-
ing program, the Technical College System of Georgia is
proud to work with our communities to ensure our
state’s high school students can benefit from dual enroll-
ment, apprenticeships and other advanced training op-
portunities.
Georgia Trend readers might like to know that the
TCSG State Board has recently approved $9 million in
funding for three new College & Career Academies. We
look forward to working with the business and educational
communities in Chattahoochee, Tift and Worth counties to
establish these new academies and help more of Georgia’s
students jumpstart their careers.
MARK PEEVY
The writer is Executive Director, Secondary Education Initiatives for
the Technical College System of Georgia.
Georgia’s Wishlist
I was forwarded the “Let’s Keep It Simple” editorial [by
Susan Percy] in the December issue of Georgia Trend. I
simply want to thank you for presenting common sense is-
sues that the Georgia General Assembly should consider
in the upcoming legislative session; more importantly what
they should leave alone – bathrooms. I imagine a large por-
tion of GT readers are social conservatives represented by
conservative legislators. Perhaps those legislators will look
at the economic impact of North Carolina and not take
Georgia down that path.
However as political jockeying for the 2018 gubernato-
rial race ramps up, some legislators may not be able to
forego fanning the flames of hate to score political points
to the detriment of a minority group of Georgians that sim-
ply want to be who they are. Time will tell.
Thanks again for using your column as a tool of com-
mon sense. God bless.
ROB WOODS
The writer is Senior Field Organizer for Georgia Equality.
As the sheriff of a small agency, I just wanted to take a
moment to say thank you for the article [“Let’s Keep It Sim-
ple” by Susan Percy and “Backing the Brown, the Blue and
You” by Bill Crane, December 2016] bringing this to light
to many Georgians. Local agencies work the vast majority
of all cases. We never close; we operate 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. When someone calls for assistance, we,
the locals, are the first responders. When you look at the
statistics of the officers who are killed in the line of duty,
you will find that the majority of those officers were from
local county and city agencies because those are the first
ones to encounter the danger at the scene.
While we don’t begrudge the state officers for their sig-
nificant raise, we feel that if we were able to compete with
their salaries at the local level we would be able to keep
more officers on the local level. As we continue our efforts
to maintain a safe community for our citizens, we hope
that this topic will remain a priority on everyone’s agenda.
BUTCH REECE
The writer is Sheriff of Jones County.
Space Costs
It was great to read about the incredibly positive impact
that the aerospace industry has on Georgia’s economy
[“Reaching for the Sky” by Randy Southerland, December
2016]. However, Camden County’s proposal to launch rock-
ets over Cumberland Island National Seashore has no
place in that article. Even a modest amount of research
shows that all non-federal commercial spaceports are
colossal money losers, and Camden County has no busi-
ness plan or partner. The industry doesn’t need another
spaceport; Camden County and the state of Georgia can’t
afford to build or operate one; and launch operations will
threaten our entire coast.
JIM RENNER
Via email
Correction: In the December issue article “2016 Legal
Elite,” Brad Harmon was incorrectly listed with the firm
Weiner, Shearouse, Weitz, Greenberg & Shawe; he is man-
aging partner at HunterMaclean.
WE HEAR YOU!
Great coverage of
#CTAE and Acade-
mies. Thanks
@GeorgiaTrend
@GACTE
Reaching for the Sky
in Georgia – few
industries are as
diverse & far reaching
as aerospace.
@GeorgiaTrend
@gdecd
#ICYMI, learn how
our #fiberoptic
#network is fueling
growth in Dawson
County #gigabit
@GeorgiaTrend
@ngnetwork
Dean Bo Rutledge
@UGASchoolofLaw in @Georgia-
Trend article on the evolution of
#legaleducation
@UGASchoolofLaw
editor@georgiatrend.com
facebook.com/georgiatrend
twitter.com/GeorgiaTrend
instagram.com/georgiatrend
How To Reach Us

Let’s Get
Something Done
Neely Young is Co-Editor in Chief and Publisher of Georgia Trend.
publisher@georgiatrend.com
tlanta and Georgia have problems. As they sang in The
Music Man, there’s trouble in River City. Crime, lack
of jobs, racial issues and traffic all deserve solutions.
A group of business and political leaders recently gath-
ered for On Board Atlanta, a program hosted by the
Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the Regional
Business Coalition, to discuss ways to tackle many of
these problems.
Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food
Bank, opened the day-long event by saying: “We need to create a ‘Safe
Place’ where civic leaders encourage a community that builds ties and
trust between its citizens. Builds pride of ownership. Builds good schools,
where food is plentiful. Builds available jobs, healthcare. Builds afford-
able housing and safe parks and greenspaces. A safe place is where all
citizens can learn from each other how to have mutual respect for our
institutions and where civic participation is encouraged and welcome.”
For the last 20 years, the ARC has sponsored a program for commu-
nity leaders to visit other major cities to meet with their counterparts
there. The program is called LINK, which stands for Leadership, In-
volvement, Networking and Knowledge.
This year LINK was turned upside down when leaders from other
cities and states were invited to this one-day event. Representatives
from Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Denver, Colo; Charlotte, N.C.; and
other Georgia cities came to talk about how they handle public policy
challenges similar to the metro area’s.
Cobb Chamber President David Connell, the event organizer, said,
“We always travel to other places and learn from cities new and differ-
ent public policies that might work back home. We want to change that
process by getting the political decision makers in the Atlanta region
to come together here and learn how they can make major changes to
their individual communities. Let’s get something done.”
Topics discussed included civic engagement, building a winning
workforce, the role of media in building better communities, the politics
of job creation, infrastructure and transportation.
The panel that was most interesting to me addressed the subject of
civic engagement and how leaders work together to make a difference
in the quality of life in their communities.
Panelists were LaGrange Chief of Police Louis Dekmar, Marietta Po-
lice Chief Dan Flynn, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon
Keenan and Bolling, who is now chair of the Food Well Alliance. The
moderator was former attorney general and ARC chair and current Ken-
nesaw State University President Sam Olens.
The discussion focused on how to address
the Black Lives Matter movement and other
issues. Olens said one solution is for police to
have a personal presence in all districts in
their respective cities and counties. Residents
should be made to feel that law enforcement
individuals are there to protect and serve, and
not feel fearful about a police presence.
All parties felt there was more to be done con-
cerning training of police officers by institutions
such as the Federal Law Enforcement Training
Center (FLETC) in Brunswick. Transparency
should be the main goal of all law enforcement
institutions. Police should be welcome in a com-
munity even in high-crime areas and contribute
to creating a safe place for all.
Another panel discussed building a winning
workforce. Industries moving to Georgia want
an education system that will teach new ways
of manufacturing and develop workers who
are comfortable with new technology.
Georgia’s career academies and dual enroll-
ment options let high school students marry
their classes with nearby technical college and
university system offerings and graduate with
a diploma from both institutions. Attendees
from Texas and Tennessee described how their
respective education systems designed pro-
grams to encourage students to be able to enter
the workforce with proper skills as soon as
they graduate from high school.
State Sen. Lindsey Tippins commented that
high schools are designed to teach students to
go to college, but not every student needs to
go to college to get a job.
The notion that we can all learn new ideas
and implement meaningful change is ad-
mirable. The On Board Atlanta program is a
great first start, and similar programs can be
implemented in other parts of the state. As
Connell said: “Let’s get something done!”
The notion that we can
all learn new ideas from
different places and
implement meaningful change
is admirable. The On
Board Atlanta program
is a great first start.
A
FROM THE PUBLISHER BY NEELY YOUNG
“
“

Shipp went on to a 50-plus-year career as a po-
litical writer and commentator who was
revered and feared – as Barnes reminded the
audience – by those in power, regardless of
party or position.
The first Hall of Famers were selected in
2000 and include James Dickey, Martin Luther
King Jr., Margaret Mitchell and Flannery
O’Connor. Later inductees include Alice
Walker, Pat Conroy, Henry W. Grady, Terry Kay,
Anne Rivers Siddons, Celestine Sibley, Taylor
Branch, Janisse Ray, Natasha Trethewey,
Melissa Fay Greene, Vereen Bell, Philip Lee
Williams, Jimmy Carter, Olive Ann Burns –
and, I am very proud to say, my late husband
Paul Hemphill.
I love that the Hall includes writers who are
so diverse in their work, their backgrounds
and their gifts to readers. And how the themes
of social justice resonate throughout the work
that is honored.
I take a special pride in noting the writers
who came from journalism: McGill, Sibley, Kay,
Siddons, Burns, Shipp, Blount and Paul, who
wrote an acclaimed daily column for the At-
lanta Journal before he turned to book-writing.
And how perfect that inductees’ books are
available for purchase just outside the audito-
rium where the ceremony is held. There is no
such thing as a writer who doesn’t love seeing
readers buying his or her books – no matter
whether that writer is watching in person or
looking down from a loftier place.
It’s always touching, too, to see how much
the Hall of Fame honor means to those who re-
ceive it – and their families – and to join in the
blend of laughter and tears that results.
At the November ceremony, Roy Blount re-
marked that many people respond to awards
by saying they are humbled. “I’m not hum-
bled,” he said. “I get humbled 10 or 12 times a
day. I am honored.”
In Celebration
of Writers
Susan Percy is Editor-At-Large for Georgia Trend.
spercy@georgiatrend.com
here’s something very comforting about a library –
whether it’s the imposing Hargrett Library on the UGA
campus in Athens, the homey red brick building in De-
catur that I visited regularly when I was growing up,
or even the overstuffed bookshelves in my family
room. Being around books and spending time in
places where they are collected and cared for always
makes me feel safe and happy.
So it was especially nice to be in the company of
writers, readers and caretakers of books at the Georgia Writers Hall
of Fame induction ceremony last November.
The 2016 inductees include a fellow Decaturite, humorist Roy
Blount Jr. – who may very well have spent some time in that afore-
mentioned red brick library himself – and a long-time colleague, Bill
Shipp, who set the standard for political commentary in Georgia. I
have had the pleasure of working with Bill (nominally as his editor –
although it is hard to imagine an easier job in all of journalism than
being Shipp’s editor) at two different publications: Atlanta Magazine
a few years back and, more recently, at Georgia Trend.
From that perspective I was able to admire not just the reporting
and thinking that went into his columns but the careful crafting and
skillful use of language that made them work so well.
Three other writers were named to the Hall of Fame posthumously:
Brainard Cheney, a novelist and essayist influenced by the likes of
Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren and Flannery O’Connor; Katherine Du
Pre Lumpkin, a sociologist and teacher who wrote the ground-break-
ing The Making of a Southerner in 1947; and Savannah native James
Alan McPherson Jr., a short-story writer, essayist and critic who was
the first African-American winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Shipp wasn’t able to be at the ceremony, but he had a pretty formi-
dable stand-in: Former Gov. Roy Barnes gave the induction address
and accepted the award on Bill’s behalf.
Barnes spoke of Bill’s sharp editorial pen and how he used it even
as a student journalist in the 1950s on the University of Georgia’s The
Red & Black (now independent, but then part of the journalism
school), writing the columns that got him kicked out of school. Shipp
was highly critical of a decision then-Gov. Herman Talmadge and the
Board of Regents made to deny admission to the UGA Law School to
Horace T. Ward, an eminently qualified African-American man who
was barred because of his race.
Ward earned his law degree elsewhere but went on to become a dis-
tinguished Georgia attorney and the state’s first black federal judge.
Bill Shipp went on to a 50-plus-
year career as a political writer
and commentator who was
revered and feared – as former
Gov. Roy Barnes reminded the
audience – by those in power,
regardless of party or position.
T
BUSINESS CASUAL BY SUSAN PERCY
“
“

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WellStar Health System p. 63
wellstar.org

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Around the State
By Christy Simo
ORGANIZATIONS
Agape Youth and Family Center
he Agape Youth and Family Center is celebrating its 20th
year of strengthening its community in northwest Atlanta.
“We take a holistic approach in serving children, families
and seniors,” says Nell Benn, executive director. “Our goal
is to end the cycle of generational poverty.”
Agape tackles its objectives in several ways. It provides
a day program for seniors along with in-school, after-school
and summer school programs that emphasize academic achievement for 200
kindergarten-through-12th grade students.
“Our goal is reading proficiency by third grade,” Benn says, “and we try to
see the kids through graduation and into post-graduation placement.”
Every year, the organization provides backpacks full of school supplies to
2,000 children; 500 turkeys for the holidays; and 500 food baskets. A seasonal
gift store allows families to purchase toys and other inexpensive Christmas
gifts for each other.
The organization also helps with a basic need that is sometimes overlooked:
getting a good night’s sleep. “One of our most exciting projects is the ‘extreme
bedroom makeovers’ we do,” Benn says. “Some of the children in our com-
munity are sleeping on the floor or on a sofa. We come in and provide a bed
and remodel a bedroom with all new furnishings.”
Agape, which is funded by donations, has a staff of 25 employees and an
army of around 200 volunteers who serve as tutors and mentors.
“The average high school youth we serve has typically been part of our pro-
gram for at least seven years, and you see a dramatic improvement with that
duration of time,” Benn says. “The growth is amazing.”
agapeatlanta.org
Send your economic development news
to ecdev@georgiatrend.com.
UPFRONTSHUTTERSTOCK.COM
T
By Candice Dyer
Still No. 1: For the fourth year in a row,
Georgia was named by economic develop-
ment magazine Site Selection as the No. 1
state in the nation in which to do business.
Relocating: The Weather
Company is relocating its
Metro Atlanta headquar-
ters from Cobb to DeKalb
County. The move will create 400 jobs.
Airport Developments: A 440-room, 11-
story InterContinental Hotel is slated for
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Air-
port. The $250-million hotel is part of a
larger 26.5-acre mixed-use development
that will include two other hotels and
60,000 square feet of Class A office space
within walking distance of the terminal.
Distribution Hub: Sandy Springs-based
UPS is investing $400 million into a 1.2-
million-square-foot regional sorting and
distribution hub in west Atlanta by the
end of 2018 that will create 1,250 jobs.
Breaking Ground: The U.S. Army broke
ground in November on the $85-million
first phase of its Army Cyber Command fa-
cility at Fort Gordon outside Augusta that
could create up to 16,000 indirect jobs in
the region.
Bibb Co. Recycling: Freudenberg
Texbond is investing $25 million into its
existing Macon facility to add a new man-
ufacturing line. The company recycles
plastic bottles for roofing products and
other related components.
Bartow Flooring: Shaw Industries
Group is opening a $24-million, 67,000-
square-foot design and innovation center
in Cartersville. Shaw is the county’s
largest employer, with more than 3,100
employees.

POLITICAL NOTES
Ups,Downs
andIn-betweens
By Susan Percy
UPFRONT
Legislative Preview: Looking ahead
to the 2017 General Assembly ses-
sion, which begins Monday, Jan. 9,
lawmakers will likely consider
casino gambling and debate another
attempt at passing so-called “reli-
gious liberty” legislation, which
passed last year but was vetoed by
Gov. Nathan Deal.
Another bill, HB 9, sponsored by
Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire),
would criminalize “upskirting,” or
videotaping via a camera aimed up a
woman’s skirt in public. A State
Court of Appeals ruling last year
found that this odious practice was
not actually covered by any existing
law.
Already dead in the water is HB 3, a
measure introduced and subsequently
withdrawn by Rep. Jason Spencer (R-
Woodbine) that would have barred
Muslim women from wearing certain
types of religious head coverings while
posing for a Georgia driver’s license
photo or driving. The bill sparked
widespread opposition.
Price To HHS: Georgia’s 6th District Congressman Tom Price,
an orthopaedic surgeon, is President-elect Donald Trump’s
choicetoheadtheDepartmentofHealthandHumanServices.
Price, an outspoken foe of the Affordable Care Act, must
be confirmed by the U.S. Senate; but that should be easily
accomplished.
Price, who was first elected to Congress in 2004, said in
a statement, “It’s an honor to be nominated to serve our na-
tionasSecretaryofHealthandHumanServices.Thereismuch
work to be done to ensure we have a healthcare system that
works for patients, families and doctors.”
There’s no shortage of candidates anxious to fill the
sixth district seat. Early speculation included the names
of State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) and Con-
gressmanPrice’swife,StateRep.BettyPrice(R-Roswell).
CONTRIBUTED

UPFRONT
Hopkins. “I am excited about the op-
portunities ahead next year.”
Regent Jim Hull is the 2017 BOR vice
chair. Hull, a resident of Augusta, is
managing principal of Hull Property
Group. He was first appointed to the
board in 2013.
New Commissioners: Frank Berry is
the new commissioner of the Depart-
ment of Community Health (DCH), ap-
pointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to
succeed Clyde Reese III, who was
named to the Georgia Court of Ap-
peals. Berry was previously commis-
sioner of the Georgia Department of
Behavioral Health and Developmental
Disabilities (GBHDD).
Judy Fitzgerald is the new GBHDD
commissioner; she has been the depart-
ment’s chief of staff.
In Memoriam: One-time State Sen.
Roscoe Dean, 80, died in Jesup after an
illness. Dean was first elected to the
senate in 1963, when he was in his
twenties. He gained a reputation as a
colorful character during his years at
the Capitol, but his political career
came to an end in 1980 when he was
convicted in federal court of conspiring
to import marijuana. He served time in
prison and tried unsuccessfully in 1990
to regain his old Senate seat.
Recognition for Niles: Department of
Juvenile Justice Commissioner Avery
D. Niles was honored by the Council of
Juvenile Court Judges of Georgia with
the 2016 Martha K. Glaze Award.
The award was given to Niles for
“his outstanding leadership to develop
and maintain a close agency relation-
ship with the courts and the commu-
nity helping initiate Georgia’s juvenile
justice reforms,” according to Senior
Juvenile Judge Cliff Joliff.
The council is made up of judges of
courts with jurisdiction over juveniles.
The award is named for Judge Glaze,
who was Clayton County’s first full-
time juvenile court judge, serving from
1977 to 1999.
Award-winning Senators: State Sen.
Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) was hon-
ored by the Georgia Historical Rec-
ords Advisory Council, a unit of the
state board of regents, with its award
for legislative advocacy, recognizing
outstanding efforts in archives and
records work.
State Sen. Elena Parent (D-At-
lanta) received a Legislative Service
Award from ACCG, Georgia’s county
association, for her work as chair of
the Senate Study Committee on An-
nexation, Deannexation and Incorpo-
ration.
State Sen. Jesse Stone (R-Waynes-
boro) has won a Champion of Georgia’s
Cities Award from the Georgia Munici-
pal Association for his work during the
2015 and 2016 legislative sessions.
Chandler Prevails In Recount: State
Rep. Joyce Chandler (R-Grayson) won
her bid for re-election, after a recount
confirmed her win over Democratic
challenger Donna McLeod.
Chandler received 50.38 percent of
the votes to McLeod’s 49.48 percent –
winning by a total of 222 votes.
Collins In Leadership Role: Georgia’s
9th District Rep. Doug Collins is the
fifth-ranked Republican in the U.S.
House of Representatives, following his
election as vice chairman of the Repub-
lican Conference. In this capacity, he
will sit on two committees that deter-
mine members’ assignments and the
GOP’s agenda. Collins was first elected
in 2012.
BOR Officers: C. Thomas Hopkins
Jr., M.D., is the 2017 chair of the
Board of Regents of the University
System of Georgia. He is a physician
in private practice in Griffin who is
board-certified in orthopaedic sur-
gery and orthopaedic sports medi-
cine; he was appointed to the board
in 2010.
“The University System of Georgia
plays a critical role in preparing stu-
dents to meet the needs of tomorrow’s
workforce, as well as to help develop
our next generation of leaders,” says

UPFRONTDENTONS US TRENDSETTERS
f there were any such thing as a
global legal military, Dentons law
firm would be the elite special
ops, leading their ground troops
across the world. With more than
150 offices in 50 plus countries,
their global presence is well es-
tablished.
The firm first entered the At-
lanta market in July 2015, when Dentons US merged
with Atlanta’s McKenna Long & Aldridge. It’s been
a transformative year and a half for Dentons in At-
lanta, says Joseph Blanco, managing partner of the
Atlanta office.
“The firm’s goal in Atlanta and across the world
is to connect clients with lawyers who are highly re-
garded and deeply rooted in their local economies,
communities and cultures,” says Blanco. “Our At-
lanta-based attorneys and principals have long-
standing legacies throughout Georgia and a deep
understanding of our clients’ businesses and, there-
fore, we are uniquely positioned to connect interna-
tional clients with growing business interests not
only in Atlanta but across the state.”
Since the merger, Dentons has added a number
of high-profile colleagues, including numerous for-
mer elected and appointed officials and individuals
who worked at all levels of government.
Eric Tanenblatt co-leads the firm’s public policy
practice and says that as a combined firm, Dentons
really focuses on the intersection between business,
government and the law. While Dentons already had
lobbyists and consultants in several states, they
identified additional lobbying and consulting firms
and formed Dentons 50, a 50-state network of their
own robust state government affairs professionals.
“It allows us to pitch a multi-state solution to
clients,” says Tanenblatt, noting that companies are
often limited by resources to be able to identify the
right firm to help them in particular states. “So we
manage these other firms all across the country,
share best practices. Rather than reinventing the
wheel 50 times over, or in as many states as the
company is operating, it’s more efficient for them to
go to one place and have us manage that for them,”
he says.
With the launch last summer of Dentons 50, the
firm established an unrivaled full-service, public
policy and advocacy network, reaching every state
capital in the country and covering all industry sec-
tors, from healthcare to economic development.
I
The network is the go-to resource for businesses with complex, multi-
state policy matters.
For clients using Dentons for state, federal or even legal work, if a
public policy issue pops up in a state, clients can now reach out to
Dentons 50 for a referral to a Dentons resource on the ground in that
particular state.
“It will also be very beneficial for inbound work coming from over-
seas. Given our global platform, we have clients all around the world
that are looking to the U.S. that perhaps want to set up a presence in
the U.S. or a manufacturing facility or U.S. headquarters and want to
know where is the best place for them to locate,” says Tanenblatt,
adding that Dentons is the only global law firm in Georgia.
Litigator Jim Manley has practiced law in Georgia for two decades,
joining McKenna Long and Aldridge in 2001 and now with Dentons fol-
“We have clients all around
the world that … want to
set up a presence in the
U.S. or a manufacturing
facility or U.S. headquarters
and want to know where
is the best place for them
to locate,” says Dentons US
attorney Eric Tanenblatt.
International Access, Deep Local Roots
lowing the merger. “This platform has really accelerated my practice,
and it’s been great for my clients, primarily Georgia companies that
need legal work around the world,” he says, noting that in the last year
alone he has exported legal work to partners in Columbia, Honduras,
Mexico, Canada, Hong Kong, China, the U.K. and Germany.
He initially was concerned a merger would result in a higher rate
for his clients, but that was not the case. “Because Dentons is in so
many locations around the globe, it is very much tuned to having rates
that fit whatever the local market is,” he says.
“Atlanta and Georgia really are participating in a big way in the
global economy, between the airport here and the port in Savannah,”
and efforts by Gov. Nathan Deal and the Department of Economic De-
velopment to attract companies like Mercedes-Benz and NCR, he adds.
“It really puts our law firm in a great position, situated where we are
in the capital of the Southeastern United States,” Manley says. “I think
this is a really bright future, and if the last year and a half are any indi-
cation, it was really a forward-thinking and smart move on behalf of
the leadership of McKenna Long and Aldridge.” – K.K. Snyder
DENTONSUS

Growing
Georgia Brand
the
An emphasis on economic development and an expanded Georgia Grown program
are strengthening the state’s $74-billion agribusiness industry
ary Black likes the notion that Georgia’s Department of
Agriculture may very well touch the lives of more Geor-
gians than any other part of state government.
Now in his second term as the state’s elected agricul-
ture commissioner, Black is a farmer who raises cattle
on 72 acres of land near Commerce that his father
bought in 1969 and is a former lobbyist for the state’s
mammoth agribusiness industry.
“I firmly believe that if agriculture in Georgia is healthy, then Georgia
is healthy – from an economic standpoint,” he says.
His department oversees agriculture, of course, but is also respon-
sible for food safety, animal health, regulating grocery stores and food
processing plants, protecting gasoline quality and licensing pest control
companies. It even weighs the balls used in the state lottery drawings
at its metrology lab in Tifton.
By Susan Percy
Photo by Jennifer Stalcup
Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black
G

Georgian of the Year:
Agriculture Commissioner
Gary Black

Since 2011, Black and his staff have added a strong business
dimension, notably through a rejuvenated and revamped Geor-
gia Grown program, a marketing and economic development ef-
fort that promotes locally grown products and assists agri-
businesses. In its reincarnation, it is uniting producers, proces-
sors, retailers and consumers.
The program and the commissioner have won recognition,
including the state tourism industry’s Bill Hardman Sr. Tourism
Champion in Government Award for 2016, given to Black, and
the Hardman Tourism Champion Partnership Award, given to
the Georgia Grown program – even as their work has drawn
strength from a renewed and widespread interest in food quality
and sustainability.
“Many people are at least two or three generations away from
the land,” Black says. “I believe the land and products of the
land are actually a magnet to the soul. That’s a part of this draw.”
For his commitment to Georgia agriculture and his efforts to
promote the industry and its economic contributions, Gary
Black is Georgia Trend’s 2017 Georgian of the Year.
He counts some heavy hitters among his supporters.
“As agribusiness continues to be Georgia’s largest industry,
Commissioner Black’s steadfast leadership has been essential
to maintaining Georgia’s position as the No. 1 state in which to
do business,” says Gov. Nathan Deal.
“His contributions to the agriculture industry have strength-
ened the connections between farmers and consumers while
highlighting Georgia as a premier business destination,” he adds.
“Commissioner Black’s vision and leadership with the Georgia
Grown program have provided significant benefits for the state
tourism industry and will have a long-term impact in the lives
of Georgians for years to come.”
Zippy Duvall, longtime president of the Georgia Farm Bu-
reau, now president of the American Farm Bureau Federation,
says, “Gary Black has been a real friend and advocate to Geor-
gia’s farmers. He’s a rare breed these days: a true leader and
statesman. One of the qualities a great leader must have is the
ability to prepare his organization or industry for the future.
Gary has spent his whole career shaping and encouraging farm-
ers to step forward and get involved to make a difference in
their families and communities.”
No. 1 Industry
Any way you slice the numbers, agribusiness is Georgia’s top
industry: It contributes some $74 billion each year to the state’s
economy. One of every seven Georgians works in agriculture,
forestry or related businesses.
Poultry ranks first among the state’s agricultural products –
On the Farm: Black at his
cattle farm in Commerce
JENNIFERSTALCUP.COM

and Environmental Sciences. “I thought I
was going to be an ag teacher,” he says, but
an opportunity to intern on the Senate Agri-
culture Committee in Washington with the
late U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge caused
him to change direction.
“The purpose of my internship was not
to solve world peace,” he recalls, “but de-
liver mail and pour water for the senators
who were meeting – and listen.” It was a
good place for a young man committed to
a career in agriculture. “The bug bite goes
back to then.”
He worked for the Georgia Farm Bu-
reau for seven and a half years, then for
the Georgia Agribusiness Council, lobby-
ing for 21 years at the state Capitol.
Despite the urging of colleagues and
friends to pursue public office, he says it
took him six years before he made the de-
cision to run. He lost his first try for agri-
culture commissioner in 2006 but was
successful four years later. He followed
Tommy Irvin, who served as Georgia’s
commissioner for an unprecedented 40-
plus years, and took office with big ambi-
tions. He was re-elected in 2014.
Georgia Grown
The Georgia Grown program is Black’s
baby, and he is clear about the economic
motivation.
“We unashamedly proclaim our goal is
to be the best department of agriculture
in America,” he says. “There are many
moving parts, but we felt we had to have
the best marketing division and a state
brand. Our job is to make Georgia Grown
the finest brand in America.
“Looking at this five years ago, there
was such pent-up consumer demand. If
we responded favorably, we felt like it
would be very successful,” he says.
“Georgia Grown is our economic devel-
opment arm. We can point to dozens of
cases where because of Georgia Grown,
businesses are expanding, sales are up. If
we can help enhance [what happens] be-
tween consumers and these producers,
manufacturers and processors – it’s good
for Georgia’s economy.”
The Georgia Grown name had been
around for several years before Black and
his team took it and ran with it. “We felt
like it was time for maybe a higher degree
of energy and to really operate with a set
of business objectives, rather than saying,
its value, Black says, “is north of $5 billion.” Georgia is a top producer of peanuts,
pecans, rye and spring onions and ranks high in cotton, watermelons, peaches, blue-
berries, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, cantaloupes and cabbage.
He sees the poultry industry growing even stronger. “There are so many uses for
chicken, continuing development of products – that demand continues to grow. We’re
very good at producing a quality, competitively priced poultry product, and it’s still
going to be a large part of our future, too.”
When Black talks about the current crop year compared to the previous five, he is
not just summarizing staff-generated reports; he is drawing on years of experience
and a lifetime of connections he has made working within the industry.
Both the spring ’16 vegetable crop and the peach crop were very good, he says, but
the drought and the effects of two hurricanes took a toll on commodity crops later in
the year.
“Unfortunately, fall vegetable season suffered pretty significantly from disease pres-
sure and lack of rain. It is truly a mixed bag for our pecan growers. The crop is excel-
lent for those growers who escaped the path of the hurricanes. For our growers
impacted by the winds and soaking rains, their losses will be felt for years to come,”
he says. “Despite the loss of mature and fully producing trees, which will take at least
seven years to even start recovery, it is in the farmer’s nature to be the eternal optimist.
It is pretty much inherent in their DNA.”
For cotton and peanuts, Black reports wide swings of the pendulum. “There’s some
good peanuts, some bad peanuts, some good cotton, some bad cotton. Hurricane
Matthew caught some of our cotton farmers in a particularly bad time, resulting in sig-
nificant losses. And then you have your farmers who escaped anything that made the
news but still had to work through the everyday challenges that come with agriculture.”
Beginnings
Black’s dad was in the military – Black was actually born at Fort McPherson in At-
lanta in 1958. Once his father left the service, the family spent some time in Texas,
then moved when Black was in high school to the Commerce farm that he now oper-
ates with his wife, Lydia.
He tells the story of the high school counselor who steered him toward agriculture
and the local FFA (Future Farmers of America) and jokes that he was intrigued by the
blue jackets members got to wear. Then it was on to UGA and the College of Agriculture
Growing the Economy:
BlackwithGov.NathanDeal
at the Sunbelt Ag Expo
in Moultrie
GEORGIADEPARTMENTOFAGRICULTURE

‘Here’s another program for the state’ and
print up a bunch of brochures.”
Georgia farmers and agriculture busi-
nesses can purchase a Georgia Grown li-
cense – fees go directly into the Georgia
Grown commodity commission, Black
says, and all the money is used for promo-
tional activities. There are levels of partic-
ipation, starting as low as $100 for a basic
silver membership. “Every member of
Georgia Grown has skin in the game. They
feel like they are part of a family,” he says.
“Once you have a license,” Black adds,
“you choose how to leverage that brand
for the strength of your business. If you
want it on your business card, fine; if you
want to put Georgia Grown on your bar-
becue sauce, fine. If you want it on your
wholesale box of bell peppers, great; if
you want to plaster it all over your web-
site, awesome. If you want to make T-
shirts for your brand and want to put
Georgia Grown on the back – proceed
and make money.”
He emphasizes that Georgia Grown is
a marketing program, not a regulatory
program; so there is no rigid supervision
– but the department does have an inter-
est in seeing that the logo is used properly.
“From time to time, we’ll get a call
where someone has seen a Georgia Grown
sticker on a pineapple,” he says. “That’s
when our marketing people make a visit.”
By design, the program emphasizes
agriculture-related jobs. Take a product
like peach preserves: “We do not regulate
that every one of the peaches is [from]
Georgia. What’s most important is that
those jobs are in Georgia. The jobs manu-
facturing the peach preserves are here,
the feed is manufactured here. It may have
Iowa corn, but it’s a Georgia Grown feed.
“The strength of our program has
come from the ability to have brand im-
pressions in many different sectors –
Georgia Grown on a feed bag or barbecue
sauce. You might have Georgia Grown on
a truck hauling finished lumber. We have
“One of the qualities a great leader must have is the ability to prepare his organization or
industry for the future. Gary has spent his whole career shaping and encouraging farmers to
step forward and get involved to make a difference in their families and communities.”
– Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation President

retail partners like Subway and Kroger that feature the brand in
their network advertising.
“Subway is a Georgia Grown member,” Black says. “They
were already buying tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers
from Georgia producers, but no one knew it. We worked out a
licensing agreement. Now when a Subway ad goes on Channel
10 in Albany and a portion of that commercial is the Georgia
Grown brand – it’s brand impression. When it’s seen everywhere
– restaurants, school cafeterias, the grocery shelf – it becomes
familiar. Georgians like that.”
Keeping It Local
Increased interest in how and where food is grown helped
make this the right time for the Georgia Grown program. Black
believes the appeal of the farm-to-table and local food move-
ments is elemental and springs from a desire to connect.
“There’s not been a time in my life when people were more
interested in food,” he says. “People are fascinated by how it’s
prepared, fascinated by how it’s grown.”
He holds his cell phone aloft and shakes his head. “Most of
us are on these devices all week long, but it’s still not a real re-
lationship, it’s a machine. We see people wanting to go to a
farmer’s market, or they see a farm listed on a menu item in a
restaurant. That gives that Georgian an opportunity to connect
with a real person.”
He sees the family farm as the key to a prosperous agricul-
tural industry – and a great deal more.
“The health of the family farm as a unit is a critical compo-
nent of national security,” he says “For us to be secure and safe,
“We can point to dozens of cases where because of Georgia Grown, businesses are expanding,
sales are up. If we can help enhance [what happens] between consumers and these producers,
manufacturers and processors – it’s good for Georgia’s economy.”
– Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black

the nation has to have a secure and safe
food supply. That’s only going to be pro-
duced efficiently by a family farm.”
But family farms are changing – they
are larger. “We have many in Georgia that
have multiple thousand acres,” Black
says. “That’s a product of economy of
scale and technology. When technology
was a mule-drawn plow, no wonder it was
called 40 acres and a mule – that’s about
all you could look at.”
Most of the acreage under cultivation
in Georgia this year was planted using
GPS and satellite technology. He de-
scribes a visit to a turf farm in middle
Georgia, watching “a $500,000 hands-free,
single-operator sod harvester harvesting
in an arc across that field. The whole ap-
paratus was guided by satellite – cutting
off a strip of sod, automatically rolling it,
automatically stacking it on a pallet. Then
when that pallet was completed, it was
bound and slid off the back.”
New Directions
To the list of what people think of as
typical Georgia crops – peaches, poultry,
pecans, peanuts – have come blueberries,
a relative newcomer but an impressive
one. Georgia is now the leading blue-
berry-producing state in the country. This
is thanks to public investment and the ef-
forts of the agriculture school at UGA,
Black says.
“We had public investment in UGA 25
or 30 years ago that launched the devel-
Supporting Farmers: Eatonton dairy farmer
Tim Camp,left,with Gary Black
GEORGIADEPARTMENTOFAGRICULTURE

opment of plant material, varieties, practices to actually build an industry from
the bush up, if you would. To come from nowhere to leading the nation in product
is a great testimonial to our land grant university, and heroes like Scott NeSmith
– Scott is Dr. Blueberry. In the span of his career he’s been able to construct, lit-
erally from the ground up, a brand new industry that’s now worth $400 million.”
The same innovative spirit is adding other new and promising crops in Georgia
– olives, ginger, even citrus.
“I was in Mitchell County at a ribbon cutting for a Satsuma [oranges] opera-
tion,” Black says. “There’s one in Bulloch County. Probably 20 years ago we never
thought we’d see commercially grown Georgia citrus.
“Whether it’s ginger or olives or Satsuma or pomegranates, there’s a specialty
nature to these products. There may be a limit, but the reason those people are
successful, they have visionary family farms that are investing in technology and
investing in trial and error. Those efforts make a pretty good case for why agri-
culture and its farm families are so fascinating – they are always on the edge of
innovation, always trying to run to where the ball’s going as opposed to waiting
for it to be hit to them.”
The Future
Black believes the current fascination with food and the land bodes well for
the future of agriculture. “There are some young people – I don’t want to say
it’s the Green Acres syndrome – but they are tired of living in the city. The mil-
lennials want to make a contribution or want to be a part of something that’s
meaningful.”
Locally Grown: Gary Black with Governor’s
Honors Program student Sydney Stepney at
Benjamin E.Mays High School’s greenhouse
CONTRIBUTED

He understands and shares that desire,
but says the idealism must be tempered
with a bit of pragmatism.
“There is no higher calling than being
able to feed, clothe and shelter people
with goods you produce, but the bottom
line is the business still has to be prof-
itable.” Farming is a capital-intensive en-
deavor, yet “there’s a gravitational pull for
some of this generation to get back to the
land.”
The majority of students who enroll in
UGA’s agricultural college or Abraham
Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) in
Tifton, Black says, do not have a farming
background. They are from more urban
and suburban areas like Dunwoody or
McDonough – young people who want a
career in agriculture.
He recounts a story of visiting Atlanta’s
Benjamin E. Mays High School last spring
to see the school’s greenhouse, where an
aquaponics program, steered by senior
Sydney Stepney, a participant in last sum-
mer’s Governor’s Honors Program in agri-
culture science, is flourishing in an urban
environment and growing kale for the At-
lanta Public Schools lunch program.
Black hopes the 2020 Vision program
the department is working on, with the
state’s departments of education and pub-
lic health, will draw even more attention
to agriculture – and give another boost to
school nutrition.
It’s an outgrowth of the Feed My
School For A Week initiative, now in 43
schools statewide, which aims to supply
the schools for one week with 100 per-
cent Georgia Grown products for break-
fast and lunch, all within budget. Black
calls it a booster club for the cafeteria.
“That leads us down another road –
our 2020 Vision. By the start of the 2020
school year, at every school, every year,
every day, at least 20 percent of the menu
[will be] Georgia Grown.”
To Black, these nutrition programs go
beyond simply bringing Georgia products
into the schools; he is optimistic about
the long-term possibilities. “We believe if
we can do a better job in the cafeteria, put
a good nutrition program out there, it may
be our best path to improve academics,
improve arts, improve athletics,” he says.
“We have a real chance. If we are all
willing to dare to dream together, we can
really change school nutrition for future
generations.”

Lasting Influence
2015
Bill Bolling
Founder & Former
Executive Director,
Atlanta Community Food Bank
Saxby Chambliss
Former U.S.Senator
Hank Huckaby
Former Chancellor of the University
System of Georgia
T
here is Hank Huckaby
the man and Hank
Huckaby the lifelong
public servant; Hank
who was the first in his
family to attend col-
lege and Hank who, as chancellor of
the University System of Georgia
from 2011 until he retired at the end
of 2016, has been an activist who
made bold, positive changes in post-
secondary education that have im-
proved the academic experience for
tens of thousands of Georgia stu-
dents – and increased graduation
rates by 14 percent.
Underlying both his personal and
professional accomplishments is a
key personality asset. “I don’t let my
ego get involved,” he says. Looking
back on his noteworthy achieve-
ments – in particular, successfully
steering the university system through
budget cuts and transforming the
system into a national model – he
2014
John Lewis
U.S.Congressman
Civil Rights Leader
Robert Shaw
Chairman/CEO,
Engineered Floors
Former Owner,Shaw Industries
2013
R. Charles “Charlie”
Loudermilk
Founder & Chairman Emeritus,
Aaron’s Inc.
Monica Pearson
Former NewsAnchor,WSB-TV
2012
Otis Brumby
(1941-2012)
Publisher,
The Marietta Daily Journal &
Neighbor Newspapers
Bobby Cox
Retired Manager,Atlanta Braves
2014 Baseball Hall of Fame
Inductee
insists that the key was surrounding himself with the right
people.
“I’m willing to accept what I know and what I don’t know.
That’s hard to do, but I think self-awareness and honesty
about what you can do is important for people in leadership
roles,” he says. “I try to surround myself with people to fill in
the gaps with the expertise, energy and education to support
me and the organization. As I walk out the door, I’m proud of
the strength, depth and commitment that we’ve built over the
years.”
As chancellor, Huckaby’s focus on financial issues
was broader than mere budget cutting. His aim was
to move more money toward the academic enter-
prise and change the paradigm of education in
America. Under his auspices, Georgia recently
joined the nonprofit Complete College America
program, a nationwide alliance dedicated to help-
ing underrepresented populations complete cer-
tificate and degree programs.
“We’re on track, but we have a lot more to
do to meet our goal,” he says. “One of the
things that pulls at my heartstrings is our lack
of needs-based aid for students who don’t have
enough resources to go to college. We have
the HOPE program, but we are deficient at
other ends of the spectrum.”
Named after a Methodist minister, the
Spalding County native came from a working-class family and is grateful that his father em-
phasized the importance of education beyond high school. While attending Young Harris
College, Huckaby says, “I always considered that I went down the road less traveled.”
That road soon lead him to teach at DeKalb College (now Georgia State University Perimeter
[ Past Hall of Fame Inductees ]
The 2017 inductees into Georgia Trend’s Most Influential Hall of Fame
2016
Arthur Blank
Co-founder,The Home Depot
Owner,TheAtlanta Falcons
Alana Shepherd
Co-founder,Shepherd Center
PHOTOS:JENNIFERSTALCUP.COM

Alicia Philipp
President of the Community Foundation
for Greater Atlanta
A
licia Philipp was only
23 years old when
she became the first
employee of the Com-
munity Foundation
for Greater Atlanta in
1977. Her first job out of college
was with Central Atlanta Prog-
ress, an association of down-
town business leaders helmed
at the time by Dan E. Sweat Jr.
“When I graduated from
Emory in 1975, there was a re-
ally big recession in Atlanta
at that time, and things were
really tough,” she recalls.
“There weren’t any jobs, and I
had no connections in Atlanta.”
2010
Dr. Joseph Lowery
Minister,
Civil Rights Leader
Bill Shipp
Journalist,
Political Columnist
2011
Ray Anderson
(1935-2011)
Chairman,Interface Inc.
David Ratcliffe
FormerCEO/Chairman/President,
Southern Co.
Franklin Skinner
Former CEO/Chairman
BellSouthTelecommunications
2009
Spurgeon Richardson
Former President/CEO,
Atlanta Convention
&Visitors Bureau
2008
Hank Aaron
Baseball Legend
Founder/Owner,
755 Restaurant Corp.
Mack Mattingly
Former U.S.Senator
FormerAssistant Secretary
General (NATO)
Former U.S.Ambassador
(Seychelles)
Carl Patton
Former President,
Georgia State University
Herman J. Russell
(1930-2014)
Chairman/Founder,
H.J.Russell & Co.
As it turns out, Sweat was the only connection
Philipp needed not just to move onto her next position
as the first, and at the time the only, employee of the
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, but onto
a career that has benefited untold numbers of At-
lantans and beyond.
“Dan really became my mentor, and he was just an
amazing man,” she says. “He was also the chairman of
the board as a volunteer at the community foundation,
so when this job came up, I said to him, ‘I want that
job.’”
Created in 1951, the Community Foundation for
Greater Atlanta serves a 23-county region around
Metro Atlanta and had just $7 million in assets when
Philipp was hired. As of year-end 2015, the foundation
held $920 million in assets, receiving more than $113
million from donors and granting out more than $140
million to some 6,800 nonprofits focused on things like
community development, education, arts, well-being
and nonprofit effectiveness.
“The thing that probably motivates me the most is
the open minds and generous hearts of our donors,”
she says. “People really want to give back; not to have
their name on something, not for any other reason than
they really want to make this community a better place
for everybody. It’s so unselfish, and it’s like wow, that’s
amazing.”
Retaining the passion of her 23-year-old self,
Philipp isn’t quite ready to relinquish her title of
“dean” of Georgia’s community foundations, but
someday she envisions a “triangular” life for herself
spending time between her condo in Decatur, work-
ing on women’s economic development issues in
Guatemala, and visiting her daughter and first grand-
child in Portugal.
“We are philanthropy; that’s who this community
is,” she says. “It’s part of our brand as a region and
as a community. I’m honored to continue to help
uplift philanthropy as a key part of this region.”
– Jennifer Hafer
College) and Emory University, to serve as the senior vice president of fi-
nance and administration at UGA, and then as a legislator in the Georgia
House of Representatives. But it was while at college that he met the two
people who have most influenced his life: Amy, his wife of 52 years, and
Zell Miller, who taught American government during Huckaby’s freshman
year. The young Huckaby was later tapped to serve as budget director
during Miller’s eight-year tenure as Georgia governor and subsequently
worked on Miller’s successful senatorial campaign.
Underpinning Huckaby’s leadership is a devout adherence to ethics
and integrity, which, Huckaby says, resonated with him from his first
day in seventh grade. His teacher told the class to expect a good year
but there was one rule. “She wrote two words on the chalkboard –
‘Do right,’” Huckaby says. “That has stayed with me ever since.” –
Ellen Berman

Past Inductees:
Rosalynn and
Jimmy Carter
2007
A.D. “Pete” Correll
Former Chairman/CEO,
Georgia-Pacific Corp.
Bernie Marcus
Co-founder,The Home Depot
Philanthropist
William S. Morris III
Chairman/CEO,
Morris Communications Co.
2006
James Blanchard
Retired Board Chairman & CEO,
Synovus Financial Corp.
Zell Miller
Senior StrategicAdvisor,
McKenna Long &Aldridge LLP
Former Governor
Former U.S.Senator
Carl Sanders
(1925-2014)
Governor (1963-1967), Attorney
Dr. Louis Sullivan
Founding Dean,
Morehouse School of Medicine
Former U.S.Secretary of
Health and Human Services
Andrew Young
Former Mayor,City of Atlanta
Former U.S.Ambassador
to the United Nations
Civic Leader
Betty Siegel
Former President,
Kennesaw State University
2005
Tom Cousins
Former Board Chairman,
Cousins Properties Inc.
Vince Dooley
Athletic Director Emeritus,
University of Georgia
2004
Tommy Irvin
Former Georgia Commissioner
of Agriculture
Manuel Maloof
(1924-2004)
Longtime DeKalb County CEO
and Commissioner
Sam Massell
President,Buckhead Coalition
Former Mayor,City of Atlanta
J. Mack Robinson
BusinessmanandPhilanthropist
Ted Turner
Founder,CNN,TNTandTBS
Environmentalist and
Philanthropist
2003
Griffin Bell
(1918-2009)
U.S.Attorney General
U.S.Circuit Court Judge
S. Truett Cathy
(1921-2014)
Founder,Chick-fil-A
Philanthropist
Jimmy Carter
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Former U.S.President
Rosalynn Carter
Former First Lady
Mental HealthAdvocate
Thomas B. Murphy
(1924-2007)
Longtime Speaker,
GeorgiaHouseofRepresentatives
Sam Nunn
Former U.S.Senator
National DefenseAuthority
John C. Portman Jr.
Architect,Developer
and Entrepreneur

f leadership is influence, as the author John C. Maxwell
says, then we not only have a list of the 100 Most Influen-
tial Georgians, but a representation of the strength of lead-
ership in our state. For this, our 19th list, we have in-
cluded many of the usual suspects – politicians, CEOs,
college presidents – but we’ve also added a number of
new names and faces to the list. All are people who in-
spire, exasperate, lead – and influence us.
Some work behind the scenes and some are recognized in every corner
of the Peach State. But they have one thing in common: Each of the 100
people you’ll find on the following pages have an enormous impact on the
daily lives of Georgians.
We at Georgia Trend do not take the task of selecting the most influ-
ential people in the state lightly. It’s a year-round process that involves
lots of meetings and discussions. The original list is always more than 100,
and we think the final group – subject to retirements, course corrections
and shifts in power, not to mention late-in-the-year hirings and firings and
a controversy or two – represents the realities of leadership, power and
influence in Georgia.
You’ll also find a list of Notable Georgians on page 52 – people who are
making an impact in the state or have made an impression on the Georgia
Trend staff this year.
Individual profiles were written by Mary Anne Dunkin, Candice Dyer,
Jennifer Hafer, Lori Johnston, Karen Kirkpatrick, Tom Oder, Christy Simo
and Bonnie Smith. – The Editors
Wielding Power
I

DAVID ABNEY
CHAIRMAN & CEO
UPS
Atlanta
Abney began his UPS career in 1974 as a part-
time package loader. Today he leads the world’s
largest package delivery company, which re-
cently announced a $400 million, 1.2-million-
square-foot regional sorting and distribution hub in west Atlanta
that will create 1,250 jobs. He was unanimously appointed
chairman of the UPS board of directors in 2016. – MAD
STACEY ABRAMS
MINORITY LEADER
Georgia House of Representatives
Atlanta
Abrams, the state’s first African-American
minority leader and the first woman to lead ei-
ther party in the Georgia General Assembly, ran
unopposed in 2016 for a sixth term representing
District 89. In July, she was awarded a coveted speaking slot
at the Democratic National Convention. The New Georgia
Project, which she founded, has registered thousands of vot-
ers. – TO
RUSSELL ALLEN
PRESIDENT & CEO
Georgia Bio
Atlanta
Allen directs initiatives that position Georgia
as a prime spot for companies, organizations and
others in the life sciences industry. He is leading
an effort to launch a Patient Advocacy Network
that will address such issues as striking a balance between con-
trolling costs of life-saving drugs and how that might impact
R&D and innovations in the medical arena. – TO
DAN AMOS
CHAIRMAN & CEO
Aflac
Columbus
During Amos’ time as CEO at Aflac, revenues
have grown from $2.7 billion to more than $21
billion. Aflac was named by Fortune magazine
in 2016 as one of America’s Most Admired Com-
panies for the 15th year. Aflac has also been on the Ethisphere
Institute’s list of The World’s Most Ethical Companies for 10
consecutive years. – MAD
BRIAN ANDERSON
PRESIDENT & CEO
Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Columbus
Since taking the helm in 2015, Anderson has
overseen the recruitment of several new busi-
nesses as well as the expansion of existing in-
dustries, creating hundreds of new jobs. In
October, Hammett Steel announced a new 184,000-square-foot
facility in Columbus, while in May, Convergys Corp. announced
a new location that will bring 450 jobs to the community. – JH
KERRY ARMSTRONG
CHAIRMAN
Atlanta Regional Commission
Atlanta
Armstrong is serving his second term, over-
seeing the organization responsible for planning
and governmental coordination for the 10-
county Atlanta region. He is also director and
past chair of the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce and
is a director of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Com-
merce, where his stewardship fosters the sustainability of At-
lanta’s ever-sprawling northern arc. – CD
ED BASTIAN
CEO
Delta Air Lines
Atlanta
An 18-year veteran of Delta, Bastian was in-
strumental in leading the airline from bank-
ruptcy in 2005 to being the de facto leader in the
airline industry today. Named CEO in May 2016,
Bastian is committed to growing the airline’s reliability and cus-
tomer-centric operations and expanding its global footprint,
while ensuring the security of passengers. – MAD
BRANDON BEACH
PRESIDENT & CEO
Greater North Fulton Chamber & North Fulton
Community Improvement District
STATE SENATOR
District 21
Alpharetta
Sen. Beach serves as chair of the Science and
Technology Committee and as secretary of the Transportation
Committee. As president of the North Fulton CID, he’s been in-
strumental in the creation of more than $90 million in new in-
frastructure in the area. He was an advocate for the recently
passed North Fulton T-SPLOST and supports expanding
MARTA into the area. – JH

MARK BECKER
PRESIDENT
Georgia State University
Atlanta
Becker’s commitment
to student success and
revitalization of down-
town has made Georgia
State one of America’s most diverse
universities. The newest capital addi-
tion: the Research Science Center for
biomedical research; last July, a Col-
lege of the Arts was added. GSU also
received the go-ahead to purchase
Turner Field for redevelopment as a
football stadium and mixed-use com-
plex. – BS
VANCE BELL
CHAIRMAN & CEO
Shaw Industries Group Inc.
Dalton
Bell has spent 11 years
at the helm of this floor-
covering giant that con-
tinues to grow with the
acquisition of USFloors this past De-
cember. Shaw, with annual sales of $4.8
billion and 14,000 associates in Georgia,
will also open a $24-million design cen-
ter this year in Cartersville and opened
an $85-million manufacturing facility in
Adairsville in December. – KK
CHARLIE BETHEL
JUDGE
Georgia Court of Appeals
Dalton
Bethel, a Republican,
served in the State Sen-
ate from District 54, be-
fore being named to the
Court of Appeals in November. As sen-
ator, he worked to pass legislation
supporting children and families, in-
creasing access to high-quality higher
education, reforming the criminal jus-
tice system, and supporting roads and
infrastructure designed to promote
economic growth. – JH
PAUL BOWERS
CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO
Georgia Power
Atlanta
Bowers praised the efforts of Georgia Power employees in restoring
service ahead of schedule to the 340,000+ people impacted by Hurricane
Matthew in October. Construction of Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4, the first
nuclear facilities in the U.S. in 30 years, continues although completion
has been pushed back to 2019 and 2020. – BS

KAREN BREMER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Georgia Restaurant Association
Atlanta
Bremer’s organization advocates for the
17,000 restaurants in Georgia that see more than
$18.9 billion in sales annually and employ more
than 400,000 people. The GRA partners with the
Department of Agriculture on the Georgia Grown Executive
Chef program to showcase the state’s local produce and meats
on restaurant menus. – CD
JON BURNS
MAJORITY LEADER
Newington
Burns, an agribusinessman, was elected to
the legislature from District 159 in 2004 and
elected majority leader in 2015. During the last
legislative session, he played a prominent role
as chair of the subcommittee that was the first stop for the
major transportation funding bill the government signed into
law. – CD
CAROL BURRELL
PRESIDENT & CEO
Northeast Georgia Health System
Gainesville
In 2016, Northeast Georgia Medical Center
was named eighth in the country for hospital
care, No. 1 in Georgia for overall hospital care
and No. 1 in heart health by independent health-
care quality rating services. In 2015, Burrell oversaw the open-
ing of the first new hospital in Georgia in nearly 20 years when
NGHS opened a facility in Braselton. – JH
MARK BUTLER
COMMISSIONER
Department of Labor
Carrollton
Butler is committed to creating valuable
workforce solutions for job seekers and busi-
nesses across the state. Under his leadership, the
GDOL launched Jobs for Georgia’s Graduates, a
pilot program to improve graduation rates for at-risk students.
He has also seen the unemployment rate in the state drop dur-
ing his tenure to less than 5 percent in August 2016. – BS
CASEY CAGLE
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
State of Georgia
Chestnut Mountain
Cagle, long a proponent of education reform,
recently released his first book, Education Un-
leashed. In it, he proposes replacing the one-size-
fits-all approach to public education with a new
system that would allow communities to design a system that
works for them. He’s a strong advocate for career academies,
which now number more than 35 across the state. – JH
CHRIS CARR
ATTORNEY GENERAL
State of Georgia
Dunwoody
In November, Carr became Georgia’s top law
enforcement officer. Formerly the state’s eco-
nomic development commissioner, Carr is now
tasked with enforcing state laws and investigat-
ing public corruption. As commissioner, Carr helped bring proj-
ects representing $14.1 billion in investment and 83,000 jobs to
the state, and his agency was recognized as the top economic
development agency in the country. – JH
MERIA CARSTARPHEN
SUPERINTENDENT
Atlanta Public Schools
Atlanta
Carstarphen has made vast improvements since
becoming superintendent in 2014, making sure any
new initiatives stay focused on the system’s 50,000
students. That means anything from working with
families to get kids to school on time and implementing a new so-
cial and emotional learning initiative to making the APS a charter
system this year, a move that delivers increased decision- making
power to schools, parents and teachers. –BS
C. MICHAEL CASSIDY
PRESIDENT & CEO
Georgia Research Alliance
Atlanta
Cassidy leads the nonprofit that helps Geor-
gia’s universities expand research and commer-
cialization capacity. Since 1990, GRA has lev-
eraged $600 million of state funding into more
than $4 billion of federal and private investment. He is also co-
founder of the GRA Venture Fund, created to finance promising
companies that emerge through the GRA’s commercialization
programs. – JH

CHRIS CLARK
PRESIDENT & CEO
Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Peachtree City
In 2016, Clark’s Georgia 2030 tour sought
input on important factors that will define the
state’s business climate in the next 10 to 15 years,
including the need for communities to recruit the
next generation of workers – millennials. Under his leadership,
Georgia has been named the No. 1 state for business for four
years by Site Selection magazine. – JH
DAVID CONNELL
PRESIDENT & CEO
Cobb Chamber of Commerce
Marietta
As the leader of one of the most influential
business advocacy organizations in Georgia,
Connell is focused on strengthening the econ-
omy and supporting Cobb’s 45,000-plus busi-
nesses. Cobb is booming, with new Class A office space under
construction, the upcoming opening of SunTrust Park and the
Atlanta United soccer team’s training facility also set to open
this year. – MAD
GRETCHEN CORBIN
COMMISSIONER
Technical College System of Georgia
Rome
Corbin is commissioner of a system of 22 col-
leges and 244,000 students that form the back-
bone of the state’s workforce development
operations through programs such as its growing
college and career academies and the much-lauded Quick Start.
In spring 2016, the Georgia Film Academy, a partnership be-
tween TCSG and the University System of Georgia, opened its
first soundstage at Pinewood Atlanta Studios. – LJ
HARDIE DAVIS
MAYOR
Augusta-Richmond County
Augusta
Davis, Augusta-Richmond County’s first
elected black mayor since the city and county
governments consolidated in 1996, has champi-
oned former President Barack Obama’s My
Brother’s Keeper initiative and launched a summer youth em-
ployment program. Davis also helped start the Power Lunch ini-
tiative to pair community leaders with students as reading
mentors and is on the African American Mayors Association’s
board of trustees. – LJ
CYNTHIA DAY
PRESIDENT & CEO
Citizens Trust Bank
Smyrna
Day joined Citizens Trust Bank, the largest
African-American owned bank in Georgia, in
2003 as executive vice president of management
services. Nine years later she assumed the posi-
tion of president and CEO. During her tenure the bank has
achieved record earnings levels and has grown through acqui-
sitions to an asset level of approximately $400 million. – MAD
NATHAN DEAL
GOVERNOR
State of Georgia
Demorest
Creating jobs, appointing judges, education
and Hurricane Matthew were priorities for Deal
in 2016. He vetoed House Bill 757, the “Reli-
gious Liberty” bill and signed Senate Bill 367, a
new phase of criminal justice reform. He advocated for the
Opportunity School District referendum, which did not pass.
It would have allowed the state to take over chronically fail-
ing schools. – BS
NANCY DENSON
MAYOR
Athens-Clarke County
Athens
As mayor, Denson has focused on reducing
the poverty rate, improving local schools and
creating a business-friendly government. During
her tenure, Athens has been named one of the
Top 17 Most Affordable Cities. Prior to her election as mayor,
Denson founded and served on the board of the Athens Emer-
gency Food Bank. – BS
KIT DUNLAP
PRESIDENT & CEO
Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce
Gainesville
In 2016, Dunlap and her team helped facilitate
25 new and expanded businesses in the area,
representing 900 jobs and $262 million in capital
investment. Those companies join the chamber’s
500 business and 2,500 individual members – 46 of those inter-
national companies representing 18 countries. – CD

JENNIFER FRUM
VICE PRESIDENT FOR PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH
Athens
Outreach is the name of the game for Frum,
who leads the PSO’s programs and initiatives,
which have a $587-million impact across Georgia
through everything from ensuring seafood safety
to assisting with downtown development to sponsoring leader-
ship programs. The first-ever certification program for eco-
nomic developers in Georgia launched in 2016 through the Carl
Vinson Institute of Government, a PSO unit. – LJ
LARRY GELLERSTEDT III
PRESIDENT & CEO
Cousins Properties
Atlanta
Gellerstedt’s company developed such famil-
iar Atlanta skyline landmarks as the Bank of
America Plaza and 191 Peachtree – which Cousins
sold last year. Also in 2016, Cousins completed a
$2-billion merger with Parkway Properties. Gellerstedt is also
active in the community, serving as chair of the Georgia Re-
search Alliance and as a trustee of the Robert W. Woodruff
Foundation. – CD
JERRY GONZALEZ
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials
Atlanta
For every election, Gonzalez galvanizes the
participation of the Latino community. Through
voter engagement efforts, the Latino electorate
has grown to well over 150,000 from a mere
10,000 in 2003. Gonzalez seeks to give the state’s Latino com-
munity a voice in political issues such as immigration reform
while training a new generation of leaders with the GALEO In-
stitute for Leadership. – CD
TODD GROCE
PRESIDENT & CEO
Georgia Historical Society
Savannah
Groce is responsible for guiding the premier
independent statewide institution charged with
collecting, examining and teaching Georgia his-
tory. Last spring, he led the society in celebrating
the publication of the 100th volume of the award-winning Geor-
gia Historical Quarterly. The organization, along with the Of-
fice of the Governor, also manages the annual Georgia Trustees
program, the highest honor the state bestows. – TO
TIM ECHOLS
MEMBER
Public Service Commission
Bogart
Last November, Republican Echols was re-
elected to his second six-year term on the state’s
Public Service Commission, which plays a role
in setting policy through its oversight of energy
companies operating in the state. A vocal advocate of renew-
able and clean energy, Echols hosts the annual Clean Energy
Roadshow public seminars around the state. – CS
TERRY ENGLAND
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
District 116
Auburn
England, whose legislative leadership has
helped Georgia maintain its AAA bond rating,
ran unopposed in November for a seventh term
representing District 116. In July, the Georgia
Academy of Family Physicians named him a 2016 Family Med-
icine Legislative Champion of the Year for his support of Geor-
gia health initiatives and stewardship as chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee. – TO
TOM FANNING
CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO
Southern Co.
Sandy Springs
Fanning became the leader of America’s sec-
ond largest utility in July when Southern Co. and
AGL Resources completed their merger, dou-
bling Southern’s customer base to 9 million. In
the fall, Fanning, chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta,
began leading a search committee to replace Atlanta Fed Pres-
ident Dennis Lockhart, who is stepping down in February. – TO
TOM FRIEDEN
DIRECTOR
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta
Frieden leads the top U.S. health institute re-
sponsible for meeting national and global public
health challenges, including HIV, antibiotic-re-
sistant bacteria and issues like blood pressure,
obesity and tobacco use. With the spread of Zika-carrying mos-
quitoes to the United States, Frieden has been an advocate for
Congress to provide funding to help protect pregnant women
from the disease. – TO

STEVE HENSON
MINORITY LEADER
Georgia Senate
Tucker
Henson, the Democratic leader in the state
Senate, ran unopposed in the November election
as he won an eighth term representing District
41. In the 2016 legislative session, Henson led
the Democrats in opposition to high-profile bills on religious
freedom and campus carry gun legislation. The bills passed
both chambers but were vetoed by Gov. Nathan Deal. – TO
DOUG HERTZ
PRESIDENT & CEO
United Distributors
Atlanta
The third generation to run his family’s busi-
ness, Hertz led an aggressive period of growth
and expansion making United Distributors the
largest beverage alcohol wholesaler in both
Georgia and Alabama. Hertz also founded Camp Twin Lakes for
children with serious illnesses and disabilities and is involved
in numerous philanthropic activities. – MAD
P. RUSSELL HARDIN
PRESIDENT
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation
Atlanta
Hardin continues to lead the largest founda-
tion in the state, with assets of $3.1 billion at the
end of 2015. The foundation, which awarded
nearly $143 million in grants in 2015, has a goal
of improving the quality of life in the state through investments
in health education, economic opportunity and community vi-
tality. – BS
JAIMIE HEBERT
PRESIDENT
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro
Hebert, former provost and vice president for
academic affairs at Sam Houston State University
in Texas, was named president of Georgia South-
ern University in July 2016. He joins at a key time,
with a record 20,673 full-time students this fall. The university,
which has a regional economic impact of $846 million, offers
125 bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degree programs. – LJ

JOHNNY ISAKSON
U.S. SENATE
Atlanta
Reelected U.S. senator in November, Isakson
chairs two committees: Veterans’ Affairs – Isak-
son is a veteran himself – and Ethics. He recently
released a discussion draft of legislation that in-
cludes bipartisan proposals to improve health
outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries living with multiple
chronic conditions. He’s also worked to increase access to men-
tal healthcare for veterans. – CD
JAN JONES
SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE
Milton
Jones, a Republican who represents District
47, helped create the city of Milton and in 2016
helped draft the transit expansion deal for Ful-
ton County that voters approved in November.
Jones, who was elected in 2003, serves on several committees,
including the House Appropriations, Education and Rules Com-
mittees. – LJ
STEVE JUSTICE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Georgia Centers of Innovation
Atlanta
Justice, an award-winning aerospace engi-
neer, was appointed to head the center in Sep-
tember. Previously, he was director of the
Center of Innovation for Aerospace. The Cen-
ters of Innovation, a division of the Georgia Department of
Economic Development, provides industry expertise to help
Georgia businesses grow and develop new products, services
and markets. – TO
DANIEL J. KAUFMAN
PRESIDENT & CEO
Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
Lawrenceville
Since 2013, Kaufman has served as president
and CEO of one of the largest suburban cham-
bers of commerce in one of the fastest-growing
and most diverse counties in the nation. The
chamber, with more than 2,000 members, helped recruit more
than 2,100 new jobs and had 21 project wins in 2015. – MAD
P. HARRIS HINES
CHIEF JUSTICE
Georgia Supreme Court
Marietta
Hines was elected chief justice of the State
Supreme Court in September 2016 and will as-
sume the position Jan. 6. During his 21-year
tenure on the Georgia court, Hines has served as
chair of the justice for children committee and vice chair of the
Georgia Judicial Council. As chief justice, Hines will chair the
judicial council. – BS
DOUG HOOKER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Atlanta Regional Commission
Atlanta
Hooker oversees the regional planning and in-
tergovernmental coordination agency for the 10-
county Metro Atlanta area. With 2.5 million
people expected to move to the region by 2040,
boosting the population to 8 million, the commission is prepar-
ing with its PLAN 2040, a comprehensive blueprint to sustain
the metro area’s livability and provide a framework for a thriv-
ing region. – CS
DONNA W. HYLAND
PRESIDENT & CEO
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Atlanta
In her 30-year-career with Children’s Health-
care of Atlanta, Hyland has overseen monumen-
tal growth that has resulted in making CHOA one
of the largest pediatric healthcare systems in the
country. It’s also one that is consistently ranked a Top Pediatric
Hospital by U.S. News & World Report and one of the 100 Best
Companies to Work For by Fortune magazine. – MAD
TIM HYNES
PRESIDENT
Clayton State University
Morrow
Under Hynes, CSU is having a profound im-
pact on the region, and with a new Strategic Plan
2022, that impact should continue to grow. The
university contributed $273.7 million to the local
economy in FY 2015. U.S. News & World Report ranked CSU
among the top 140 universities in the South for 2017. – TO

BROOKS KEEL
PRESIDENT, Augusta University
CEO, Augusta University Health
Augusta
Keel presides over a college of 8,500 students
and a health system that includes Augusta Uni-
versity Medical Center and the Children’s Hospi-
tal of Georgia. The university continues to bolster the
cybersecurity sector with its Cyber Institute, the 2016 Cyber
Georgia summit, where the CIA director and the deputy direc-
tor of the NSA spoke, and an agreement this fall with the NSA
to give soldiers and civilians taking NSA courses the ability to
apply those courses toward an AU degree. – JH
BRIAN KEMP
SECRETARY OF STATE
State of Georgia
Athens
As Georgia’s chief elections officer since
2010, Kemp has implemented several e-govern-
ment solutions for voters, including registering
to vote online; Georgia also offers one of the nation’s first mo-
bile voting information apps, GA Votes. Kemp was also instru-
mental in launching the SEC Primary last March – the largest
regional primary since 1992. – JH
MUHTAR KENT
CHAIRMAN & CEO
The Coca-Cola Company
Atlanta
Coke’s focus under Kent has been on women,
water and well-being, with a goal to empower 5
million women entrepreneurs by 2020. The
world’s largest beverage company is also focused on environmen-
tal issues, employee safety and economic development, giving
back more than $117 million in 2015 in more than 70 countries.
This May, Kent will step down as CEO after 9 years in the position;
he will continue as chairman of the board. –BS
ROSS KING
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ACCG
Fayetteville
Since 2010, King has headed the agency re-
sponsible for ensuring Georgia’s 159 counties
provide services that meet the health, safety and
welfare needs of their citizens. This year, he is in line to become
the president of the National Association of Counties. He is also
vice-chair of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Foundation. – TO

KYLE MARRERO
PRESIDENT
University of West Georgia
Carrollton
Marrero has led UWG since 2013, earning the
university Institution of the Year and President
of the Year honors from the University System
during his tenure. The university continues to
grow enrollment with 13,300 students; stature with a regional
impact of $518 million; and faculty and staff with more than
1,500 full- and part-time positions. – KK
TERRY MCGUIRK
CHAIRMAN & CEO
Atlanta Braves
Cobb County
McGuirk has overseen a year of the biggest
changes since the Braves moved to Atlanta in
1966. The most prominent is preparations to re-
locate the team from Turner Field, its home
since 1997, to SunTrust Park in Cobb County. The Battery At-
lanta, a $1-billion mixed-use development, will surround the
41,500-seat ballpark. Both will open this year. The team also
named a new manager for the 2017 season, Brian Snitker. – TO
RUSSELL MCMURRY
COMMISSIONER
Georgia Department of Transportation
Atlanta
McMurry had the honor of leading the DOT
in its centennial year. Created in August 1916 in
an era of rutted dirt roads, the agency oversees
the nation’s 10th largest paved road infrastruc-
ture and has an annual budget of more than $3 billion. McMurry
embraces change and is preparing the agency to meet the chal-
lenges of a not-too-distant transportation future that will in-
clude such technological innovations as drones, connected
vehicles and self-driving cars. – TO
CEASAR MITCHELL
PRESIDENT
Atlanta City Council
Atlanta
Mitchell serves as the seventh president of the
Atlanta City Council, where the Atlanta native
advocates for safer communities through spe-
cific initiatives, including police foot patrols. He
has championed key legislation facilitating economic revitaliza-
tion in underdeveloped areas and supported legislation for com-
munity input on the Atlanta BeltLine. Last June, he threw his hat
into the ring to run as the city’s next mayor. – JH
BILL LEAHY
PRESIDENT
AT&T Georgia & the Southeast
Atlanta
Appointed president in 2015, Leahy manages
and directs AT&T’s legislative, regulatory and
external affairs initiatives in nine southeastern
states. Earlier this year, he announced the AT&T
Fiber Ready designation, which helps local economic develop-
ment officials more effectively position their communities for
site selection by emphasizing the availability of high-speed,
fiber-based services. – JH
CRAIG LESSER
MANAGING PARTNER
Pendleton Consulting
Sandy Springs
While Georgia’s economic development com-
missioner from 2004 to 2007, Lesser helped at-
tract $8 billion in new investment and ex-
pansions that created more than 40,000 jobs.
Today, he is focused on economic development at the local,
state and international level, speaking on the topics around the
world. For his efforts, the Atlanta Regional Commission re-
cently presented him with the 2016 Harry West Visionary lead-
ership award. – MAD
GRIFFITH V. LYNCH
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Georgia Ports Authority
Savannah
Former GPA COO Lynch was named execu-
tive director in 2016. The state’s deepwater ports
and inland barge terminals contribute $20.4 bil-
lion in income, $84.1 billion in revenue and $2.3
billion in state and local taxes and support more than 369,000
jobs across Georgia. The Savannah port is the nation’s fastest-
growing and fourth-busiest container terminal. It will continue
on that trajectory with the $706-million Savannah Harbor Ex-
pansion Project, which will accommodate larger ships when
completed as early as 2020. – LJ
CHRIS MARKWOOD
PRESIDENT
Columbus State University
Columbus
Since Markwood took the helm of CSU in
June 2015, the first class of film certificate pro-
gram students graduated in partnership with the
Georgia Film Academy, and the school cele-
brated the re-opening of Pasaquan, a 7-acre art environment
that CSU helped rehabilitate. Last year, university researchers
also received CSU’s first-ever patent for a tool to train military
and emergency personnel. – CS

President Hebert is a strategic partner
in the progress of our city and in Statesboro being a finalist
in the America’s Best Communities competition
#BoroBlueMile
AERIAL PHOTO COURTESY OF STOUTHOUSE MEDIA
The City of Statesboro
and the
Statesboro Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
congratulate
Georgia Southern University
PRESIDENT JAIMIE HEBERT
on being named one of the
Top 100 Most Influential Georgians

CHARLOTTE NASH
CHAIR
Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners
Dacula
Nash has worked in county government
since the ’70s, serving as county finance direc-
tor and county administrator before being
elected chair in a 2011 special election. Top pri-
orities include preparing the county’s water and sewage for
future growth and soliciting citizen input on a multimodal
transportation system. – JH
LAMAR NORTON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Georgia Municipal Association
Atlanta
Norton leads a staff of more than 91 employ-
ees and a membership of 521 cities. The GMA
provides lobbying, training and technical serv-
ices to city officials across the state and is de-
veloping a series of workshops for city officials to provide
guidance on dealing with tense situations and hostile environ-
ments with the intention of strengthening the level of trust in
local government. – CD
SAM OLENS
PRESIDENT
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw
Olens, who previously served as Georgia’s at-
torney general, became president of KSU in No-
vember. While his appointment was met with
some controversy, he has said in his first months
as president that he intends to focus on improving the gradua-
tion rate, need-based scholarships and faculty support. Olens
also previously served as chair of the Cobb County Commission
and the Atlanta Regional Commission. – KK
KEITH PARKER
CEO, GENERAL MANAGER
MARTA
Atlanta
Since he took the helm in 2012, Parker has
turned around Atlanta’s once-beleaguered transit
authority. Now State Farm, NCR, Mercedes-Benz
and Kaiser Permanente are all relocating closer
to MARTA stations. In November, voters approved a half-penny
sales tax that will raise $2.5 billion over 40 years to fund major
improvements like new rail stations, bus routes and more fre-
quent service. Parker was also named one of Governing maga-
zine’s 2016 Public Officials of the Year. – CS
HALA MODDELMOG
PRESIDENT & CEO
Metro Atlanta Chamber
Atlanta
Moddelmog, who was hired as the Metro At-
lanta Chamber’s first female president in 2014,
oversaw the chamber’s move from its longtime
home near Centennial Olympic Park to its new
office at 191 Peachtree St. She continues to help Atlanta posi-
tion itself as one of the nation’s top destinations with the re-
gional ChooseATL initiative, which highlights the metro area’s
opportunities for career growth, its livability and its unique cul-
ture. – LJ
JERE W. MOREHEAD
PRESIDENT
Athens
In November, UGA launched a $1-billion
comprehensive capital campaign, the largest in
the school’s history. UGA also set a fundraising
record for the third consecutive year – also
Morehead’s third year as president – with $183.8 million, a
28 percent increase over the previous year. A Science Learn-
ing Center opened in 2016, and construction is underway on
the next phase of Terry College’s Business Learning Commu-
nity. – LJ
PAUL MORRIS
PRESIDENT & CEO
Atlanta BeltLine
Atlanta
Under Morris’ leadership, the Atlanta Belt-
Line is transforming the city with a combination
of rail, trail, greenspace, housing and art. The
BeltLine’s budget for the 2017 fiscal year was
approved with $2.2 million in funding for affordable housing.
The corridor also showcases artists and musicians, providing
a great way to explore Atlanta’s 22-mile loop of historic rail
lines. – BS
JEFF MULLIS
STATE SENATOR
District 53
Chickamauga
Mullis, who was first elected in 2000 to repre-
sent District 53, was the chairman of the Senate
Rules Committee in 2016 and also served on the
Appropriations, Economic Development and
Tourism, and Regulated Industries and Utilities committees. He
is a proponent for stopping illegal immigration and improving
Georgia’s schools. – LJ

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CALENDAR2017
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MARCHReserve by: January 23
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Materials by: March 28
• Most Respected Leader
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Our State:
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Our State:
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A special Georgia Trend publication (bound into the May issue of
Georgia Trend) + 20,000 to Small Business Development Centers
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ANNUAL
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Gas/Nuclear
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Our State:
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APRILReserve by: February 22
Materials by: February 28
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Our State:
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Path Locales
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Georgia Trend January 2017 Issue Cobb County Economic Development Community Profile

Georgia Trend January 2017 Issue Cobb County Economic Development Community Profile

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