The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
From CEO changes to nuclear overruns
Warehouses, hunt for gas, Midtown boom characterize 2016.
New CEOs, building boomlets, airport agonies and a blockbuster media deal were among the big business stories in Atlanta in ’16.
New CEOs, building boomlets, airport agonies and a blockbuster media deal were among the big business stories of 2016 in metro Atlanta.
Here are the top 10 covered by AJC economy reporters:
Turnover at the top
Two of Atlanta’s most iconic companies announced leadership changes this year.
Delta Air Lines promoted veteran exec Ed Bastian to the CEO post, replacing Richard Anderson, who retired to his home state of Texas after a fruitful decade at the controls. Coca-Cola said James Quincey will become CEO next May when Muhtar Kent retires after a 10-year run that’s seen the beverage giant buffeted by the declining popularity of soda.
Both Bastian and Quincey were heir apparents, so the top-echelon moves generated little drama — so far at least.
The same couldn’t be said at Hartsfield-Jackson International, one of the region’s biggest economic drivers.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in May abruptly fired Miguel Southwell, who’d been general manager only about two years. The two traded public barbs over the reason, with Southwell’s lawyers claiming he was the victim of an over-controlling mayor and Reed retorting that the ousted airport chief was only trying to “rescue what remains of his career.” But they later agreed to drop the dispute. Southwell will get about $85,000 in job transition benefits from a settlement with the city, which owns and operates the airport.
Reed named airport finance exec Roosevelt Council as interim GM and has tabbed him for the permanent post, pending City Council sign-off.
Midtown boom
Midtown’s rise as a technology hub accelerated in 2016, as it landed a slew of corporate expansions that will bring thousands of new white collar jobs to the city.
Honeywell, Anthem, NCR and Equifax were among the big name companies that announced software hubs or major corporate offices near Georgia Tech in 2016.
NCR announced plans for an innovation lab and a second phase of the headquarters campus that is currently under construction. By the end of the decade, NCR — which is ditching its current HQ in Gwinnett County — expects to employ more than 5,000 workers in Midtown.
This month, Atlanta-based Portman and Georgia Tech broke ground on a 21-story tower known as Coda. It will be the second phase of Technology Square, with the university as anchor tenant and space for the private sector.
Kevin Green, who leads the Midtown Alliance, said 22 active construction projects are underway around Technology Square and will house thousands of new apartment residents and office workers. Just this month, real estate firm Selig Enterprises announced a mixed-use project along West Peachtree Street that will include the area’s first speculative office tower since 2010.
Warehouses ‘R’ us
From the air, parts of metro Atlanta these days look like a circuit board, with giant white squares strung along highway corridors. It’s an apt analogy since they are the flat roofs of gigantic warehouses, a sector of commercial real estate whose growth is being fueled by online shopping.
A burst of mega-warehouse construction around metro Atlanta has been driven partly by e-commerce and merchants’