Business & Retail Briefs

The 30th annual Bowlers Journal International Magazine Architecture and Design Awards were recently announced with honorees from Germany, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Las Vegas and more. Buckhead’s The Painted Pin received the magazine cover spot and the award for “The Best New Boutique Center” beating out competitors from across the globe.

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) presented its annual Developments of Excellence and Great Place awards to seven outstanding recipients. The awards are given to developers, local governments and others who are making the 10-county Atlanta region a better place. Awardees include: The Commons at the Imperial Hotel in Downtown (2014 Development of Excellence), Oakland Cemetery (2014 Great Place), Atlanta Tech Village (Exceptional Merit for Innovation and Adaptive Reuse), National Center for Civil & Human Rights (Exceptional Merit for Cultural Impact in Development), Collier Heights Community Association (Exceptional Merit for Community and Historic Preservation), and East Lake Foundation (Exceptional Merit for Partnerships in Community Redevelopment).

Ann Wilson Cramer is the first recipient of the Harry West Visionary Leadership Award presented by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) . After a 33year career with IBM, Cramer is now a senior consultant with Coxe Curry & Associates, providing guidance to nonprofit organizations in the critical areas of board development, volunteer engagement, corporate relations and fundraising. She also provides guidance to the business community on the issues of corporate citizenship and social responsibility. She chaired the selection committee for the Atlanta Public Schools superintendent and has devoted the past year to chairing the education subcommittee of the Regional Economic Competitiveness Strategy Implementation Subcommittee, coordinated by ARC, as well as chairing the board of the Atlanta Partners for Education and the advisory councils for four other organizations. Cramer currently serves on 11 other boards, including the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development and the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta.

Boston Proper has opened a 1,418 square-foot store at Lenox Square in Bukchead offering clothing and accessories for women. The upscale boutique has been designed like a dream walk-in closet with soft lighting, luxurious settees and even a personal armoire filled with items hand-selected for customers.

Howard Feinsand , principal of Feinsand Business Advisory LLC and volunteer Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee of the Woodruff Arts Center, has been named Chair of the Board of The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta Feinsand succeeds Gerald R. Benjamin as Chair of the not-for-profit Federation, which serves the 100,000 member Jewish community of metropolitan Atlanta and is supported solely through donations. Immediately following his installation, Howard Feinsand and his wife Ellen embarked on the Federation’s Community Mission to Israel, which the new Chairman noted was his first visit to the Jewish homeland.

Uniquely Virtual , an Atlanta-based virtual executive assistant firm, is now offering a host of services to companies, non-profits and retired executives. Some of these services include email, phone, contact and client management, travel planning and itineraries, managing expenses, processing invoices, writing letters and memos and meeting set up.