Cobb Business Journal June 2017

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Home Depot has strong quarter, raises profit outlook Home Depot has found fertile ground this first quarter as the gardening season begins and Americans, while pulling back on spending elsewhere, appear more than ready to plow money into projects at home.

The home improvement retailer topped expectations for profit and revenue and it raised its profit outlook for the year, sending shares toward an all-time high last month.

Economic data released by the U.S. in May showed that Americans are spending a lot of money at places like hardware stores even as they cut down on budgets for clothing and other items.

The Commerce Department recently reported that new home construction fell for the second consecutive month in April, but that was led by a big drop in construction of apartments, a volatile sector.

New home construction has been a bright spot for the U.S. economy. With job growth expected to continue, economists believe homes sales will jump in coming months.

That economic data is playing out at the cash registers of Home Depot.

For the three months ending April 30, revenue climbed to $23.89 billion from $22.76 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research predicted revenue of $23.74 billion.

Sales at stores open at least a year jumped 5.5 percent worldwide, and 6 percent in the U.S. — from wire reports

Home Depot supervisor David Petersen stacks barbecue smokers at a Home Depot in Bellingham, Mass. / AP

SEE RELATED ARTICLE ON PAGE 4

Lockheed Martin shares soar

BY BILL HENDRICK

Share prices of Lockheed Martin stock hit an all-time high of $278.36 last month only days after a $110 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia was announced during President Trump’s recent visit to the Middle Eastern desert kingdom.

William Phelps, a spokesman for Bethesda, Md., based Lockheed Martin, said it was too soon to know the specific impact on Marietta’s sprawling plant, where C-130 transport planes are built, among other things.

But $28 billion of the $110 billion deal has been earmarked for Lockheed Martin weapons or weapons systems, such as helicopters.

He also said it was too soon to know whether the deal would mean increased employment for the Marietta location, or any other Lockheed facilities, though such a consequence is to be expected.

“It’s too early to speculate about the impact on specific programs,” Phelps said.

Saudi Arabia took delivery on two C-130 refueling tankers a few years ago. Officials said the deal could total up to $350 billion over the next decade. The deal, Phelps said, covers the sale of basically everything Lockheed offers to customers, including defense missile systems.

Cobb company merges to form largest independent insurance brokerage in state

BY JENNIFER HAFER Cobb-based Sterling Risk Advisors Inc. and Savannah-based Seacrest Partners Inc. are merging, and the new company will be the largest privately held, independent insurance brokerage in Georgia.

“One of the things that has always held insurance companies back is a lot of agencies are family-owned or owned by an institution that’s looking to maximize cash flow, but we want to create a platform for our teams to be successful in support of our customJohn Miller ers,” said Sterling President John Miller, who will serve as the chief executive officer of the combined company. “And to do that, and effectively continue to serve our customer base, we have to have more resources, so by combining the two firms together it allows us to bring more intellectual capital to the table for our clients.”

The new merged firm will employ nearly 160 insur-

ance agents and service team members with six offices in Atlanta, Savannah, Hilton Head, Columbus and Little Rock.

“We are thrilled to combine forces with Sterling Risk Advisors, a firm that shares our passion for a client-first approach and a deeply rooted commitment to the communities we serve,” said Seacrest Partners President David Paddison, who will also serve as president of the combined company.

“We both understand the importance of independent ownership and how it has fostered alignment between our employees, our clients and our David insurance carriers. This alignment Paddison of interest has been the cornerstone of our individual successes and will serve us well as we prepare to integrate our organizations.”

With both firms being founded around the same time more than a decade ago, Miller and Paddison were See State, Page 4

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IN THE MARKETPLACE Google aims to connect online ads to real-world sales Google already monitors your online shopping — but now it’s also keeping an eye on what you’re buying in real-world stores as part of its latest effort to sell more digital advertising.

The offline tracking scans most credit and debit card transactions to help Google automatically inform merchants when their digital ads translate into sales at a brick-and-mortar store.

Google believes the data will show a causeand-effect relationship between online ads

and offline sales. If it works, that could help persuade merchants to boost their digital marketing budgets.

GOOGLE WINDFALL The Mountain View, California, company already runs the world’s biggest online ad network, one that raked in $79 billion in revenue last year. That puts it in the best position to capture any additional marketing dollars spent on computers and mobile devices.

Google plans to unveil the store-sales mea-

surement tool last month in San Francisco at an annual conference it hosts for its advertisers.

The gathering gives Google a prime opportunity to woo advertisers — one that it surely welcomes, given that it’s still trying to overcome a marketing boycott of its YouTube video site. The boycott began two months ago over concerns that Google hadn’t prevented major brand advertising from appearing alongside extremist video clips promoting hate and violence.

Google is also introducing several other

features designed to help merchants drive more traffic to their physical stores and to gain a better understanding on how digital ads appearing across a variety of devices are affecting their sales.

SMARTER AD TRACKING Most of the new analytics twists draw upon Google’s inroads in “machine learning” — a way of “training” computers to behave more like humans — to interpret the data. Google’s search engine and Chrome web browser are a rich source of data about people’s interests and online activities that it can feed into machine-learning systems.

In the case of the store sales measure tool, Google’s computers are connecting the dots between what people look at after clicking on an online ad and then what they purchase with their credit and debit cards.

For instance, if someone searching for a pair of running shoes online clicked on an ad from a sporting goods store but didn’t buy anything, an advertiser might initially conclude that the ad was a waste of money. But Google says its new tool will now be able to tell if the same person bought the shoes a few days later at one of the advertiser’s brickand-mortar stores.

DIGITAL DOSSIERS Google says it has access to roughly 70 percent of U.S. credit and debit card transactions through partnerships with other companies that track that data.

That means Google still won’t be able to document every purchase made using plastic — and it still has no way of knowing when people buy something with cash.

The digital dossiers that Google has compiled on the more than one billion people who use its search engine and other services, including Gmail, YouTube and Android, worry privacy watchdogs.

Google gives its users the option to limit the company’s tracking and control what types of ads they are shown.

Google says its computers can collect identifying data triggered by online clicks and match it with other identifying information compiled by merchants and the issuers of credit and debit cards to figure out when a digital ad contributes to an offline purchase.

Shoppers remain anonymous, meaning they aren’t identified by their names, according to Google.

And the company says it doesn’t share any of its anonymized information with its advertisers; instead, it targets ads at individuals who fit demographic profiles sought by advertisers.

— from wire reports

2 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

IN THE MARKETPLACE

TIMELINE Dan Garcia, president of C.W. Matthews, holds a plaque given to him by the Georgia Department of Transportation to commemorate the work his company did to rebuild a portion of Interstate 85 in northeast Atlanta, which was destroyed in March by a fire. / Special to the MDJ-Courtesy of C.W. Matthews

ROAD MASTERS I-85 bridge contractor started out in Marietta with 4 men, 2 trucks, tractor

BY ROSS WILLIAMS C.W. Matthews, the main contractor responsible for repairing the I-85 bridge, is headquartered in Marietta.

Even if you haven’t driven over the newly repaired bridge, odds are good you’ve driven over something C.W. Matthews has built. As the largest roadbuilder in the state of Georgia, C.W. Matthews has resurfaced most major freeways in Georgia.

“It’d be next to impossible to drive around Atlanta and not drive on something we’ve worked on,” said Daniel Garcia, company president. “Even if you’ve flown through Atlanta, odds are you’ve experienced something C.W. Matthews has built or repaired.”

That’s because the company has worked with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for years, including the construction of the airport’s fifth runway in 2002, the largest public works project to date undertaken in Georgia, according to the company website.

C.W. Matthews now has 12,000 employees, but when it started in 1946, it was just four men, two dump trucks and one tractor. The company’s namesake, C.W. Matthews, started Marietta Construction Company with three partners. Originally, the plan was to provide grading services for farm ponds.

In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which authorized the construction of tens of thousands of miles of highway across the United States.

Garcia said Matthews saw an opportunity to get into the asphalt business.

“It was the development of the road system in the United States that drove us toward the asphalt,” he said.

“You had the building of the highways that started the whole interstate system — that was the whole driver.”

That turns out to have been a good business decision.

Since then, C.W. Matthews has placed more tons of asphalt on Georgia roads than any other company and has developed a network of asphalt plants throughout the state.

Garcia said the company’s experience and engineering expertise helped them complete the construction of the I-85 bridge, which was destroyed in a fire in March, ahead of schedule.

“On the concrete that was utilized, there were some additives utilized to speed the process and gain strength, so instead of having to wait somewhere around 14 days, we were able to get strength within three days,” Garcia said.

He said they were called by the Georgia Department of Transportation within 30 minutes of the collapse. He believes C.W. Matthews was chosen because they were working on another project nearby and because they had done similar bridge work in the past.

Garcia said there are a lot of people to thank for the work getting done so quickly.

“First and foremost, it’s working together with the DOT,” he said. “They were critical in getting the plans to us to begin within three days of the fire. Of course the weather was a big factor, we had great weather during the whole event but I would say mainly it was due to the employees and their hard work and sacrifice.”

Garcia said C.W. Matthews is currently working on 30 to 40 projects as far south as Dooly County west to Columbus, up I-75 to the Tennessee state line and up I-85 to the South Carolina line.

1946 C.W. Matthews returns from WWII and starts

pond grading business

1954 Company becomes C.W. Matthews 1957 Enters asphalt manufacturing 1967 Son Bob Matthews joins as president; North Carolina and Florida office established; Enters asphalt and heavy construction; Midfield terminal expansion at Hartsfield International Airport; MARTA rail system work 1988 Grandson Charles Matthews joins the company;

$1 billion expansion of Atlanta’s freeway system; Strategic acquisition and construction of additional plants

1990s Helped prepare Atlanta for the Olympic Games 2000 Site remediation for Atlantic Station; 17th Street

Bridge

2001 GDOT called on CWM for emergency repairs to restore bridge at I-285 over 400 that shut down both corridors 2002 5th runway at Hartsfield International Airport 2005 After a distinguishing career, Bill Hammack, the

Chief Operating Officer becomes president; Began major GDOT work under governor’s Fast Forward Program

2006 Formal launch of internal mentoring program;

Purchased Georgia operations of APAC-Southeast

2008 Began construction of Liquid Asphalt Terminal in

Rockmart, Georgia

2014 Bill Hammack, CWM’s President and Chief Operating Officer, retired after a career of over 43 years with the company.

2015 Daniel Garcia appointed president CWM, and

Michael Bell appointed president of Matsco Inc. Charles Matthews and Matt Burton are appointed to the Executive Operating Committee.

2017 Repair Interstate 85 bridge after fire causes collapse; finished ahead of schedule.

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 3

IN THE MARKETPLACE Landscape companies prepare for their busiest season

BY JENNIFER HAFER Spring has sprung and landscape and lawn maintenance crews can be found in almost every neighborhood planting, mowing and trimming manicured yards.

But when the forces working against you sometimes include Mother Nature herself, it can be a tough business to succeed in.

According to the July 2016, IBIS World market report, the landscape services industry has annual revenues of $78 billion, annual growth of 3.9 percent, employs 969,257 people and represents 474,237 businesses.

For Parks Kennerly, owner of Nature’s Supply Centre in Mableton, there has been plenty of sweat and tears over the last 12 years, but the former “desk jockey” says he is living his dream as

an entrepreneur.

“I make half my money for the year from March to June,” Kennerly said.

“Gross is down a little bit this year, so we’re going into the slow time without as much hay in the barn and that’s a concern.”

In a previous life, Kennerly was a middle manager for a number of years in the corporate telecommunications sector.

After being laid off following a merger, he took a chance on a dot com that went bust.

With a family to feed, he joined a friend’s landscaping business.

“I ran his crew for awhile,” he said.

“In landscaping, you struggle with the weather and finding good help. To make a good living at landscaping you’ve got to duplicate yourself and find someone who will treat that yard like you would and

that’s hard to find.”

When his friend wanted to change direction and start a pond-building, hardscapes business, Kennerly went along. As part of a cost-saving measure, the new company began buying landscaping supplies in bulk and stockpiling.

The remnants of that business would become Nature’s Supply Centre.

“We sell gravel, granite, aggregate, decorative gravel, shredded mulches, pine straw, flagstone for patios and walkways and fieldstone for walls. No man-made stuff; our products are all natural.”

Though he’s no longer cutting grass, Kennerly’s business is susceptible to the same challenges as the crews maintaining yards, and while he admits it can be stressful, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

STATE From 1 aware of each other’s business and progress over the years and had developed a mutual admiration for one another. That admiration turned to talks of a merger about four or five years ago with conversations about “Does this make sense?” Paddison recalled.

“Those conversations became more serious over the last two years, and for the last year and a half we’ve been talking seriously about the possibilities,” he said. “So, this is not a kind of whimsical random occurrence; this is two companies that have been building their own brands and their own product offerings then by some strange magical twist of fate we’ve come to the same place where it makes sense to get this thing together and become more of a force in the marketplace.”

Miller estimates the combined firm will generate about $33 million in revenue annually. The merger will officially take effect on July 1.

“We don’t just look to sell policies, we want to help our customers identify opportunities for growth and use insurance as a vehicle to support that growth,” Miller said. “The best mergers are those that start with friendship, and I would characterize this merger as one that began with a friendship.

Make no mistake that we as a shareholder group want to be successful both in building relationships, as well as financially, but we want to do that by putting clients’ interest first and by doing so the rising tide will raise all ships, so that everyone associated with our firm benefits by the growth of the firm.”

Ground was broken on Tuesday for Aviation Park, a flight-themed park that will be located at the corner of Barrett Lakes Boulevard and Cobb Place Boulevard, next to the end of the Cobb County International Airport’s runway in Kennesaw. / Special to the MDJ

Town Center CID projects Aviation Park to open in 2018 Those looking for park space to enjoy in and around the Town Center area could have a new place to land next spring.

Officials with the Town Center Community Improvement District were joined by Cobb County leaders at a formal groundbreaking ceremony in May for Aviation Park, a flight-themed park that will be located at the corner of Barrett Lakes Boulevard and Cobb Place Boulevard, next to the end of the Cobb County International Airport’s runway in Kennesaw. The ceremony was moved from the site of the

4 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

park to one of the airport’s hangars due to the threat of inclement weather.

The $2 million, 3-acre park is the first effort of its kind for the Town Center CID, as the organization is undertaking the entirety of its planning, design, construction and funding. Construction is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2018.

“We expect Aviation Park to have a significant impact on the quality of life in Town Center,” CID Executive Director Tracy Rathbone said in a news release last month.

“While the district has historically been a primarily commercial area, its character is evolving into a well-rounded community.”

Rathbone said the park will be a place where people will want to spend their down time. It is expected to feature a flightthemed playground, covered picnic pavilion, integrated historical information and art display, parking lot and restrooms.

The park will also remain the site of a docking station for the Zagster Town Center Bike Share Program that was added in November 2015.

— from staff reports

IN THE MARKETPLACE

Hosack named county manager

Chamber program geared toward retirees

BY MARY KATE MCGOWAN

BY JON GARGIS Rob Hosack officially became Cobb’s county manager last month after commissioners’ voted 5-0 to approve his contract.

Hosack had been serving as interim county manager since May 1.

“It’s not often you get a chance to come back and work with such a fantastic group of folks. I feel really blessed just to get this opportunity,” Hosack told the CBJ before the meeting, alluding to his nearly three decades of experience with the county.

Hankerson had been contracted to continue as the county manager through January 2018, but previously said his decision to retire was based on his desire to maintain some job offers that have Rob Hosack come his way.

Under the terms of the approved contract, Hosack will be paid $210,000 per year, retroactive to his May 1 start date, with the contract running until Dec. 31, 2019.

Hankerson’s annual salary was $276,172 when he left the county in April after more than 24 years as county manager, though his time with Cobb spanned more than three decades. He began working for the county in 1984, serving as manager or director in several departments before being appointed county manager.

Hosack’s contract is set to push his experience with the county past the 30-year mark. He was hired by the county in 1986 and rose through the ranks to become community development director, a role in which he served for 15 years. He retired in August 2015 and went on to head Cumberland-based Strategic City Partners, a consulting firm focusing on real estate, planning and government.

“It was fun running my own business, but being able to come back and be part of all the neat things Cobb County has going right now, it’s a great opportunity that not many people get,” Hosack said, who added that not much had changed since he left, with one exception being the arrival of Mike Boyce as county chairman.

“I’ve known Chairman Boyce for a long time, respected him a long time, so I just look forward to working with him and the rest of the board, but that’s probably the biggest change,” he added.

Hosack said his first priority as county manager has been on ensuring a successful launch of Cobb’s pay and class initiative for employees. He said he spent “a good part of last week” working alongside human resources, department and agency heads as they listened to employees appealing their salary amounts.

The appeals come after commissioners back in February approved the implementation of a county employee pay plan that increased salaries of about 1,800 full-time employees and about 460 part-time employees, totaling about 45 percent of the county’s workforce. An appeal period was opened after the pay plan was approved to allow employees who disagreed with their salary increases, or lack thereof, to dispute their salaries.

The plan was the result of recommendations made by the Archer Group, which in August presented the results of its $326,420 study that examined about 4,200 full-time and 760 part-time employees across county government and about 580 different job classifications to determine if pay grades and job classifications were equitable within the county and competitive compared to other governments.

In other business, commissioners approved a $7.9 million change order with Shea-Traylor Joint Venture related to the South Cobb Tunnel Project, which was completed a few years ago.

Originally budgeted at $305 million, the project was aimed at transporting wastewater from the Sweetwater basin on the southwestern side of the county, across Interstate 20, to the south Cobb treatment plant on the Chattahoochee River on the southeastern side of Cobb — a span of about 29,000 feet, or nearly 5.5 miles. The project also included intake stations where sewer water was directed into the main tunnel, which sits 200 to 400 feet below ground.

A new Cobb Chamber of Commerce program will help retirees move from rocking chairs on their front porches to seats on a nonprofit’s board of directors.

The chamber and the Cobb Community Foundation are partnering to develop a program called “Leadership Engaged.”

The program Emily Lembeck will act as a matchmaker between retired Cobb residents who are at least 50 years old and nonprofits in search of new people to serve on their board of directors, said Spencer Gelernter, an east Cobb psychologist who will serve as the chair of the program’s board of directors.

“Maybe they’re retired physicians or retired attorneys,” he said, adding that other participants could also be new to Cobb County.

Former Marietta City Schools Superintendent Emily Lembeck is coming out of her retirement to help other retirees look for new purposes.

“When you look at what this can do and provide meaningful existence to Spencer retirees as well Gelernter as to support our nonprofits, I think this can be a tremendous win-win,” she said.

Lembeck retired in December after serving as superintendent for more than 11 years. Her tradition of excellence will help successfully launch the program, said David

Connell, president and CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.

“With her on our team, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll achieve the objectives that we’re going after,” he said.

HOW IT WORKS

In the program, participants will learn about Cobb County and how nonprofits work during a 10-week course while meeting with various nonprofits. Participants will be matched with a nonprofit to serve on its board at the end of the program, Gelernter said.

People will be able to apply to participate in the program and list their interests, such as youth, education, economic development or health issues, he said.

There will be multiple classes a year, and each class will total about 15 people, he said. The first class is scheduled to start this September.

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 5

IN THE MARKETPLACE

County approves $500K home development in S. Cobb Fifty-five homes priced above $500,000 were quickly given unanimous approval by Cobb commissioners last month.

Of those 55 homes, 48 are planned for a 23.1-acre property on Pebblebrook Lane, just off Pebblebrook Road and nearly a mile northeast of U.S. 78 in the southern portion of Cobb. Loyd Development Services plans to offer single-family homes of 2,200 to 4,000 square feet and more at prices of $500,000 to $600,000.

Attorney Garvis Sams previously said the proposed prices would put the homes in line with those found in

the nearby Vinings Estates and Vinings Springs neighborhoods.

At the meeting, Sams said Loyd Development could begin construction on the homes this summer after closing on the property and going through the plan review process.

Also given the green light was Duncan Land Investments’ application to allow for seven homes on 3.3 acres on Blackwell Road, just south of Shallowford Road in northeast Cobb. The homes would be at least 2,800 square feet and would be priced at $500,000 to $600,000, according to zoning documents.

Both applications were approved as part of the commissioners’ consent

6 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

agenda — cases that are considered without discussion.

A zoning request to make way for seven half-million-dollar homes on 2.5 acres on the north side of Shallowford Road and east of Lassiter Road was continued by commissioners and could be voted upon at commissioners’ June 20 zoning meeting. The vote on RSDC1 LLC’s proposal was delayed as the applicant continues to work on the neighborhood’s final site plan.

Plans for the development call for homes of at least 2,500 square feet in size with anticipated selling prices starting in the high $500,000s, according to zoning documents.

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IN THE MARKETPLACE Georgia ports chief predicts record growth in fiscal 2017 Georgia’s seaports in Savannah and Brunswick are on track to show record growth for the 2017 fiscal year that wraps up at the end of June, the chief executive of the Georgia Ports Authority said recently.

Total cargo moving through the two ports is expected to top the nearly 32 million tons of imports and exports Georgia saw in fiscal 2015, the ports’ busiest year ever, said Griff Lynch, the authority’s executive director. He also predicted the Port of Savannah should surpass the record 3.6 million container units it saw two years ago.

The big numbers Georgia ports posted in 2015 resulted from a temporary surge in business when labor woes on the West Coast caused shippers to divert much of their cargo to ports on the East Coast. Lynch said business during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, has raced ahead without the extra help.

“What we have going on here is just true, organic growth,” Lynch said during the port authority’s monthly board meeting last month. “We’re heading toward a record for the year if May and June come in with solid numbers.”

He credited larger ships carrying heavier loads arriving via the Panama Canal, which completed a major expansion last summer.

Increases in both imports and exports indicate a healthier economy is also fueling growth, Lynch said.

For the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, total cargo tonnage handled by the Savannah and Brunswick ports is up 7.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

Most of the growth has come from increased traffic in containers, big metal boxes used to ship goods from consumer electronics to frozen chickens. Savannah, the fourth-busiest U.S. container port, has already handled a whopping 3.16 million container units since July 1. Savannah surpassed 3 million containers in a single year for the first time in fiscal 2014.

The latest numbers don’t include the boost Savannah saw from the COSCO Development, the largest cargo ship ever to visit the U.S. East Coast. Dock workers loaded and unloaded 5,500 total containers of imports and exports using six cranes alongside the giant ship after its arrival May 11.

-from wire reports

Georgia utility regulators approve solar facility near base Georgia regulators have approved a solar power facility’s construction near a military base in the state.

The Georgia Public Service Commission announced the decision in May. The facility proposed by Georgia Power will be built just outside Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins. The utility company is leasing the land and will operate the solar facility, providing power to the military base and other customers.

Georgia Power expects the facility to begin operating on Dec. 1, 2019, and says it will include more than 500,000 solar panels making it the company’s largest solar project. Construction is expected to start in 2018.

-from wire reports

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 7

IN THE MARKETPLACE WellStar Douglas Hospital gives economic boost to area

BY TOM SPIGOLON WellStar Douglas Hospital helps bring hundreds of millions of dollars to that county’s economy, a recent study showed.

The Douglasville hospital generated more than $261 million for the West Georgia economy, a Georgia Hospital Association report stated.

Hospital president Craig Owens said in a news release the hospital has a major impact on the county’s quality of life.

“WellStar Douglas Hospital is an integral part of the health and well-being of our community,” Owens said.

“As a not-for-profit, we put the patient first by providing high quality health care wherever we are needed.”

WellStar employs 853 at its Douglas Hospital, in addition to physicians and providers in medical offices around the county, company officials said.

The hospital operates on Hospital Drive in Douglasville and includes 108 patient beds.

The annual hospital association report measured the impact of health systems and individual hospitals based on payroll and payroll taxes, employee benefits, facility expenditures and community benefit.

It stated all Georgia hospitals provided nearly $47.8 billion in impact to the state’s economy. WellStar’s 11 hospitals accounted for nearly 10 percent of that total at

$4.6 billion, a WellStar spokesperson said.

The first Douglas Hospital opened on Fairburn Road in 1948. Cobb General Hospital acquired Douglas Hospital in 1992, and both became part of what is now WellStar the following year.

The hospital in 2014 added 46,000 square feet of new space and renovated 5,000 square feet of existing space to add 16 intensive care unit rooms and nine acute rehabilitation unit rooms to the hospital’s emergency department.

WellStar leases the Douglas hospital from the Hospital Authority of Douglas County, which oversees the lease, according to information on the company’s web site.

The Hospital Authority of Douglas County is independent from WellStar, and board members are appointed by both the county commission and authority. Members include Kathy Barnes, Billy Mayhew, Tom Nicholson Jr., Gary Miller, Rickey Roland, Mal B. Rowell and Harry Sparks.

Douglas Hospital Inc. was organized in 1992 and leases WellStar Douglas Hospital from the Hospital Authority of Douglas County. It is a wholly-owned and nonprofit subsidiary of WellStar which “operates for the benefit and purposes” of the hospital authority, the company’s web site stated.

In April 2016, six hospitals and their affiliated physician networks joined WellStar Health System to make it the largest health system in Georgia and among the

CBJ

Cobb Business Journal

largest in the nation. It now operates 11 hospitals in Douglasville, Hiram, Austell, Roswell, Griffin, Jackson, Marietta, midtown Atlanta, East Point and LaGrange, and at WellStar Kennestone Regional Medical Center, anchored by WellStar Kennestone Hospital, in Marietta.

The health system also consists of WellStar Medical Group, which includes 240 medical office locations, outpatient centers, health parks, a pediatric center, nursing centers, hospice and homecare.

As a nonprofit community health system, WellStar reinvests revenue into new services, programs, facilities and technology, a news release stated. This includes $7 million in community programs, new facilities such as the Vinings Health Park scheduled to open later this year, and the continued rollout of advanced electronic health record technology, the release stated.

Additionally, WellStar provided $427 million in unreimbursed and charity care to Georgians unable to pay, officials said.

“Georgia hospitals are making a positive difference in people’s lives, both at the bedside and in their communities economically,” said GHA President and CEO Earl Rogers. “In communities throughout the state, hospitals are among the largest employers and are a key component of the infrastructure necessary to attract business to those areas.”

For more information on the GHA report and WellStar, visit www.gha.org and www.wellstar.org.

CBJ

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Contact Wade Stephens at 770-795-4001 for advertising information 8 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

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IN THE MARKETPLACE Fields out at Ford; new CEO Hackett known for turnarounds Ford is replacing CEO Mark Fields as it struggles to keep its traditional auto-manufacturing business running smoothly while remaking itself as a nimble, hightech provider of new mobility services.

The 114-year-old automaker said Fields is retiring at age 56 after 28 years at the company.

Fields will be replaced by Jim Hackett, a former CEO of office furniture company Steelcase Inc. who joined Ford's board in 2013.

Hackett has led Ford's mobility unit since March of last year.

In a press conference in May at Ford's Dearborn headquarters, Hackett said Ford does a lot of things well, but is not as good at handling complex strategy questions. Hackett plans to have a small executive team that can set the company's plans, communicate them clearly and make decisions quickly. That's a contrast to Fields, who had 20 direct reports and was a product of Ford's bureaucratic culture.

"The biggest challenge I had (at Steelcase), and I will have

here, is to have everybody see the future. They can see their opportunity in that. And secondly, that it's our right to win and we don't have to cede that to anybody, Tesla or any of them," Hackett said.

"I love that challenge because I know how to do that."

In three years as CEO, Fields began Ford's transition from a traditional automaker into a "mobility" company, laying out plans to build autonomous vehicles and explore new services such as ride-hailing and car-sharing.

Silicon Valley companies such as Google were pushing into the car business, while Uber and Lyft threatened to change people's attitudes toward car ownership. In fact, it was Fields who put Hackett in charge of those projects as head of mobility.

Under Fields, Ford achieved a record pretax profit of $10.8 billion in 2015 as SUV and truck sales soared in the U.S. But there were rumblings that Fields wasn't focused enough on Ford's core business. Popular products like the Fusion sedan and Escape

SUV grew dated. Ford lagged behind rivals in bringing longrange electric cars to the market.

Ford couldn't pivot quickly; when subcompact SUV sales boomed in the U.S., for example, it didn't bring over a small SUV being sold in other regions. The stock price sagged — electric car maker Tesla Inc. even passed Ford in market value earlier this year.

Ford's shares jumped nearly 2 percent to $11.06 in morning trading. The company's stock price has fallen almost 40 percent since Fields became CEO in July 2014.

Hackett was the CEO of Steelcase for 20 years. He is credited with transforming that company, in part by predicting the shift away from cubicles and into open office plans. He cut thousands of jobs and moved furniture production from the U.S. to Mexico to stem massive losses at the company.

In an interview, Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford called Hackett a "visionary" who knows how to remake a business.

New Ford CEO Jim Hackett.

"These are really unparalleled times, and it really requires transformational leadership during these times," Bill Ford said.

Hackett also served as the interim athletic director at the University of Michigan from 2014 to 2016. In that role, he lured star football coach Jim Harbaugh.

Bill Ford insisted that Fields wasn't fired. He called Fields "an outstanding leader" who orchestrated the company's turnaround a decade ago when he was head of Ford's Americas division.

"He and I sat down (last month) and really decided this was the right time for him to go and for us to have new leadership," Bill Ford said.

Fields resurrected Ford's luxury Lincoln brand and grew sales in China. His bet on using aluminum for Ford's trucks paid off in terms of better fuel economy and strong sales. Fields opened an office in Silicon Valley to hire talented young researchers and scout out promising startups.

But investors worried about Ford's sliding U.S. market share and product decisions. U.S. sales are plateauing after years of growth, and Ford has been losing share in that all-important market.

Unprofitable small cars have chipped away at some of the profit from SUVs. And in the electric car market, General Motors put the Chevrolet Bolt, with 238 miles of range, on sale last year; Ford is working on an electric SUV with 300 miles of range, but it's not due out until 2020.

-from wire reports

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 9

NEWS AND NOTEWORTHY Fifth Third Bank names new vice president Fifth Third Bank, which has locations in the Marietta and Kennesaw areas, has hired Carolyn Des Islets as vice president and Business Banking Relationship manager.

Des Islets will be focused on providing cash management, working Carolyn capital and Des Islets lending options for businesses with revenues between $1 and $25 million. These include manufacturers, distributors, medical, legal, service and not-for -profit companies.

She will be based at Fifth Third’s Gwinnett Regional Hub in Lawrenceville.

— from staff reports

Educators First names new director of public relations Educators First is pleased to announce the addition of Rosemary Vaughan, Ed.D., to the position of Director of Public Relations for Educators First. Dr. Vaughan has been involved with other programs at Educators First such as political affairs, advocacy and the Speakers Bureau. In her new position, Vaughan will be responsible for community affairs and outreach, as well as press and media relations. She will also serve on the implementation committee for House Bill 338 as the Educators First representative.

Vaughan has 31 years of experience in the field of education.

Her training includes an M.Ed. from Mercer University and a doctorate in Education from Nova University with dual concentrations in Educational and Instructional Leadership. During her career, she has worked as a classroom teacher, instructional coach for teacher professional development, and as a district leader. Vaughan was instrumental in collaborating with the development of the Teacher Evaluation instrument, district and state instructional reform, and working with the lowest-achieving schools and School Improvement Teams associated with the Georgia Department of Education.

— from staff reports

Dansby Swanson surprises mother during Braves’ Teacher Appreciation Week

BY MARY KATE MCGOWAN The Atlanta Braves’ Teacher Appreciation Week means more to one Brave.

As a student at Marietta High School, Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson said he would head over to West Side Elementary School in the afternoons to see his mother, Nancy Swanson, in action in the classroom.

Last month, Dansby Swanson, now a Major League Baseball player, once again surprised his mother, a special needs paraprofessional at West Side Elementary, to help her celebrate the Braves’ Teacher Appreciation Week.

Nancy Swanson was rushed through West Side Elementary’s hallways carrying a half-eaten turkey sandwich because she was told she was needed in the media center.

When she walked into the media center, a fifthgrade class she works with held up red Atlanta

Braves’ foam tomahawks and yelled, “Happy Teacher Appreciation Day,” stunning her.

Dansby Swanson then snuck across West Side’s media center with flowers in hand to surprise his mother.

Completely surprised, she told the audience she saw a FOX Sports truck in the school’s parking lot, but “I didn’t even think about it,” she gushed.

Nancy Swanson said it was good to see her “baby boy,” who she has not seen for about two weeks. She and her husband, Cooter Swanson, live in Marietta, which is just down the road from SunTrust Park, but her son’s “grueling schedule” restricts how much time they can spend together, she told the fifth-grade class.

“I work late nights,” Dansby Swanson, a member of the Marietta High School Class of 2012, explained to the students.

After the fifth-grade students returned to class, Dansby Swanson

Local builder opens new subdivision Acworth-based Pinnacle Homes of the South announced the opening of their newest subdivision in Cobb County — Ambrose Lake in Acworth, which consists of 29 exclusive lots that includes a roughly four-acre private lake.

The neighborhood represents the builder’s newest products and plans with homes ranging between the $450s and $650s.

All floor plans feature the master bedroom on the main floor and two of the plans have all living on the main level with one room upstairs. Most homes will offer a basement and many will have direct walk out access to the private lake.

The neighborhood also has threeacres of wooded area with a winding trail around the lake. There are two docks on the lake for use by all homeowners.

Expected completion of the neighborhood is 2018.

For more information, email Dwayne Edde at Dwayne.Edde@gmail.com or visit www.AmbroseLake.com.

10 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

— from staff reports

said he has seen his mother help children and how hard she works “with all the patience you have to have.

“She definitely does a lot,” he said.

Nancy Swanson, a mother of three children, said it is difficult but rewarding to be a teacher, and she feels successful “if I can instill a few little things in the kids.”

The Swansons remained in the media center to catch up as members of the Braves staff surprised West Side’s Teacher of the Year, music teacher Lydia Grant.

Grant said it has been “awesome” being recognized and rewarded for her teaching success throughout this school year. While there have been surprises sprinkled throughout the year, she said the surprise with the Braves was the biggest so far.

“This is crazy,” Grant yelled over the roar of her students cheering and playing with Braves foam tomahawks.

Westside Elementary School 5th grade teacher Nancy Swanson arrives at her school media center on her day off to be surprised for Teacher Appreciation Week by her son Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson.

She had not seen him in two weeks. / Staff-Kelly J. Huff Throughout the week, the Atlanta Braves are celebrated Cobb and Marietta teachers. A few players surprised teachers at several Cobb

and Marietta schools, and teachers participated in special nights and bought discounted tickets at the week’s Braves games.

Chow King refurbishes site, offers grill and buffet dining Owners and officials cut the ribbon on the new Chow King Grill & Buffet restaurant in Smyrna.

“The investment here in our community is quite large, approaching $2 million.

That’s very important to our community, plus the jobs that have been created,” said David Connell, president and CEO of Cobb Chamber of Commerce, who emceed the ceremony.

New to the Promenade shopping center, the Asian restaurant is just across Cobb Parkway from SunTrust Park. The buffet restaurant seats 500-plus and offers private party rooms.

The menu focuses on classic Asian food, fresh sushi and a cook-to-order hibachi bar, where patrons select their meats, seafood and vegetables and watch the sushi and hibachi chefs create the meals. Different entrees are served on different days, and Chow King changes its menu every two weeks.

In addition to the Asian cuisine, the restaurant also offers an American-style salad bar and kid-friendly meals, including chicken tenders and pizza. The Hong Kong Noodle Soup made from an original fami-

ly recipe is considered the specialty of the house. All food is prepared fresh daily.

Chow King owner Yun Da Chen invested almost $2 million in refurbishing the restaurant.

The Smyrna location is the 26th restaurant for the Chen family, who came to the U.S. from China and opened their first restaurant 20 years ago in Tifton. The Chens’ locations now stretch from Macon to Pensacola to Panama City to Valdosta.

The interior of the Cobb restaurant features a glass ceiling, life-sized terra cotta soldiers standing watch in the front entry and a collection of unique Asian style vases.

Among the dignitaries speaking at the ribbon-utting were Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, Smyrna city council members Ron Fennel and Susan Wilkinson, Smyrna Police Chief David Lee, Col. Marty Hughes of nearby Dobbins Air Reserve Base and Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling.

The restaurant is at 2400 Cobb Parkway near the Best Buy. Info: 470-308-3333 or chowkingcobb.com.

— from staff reports

NEWS AND NOTEWORTHY Revive Consignment celebrates 10th anniversary Revive Consignment, which has a Smyrna location, announced that it is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The company first opened its doors in 2007 at 9425 Georgia 92, Suite 136 in Woodstock. In 2014, it opened its Smyrna location at 2514 Cobb Parkway.

Revive Consignment will have a celebration event on June 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Smyrna location and another on June 3 at the Woodstock location. There will be live music, free food and drinks, discounts throughout the store, kid’s activities and a $100 Revive gift card raffle at each location.

For more information, visit reviveconsingment.com.

— from staff reports

FirstBank announces scholarship recipients FirstBank Mortgage has awarded $1,000 scholarships to 62 families as part of the Next Generation Mortgage Scholarship program.

In all, $62,000 was awarded to families across Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

The 2016 Marietta winner is Edward Thomas.

Customers who closed a mortgage loan from FirstBank Mortgage in 2016 were automatically

entered in a random drawing for a $1,000 scholarship for a child, stepchild, adopted child or foster child living at home. FirstBank Mortgage loan officers drew one name for every 50 loans they closed.

“FirstBank Mortgage is proud to continue this tradition of giving back to our customers and promoting the importance of higher education,” said Wib Evans, president of FirstBank

Ventures. “We believe it is important to invest in our communities and the next generation of leaders.”

This year’s scholarship program is open to qualifying FirstBank Mortgage customers who close a mortgage between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2017. They will be entered into the following year’s drawing.

— from staff reports

The Color Spot, Inc. announces its Cobb Education Initiative The Color Spot, Inc. announced its 2017 youth and education company initiative in support of the Cobb Chamber “The Partners in Education Program.” TCS has committed to give each of the 125 public schools in Cobb County and the city of Marietta $1,000 in program printing services.

These services include some of TCS’ most popular service offerings such as posters, yard signs and banners. The schools will be able to select the items that best fulfill their needs up to the $1,000 allocation for their facility. The effort is intended to offset out-ofpocket expenses incurred by schools throughout the year to promote events and functions, thus freeing up funds for other needs.

The CCPIE is a joint effort of the Cobb Chamber, the Cobb County Public School System and the Marietta Public School System that matches businesses with schools to provide extra funding, unique services and volunteer support.

For more information on The Color Spot, visit www. tcs.ink.

— from staff reports

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 11

12 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

NEWS AND NOTEWORTHY AAA: $2 gas could return this summer Georgia gas prices are falling at a steady rate of 0.5- to one-cent a day, according to AAA. That downward trend is likely to continue and deliver big discounts at the pump, based on major swings in the fuel markets.

Garrett Townsend, Georgia Public Affairs director for AAA club The Auto Club Group, said a lack of confidence in crude oil has led to a downturn in prices.

Meanwhile, production cuts in parts of the Middle East have been offset by increased oil production in the U.S., Canada, Nigeria and Libya.

“The wholesale gasoline market is getting hammered this week, due to nearly record-high refinery operations and demand levels that were weaker than expected,” Townsend said. “Wholesale gasoline prices finished (in May) down 20-percent from the highs seen in April. These falling rack prices will continue delivering steady discounts at the pump, and the state average should push down into the $2.15’s in the next week or two. If current wholesale and spot prices stick around, motorists could start seeing various Georgia service stations selling gasoline at $2 or less a gallon by the summer.”

Late last month, Georgia gas prices averaged $2.23, according to data provided by AAA. Since peaking at $2.28 in April, the state averaged has declined for 18 consecutive days for a total discount of five-cents during that time.

The Georgia average remains four cents more than this time last year. Gas prices on May 5 averaged $2.19 in 2016, $2.50 in 2015 and $3.67 in 2014.

The most expensive metro markets are Savannah at $2.27 and Valdosta and Atlanta, both at $2.24.

The least expensive metro markets are Augusta at $2.16, Macon at $2.19 and Athens at $2.23.

Daily national, state, and metro gas price averages can be found at Gasprices.aaa.com.

The Auto Club Group is the second largest AAA club in North America. ACG and its affiliates provide membership, insurance, financial services and travel offerings to over nine million members across 11 states and two U.S. territories.

— from staff reports

Mike Boyce touts south Cobb’s ‘good things’

BY JON GARGIS Though county Chairman Mike Boyce said he believes south Cobb has many positive features, he hesitates to call this part of the county “south Cobb.”

“I don’t use the word ‘south Cobb,’ because I don’t believe those things help south Cobb — that’s a narrative we have to change. It’s just Cobb County,” Boyce said. “You happen to live in the southern part, but it’s Cobb County.”

Boyce was the featured speaker at a meeting last month of the South Cobb Business Association luncheon, held at Presbyterian Village in Austell.

Cobb Chairman Mike Boyce holds up a list of 18 “good things” or He centered his talk on the positive features and happenings in the southern portion of Cobb “good things” going on in the County during his address to the South Cobb Business Association southern portion of the county last month. Boyce said the list, which he began making Wednesday and its communities, working morning ahead of his talk, stopped at 18 as he ran out of room on from a list of 18 such items he his paper. / Staff-Jon Gargis came up with — a number he said he stopped at just because said commissioners are eyeCobb voters approved a $40 he ran out of room on his sheet ing south Cobb properties for million bond back in November of paper.

2008; the bonds were never From the county government purchase as future county green space, but said he could not yet issued by then-county Chairman side, Boyce said the Cobb Dereveal what properties were Sam Olens due to a tanking partment of Transportation has being considered. economy and a tax increase he $58.2 million in infrastructure Commissioners in the comsaid would come as a result of projects in the area out of 2011 ing weeks are expected to dethe bonds’ issuance. County Special Purpose Local Option officials say that the full $40 Sales Tax proceeds, million amount could not be with $30.8 million issued today due to the language in parks projects of the bond referendum. coming from the same You guys speak for yourselves.

Beyond the county governSPLOST. The area You would not be here ment, Boyce said residents and had seen almost the unless you thought this was worth businesses benefit from the same amount already your time. You would not invest efforts of groups like the Macome out of the 2016 in this community unless you thought bleton Improvement Coalition, SPLOST fund — Austell Task Force, Powder there would be a return. $55.2 million in transSprings Task Force and others portation projects — Mike Boyce, that “carry the message of their and $26.1 million in Cobb Chairman communities forward.” parks-related ones.

“These are amazing people “That adds up to almost $170 cide how to spend proceeds of nearly $27.4 million in bonds to who get paid nothing to do great million of your taxpayer money purchase land. The county last things for their communities,” that goes into projects down month issued the bonds, nearly he said. here,” he said. nine years after two-thirds of One of the last features he As for future parks, Boyce

“

mentioned was the organization who had hosted him — the South Cobb Business Association.

“You guys speak for yourselves. You would not be here unless you thought this was worth your time. You would not invest in this community unless you thought there would be a return,” Boyce said. “This is just what I came up with today about what’s great about your community. You need to go out there and say that same story.”

Monica Delancy, a south Cobb resident and parent resource specialist for Cobb County Schools, says she believes Boyce has played a part in creating the area’s story.

“Though he’s only been the chairman for a couple of months, he’s been a part of the community (at least) since I’ve been here,” said Delancy, who has spent nearly a decade in south Cobb. “It didn’t take him long for him to jump in and get some things moving, and I believe that’s what’s helping, that he’s been entrenched in the community prior to taking the position.”

Dr. Richard Block, SCBA president, said that he appreciated Boyce’s message that all of Cobb County is one, but was glad to see him recognize all the advancements and developments in south Cobb for those in attendance of the organization’s 200-plus members.

“What I liked about the message that Chairman Boyce was talking about was that we work together to make this part of the county feel that they’re all a part of the rest of the county,” he said, “that we become regional instead of just an area.”

19 local Mohawk manufacturing sites recognized for excellence in safety Mohawk Industries, 1755 The Exchange in the Cumberland area, announced that its commitment to world-class safety has been validated by two of its external partners — Georgia Association of Manufacturers and Liberty Mutual.

A statewide trade association that represents all of Georgia’s manufacturing businesses, GAM presented Mohawk more awards than any other company during its annual safety conference held earlier this spring in Atlanta. The association was started in 1900 and currently works on behalf of all Georgia manufacturers to enhance their

competitiveness in a global marketplace.

Liberty Mutual, one of Mohawk’s largest insurance providers, recently recognized 59 of the company’s manufacturing and logistics facilities across the U.S. for excellence in safety. The silver and gold awards are based on the sites’ days away, restricted or transferred ratings. The Safety Commendation Award is presented to facilities with a DART rating at least 50 percent better than Bureau of Labor standards.

“We appreciate the recognition from GAM and Liberty Mutual, two organizations that truly understand the impact world-class

safety standards have on our business and everyone who works at Mohawk,” said Terry Craft, corporate safety director. “It’s important to us that our people leave work each day and return home to their families the same way they came in. We are exceptionally proud of the teams at each of these facilities and their ongoing commitment to safety in all aspects of the manufacturing process.”

For more information, visit mohawk careers.com.

— from staff reports

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 13

OPINION What the American Health Care Act would mean for employers The American Healthcare Act was passed by current $2,600 annual limit. the previous year. To protect individuals who may have the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4, Part and parcel with this adjustment, Health temporarily lost coverage due to a job change or an 2017. When the bill was introduced publicly Savings Account contributions are also exadministrative issue, “continuous coverage” is defined prior to its passage, I thought I ought to read panded effective Jan. 1, 2018 such that annual as coverage over the previous 12 months without an it. Doing so proved to be much easier than contributions could be up to the dollar amount intervening gap in excess of 63 days. the task of reading the Affordable Care Act of the plans out-of-pocket limit.

The proposed legislation does not make reference to had been in 2010 given that, at 123 pages, the The legislation further indicates that, effecthe employer reporting requirements under the ACA AHCA is about 2,600 pages shorter than the tive Jan. 1, 2018, over-the-counter medications given that the reconciliation process being used by David ACA. can, once again, be paid for using FSA, HSA, Republicans to advance the legislation in such a way Bottoms That said, despite its brevity, there remains and HRA account funds. to avoid a filibuster by Democrats in the Senate does a good deal of confusion regarding what the Importantly, the proposed law does not make not extend to the scope required for administrative AHCA actually would mean for individuals, changes to some of the more popular elements adjustments of that sort. Nonetheless, the removal of businesses, and, in general, the state of health care in of the ACA. This specifically means that dependents the employer and the individual mandate penalties the United States should it manage to exceed expecwould be able to remain on their parent’s plans until makes reporting significantly less important, espetations and emerge from the Senate unscathed and be the age of 26 and, despite reports to the contrary from cially in 2020 when the ACA’s cost sharing subsidies signed into law. various media would be phased out in favor of the While I can’t pretend to assess the full impact of a outlets, the AHCA’s refundable tax credits for bill which has a scope touching every American, most requirement purchase of individual coverage.

For starters, the core enforcement businesses and a health care sector that comprises that insurers To that end, many speculate that, roughly 20 percent of the national economy, I will offer coverage mechanisms within the ACA, the individual mandate at a minimum, employer reporting endeavor to lay out the key factual elements within the without the requirements will likely be streamand the employer mandate penalties, are dialed lined under administrative direcAHCA that pertain directly to employers and are likely imposition of to impact the 50 percent of Americans who presently pre-existing down to $0 retroactively to January 1, 2016. This tion from the Secretaries of the receive their health care coverage through an employer condition Department of Health & Human means that any large employer who had been provided health care plan. limits would Services, Internal Revenue Service required under the ACA to provide “affordable” and and Department of Labor.

For starters, the core enforcement mechanisms withremain intact. in the ACA, the individual mandate and the employer In order All in all, the American Health“minimum essential” coverage and had failed to mandate penalties, are dialed down to $0 retroactively to reassure care Act would likely have nomido so would be off the hook for ACA’s significant nal impact on the employer based to Jan. 1, 2016. This means that any large employthe health tax penalties. Likewise, any individual who had health care market and that is by er who had been required under the ACA to provide insurance “affordable” and “minimum essential” coverage and markets that failed to purchase coverage would also avoid the tax design as the employer market is had failed to do so would be off the hook for ACA’s the removal of a relatively healthy portion of the penalties that would have been otherwise assessed. American health insurance sector. significant tax penalties. Likewise, any individual who the individual had failed to purchase coverage would also avoid the and employer That said, as the bill has moved to — David Bottoms tax penalties that would have been otherwise assessed. mandate will the Senate, expect to see a number Additionally, the ACA’s “Cadillac Tax” which was not result in mass defections from the insurance risk of changes to the House bill which will warrant the slated to impose a 40 percent excise tax on high-cost pool, the law aims to encourage continuous coverage recalibration of assumptions and strategies. health plans is delayed until Jan. 1, 2025. through the imposition of a 30 percent surcharge, Effective Jan. 1, 2018, ACA’s imposed limits on beginning in the 2019 plan year, for individuals and Flexible Spending Account limits are removed. This employees working for small employers who sign up David Bottoms is senior vice president of The Botmeans that employers who wish to do so could infor coverage without being able to demonstrate that toms Group and a principal of TBX Benefit Partners. crease the maximum amount well in excess of the they have had continuous health care coverage during

“

SMART Goals – What’s the Big Deal?

A checklist for success The idea of making goals S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound) has been around since the early 1980s. Applying the SMART checklist to your goals allows you to measure results and see if you actually achieved your objective. While the concept of constructing goals that meet this checklist is not new, the art of Kim constructing SMART Ellet goals often remains elusive.

Many people struggle with the first element: Specific. When tasked with writing goals, for example, I often see

clients craft a broad-reaching goal like: “to increase sales.”

This is certainly an important idea, but not nearly specific enough. It’s important to be detailed and remain focused on the desired outcome. A SMART goal may look something like: “to increase sales revenue from the 30339 zip code by 12 percent over last year.”

Focusing on the 30339 market segment is very specific. It will be easy to measure and to build a sales plan around this goal by focusing on business in this specific area.

Next, make sure your goal

14 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

is Measurable. If you cannot measure it, how will you know if you’ve been successful? In the above SMART example the goal is measurable by naming an exact growth percentage of 12 percent. In a health and wellness example, a client says he is going to increase his intake of fruits and vegetables. A more measurable and effective goal may be to commit to eating a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, depending on current consumption.

A SMART goal is Attainable.

It’s important to stretch yourself when creating goals so achieving them makes a big difference in your business and your life.

It’s also important to set goals

that have some possibility of realization. Nothing stifles motivation like setting an unrealistic goal. For example, setting a goal of losing 2-3 pounds per week is much more attainable than losing 10 pounds in a week.

Relevant — The goal needs to have some relevance for your organization or you personally.

Ask yourself if this goal moves you closer to achieving your overall vision; is it in alignment with your values and your purpose?

Time-bound — Similar to making sure your goal is measurable, it’s vital to include a timeframe for completion.

The time-bound element helps direct focus and instills a sense

of urgency. There is also an opportunity to build in milestone evaluations when the timeframe of the overall plan is outlined.

Incorporate the SMART goals checklist into your regular reflecting, thinking and planning time as you work ON your business and not just in it. The concept of making goals SMART is simple to understand yet isn’t always easy to integrate.

Using the SMART goals checklist will help keep you focused on achieving your desired results and help you know when you have succeeded.

Kim Ellet, The Growth Coach of Metro Atlanta http://thegrowthcoachatl.com/

O P I N I O N A N D A N A LYS I S Special tax strategy for company stock could save significant tax dollars Traditionally, most retiring ciation in the stock above the puremployees roll their 401(k) assets chase price. For example, say you into an IRA rollover have $400,000 of your account to continue the company’s stock in your tax-deferred growth and plan that you only paid avoid immediate taxation. $50,000 for. You have an IRA assets are eligible NUA of $350,000. The for withdrawal without unrealized appreciation penalty after age 59½, is the difference between with distributions taxed at your cost basis and the ordinary income tax rates. value of the shares at the William G. Generally, it rarely makes distribution date.

Lako, Jr. sense to take a cash distriWhen you leave the bution from your 401(k). company or retire, special However, one strong NUA rules allow you to exception to that is when you hold receive the company stock — and highly appreciated company stock. only the company stock — from Net unrealized appreciation, your 401(k) as a distribution. The occurs when an employer allows lump sum distribution of the coman employee to purchase and hold pany stock can then be transferred company stock in a qualified plan, to a brokerage account. You will such as a 401(k), employee stock owe ordinary income tax only on ownership plan, or other qualified the cost basis of the shares, not retirement plan and there is apprethe fully appreciated market value

of your company stock. All other assets held in the 401(k) plan must be rolled over into an IRA to avoid ordinary income taxes.

In the above instance, you would pay ordinary income tax rates on $50,000 — not $400,000.

The NUA of $350,000 is taxed at long-term capital gains rates when you sell the securities, no matter how long you’ve held the securities outside of the plan. Currently, for most taxpayers, long-term capital gains are 15 percent federal plus 6 percent for Georgia state taxes.

Any price increase above the NUA becomes subject to normal capital gains rules when you sell shares.

Remember, you’ve already paid tax on the $50,000 cost basis, so you won’t pay tax on that amount again when you sell the stock.

If you rolled over your company stock into an IRA, you would

be taxed at your ordinary income tax rate, which can be as high as 39.6 percent federal and 6 percent Georgia, when you take distributions from the IRA. Furthermore, assets held in an IRA or left in a 401(k) plan will, after age 70½, be subject to required minimum distributions, which are subject to ordinary income tax rates.

There are many considerations to work through before you will know if this is the right strategy.

First, consider if you would be subject to early withdrawal penalties. NUA bypasses the typical early withdrawal rules; however, the cost basis portion is subject to the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty. Second, your 401(k) plan must allow for this type of distribution. A thorough tax analysis may be helpful to determine what your tax liability would be today,

compared to estimated future tax costs. Always be aware, tax laws and rates are subject to change.

This could be one of the most valuable strategies available to retiring employees; however, it is also one of the most underused tax rules because of its complexity.

Before pursuing this option, it is important to plan ahead and seek advice from a qualified tax adviser.

William G. Lako, Jr., CFP®, is an Executive in Residence at Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business and a principal at Henssler Financial and a co-host on Atlanta’s longest running, most respected financial talk radio show “Money Talks” airing Saturdays at 10 a.m. on AM 920 The Answer. Mr. Lako is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 15

IN THE MARKETPLACE

How data is transforming the music industry Fifteen years ago, Steve Jobs introduced the iPod. Since then, most music fans have understood this has radically changed how they listen to music.

Less understood are the ways that raw information — accumulated via downloads, apps and online searches — is influencing not only what songs are marketed and sold, but which songs become hits.

Decisions about how to market and sell music, to some extent, still hinge upon subjective assumptions about what sounds good to an executive, or which artists might be easier to market. Increasingly, however, businesses are turning to big data and the analytics that can help turn this information into actions.

Big data is a term that reflects the amount of information people generate — and it’s a lot. Some estimate that today, humans generate more information in one minute than in every moment from the earliest historical record through 2000.

Unsurprisingly, harnessing this data has shaped the music industry in radical new ways.

WHEN IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE CHARTS In the 20th century, decisions about how to market and sell music were based upon assumptions about who would buy it or how they would hear it.

At times, purely subjective assumptions would guide major decisions. Some producers, like Phil Spector and Don Kirshner, earned reputations for their “golden ears” — their ability to intuit what people would want to listen to before they heard it. (If you aren’t aware of the SNL parody of this phenomenon, take a second to see “More Cowbell.”) Eventually, record companies incorporated more market-based objective information through focus groups, along with sheet music and record sales.

But the gold standard of information in the music industry became the “charts,” which track the comparative success of one recording against others.

Music charts have typically combined two pieces of information: what people are listening to (radio, jukeboxes and, today, streaming) and what records they’re buying.

Charts like the Billboard Hot 100 measure the exposure of a recording. If a song is in the first position on a list of pop songs, the presumption is that it’s the most popular — the most-played song on the radio, or the most-purchased in record stores. In the 1920s through the 1950s, when record charts began to appear in Billboard, they were compiled from sales information provided by select shops where records were sold. The number of times a recording played on the radio began to be incorporated into the charts in the 1950s.

While charts attempt to be objective, they don’t always capture musical tastes and listening habits. For example, in the 1950s, artists started appearing on multiple charts presumed to be distinct. When Chuck Berry made a recording of “Maybellene” that simultaneously appeared in the country and western, rhythm and blues, and pop charts, it upended certain assumptions that undergirded the music industry — specifically, that the marketplace was as segregated as the United States. Simply put, the industry assumed that pop and country were Caucasian, while R&B was African-American. Recordings like “Maybellene” and other “crossover” hits signaled that subjective tastes weren’t being accurately measured.

In the 1990s, chart information incorporated better data, with charts automatically being tracked via scans at record stores. Once sales data began to be accumulated across all stores using Nielsen Soundscan, some larger assumptions about what people were listening to were challenged. The best-selling recordings in the early 1990s were often country and hip-hop records, even though America’s radio stations during the 1980s had tended to privilege classic rock.

Record charts are constantly evolving. Billboard magazine has the longest-running series of charts evaluating different genres and styles of music, and so it makes a good standard for comparison. Yet new technology has made this system a bit problematic. For example, data generated from Pandora weren’t added to the Billboard charts until January of this year.

THE END OF GENRE? Today, companies are trying to make decisions relying on as few assumptions as possible. Whereas in the past, the industry relied primarily on sales and how often a songs were played on the radio, they can now see what specific songs people are listening to, where they

18 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

are hearing it and how they are consuming it.

On a daily basis, people generate 2.5 exabytes of data, which is the equivalent to 250,000 times all of the books in the Library of Congress. Obviously, not all of this data is useful to the music industry. But analytical software can utilize some of it to help the music industry understand the market.

The Musical Genome, the algorithm behind Pandora, sifts through 450 pieces of information about the sound of a recording. For example, a song might feature the drums as being one of the loudest components of the sound, compared to other features of the recording. That measurement is a piece of data that can be incorporated into the larger model.

Pandora uses these data to help listeners find music that is similar in sound to what they have enjoyed in the past.

This approach upends the 20th century assumptions of genre. For example, a genre such as classic rock can become monolithic and exclusionary. Subjective decisions about what is and isn’t “rock” have historically been sexist and racist.

With Pandora, the sound of a recording becomes much more influential. Genre is only one of 450 pieces of information that’s being used to classify a song, so if it sounds like 75 percent of rock songs, then it likely counts as rock.

Meanwhile, Shazam began as an idea that turned sound into data. The smartphone app takes an acoustic fingerprint of song’s sound to reveal the artist, song title and album title of the recording. When

a user holds his phone toward a speaker playing a recording, he quickly learns what he is hearing.

The listening habits of Shazam’s 120 million active users can be viewed in real time, by geographic location. The music industry now can learn how many people, when they heard a particular song, wanted to know the name of the singer and artist. It gives real-time data that can shape decisions about how — and to whom — songs are marketed, using the preferences of the listeners. Derek Thompson, a journalist who has examined data’s affects on the music industry, has suggested that Shazam has shifted the power of deciding hits from the industry to the wisdom of a crowd.

The idea of converting a recording’s sound into data has also led to a different way of interpreting this information.

If we know the “sound” of past hits — the interaction between melody, rhythm, harmony, timbre and lyrics — is it possible to predict what the next big hit will be? Companies like Music Intelligence Solutions, Inc., with its software Uplaya, will compare a new recording to older recordings to predict success.

The University of Antwerp in Belgium conducted a study on dance songs to create a model that had a 70 percent likelihood of predicting a hit.

Of course, YouTube might tend to cluster songs by genre in its search algorithm, but it’s increasingly clear that the paradigms that have defined genres are less applicable now than ever before.

- from wire reports

IN THE MARKETPLACE Mystery firm seeks $50M bond for jet

BY RICKY LEROUX A private entertainment and production company has asked the county’s development authority to sign off on a $50 million bond issuance to help the company refinance the purchase of a private, 70-passenger jet.

The Development Authority of Cobb County voted to approve an inducement resolution on the bond at its meeting last month. The resolution is an official acknowledgment that the development authority is open to the proposal; a final bond resolution would also need approval by the authority before the $50 million can be issued.

What is the name of the company seeking the bonds? That information is not being made public yet, so a code name is being used to talk about the proposal, according to Nelson Geter, executive director of the Cobb Development Authority.

The company’s name will be made public at the Development Authority’s next meeting, Geter said, when the board will vote on the final bond resolution. Also at that meeting, the results of a fiscal impact study of the proposal to be conducted by Georgia Tech will be presented.

The entertainment company wants to use most of the funds to refinance the jet, but also plans to spend some of the money to upgrade a hangar at Cobb County International Airport-McCollum Field, where the jet and two others could be housed, according to Andrew Egan, an attorney at the firm Kutak Rock who represented the company.

“All three planes, for security and operational reasons, need to be all in the same hangar,” Egan said.

“And so that’s really where the company is trying to figure out where to use — what to use as its home hangar, be it in Cobb, be it elsewhere. And the revenue bond financing is an important part of that calculus for the company. …

The $50 million would be to essentially refinance the acquisition and to help finance the installation of the aircraft here in Cobb.”

Egan said the company already houses the two smaller planes at McCollum, which has a hangar that could hold all three after some modifications to accommodate the largest plane.

The company is also seeking a tax abatement on the plane, meaning it would be added to the tax rolls gradually over 10 years, Geter said.

Celebrating 46th anniversary, family-run Traton Homes looks forward to next decades At a recent event to celebrate its 46th anniversary with distinguished guests and top producing Atlanta-area REALTORS®, Traton Homes, Cobb County’s premier new home builder, reflected on the company’s past decades of success — and focused on many new opportunities ahead.

“We built just five homes in our first year when we started Traton Homes almost half a century ago,” says Bill Poston, who co-founded Traton Homes with his brother, Milburn Poston, in 1971. “Since then, we have completed nearly ten thousand single family homes and townhomes, mainly throughout the greater Atlanta area.”

Traton has successfully weathered a number of volatile periods in the homebuilding industry, and has proven its ability to stand the test of time through judicious management — and a strong belief in the ‘golden rule.’

“This has always been a family-run business, and we treat our homebuyers, our employees and our suppliers like family — the way we want to be treated,” says Milburn Poston.

“From a management point of view, our company’s hallmark is its relative conservatism,” notes Bill Poston. “Our risk tolerance level ensured we carefully managed our growth — which allowed us to navigate through the tough times. Thanks to our outstanding team of long-term employees, and thanks to our loyal and continuously growing family of homeowners, we continue to be very optimistic about Traton’s future.”

Over the years, Traton’s business model has

From left, Chris Poston, Clif Poston, Bill Poston and Milburn Poston. / Special to the CBJ evolved. In addition to building homes, Traton also develops parcels throughout a number of metro Atlanta counties. Traton plans to open three additional communities this year in its home county of Cobb including a new townhome community near Marietta Square.

Georgia state Sen. Lindsey Tippins and Cobb County Manager Rob Hosack were among Traton’s guests at the Marietta Country Club. In addition, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, who, like the Poston family, has played a major role in Cobb County’s stunning growth, congratulated Traton on 46 years of homebuilding excellence in a personal letter stating: “This

is a wonderful milestone for Traton Homes, which has set the standard for excellence, and I appreciate your leadership in the building industry.”

“Each Traton home exemplifies our legacy of sound construction, superior service and outstanding value,” says Clif Poston, Traton’s Executive Vice President. “While we are focusing a bright future, that legacy is one thing that will not change. That is our promise, now and when our company meets the half-century mark.”

— Staff reports

Despite discord, Powder Springs will spend $2 million on downtown

BY ROSS WILLIAMS Powder Springs has approved an intergovernmental agreement to allocate $2 million to its downtown development authority. The agreement came after some intergovernmental disagreement between current and former city officials.

Half of the money will come from the city’s water and sewer fund, to be paid back over 10 years.

The other $1 million will come from the capital projects fund.

Mayor Al Thurman said the city is borrowing from the water and sewer fund because residents did not want the city to take on bonds, dip into its six-month reserve or increase taxes.

At issue was how much control the City Council would have over the authority’s spending decisions.

MAYORS AT ODDS Former Mayor Pat Vaughn introduced the discussion during the citizen comment portion of Powder Spring’s City Council meeting last month.

“Did I misunderstand it, and if so please correct me, when it

said the downtown development authority would make the decisions and have the authority to hire a third person?” Vaughn asked Thurman. “Is that correct? Is that with the council’s approval?”

Thurman said the authority is no different than other authorities within the city’s purview.

“Are you familiar with the (Development Authority of Powder Springs)? It works the same way,” Thurman said. “You being mayor, I’m sure you know how that works.

We don’t have oversight over what authorities do.”

Thurman said the authority has more freedom to negotiate prices than the City Council has.

“The council is not going to micromanage the (downtown development authority),” Thurman said. “That’s what you’re asking.

No, we are not going to do that.

They are a constitutional authority just like DAPS. We are not going to micromanage them. The council’s job is to pass policy and procedure. We’re not in the real estate business, but the DDA is.”

Vaughn did not seem convinced.

“What I’m hearing you say is

the council that the citizens elected to represent us will not be involved in the spending of this $2 million,” she said.

“I’m not going to play word games with you,” Thurman said. “I think I was very specific.”

Powder Springs economic development director Stephanie Aylworth said the authority has special powers and privileges granted by the state constitution. She said it is one of six constitutional downtown development authorities in Georgia. She said the members have all undergone state training and that the intergovernmental agreement lays out a process by which the City Council will be kept up to date on the authority’s work.

“They will do that through me as the liaison to the downtown development authority,” Aylworth said. “I will report to council as the different projects are coming about, I will go directly to council and report on that.”

Some in the audience said they were concerned the authority would pay more to acquire new property than the city would.

Thurman said he considered that an insult.

“I chair the DDA,” he said. “It’s an insult to me to say I’m going to lead the DDA in a way that’s going to be not protecting the city.”

COUNCIL MEMBERS OPPOSED Two City Council members said they shared concerns about the plan. Councilwomen Cheryl Sarvis and Patricia Wisdom moved to table the item until the council’s next meeting to add language that would give the council more say.

Sarvis said the $2 million proposal was not advertised on the city’s website until a citizen called and asked about it six hours before the meeting.

“The DDA is made up of good people that work hard, but they are not as answerable to the taxpayers as the City Council,” she said.

“Furthermore, since some of the members of the DDA potentially stand to gain financially from some of these transactions, it is more prudent for the sake of those DDA members and the citizens of Powder Springs that the City Council retains some control over the spending of the taxpayers’ money on property.”

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 19

IN THE MARKETPLACE Marietta Square valet parking now available with spaces in Waddell St. deck

BY JON GARGIS Cobb commissioners unanimously approved a 90-day license agreement with Marietta-based Georgia Valet Services to lease 50 spaces in the county’s Waddell Street parking deck so the company could offer valet parking from 5 to 11 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and VALET PARKING all day Saturdays.

GeorJune dates: gia Valet June 1-3, 8-10, previously 15, 22-24, 29 earned July dates: July approval from the 1, 6-8, 13-15, city of 20-22, 27, 29 Marietta August dates: to use city Aug. 3-5, 10-12, streets during the 17-19 threemonth trial. And though the thumbs up from the county in April gave the company the go-ahead to start, the service’s first day would not be until Thursday, May 25, said Lindsey Wiles, spokesperson for the city.

The valet service schedule, released by the city, has the offering running for 13 weeks, with the last day set to be Saturday, Aug. 19. Not every one of the three days will be offered each week, however.

“Anytime there is an event or the Friday night concerts which require the closure of North Park Square, there will be no valet parking that day,” Wiles said.

That means the service will not be offered June 30 or July 28, the last Fridays of each of their respective months. Also absent from the calendar are Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17, which coincide with the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration.

On days when the service is offered, Georgia Valet will charge customers $5, with loading and unloading on Root Street, which runs between North Park Square and the First Baptist Church of Marietta. A customer would be able to request their car’s return with a text message to the company.

The spaces to be set aside for the valet service are all on the top floor of the seven-story deck. Free, unassisted parking would still be available to the general public on all other floors at those hours.

Food distributor PFG to close Austell facility An estimated 170 employees will be affected by the closure next month of Performance Food Group’s Austell distribution facility, company officials told the MDJ in a statement last month.

The Richmond, Virginia-based company delivers more than 150,000 food and related products to regional and national restaurant chains across the United States through its PFG Customized Distribution division, of

which the Austell site was a part.

Its customers, according to PFG’s website, include Cracker Barrel, Outback Steakhouse, Ruby Tuesday and T.G.I. Friday’s, among others.

Officials made the decision to close the Austell facility after choosing “not to renew business with a customer that made up the vast majority of sales and that was served only by this distribution center,” the

statement read. The closure will take effect in early June.

About 170 people worked at the Austell facility, located on Third Flag Parkway just off Six Flags Road and near Riverside Parkway. The company will provide severance packages those affected, and some employees could be considered for other positions within PFG. — Staff reports

Marietta’s Big Chicken reopens with red carpet event

BY ROSS WILLIAMS The Big Chicken is back and open for business.

KFC rolled out the red carpet — literally — for the beloved bird’s reopening, or as KFC executives called it, “re-hatching.”

The iconic chicken and the restaurant beneath it closed its doors in January for a remodeling. Now it features Colonel Sander’s face on its belly and a colonel-inspired design on its back. The restaurant itself has received an even more extensive makeover.

City officials, representatives from the county’s chamber of commerce and even Colonel Sanders himself — or perhaps a convincing lookalike — came out for the shiny new establishment’s ribbon-cutting in May. “We’re really excited to bring the restaurant here to everyone in Marietta,” said Mike Kulp, president and CEO of KBP Foods, the franchise group that operates the Big Chicken. “We think the facility and its world-class design and experience finally matches the historic significance of this facility … We’ve made a lot of changes inside this building, and we hope you really enjoy it.”

RENOVATING AN ICON Those changes will be apparent as soon as visitors walk through the door. The restaurant features soft lighting with brick walls and plenty of art referencing the history of Cobb County and the Big Chicken.

The walls are covered with all kinds of photos of Colonel Sanders: the colonel riding on a parade float, the colonel meeting characters at Disney World, the colonel with a monkey on his head.

Even Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin payed homage to the colonel with his choice of wardrobe, wearing an all-white suit similar

20 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

he came by just to see the sights.

“The remodel looks beautiful,” Coles said. “It’s amazing. I love to see the Big Chicken, and kids love to see the Big Chicken when they come by. I think the outcome will be wonderful.”

MORE FRIED CHICKEN FOR THUNDER TUMLIN

Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin was one of the first to order as he leaves the counter with his two-piece chicken dinner after an official ribbon-cutting reopening city landmark ‘The Big Chicken.’ / Staff-Kelly Huff

to the famous poultry purveyor’s iconic outfit at the event.

The mayor said he was still in grade school when the Big Chicken first made the scene, originally belonging to a restaurant called Johnny Reb’s Chick Chuck and Shake. Tumlin said the bird has become a symbol of Marietta.

“This 56-foot tower that looms over our city is a treasure,” he said, “and the fact that KFC is part of this team reopening with this great facility is great and we welcome you.”

Tumlin also commented on the restaurant’s upgraded gift shop.

“For years I’ve been taking memorabilia home like this,” he said, patting his stomach.

In addition to the redecorating and gift shop, the dining room is now bigger and has more seating, including a screened-in patio area. Guests can watch KFC cooks prepare their food through a newly installed glass window that provides views into the kitchen.

The Big Chicken’s little brother, the Little Chicken, also made its debut at the celebration.

The mascot is the spitting image of the Big Chicken, complete with rolling eyes and squawking

beak. The Little Chicken danced along with members of the Marietta High School Marching Band as they played to celebrate the opening.

KFC is also rolling out a Big Chicken Radio Channel. Drive close enough to the chicken and tune your radio to 820 AM, and you will hear “deep thoughts from the previously silent bird,” according to a press release.

As soon as officials finished the ribbon-cutting ceremony — which used a replica of the colonel’s tie in place of a ribbon — dozens of diners made their way into the restaurant to chow down on the colonel’s ol’ secret recipe.

One of them was Derald Grier. The Atlanta resident works for nearby staffing company Trojan Labor and stopped by to watch the festivities and pick up lunch.

“I think the renovation is great,” Grier said. “In this area, the Big Chicken is known, so I looked forward to the remodeling itself and still being able to hold onto the history it had.

It’s a great thing for the city of Marietta.

Michael Coles of Atlanta said he works at the Big Chicken. He wasn’t on the clock, but he said

Mayor Tumlin was one of the first to place an order at the newly renovated restaurant, but just a couple hours later, he was at another fried chicken shop for another ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Tumlin made another appearance at a new Bojangles’ location at the corner of Delk Road and Franklin Gateway. Still dressed in his colonel-inspired digs, the mayor posed with Bo Bird, the Bojangles’ mascot, and even got some training in the art of making fresh biscuits in the Bojangles’ kitchen.

Tumlin said he has been to a lot of ribbon-cutting ceremonies as mayor, but this is the first time he has been to two grand openings of fried chicken restaurants in one day.

“They’re both so significant in their own way,” he said.

“One’s kind of traditional, old Marietta, and here on Franklin Gateway, to have this kind of positive place on Franklin Gateway makes this exciting. This street is changing and they’re part of it. They’re going to be very successful.”

When asked whether he prefers KFC or Bojangles’, the mayor was diplomatic.

“I’m in the mood for different ones at different times,” he said.

“You’ve got to have more than one place. I’ll come out here because I want to support the Franklin Gateway area. The other one’s more my wheelhouse, but … we haven’t had a quality franchise on this street in years, and what a layout.”

IN THE MARKETPLACE

WellStar names new board members WellStar Health System, as a great place to work and recognized as one of largest, national leader in providing high most integrated not-for-profit quality health care.” community health systems in the country, announced the PAUL L. DOUGLASS, appointment of two new M.D. members to the WellStar Board of Trustees.

Dr. Douglass serves as Paul L. Douglass, chief of the Division of M.D.; and Ambica Yadav Cardiology and director will each serve a threeof the Cardiovascular year term on the Board.

Services at WellStar Paul L. “We are excited to Atlanta Medical Center.

Douglass, MD He practices clinical and welcome Dr. Douglass and Ambica to the Wellinterventional cardiology Star Board of Trustees,” at WellStar Metro Atlanta said David H. Hafner, M.D., chair Cardiovascular Medicine. He also of WellStar Board of Trustees. serves as clinical assistant profes“They will be an instrumental sor in Cardiology at Morehouse part of our Board as we chart the School of Medicine. course to ensure WellStar thrives He received his undergraduate

degree in biology from Northwestern University and M.D. from Meharry Medical College.

He received postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease at Emory University School of Medicine. He is also a past chair of the Hospital Board of Atlanta Medical Center.

ment consulting. Karna has been recognized as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. by Inc. 500 and in Atlanta through the Pacesetters Award.

Yadav, prior to Karna, has worked with several premier health-focused firms including Constella Group, now CSRA; Ambica AMBICA YADAV WebMD; and Ernst Yadav and Young. She has a Ambica Yadav is the bachelor’s degree in founder and CEO of Karna Computer Science and LLC, an organization focused on a master’s of Public Health from providing health-related profesEmory University Rollins School sional services in the areas of of Public Health.​ health science, research, information technology and manage♦♦♦

Thomas Gearhard, M.D. and Janie Maddox, two longstanding Board Members who completed their terms in December 2016, were also both appointed as Emeritus Trustees in acknowledgement of their legacy of distinguished service and outstanding contributions to WellStar Health System.

The WellStar Board of Trustees consists of 20 community leaders, who volunteer their time to guide WellStar and ensure access to high-quality healthcare for Georgians.

For more information, visit wellstar.org.

— Staff reports

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 21

IN THE MARKETPLACE

PARKING POP $10 parking fee coming to Galleria Centre

BY JON GARGIS Paid parking at the Cobb Galleria Centre and Galleria Specialty Shops is scheduled to start sometime this summer at a rate of $10 under a measure approved in May by the CobbMarietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority.

The convention center has offered complimentary parking since opening in 1994, and today controls just under 2,000 parking spaces. Authority members unanimously approved a plan setting a parking rate at the Galleria starting at $10, with the potential to go up to $15. The plan would allow those who eat in the Galleria’s restaurants or purchase goods and services from its businesses to be given “chaser tickets” by Galleria tenants, which would be good for complimentary parking for two to four hours. Those employed at the Galleria and its businesses would not pay to park, said Michele Swann, general manager and CEO of the Cobb Galleria Centre.

But authority members did not set a specific date for the start of paid parking, as it remains dependent on the purchase and installation of parking equipment.

The authority earlier this year contracted with Lanier Parking Solutions to begin managing parking at the Galleria, with the authority collecting parking revenues and paying Lanier an hourly rate of $23.15. Lanier is also consulting the authority as it pursues purchasing parking gates and other equipment to control access and transition to a paid parking environment.

Demand for parking in the

Cumberland area has increased with the opening of nearby SunTrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves, and The Battery Atlanta, the mixed-use development next to the stadium.

The Galleria’s parking rate range is in line with parking rates set across Cumberland and within the vicinity of SunTrust Park, according to a survey conducted by Lanier and presented to authority members last month. It showed that the area’s average parking rate is about $12. The survey tallied 20 Braves-controlled lots, ranging in price from $10 to $21, and 10 private lots that offer free parking to customers and tenants as well as a limited number of $10 game day spaces.

The meeting also saw authority members unanimously approve a three-year renewal with AAA Parking to manage parking operations at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, as well as parking rate increases to be in line with the approved rates at the Galleria.

The self-parking cost will increase from $6 to a range of $10 to $15, while valet parking will move from $11 to a range of $15 to $18. Those increases are expected to take effect June 1.

Under its agreement with the authority, AAA Parking collects parking revenues at CEPAC and pays the authority a minimum annual fee of $240,000, said Karen Caro, marketing manager for the Cobb Galleria Centre and CEPAC. The agreement also requires AAA Parking to pay on an annual basis a commission fee of 75 percent of the gross parking revenue that exceeds $360,000.

22 JUNE 2017 /COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL

Beyond beer: Local brewers cheer new state alcohol law

BY ROSS WILLIAMS Ice-cold, frosty beer with a nice foamy head on a hot Georgia day.

That’s what might have been going through Gov. Nathan Deal’s mind when he signed Senate Bill 85 into law. That bill allows breweries and distilleries to sell their products directly to consumers starting Sept. 1.

But SB 85 will affect more than just crisp, delicious beers. The language of the bill includes all sorts of distilled spirits and malt beverages. That means anything from liquor to alcoholic soda pops to hard apple cider.

Treehorn Cider, which opened for business in September of 2015, brews up apple cider from its location at the corner of Cobb Parkway and South Marietta Parkway.

Ciderist Andrew Wheeler said the company has been expanding fast since then, and is about to add a new tasting room to its plant.

He said that was part of the plan from the beginning, but it kept getting pushed back because of a need to buy new

Ciderist Andrew Wheeler holds a six-pack of Treehorn Cider in front of a vat used to make it from fresh apple juice. / Staff-Ross Williams

same’ and this and that, it was just kind of a headache, and we just had other things we prioritized ahead of that, just because it was something we could push off and didn’t have to deal with it right away … We sped up our time line a little. We probably would have waited until fall or a little later, but we just pushed it forward a little bit because of the bill.”

Wheeler hopes the tasting room will be completed

by July, so they can be ready for the law to go into effect in September.

Until then, to taste a Treehorn — Dave Sheets, Cider, you of Naughty Sodas and Ironmonger Brewing will have to go to a bar equipment to meet demand, and or restaurant, a package store, a because complying with the Whole Foods or a select Kroger. state’s prior laws seemed to not Wheeler said he is expecting be worth the hassle. the law will be a way to get the For a time, brewers could word out. If people stop by to only offer their beverages as try the product, they might be “free souvenirs” to customers more likely to pick up a 6-pack going on tours of the facilities. the next time they go shopping.

Wheeler said there was a hubDave Sheets runs Naughty bub about whether proprietors Sodas and Ironmonger Brewing could offer different tour prices under the same roof near the based on how much the “free intersection of Delk Road and souvenirs” customers would Franklin Gateway. In addition receive at the end of the tour to a range of beers, he offers was worth. artisan hard sodas in flavors like “The way the state had gone toasted marshmallow, strawberback and forth and said origiry lemon and sun tea. nally you could do the souvenir Sheets said he hopes the new thing and then the department law will help make Marietta a of revenue came back and said must-stop spot for people who ‘Well you can’t do tiered pricwant to experience new craft ing, everything has got to be the beverages.

“

My hope with this law change is that us and Red Hare (brewery) would really become a big, big destination for people in Marietta.

“My hope with this law change is that us and Red Hare (brewery) would really become a big, big destination for people in Marietta,” he said. “Between us and Red Hare, we’re only about three quarters of a mile away from each other .…We do things completely differently from them in a good way, so you’re not coming to the same place. It’s really something that’s undiscovered about Marietta.”

Sheets said his establishment is planning big changes thanks to the bill, including a live music establishment. He said it will allow smaller breweries that can’t offer tours a chance to compete with the bigger guys.

“I think the best part of this is if you want to come in and have one beer, you come in and have one beer and don’t pay the price of having six samples,” he said. “You can have a beer, have a nice relaxing time and enjoy yourself here instead of driving to Atlanta.”

Tamara Kosoris, vice president of marketing and cofounder of Viking Alchemist Meadery makes the ancient alcoholic beverage mead out of honey off Powder Springs Road near Sandtown Road.

She said the bill change won’t affect Viking Alchemist directly because mead is treated more like wine than beer in the law.

She said her company can already sell its product direct from the meadery, but that she still welcomes the change because it will bring consistency to customers who want to sample beverages from different kinds of breweries and distilleries.

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 23

IN THE MARKETPLACE Cobb County Chamber CEO David Connell to retire at year’s end David Connell, president and CEO of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, has announced he will be retiring at the end of the year.

Connell has been involved with the chamber for 15 years, first as a board member and a one-year term as chairman in 2005. In November 2010, he was appointed president and CEO. The scope of the position required Connell to work 60 to 70 hours per week “to do it right,” he said, and he’s ready to step back from such a heavy workload.

David “You just reach a Connell point where you don’t feel like you can keep doing it. At some point, everybody’s got to stop. All of us. I’ve just reached a point that, in my judgement, this would be a great time to retire,” Connell said.

“I’ve already retired once and know how that works. So I’m retiring a second time, both on my terms.”

Connell worked for 40 years with Georgia Power before retiring, holding 12 different titles over the course of his time there.

In his entire working career, Connell said, he hasn’t taken more than two weeks off at a time.

“I love what I’m doing, and I know I’m making an impact in a lot of peoples’ lives, but again, it gets back to at a certain point, you think that maybe it’s time for me to do something different that is not quite as demanding as this position is. As demanding as it is, I have loved it, and I will continue to love it and continue to be involved.”

Connell said he made a commitment to the chamber’s board that he would remain in his role until the Atlanta Braves played their first season in Cobb to “do what I could to help it be successful.” Now that the season is successfully underway, he said he felt it was the right time to step away.

“I have done that, and I’m happy to have done that. It’s an accomplishment that I feel good about,” he said.

Chamber leadership will conduct a search for Connell’s replacement through the summer and fall, according to a news release.

Connell said he’s not sure what he’ll do next, but he knows he wants to continue helping the Cobb County community.

“I am going to be doing something to help this community, if not the state of Georgia, because I have the capacity to continue to help. I just don’t want to do it

on those long, long weeks (and) long, long days. … It’s a new chapter in my life,” he said.

CONNELL’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS Tad Leithead, chairman of the board of the Cumberland Community Improvement District, has known Connell for 25 years and said he wishes him well and hopes he won’t go far. Leithead said Connell’s personality allowed him to be a successful leader for the chamber over the years.

“The first thing about David is that you just like him,” Leithead said. “He’s a guy that’s friendly, he’s a guy you want to work with.”

Connell is also humble, Leithead said, and prefers to work behind the scenes rather than take credit.

“He doesn’t act as if he’s important or that it’s all happening because of him. He’s just very effective in a quiet way and in many ways — many ways — behind the scenes. There have been a lot of significant outcomes in Cobb that people may not know about.”

For instance, Leithead credits Connell with improving the relationship between the chamber and Dobbins Air Reserve Base.

“That’s probably not something that would come front and center to mind if you asked somebody about David, but it’s fact,” Leithead said.

Connell said he was proud of the work he’s done to improve that relationship, which includes helping start the Military Family Support Center. The facility, which opened in May 2016, sells groceries and sundries at cost plus a 5 percent surcharge to members of the military, veterans and their families. Located at the intersection of Terrell Mill Road and Cobb Parkway, the facility opens for a weekend once a month.

Connell said the facility was just one of eight prongs of his plan to improve the relationship between Dobbins and the chamber. Another was sending chamber representatives to Washington to speak with officials with the federal government and the Pentagon about the importance of the military base, which Connell said the chamber does about once a year.

Leithead said one of Connell’s biggest accomplishments was leading the chamber during the county’s recent spike in economic growth.

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When Connell took over as leader of the chamber in 2010, the county and the country as a whole was coming out of a recession, “which makes the last seven years even that more significant,” Leithead said.

“The chamber, under his leadership, has presided over the most significant economic boom in Cobb County history over the last five years or so, including the Atlanta Braves (moving to Cobb),” Leithead said. “During his time as president of the chamber, lots and lots of very positive things have happened in Cobb County, and a lot of that is to his credit.”

Leithead also pointed to the economic stimulus program Cobb’s Competitive EDGE the chamber helped start just after

Connell took the reins as another major accomplishment. The program was launched with the goal of creating or retaining 7,500 jobs over a five-year period, Connell said.

To date, Connell said, the chamber credits the program with helping bring or retain 23,000 jobs including drawing major companies like HD Supply and

“

At some point, everybody’s got to stop. All of us. I’ve just reached a point that, in my judgement, this would be a great time to retire.

— David Connell

Comcast to the county. Also counted among EDGE’s successes are the recent decisions to bring the Braves and the new Ma-

jor League Soccer club Atlanta United to Cobb, Connell said.

“The Atlanta Braves, Atlanta United — without the chamber, those wouldn’t happen. That’s just fact. And it took a lot of people. A lot of people were responsible for that project being here.

No one person, but our chamber played a very significant role in that happening. I’m very proud of that,” Connell said.

Connell also expanded the chamber’s Chairman’s Club program, which Leithead said has “flourished” under Connell’s leadership. The program includes the largest contributors to the chamber, Leithead said, who agree to pay more than their regular dues. In exchange, Leithead said, these companies’ representatives are able to take part in special Chairman’s Club events and act as advisers to the chamber overall.

“It’s just a spectacular program,” he said.

— From staff reports

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IN THE MARKETPLACE Wal-Mart sees online sales surge, more shoppers at stores Wal-Mart saw online sales surge as it changed up its shipping offers, and drew more shoppers to its stores as well in the most recent quarter even as retail overall is more competitive.

The world’s largest retailer said that sales at established stores rose for the eleventh straight quarter, and customer traffic rose for the tenth quarter in a row. That’s a contrast with many rivals that saw both those figures drop.

Online sales at Walmart.com rose 63 percent, dramatically up from the 29 percent growth in the previous quarter. Though the company has been buying up smaller internet retailers, Wal-Mart said a majority of the increase was through Walmart.com and was fueled by changes in its shipping strategy and a discount for shoppers who pick up their online orders.

“We’re transforming to become more of a digital enterprise,” said Doug McMillon, CEO and president of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Wal-Mart’s report stood out amid a largely gloomy environment for retailers, after chains like Macy’s, Kohl’s, J.C. Penney and Target saw declines in comparable-store sales. Even off-price retailer TJX Cos., which has done better than many

as customers hunt for bargains, missed forecasts for that sales measure. And it underscores Wal-Mart’s efforts to narrow the gap between itself and online leader Amazon, and widen the distance between itself and other competitors.

Retails bankruptcies are setting a record pace this year, and store closures are expected to exceed those of 2008 after the financial crisis. Research firm RetailMetrics, which tracks results from more than a hundred chains, said overall they are expected to record a flat increase in revenue at established stores for the quarter, the worst performance since the third quarter of 2009.

Excluding Wal-Mart’s results, there would be a 0.8 percent decline.

“Wal-Mart is effectively competing in a tough retail environment, and given its size, scale and leverage will be able to stay the course on the current strategy,” Stifel analyst Mark S. Astrachan wrote in a note.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has retooled how it operates online, as customers get used to free shipping and other enticements that add costs and hurt the bottom line. It has also accelerated that shift with its acquisitions.

Wal-Mart spent more than $3 billion for

Jet.com last year in its bid to lure younger and more affluent customers. With Jet. com founder Marc Lore installed as head of Walmart.com, it bought ShoeBuy.com, outdoor gear seller Moosejaw and trendy clothing seller ModCloth. The clothing sites are operating as stand-alone operators, separate from Walmart.com, and appeal to younger shoppers.

The company is still looking for startups to buy. Since Lore joined the company, the number of items available, including on its third-party online marketplace, has risen to more than 50 million. That’s up 10 million from a year ago. Wal-Mart is working to accelerate the integration between Walmart. com and Jet.com, and trying to take advantage of its scale in areas like shipping.

McMillon said that while the acquisitions have garnered lots of attention, “the plan in e-commerce is not to buy our way to success.”

“The majority of our growth is and will be organic,” said McMillon. “The acquisitions are helping us speed some things up.”

Wal-Mart is aggressively trying to compete with Amazon’s juggernaut Prime membership, scrapping a fee-based shipping program test earlier this year in favor

of free, two-day shipping for online orders of its most popular items with a minimum purchase order of $35. Lore told reporters that Wal-Mart customers are placing more orders and spending more than before.

The Amazon Prime program costs $99 a year, but comes with services like streaming music and video. Amazon has countered, lowering the free-shipping minimum purchase price for non-members.

In April, Wal-Mart also began offering discounts on thousands of online-only items when customers elect to have them shipped to a store for pickup — cheaper for the company than delivering to people’s homes.

Wal-Mart plans to expand the price cuts to more than a million items by the end of June.

Even as it goes after Amazon online, Wal-Mart is shoring up its stores, working to make customer service friendlier and faster. It’s also trying to be more aggressive in having lower, consistent prices throughout the store. The company has also invested $2.7 billion in higher wages and training for workers to decrease turnover and make the shopping experience more appealing.

— From wire reports

Colonial Life names new territory manager for Georgia Colonial Life has named Jason Addy the new territory manager to oversee the company’s growing Georgia territory.

Addy, who has been with Colonial Life since 2009, will oversee the Atlanta office that serves small to large employers in all types of commercial and public sector organizations across the state through a network of highly trained, independent sales professionals. He has previously served Colonial Life as a regional development manager, helping sales managers grow their territories.

“I’m excited to come and work alongside thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them protect themselves and America’s workers with valuable voluntary benefits,” Addy said.

“The need for affordable benefits has never been greater.”

He has a business degree and an MBA from the University of South Carolina.

Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing financial protection benefits through the workplace, including disability, life, accident, cancer, critical illness and supplemental health insurance. The company’s benefit services and education, innovative enrollment technology and personal service support more than 85,000 businesses and organizations, representing more than 3.7 million of America’s workers and their families.

For more information, contact Addy at 770-392-8582, jaddy@ coloniallife.com or visit www.coloniallife.com.

— From staff reports

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 25

EXECUTIVE PROFILE

CONNECTING COMMUNITY UP CLOSE WITH TRACY RATHBONE

By Katy Ruth Camp Photo by Kelly J. Huff

F

or Tracy Rathbone, it’s all about connections.

Whether it’s connecting bikers along the Noonday Creek Trail to Kennesaw Mountain, connecting business owners in the Town Center district or connecting local nonprofits to needed funding and help, Rathbone knows how to make it happen.

Rathbone, the executive director of the Town Center Community Improvement District, oversees dozens of projects, studies, plans and a $3 million annual budget, which is generated by a voluntary tax paid by business owners within the district. The entire district is about 6.25 square miles and encompasses major developments and hubs, including Kennesaw State University, Town Center at Cobb Mall, Cobb County International Airport as well as thousands of restaurants, shops and business headquarters.

“When you think about where Town Center sits in the Northwest Corridor with the Braves and The Battery to the south and Emerson and LakePoint to the north, Town Center is in a sweet spot along that corridor,” Rathbone said. “We create a sense of community in our corridor through beautification of the infrastructure. So, for example, the CID spends half a million dollars a year on trees and shrubs and keeping the roads clean — all of the things that you don’t notice until they’re not done. If you go to other areas where there isn’t five-day-a-week maintenance and you see weeds and butts and other things in the area, it makes a difference. What we do makes people feel like the corridor is safer, more walkable, a place they want to be. And property owners feel they have more value and can garner better rates. Outside of that, it’s making sure the roadways work and traffic is moving freely.”

The TCCID also uses its funding to pay for engineer-

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ing studies and help the counties and cities within and affected by the corridor with road, trail, park and bridge projects.

But Rathbone said that, while the Town Center district is her focus, the TCCID is only affective if it works collaboratively with consultants, politicians and engineers and thinks regionally as well as locally.

“Having the opportunity to make a difference in an area that has a ripple effect is really important to me,” Rathbone said of her position. “I’m focused on Cobb but I’m also involved in groups like Leadership Atlanta, the Council for Quality Growth, several organizations that are outside of Cobb because TCCID is a broader piece of the entire region. We’re in important piece in that broader plan.”

The Smyrna native came to her current position in January 2015 after serving as Director of Business Development for Coxe Curry & Associates, metro Atlanta’s largest nonprofit consulting firm. In this role, Rathbone was responsible for leading and overseeing the development of new business and marketing efforts for the firm as well as directing client engagements, primarily in the Cobb region.

Prior to Coxe Curry, Rathbone served as development director for St. Luke’s Community House in Nashville, Tenn. and she was a founding member of the Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee, where she served as the organization’s first executive director.

Nonprofit work is in her blood and she continues to give back to the community by serving on dozens of boards, committees and volunteer projects, most notably as the incoming chair of liveSAFE Resources. Formerly the YWCA of Northwest Georgia, liveSAFE is based in Marietta and is the only domestic violence shelter in

Cobb. The group also treats and helps victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

When asked how she balances all of her volunteer work, Rathbone said: “To me, saying no is just as important as saying yes. I think as leader and with people who are passionate about making a difference in our community, sometimes it’s hard to choose. In saying no to an organization, it doesn’t mean you don’t care about the mission but we all have limited time and resources and you have to focus on the things that matter the most to you and where you feel like you’ll have the greatest impact. If we all do that, I think more needs will be met.”

Rathbone was most recently recognized for her leadership and giving spirit by being awarded the 2017 Woman of Distinction Award in April by Cobb Executive Women. Rathbone said her friends surprised her by secretly inviting her daughter, Lila, and mother, Mary Jo Franchini, to the ceremony.

“I was shocked,” the Pebblebrook High School and Vanderbilt University graduate said. “My mom raised me until I was 7 with my grandmother and went to KSU when I was middle school to get her get her degree in marketing. She graduated top of her class, went into the field of real estate as a broker and I got to see her take a trajectory that showed me anything was possible. After the (Woman of Distinction) ceremony, Lila said, ‘I used to wonder what all these meetings were and then I heard them talk about all the things you do and how you’re great at so many things, but you’re the best at being my Mom.’ The award is a huge honor and I’m incredibly grateful, but showing her what it means to be strong and have goals and roll your sleeves up when it’s hard and commit to something that matters, like my mom did, those are the things I want to show.”

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NOBIS WORKS GALAXY OF THE STARS. Nobis Works had its annual Galaxy of Stars luncheon in late April at the Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center to honor individuals and organizations who have helped the nonprofit. 1. Heidy Pizarro and Sally Meaders. 2. Frank Spence and James Boening. // PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHANDA CROWE //

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 27

CBJ SCENE

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STARLIGHT GRAND SLAM GALA. The WellStar Foundation raised more than $800,000 during the first private event at The Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre in the Battery Atlanta adjacent to SunTrust Park. The event took place in April. 1. Ryan Klesko, former Atlanta Brave and 1995 World Series Champion. 2. President of Kennesaw State University Sam Olens and wife Lisa, with Christie and Tom Emerson. // PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WELLSTAR //

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6 HEARING CHILDREN’S VOICES GALA. SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center had its annual Hearing Children’s Voices Gala in April at the Cobb Galleria Centre, welcoming about 420 guests and raising more than $250,000 for the organization. 1. From left, Richard Rahim, Mike Holcombe, Angie Holcombe, Todd Trainer and

Beau Eubanks. 2. Bobby and Rachael Brunelle. 3. Dr. Avril Beckford & Dr. Lawrence Rowley. 4. From left, Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren, Penny Warren, Linda and Tom Palmer.

5. Itrellis Ross. 6. Stephanie Bednarski and Denise Hession. 7. WSB-TV Anchor Linda Stouffer. // PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAULA GOULD WITH PMG PHOTO INC //

COBB BUSINESS JOURNAL/JUNE 2017 29

Double Talk: Eliminating Redundant Words As I pack for our pending kitchen renovation, I wonder why can we never find electrical adaptors or birthday candles when we need them? I now see that we have dozens of each.

Despite our best efforts, my family has more stuff than we need, inspiring this column about communications excesses.

Redundant phrases are so ubiquitous, we are desensitized to the extra words that clutter our speech and writing, especially in our business communications. Time is valuable and extra words in our emails and voicemails are like that clutter in my kitchen junk drawer. The faster we make our point, the better.

In the interest of purging, I offer 35 common redundant phrases that I am guilty of using. Count how many Mary Smith you use.

Judd 1. Absolutely certain: Certainty is already without doubt. Cut “absolutely.”

2. Actual experience/fact: An experience has occurred (unless otherwise indicated). A fact is confirmed to have happened. “Cut actual” in these instances.

3. Add an additional: “An additional” is superfluous.

4. Added bonus: A bonus is an extra feature. Cut “added.”

5. Advance notice: “Notice” by definition is given in advance. Cut “advance.”

6. At the present time — “At present” and “at this time” imply “now.”

7. Basic fundamentals/essentials: Fundamentals and essentials are by their nature elementary. Cut “basic.”

FEEDBACK Judd’s columns are spot on!

Dear Editor: I rarely take any time in my day to send a personal note to anyone unless they really blew me away by their performance, an extraordinary action or in some recent cases personal nurturing; all that being said, I must congratulate Mary Judd on consistently grabbing my attention to her articles in the Cobb Business Journal. Her articles are spot on as to the daily issues most if not all businesses experience and need to be given voice toward in an independent way. Her recent article “Do you hear yourself? Effects of mush mouth” is a real pet peeve of mine. She hit the nail on the head, and I must say it is not just the entry level employees that exhibit these poor speaking qualities I have held many a meeting with fellow CEO’s, executives and “professionals” that use incorrect wording, poor context references, weak inflections in their speech patterns that result in my conclusion at the end of a meeting resulting in a loss of business for that particular person for my take away is, if they are too lazy or disorganized in their own speaking what would their work quality look like!

Mary Judd is the Ann Landers of the Business Section. I anxiously await her next business tid-bit, thank you on behalf of the business world that is losing its communication abilities and more importantly its main tool to be successful and effective; for what is any business but centered around communication!

Thanks, Milan Savic CEO/President Martin’s Restaurant Systems, Inc. Martin’s Asset Holding Co., LLC

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8. Came at a time when: “When” indicates the action.

“At a time” is redundant.

9. Close proximity: “Proximity” means “close.” Drop “close.”

10. Collaborate/merge/join together: All are synonyms of partnership. Cut “together.”

11. Direct confrontation: A confrontation is a head-on conflict. “Direct” is redundant.

12. During the course of: “During” includes the duration of a referenced time. Cut the repetitive “the course of.”

13. End result: Results happen at the end. Cut “end.”

(Same for “final outcome.”)

14. Estimated at about/roughly: An estimate is an approximation. About and roughly are superfluous.

15. Extra bonus: A bonus is already extra.

16. False pretense: A pretense is a deception. “False” is redundant.

17. First began/new beginning: A beginning is when something first occurs. Cut “first” and “new.”

18. For a period/number of days: Days is plural, so a duration is implied.

19. Foreign imports: Imports are products that originate in another country; their foreign nature is implied.

20. Free gift: All gifts are free to the recipient.

21. In the area of: i.e. “She is a whiz in the area of math.” Better to say, “She is a whiz in math.

22. Major breakthrough: A breakthrough is usually a significant or sudden advance or development. Avoid “major.”

23. One or the other: If you choose one, you’ve made your choice.

24. Past history: All history is in the past.

25. Plan ahead: To plan is to prepare for the future. Cut “ahead.”

26. Possibly might: Might indicates probability. Omit “possibly.”

27. Positive improvement: Ever heard of a negative improvement?

28. Revert back: Something that reverts returns to an earlier state. “Back” is redundant.

29. Same identical: Cut “same.”

30. Saw it with my own eyes: Hmm. Yet, how cool would it be to see with another’s eyes?

31. Serious crisis: All crises are serious.

32. Spell out in detail: Cut “in detail.”

33. Still remains: Something that remains is still in place. Cut “still.”

34. Totally unique: Something is either unique or it isn’t.

35. Written down: Cut “down.”

Fair warning: this may not be the last time our home remodel inspires a topic. If you, reader, will forgive the shameless metaphor as a hook, I will pledge to strike the above from future columns.

Mary Smith Judd is a communications professional based in Marietta. As a writer, editor and project manager, she has worked with corporate leaders, attorneys and other professionals. Her work at the Fulton County Daily Report, the Florida Bar News and the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group has been honored with national and regional awards. Judd is the founder of Your Story Pros, a full-service creator of personal, family and corporate history content.

WORD ON THE STREET The Leadership Cobb 2017 class of Croy Engineering. recently graduated after nine months Everyone in the class expressed of retreats, themed days and gratitude for the experience charity projects, all which and it was clear the class memhelped them learn more bers had forged the bond that about Cobb County. The every Leadership Cobb class program, based out of the strives to have. The 2018 class Cobb Chamber of Comwill be announced in August merce, began in 1984 and but, in the meantime, the 2017 was spearheaded by Sen. class can continue to celebrate Katy Ruth Johnny Isakson in an effort its completion and success.

Camp to connect the community and its leaders.

RESTAURANT ROUNDUP The 2017 class was made up of 49 leaders spanning varThe crew behind two of the ious industries, political landscapes Marietta Square’s hottest restauand nonprofits. I had the privilege rants — The Butcher The Baker and of serving on the committee that WR Social House – have finalized planned and led the class’ Spring and finally announced the name and Retreat in May, held at Lake Lanier concept that they are bringing to the Islands Resort, as I was the Spirit Square.

Award winner for the 2016 Leader“The Derby” will open sometime ship Cobb class. The Spirit Award is in the coming months in the space a special one, as it is the only award right next to the Earl Smith Strand voted on by the entire class and is Theatre, which formerly held the Ye given to the member they feel most Olde Christmas and Candy Shoppe. embodies the “spirit” of Leadership The restaurant will feature a woodCobb. The award is announced at fired grill, raw bar and craft cocktails the conclusion of Spring Retreat and is proposed as a fun place to dine and three of the other Spirit Award and drink. winners were also in attendance Although owners Sterling Wharto help me present the award. This ton and Micah and Katie Pfister told year’s award winner was Eddie Wade me months ago about the space and I

previously reported what I was told in Word on the Street, the group officially announced the name and concept on The Butcher The Baker’s Facebook page on May 6 via a short video that features a horseshoe. I can’t wait to see what they’ve done with such a large space, and to have a cocktail and oyster or two at The Derby when it opens.

Katie Pfister told me the former Sessions Street Grill, which the trio was hoping to open in April as Katie’s — a baking kitchen as well as a pastry and coffee shop — is still a work in progress. The small building located a little under a mile from the Square on Sessions Street was in dire need of repairs. Katie joked during a conversation we had at Taste of Marietta that Sterling’s desire to fix the place up himself rather than hire a contractor has led to some impatience on her part.

Still no word yet on the N’Awlins cajun restaurant that was supposed to open last fall in the former Kish space neighboring The Derby and, during my almost-daily visits to the Square, I haven’t seen any buildout or progress taking place. But I’m still holding out hope for that jazz brunch!

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