ATL Next Celebrates Maynard Jackson's Legacy at 2019 Industry Day

Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport leadership honors Valerie Jackson and the legacy of her late husband Maynard H. Jackson Jr. at the 2019 ATL Next Industry Day. (From left) ATL General Manager John Selden, City of Atlanta COO Richard Cox, Valerie Jackson, ATL Business Diversity Officer Valerie Nesbitt, and ATL Deputy General Manager Greg Richardson.

Photo Courtesy of The City of Atlanta Aviation Department

ATL Next Celebrates Maynard Jackson's Legacy at 2019 Industry Day

The legacy of the late Atlanta Mayor Maynard L. Jackson Jr. is alive and well at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As one of the busiest airports in the world moves forward on a major capital improvement program called ATL Next, the airport is also ensuring that diverse firms owned by minorities and women are playing a significant role in the projects contained in the $6 billion program. The ATL Next program represents a variety of projects to modernize, expand and improve the airport in order to keep pace with anticipated passenger growth and to enhance passengers’ experiences at the airport.

Significant participation of diverse firms is the vision Jackson had for the airport during his three terms as mayor from 1974-1982 and 1990-1994. The airport experienced massive growth during this period as Atlanta solidified its position as the premier metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States. Jackson used his role as mayor to ensure that the airport – owned by the City of Atlanta – shared the economic opportunities created by improvements with all segments of the Atlanta community, especially minority-owned businesses.

His commitment to economic inclusion still sets the standard for metropolitan areas across the country for the role airport and municipal projects can play in developing thriving diverse firms and spreading opportunity to all members of a community. The airport used its third annual ATL Next Industry Day to commemorate Jackson’s legacy and diversity achievements. The daylong event promoted continued diverse business participation at the airport and shared current opportunities to do business with the airport. The inaugural Maynard H. Jackson Jr. Awards Luncheon was added to the event this year to recognize companies and leaders with a demonstrated commitment to inclusion.

“Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. was a courageous agent of change who used his platform as Atlanta’s first African American mayor to champion access for all Atlantans,” Airport General Manager John Selden said during the March 5 event at the Georgia International Convention Center. “Mayor Jackson wasn’t deterred by the unpopularity of his bold plan to change the way the city engages minority contractors. His decisions may have been unwelcomed at the time, but were necessary.”

ATL Next completed more than $400 million in projects in 2018 and plans to complete over $600 million in 2019. Projects making up the 2018 expenditures included: the North Canopy, Terminal A Modification, ATL West Parking Deck, Runway 9l Endaround Taxiway Phase 1, and the Sullivan Road Park & Ride Lot. Some of these projects will conclude in 2019, but other projects also kicking off in 2019 include: the Concourse T-North Extension/Enabling, Plane Train Tunnel West Extension, Runway 9L End-around Taxiway Phase 2, and other miscellaneous airside and landside projects. Industry Day participants received detailed information on these and other projects during breakout sessions throughout the day.

Airport representatives highlighted the success of ATL Next thus far and discussed upcoming projects for 2019 to provide the maximum opportunity for firms to get involved. One of the strategies used to engage potential diverse firms was offering industry roundtable sessions. The roundtable discussions paired diverse firms that have been successful in gaining airport contracts with firms trying to land an opportunity. Companies sharing their experiences in successfully working at the airport included H.J. Russell & Company and FS360.

“Some people think it is hard to come out to the airport and get work, or that the same people get the work,” Airport Diversity Manager Valerie Nesbitt said. “But it’s really about cracking the code to get an opportunity, so we wanted businesses that have cracked the code to share their experience through candid conversations about what worked and what didn’t work when they were trying to do work at the airport.”

The awards luncheon recognized four companies for their contributions to the ATL Next program since its inception in 2016. The companies range from JAT Consulting, a firm providing entrepreneurial training to small and diverse business owners and invoice compliance services, to the ATL Program Management Team, to a three-member joint venture team performing construction work at the airport. Award winners at the luncheon program were:

Category - Winner

Triumph Award - JAT Consulting Services Inc.

Pinnacle Award - Robert Kelly – Kelly Construction

Leadership Award - Doretha R. Smith – C.D. Moody Construction

Soar Award - Dunn Aviation Group, a Joint Venture of JE Dunn Construction, ENVIRO AgScience Inc., and Southeastern Engineering Inc.

Valerie Jackson, the former first lady of Atlanta and wife of the city’s late Mayor Maynard H. Jackson Jr. delivers a keynote address during the 2019 ATL Next Industry Day.

Photo courtesy of City of Atlanta Department of Aviation

The luncheon also highlighted success of the city’s Small Business Development Program, a partnership between the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation and the City’s Department of Watershed Management, with assistance from JAT Consulting Services. The program prepares and develops small-, minority-, and woman-owned businesses to compete with larger firms and broaden opportunities to do business in Atlanta. Nesbitt congratulated 40 businesses that completed the program. “The work that we do allows us to be a model for the rest of our county and even those throughout the world,” Nesbitt said. “ATL’s commitment to diversity and inclusion contributes greatly to our growth and energy, allowing us to be a driving force in the aviation industry.”

Mayor Jackson’s widow, former First Lady Valerie Jackson, gave the keynote speech at the luncheon and said it was a joy to celebrate the legacy and ATL’s growth as a result of Maynard’s vision. “I’m touched that his spirit of determination and equal opportunity continues to be one of your guidelines. Yes, Maynard was a visionary … but visions and words aren’t what build dreams. It’s the ‘laying on’ of hands that really brings a dream to fruition.”