Business Casual: Science Rules
Despite the fact that my chemistry lab partner and I came perilously close to starting a fire in our high school classroom when one of our experiments didn’t quite work, I am a fan of science – a huge fan,…
Author: Susan Percy
Optimism Among the Challenges: Q&A with Richard Woods
The traditional school year ended abruptly in March for Georgia’s 1.7 million public school students, as the COVID-19 crisis prompted a move to distance learning – a challenge in a state that has 212 school systems covering urban, rural and…
Political Notes: The Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Dealing Justice: A task force led by former Gov. Nathan Deal is recommending a broad range of changes to the federal criminal justice system. These include independent oversight for federal prisons, elimination of mandatory minimum sentences and provisions for inmates…
Business Casual: Protests and Protesters
The distance from my living room couch to Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park is just under seven miles, but it felt both nearer and farther away as I sat there watching TV coverage of the first night of the local protests…
An Eye on Recovery: Q&A with Chris Clark, Georgia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest business organization, is more than 100 years old. It has some 47,000 members, including large corporations like Delta Air Lines and Aflac, medium-sized operations and small mom-and-pop businesses. President and CEO Chris…
Political Notes: Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Fraud Task Force: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has established an Absentee Ballot Fraud Task Force to aid in investigating allegations and potential instances of fraud. In a press release, his office notes, “The realities of COVID-19 will likely…
Business Casual: The Other Side
The branches on the old willow oak that soars a good 60 feet outside my front window were practically bare the day, many weeks ago, that the world – and I – got serious about facing the enormity of the…
Empowering the Underdog
Mailchimp’s creation story begins with layoffs, as many entrepreneurial tales do. Co-founders Ben Chestnut, CEO, and Dan Kurzius, chief customer officer, lost their jobs in 2000 and started a web design company that has become a marketing platform for small…
Business Casual: Strong Women
My first meeting with a super-strong woman occurred the morning I was born, when I was officially introduced to my mother. I arrived a bit ahead of schedule, but she was ready – and never missed a beat thereafter, not…
The Children’s Hour
News on the child and adolescent mental health front is not good. Teen suicides are up – way up; anxiety and depression are increasing. The situation demands attention and solutions. It is not hopeless: There are positive steps being taken,…
Political Notes
New Legislator: State Rep. Joe Campbell (R-Camilla) won a special election earlier this year to serve out the remainder of the late House District 171 Rep. Jay Powell, who died suddenly in November. A general election for the seat will…
Business Casual: Respecting Traditions
I’m a pushover for traditions, rituals, customs – even a little pomp and circumstance every now and then. All those things, I believe, strengthen families, communities and countries. They enrich our private lives and lend stability to our public institutions.…
Q&A with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a former state representative and business owner from Johns Creek, faced a daunting task soon after he took office in January of 2019: Implementing a new statewide voting system mandated by the General Assembly…
Political Notes
New Transportation Planner: Jannine Miller is Gov. Brian Kemp’s choice for the position of state planning director at the Georgia Department of Transportation. Miller most recently was a senior advisor to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao; before that,…
Business Casual: Leveling the Field
The promise of free public education is one of the best things we have going – K-12 schooling for every child, complete with good teachers, well-maintained facilities, meaningful curriculum and all the support needed so students can take full advantage…
2020 Georgia Trustees
One of the things that sets Georgia apart from other states, so the anecdotal evidence says, is the dedication of business leaders to making the state more than a great place to do business, but also a great place for…
Political Notes: Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Loeffler Sworn In: Republican businesswoman Kelly Loeffler became Georgia’s junior senator in January, when she was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence. She was selected by Gov. Brian Kemp to replace former Sen. Johnny Isakson, who retired for health…
Business Casual: SNAP, Again?
A surefire and apparently irresistible way for Washington officials to flex their muscles is to go after the nation’s food stamp program. Officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the program had its beginnings back in 1939 to…
2020 Georgian of the Year: Keisha Lance Bottoms
Keisha Lance Bottoms can trace her family’s history in Georgia back five generations, to a plantation near Crawfordville and a freed slave named Shepherd Peek. She believes he may have served in the state legislature during Reconstruction. Now, as Atlanta’s 60th mayor,…
Political Notes
New BOR Officers: Atlanta businessman Sachin Shailendra is the 2020 chair of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia; James M. Hull, Augusta, is vice chair. Shailendra, a Georgia Tech graduate, is founder and president of SG…
Businesss Casual: Come Together
The word gets bandied about a good bit, but real bipartisanship seems to be in pretty short supply these days. When it shows up, it’s usually a watered-down version in the form of legislation endorsing safe boating or puppy adoption.…
Why Early Reading Matters
The first thing to know about early literacy is that it is critically important; the next, that it connects to a whole lot of other conditions and challenges. But the best thing to know is that there are solutions to…
Political Notes
Airport Restaurant Bids: The city of Atlanta expects to rebid restaurant contracts for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport starting this month, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Contracts for retail shops should start early in 2020. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said last…
Business Casual: Healthy Wish List
Despite being well over the age limit for Santa visits, I can’t resist coming up with an end-of-year wish list, much of it focusing on health for family, friends and a lot of people I don’t know. Yet it’s not…
On the Move
Tim Keane, Atlanta’s planning commissioner, wasn’t happy when he came across an e-scooter lying on the sidewalk downtown, blocking pedestrian traffic and access to a handicapped ramp. “It was almost like someone was doing it on purpose,” trying to create…
Political Notes
In Memoriam: Veteran public servant and businessman George Berry, 82, has died. He served as head of the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, forerunner of the Department of Economic Development, and worked for four different Atlanta mayors, serving…
Business Casual: Welcome Season
For me, there are two official harbingers of the oh-so-welcome, what-took-you-so-long? fall season: the first UGA football game and the scent of cinnamon brooms in my local supermarket. The first of these is welcome, promising the yin of eventual cool…
A Study in Contrast
In an Albany clinic, Elois Edge, an experienced midwife, sees a woman in her 31st week of pregnancy who has had no previous prenatal care and begins the process of trying to catch her up. In a Macon hospital, Dr.…
Political Notes
Era Ending: Georgia’s senior U.S. senator, Republican Johnny Isakson, is leaving his Senate seat at the end of the year due to ill health. “After much prayer and consultation with my family, I have made the very tough decision to…
Business Casual: Do Something
From the long hot summer of horrifying and generally dispiriting news, there is a whole troubling series of images I can’t get out of my head: the dead and injured in California, Texas and Ohio; festival-goers, weekend shoppers and people…
Q&A with Governor Brian Kemp
Georgia’s 83rd governor, Republican Brian Kemp, took office in January, after defeating Democrat Stacey Abrams in a close 2018 race. A former secretary of state and Georgia legislator, Kemp campaigned in the primary on gun rights and tough immigration tactics…
Political Notes: Ups, Downs and In-betweens
A First in Cobb: New Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes is the first female and the first African American to hold that position. Holmes, who was formerly chief magistrate judge for the county, was appointed and sworn in by…
Business Casual: Where Are the Grownups?
The first time I was ever completely alone with my now-grown daughter was in the hospital where she was born. When she began to cry, the thing that popped immediately into my head was a hope that some responsible adult…
Meetings – and More
Jones Hooks says success in hosting conventions is a matter of working with what you have that is unique and making the most of it to create a “wow” moment or two. He should know. Hooks is the executive director…
Political Notes: Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Primary Date: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has set March 24 as the date for the 2020 presidential primary election. The date is three weeks after the March 3 Super Tuesday date, when several other states will hold primaries;…
Business Casual: Don’t Go, Please
Practically every parent alive has at least one recollection of trying to get out the door for a day’s work or an overnight trip with a teary-eyed two-year-old clinging to a leg, pleading, “Don’t go!” I’ve been feeling a bit…
Local Address, Global Reach
Some international nonprofits that call Georgia home were founded here, like The Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity. Others came after being established elsewhere, such as CARE and Development in Gardening (DIG). But all seem to find Georgia a hospitable…
Political Notes: Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Beck Indicted, Suspended: Georgia Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck has been suspended from office by Gov. Brian Kemp, at his own request. The suspension came following Beck’s indictment by federal prosecutors on charges that he schemed to steal $2 million from…
Business Casual: Spirited Slogans
The old Atlanta slogan that proclaimed it “The World’s Next Great International City” seemed a bit more aspirational than realistic for the first few years it was floating around in the early 1970s. Noble idea, but was it likely to…
Q&A: Karen Kinsell, M.D.
At 2:45 on a Wednesday afternoon, nearly two hours after her office has officially closed, Dr. Karen Kinsell is hoping to get to a 3:00 community health meeting. But there are still four patients waiting to be seen at her…
Political Notes: Ups, Downs, and In-betweens
Erwin Elected – Again: The third time was apparently the charm for state Rep. Chris Erwin (R-Homer) who had to win three primary elections to secure his Georgia House seat. He won the last race in April with 75.48 percent…
Business Casual: Georgia, Georgia
A few years ago, when I was helping move my daughter into her freshman dormitory in our nation’s capital and busily unloading boxes from the car, a man who had just alighted from his New Jersey-tagged vehicle with a yippy…
Political Notes: Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Linder To ASEAN: Former Georgia Republican Congressman John Linder, Duluth, has been selected by President Donald Trump to be the U.S. representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-member intergovernmental organization based in Indonesia. Over his nine terms…
Business Casual: An Empty Glass
If you are a glass-half-full person, you might be able to look back on the 2019 General Assembly session and focus on some good-faith efforts to make life better for a significant number of Georgians, especially relating to voting and…
2019 Most Respected Business Leader: Steve Nygren
After a successful career as a restaurateur, Steve Nygren retired to the country and found a new purpose. Serenbe, the lush green community Steve Nygren and his wife, Marie, have created in the hill country of South Fulton County, has…
The $63-billion Connection
Jay Markwalter likes to point out how much of the growth that boosts Georgia’s economy – new businesses, new investment, new jobs – is tied to tourism. “All of that starts with a visit,” he says, someone coming to the…
Political Notes: Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Lewis in Hollywood: Fifth District Congressman John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat and veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, got a standing ovation from attendees at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony when he introduced Green Book, which won the Oscar for…
Business Casual: Keep Them Safe
Twenty years ago this month, the meaning of “school safety” changed forever the day that two troubled Colorado high school seniors killed 13 people and injured 23 more at Columbine High School in Littleton, a Denver suburb, then took their…
Q&A: Harold Melton Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court
Harold Melton had a singular but rock-solid preparation for his role as Georgia’s top jurist, with 11 years in the state attorney general’s office; a stint as former-Gov. Sonny Perdue’s executive counsel, including work on the team attempting to negotiate…
Political Notes: The Up’s, Down’s, and In-between’s
Two for Isakson: Georgia’s senior U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson remains the only senator to chair two committees; he was re-elected by his colleagues to the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics…
Free DAILY eNews
Sign up to get our free news roundup, Georgia Trend Daily, in your inbox
Free Digital Edition
Sign up to receive the free monthly digital edition of Georgia Trend in your inbox
Browse The Digital Edition
Connect With Us
