Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Metro Atlanta remains a magnet for corporate innovation centers. 🏢 One of the world’s largest insurance firms announced it is consolidating its Atlanta area offices into a new innovation center and hiring hundreds of additional employees. American International Group, known as AIG, is relocating its existing Alpharetta and Buckhead operations to 2002 Summit Blvd. NE in Brookhaven overlooking I-285, where the Fortune 100 company will also establish its first innovation center. The 180,000-square-foot lease signing is one the largest of 2024 so far in metro Atlanta and roughly triples the company’s office footprint in the Atlanta area. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eFhkiYuP

A project that will help define a city center for Johns Creek is getting a luxury hotel. A 175-guest room boutique hotel is coming to Medley, a more than 40-acre mixed-use development in Johns Creek that will replace an aging office campus. Medley is a first-of-its-kind project for Johns Creek influenced by Avalon in neighboring Alpharetta. Read more about the development: https://lnkd.in/e6vSe2QT

Some people go all out for Halloween. Ash Parker is one of those folks. A top executive at an Atlanta commercial real estate firm, Richard Bowers & Co., Parker’s job is the suit-and-tie type, but on Halloween, he swaps the professional attire for a masterful disguise. While Halloween costumes might be expected in other jobs, like an elementary school teacher dressed up as a minion, for example, it’s not common to see a real estate broker walking down Peachtree Street dressed as Forrest Gump in his running era. Read more 🎃: https://lnkd.in/esQy-2t4

When a hurricane looms, it's crucial to get forecasts as early and precisely as possible. Lockheed Martin in Marietta has been tapped to build a more advanced version of “hurricane hunter” aircraft that can improve research for forecasts to help save lives. The NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration is ordering two C-130J Super Hercules aircraft that will be specially-equipped as hurricane hunters to fly straight into storms with specialized instruments to gather data. “The research from hurricane hunter aircraft “gives us the ability to understand how these storms form, how they develop, and the impact that they have on communities,” said U.S. Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves, who toured the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta after the contract award. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eenBTytH

With more than a month left in what has already been one of the most destructive hurricane seasons in Georgia history, a new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll finds more than two-thirds of the state’s likely voters believe climate change played at least some role in worsening the storms’ impacts. Nearly a quarter of the poll’s respondents, 23%, said they believed climate change was “entirely” responsible for increasing the severity of recent hurricanes. About 19% said the shifting climate was “mostly” to blame, and another 26% said it was “somewhat” responsible. Georgia has suffered through one of its worst ever hurricane seasons so far this year. The AJC’s Drew Kann takes you inside the data. https://lnkd.in/enXUtgvW

Editor & Publisher (E&P) Magazine has picked up AJC Publisher Andrew Morse’s interview with Northwestern Medill’s Local New Initiative about how the company is shifting gears and changing journalism in Atlanta and in the south. “Atlanta influences everything. And whether it is politics, where Georgia, right now, is at the center of the political conversation; whether it’s Black culture, where Atlanta has the most dynamic and vibrant Black community in the country, one that sets trends nationally; whether it’s sports … there is so much about Atlanta to capture. So it’s important for us to serve the community in Atlanta but also to tell the stories of Atlanta throughout the rest of Georgia and the South.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/etZ_YrGk

While most shoppers still buy vehicles in white, black, gray and silver, carmakers are betting on bolder colors to attract buyers. There’s no shortage of color options for next year’s models. For example, there’s Neoteric Yellow (2025 Hyundai Kona), Molten Magenta Metallic (2025 Ford Mustang) and Bright Moss Green (2025 Volkswagen Taos). Are you in the market for a new car? And what would your color choice be? 🚘 🚗 https://lnkd.in/ezx3Vs-c

A new report from the United Negro College Fund has found historically black colleges and universities across the United States produce $16.5 billion in economic impact per year and contribute 136,000 on-campus and off-campus jobs. Students and employees spend at off-campus businesses, which in turn helps support jobs. HBCUs themselves also spend on services with local businesses, another contribution. In Georgia, the report looked at four HBCUs outside of Atlanta — Albany State University, Fort Valley State University, Paine College in Augusta and Savannah State University — and five in the city: Clark Atlanta University, Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Spelman College. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e8CBsmpD

Listen up, y’all. We have one very lucky person among us.  💰 A metro Atlanta retailer sold the winning Powerball ticket for Wednesday night’s jackpot. The ticket was sold at the Quik Mart at a Valero gas station in Buford, located at 2155 Buford Dam Road, a Georgia Lottery Corporation spokesperson confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. https://lnkd.in/eTYT9KxP

Once filled with bales of candy and stacks of telegrams, two brick buildings in southwest Atlanta now act as storage sheds for racks of car parts, engine blocks and tires. A glance at the properties today — littered with junked cars and scrap metals — doesn’t hint at the buildings’ century-old histories, let alone conjure up thoughts of loft offices or swanky restaurants. But Andrew Braden sees boundless potential beneath the surface. “These would make incredible boardrooms,” Braden said, looking at open space between an array of concrete pillars while ignoring the piles of car doors. “Or you can chop it up and have conference rooms. There’s just a lot you can do with a space like this.” The AJC’s Zachary Hansen takes you behind the scenes of one of Atlanta’s developers of historic properties and the company’s vision for their futures. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dB5Bg6mH