GROWTH & REVITALIZATION
PROGRESS 2011 MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL FEBRUARY 27, 2011 SECTION AA / 1 OF 8
SUPERIOR, INDEED
JUDGES LAUD EFFICIENCY OF NEW COURTHOUSE DESIGN
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A MODEL OF SECURITY IN POST-ATLANTA SHOOTING ERA
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A RIDE INTO THE FUTURE 8AA
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Progress provides insight into Cobb’s exceptionalism TO OUR READERS: Today we present our annual Progress Edition highlighting the people, institutions, businesses and the overall quality of life that make Cobb County a great place to live, work and do business. Call it Cobb exceptionalism, our version of American exceptionalism.
In this Progress Edition, Cobb exceptionalism is documented. We seek to give our readers insights into why Cobb holds such an envious position in the metro area, in the state and the nation – boasting the lowest tax rates and the lowest government costs among all the metro counties while ranking in the top one percent of counties nationwide with a Triple A bond rating.
Likewise, we focus on the movers and shakers in Cobb’s cities that demonstrate the optimistic outlook and energetic drive for progress that have Otis A. brought two coveted Brumby III All-America City awards to our county.
The articles and pictures speak to the exceptional quality of life here – ranging from the schools to our wealth of natural resources, parks and recreational facilities as well as clean air and water, a good transportation system and, not coincidentally, the Census Bureau’s ranking of the people of Cobb as the most-educated in Georgia. These are the critical factors that
foster the progress of our county and its continuing gains in people, businesses and jobs even in difficult economic times. We hope you will enjoy reading about Cobb’s exceptionalism in this Progress Edition as much as we are pleased to bring it to you. Otis A. Brumby III General Manager
‘The Brian Nichols incident really changed the way we looked at things, and we thought a lot about how we could make this courthouse the safest, most secure courthouse possible so something like that could never happen here.’ — Tom Charron, Superior Court administrator
A model of safety and efficiency
New courthouse sets standard for security in post-Brian Nichols killings in Atlanta By Katy Ruth Camp krcamp@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — Through the historic buildings of the Marietta Square, you can spot the looming clock tower of Cobb County’s new Superior Courthouse. The epicenter of justice in the county stands as a model of efficiency and a sign of the post-Brian Nichols era in courthouse security. While there have been some growing pains, Cobb Superior Court judges say the new building is more efficient and safer than the old. “This is much more efficient and a lot easier to handle cases because the District Attorney’s office is in the same building, as well as the Clerk (of the Superior Court). So instead of crossing the street, we can just jump on the elevator and get to the courtroom in seconds,” Superior Court Judge Robert Flournoy said. “Also, the holding cells in the basement are more efficient, and the sheriff’s deputies can move the prisoners much quicker. I feel a lot more secure, too, as people are stopped now way down the hall and have to push an intercom button and speak to the secre-
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
Taking a tour in early January of the new Cobb Superior Courthouse were, from left: Cobb Senior Judge Grant Brantley, Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren and Superior Court Judge James Bodiford. taries before they get in. It’s just eliminated people wandering the halls. Everything has just run wonderfully.” The 229,000-square-foot courthouse, which was set to open in March, was finished months ahead of schedule. Judges were in the new courthouse by Jan. 4 and began hearing cases there on Jan. 10. For the first time since 1980, Cobb’s District Attorney, 10
Superior Court Judges and the Clerk of the Superior Court are all housed in the same building. The $63 million facility was paid for through the 2005 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and was custom-made to fit the needs of everyone from potential jurors to suspects on trial. Construction began in May 2008. Court Administrator Tom Charron said the new courthouse is the
first to his knowledge to be built following the Brian Nichols shooting rampage at the Fulton County Courthouse in March 2005. “The Brian Nichols incident really changed the way we looked at things, and we thought a lot about how we could make this courthouse the safest, most secure courthouse possible so something like that could never happen here,” Charron said. Some of the safety features at the new courthouse include cameras in every courtroom, hallway, holding cell and office. There’s also bullet-resistant drywall. Anyone wishing to visit a judge in his or her chambers will have to either use a security card given only to certain employees or push a button to speak with an assistant. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley and Flournoy said the new security measures have created some nuisances, but that the new measures are worth having a more secure building. “The lawyers have some trouble getting to judges, so that is causing some lawyers to be frustrated. And it’s really quiet. For me, it’s a positive because I’m a See Courthouse, 3AA
COVER
Cobb’s Superior Court judges already have settled into their new palatial courthouse chambers. They are, front row: Dorothy Robinson; second row, from left: Mary Staley and George Kreeger; third row: Robert Flournoy, Lark Ingram and James Bodiford; fourth row: Reuben Green, Tain Kell, Stephen Schuster and Adele Grubbs. MDJ staff photo / Todd Hull
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
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Top: Officials cut the ribbon on the spectacular new $63 million Cobb Superior Courthouse in early January. Right: Superior Court Judge George Kreeger gets advice on how he should have his new office arranged from his wife Hellan, center, and Linda Flournoy, right, widow of the late Judge Robert Flournoy. Far right: Security measures begin in the new courthouse in the entrance way. Staff/File
Courthouse Continued from Page 2AA
bit of workaholic and like to sit down and dig into my work, but I think the secretaries feel lonely because the lawyers and deputies have hard time getting back to us, whereas used to they could just walk in and chat,” Staley said. “I was concerned about the waiting area for public being tight, and that has slowed arraignments a bit. Used to, you could get out at either end, but now the ends are by a wall. It may be a little less comfortable for them, but we still can get a lot of people in the courtroom. But jurors are happier because they were cramped before and what we had was not user-friendly, and now they have a really good space and are treated like they’re special, and the public deserves that. It’s a beautiful building and overall, people seem very pleased.” Said Flournoy: “The security is greatly increased so that lawyers in the past could just come back to the chambers. They can’t do that now, so if the attorneys are in the courtroom and they want to come back to a judge’s office, they don’t have a pass so they have to tell the bailiff they need to see the judge and the bailiff has to take them back, so it’s inconvenient for them,” Flournoy said. “Second, the sheriff doesn’t want lawyers to go in the holding cells anymore. In the past, lawyers would enter
the holding cell and sit down with clients and fill out necessary paperwork. But the sheriff said it was a security compromise, so now the lawyers have to meet downstairs in the basement rather than in the holding cell, so it takes a little longer, but it’s a reasonable concern. If the sheriff’s office has someone who is non-deputy back there with the inmates, some of whom are charged with very serious crimes, and they can grab, choke and hurt the attorneys. Now, they come to a window and the suspects can’t touch them. There’s a glass screen between them and a hole just big enough to slide papers back and forth.” Enhanced protection is also given to those defendants standing trial, as their holding cells are separated from the courtroom by a 300-pound metal door that is located only a few steps from their table. Currently, defendants have to cross from the back of the courtroom to the front to have a seat. Prisoners are protected from potential jury prejudices by the floor-length wooden skirts around each table that hide their shackles and handcuffs from view. Jurors are also protected, with a secure entrance into the building and an elevator accessible only to them to get from the jury waiting area to the back of each courtroom. At the old courthouse, jurors often come in contact with others associated with the trials they are deciding, Flournoy said. The security checkpoint at the entrance into the court-
house is also more comfortable for visitors. Flournoy said the old courthouse could hold no more than eight people waiting in line inside, while the new courthouse has room for up to 180 people to wait inside. Another main component of the courthouse is that it is environmentally friendly. “From the beginning, commissioners and court leaders made it clear to us that they wanted us to always keep sustainable practices and materials at the forefront of this courthouse,” said Winston Williams, project manager for New York-based Turner Construction, the general contractor for the new courthouse. Turner also built the $110 million Cobb County Jail expansion that was substantially completed last year. Williams said 80 to 85 percent of construction debris was recycled – debris that otherwise would have gone into local landfills. The entire courthouse is made up of 20 percent recycled materials, and the paints and glues that were used have low volatile organic compounds so there are no fumes and will not make people sick, Williams said. He said the goal for the courthouse was to reduce energy costs by 15 percent and water use by 40 percent. Williams said the project has hit the milestones needed to get LEED Silver certification, which recognizes “green building,” and will almost certainly receive the distinction. Williams said there was little to no cost difference using the more sustainable
materials, and that the county will save a substantial amount of money in water, electric and heating and cooling costs over time because of the sustainable components implemented. “Over the span of 25 to 30 years, the cost savings will really be significant. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving,” he said.
Other sustainable features include carbon monoxide monitors in every courtroom, meeting rooms that detect the number of people in the room and regulate temperature accordingly, waterless urinals, low-flow faucets, and lights that automatically go off after three minutes of no movement in the room. The fourth floor was left
vacant to accommodate future growth, and judges were granted their offices – each one the same in size – by seniority. Flournoy said the corner offices were the most coveted, as they provided more windows. The entire courthouse is made up of 600,000 bricks and several floor-length windows providing natural light.
GROWTH & REVITALIZATION
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8.5%
119,257
77,837
43%
$1,613
50,000
Percentage of population 65 and older
Residents who can speak a 2nd language
Number of Latino residents in Cobb in 2009
Residents with college degree or higher
Average mortgage payment for Cobb in ’09
Number of students in Cobb colleges
714,692 $66,515
The number of residents in Cobb in 2009
The median family income for Cobb in ’09
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
The changing face of Cobb
Census: Residents more racially diverse, more educated and getting a little grayer By Marcus E. Howard mhoward@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — Cobb County is part of the core Atlanta metropolitan area and home to a number of major corporations including Lockheed Martin, Home Depot and The Weather Channel. However, the county looks much different than it did about 10 years ago and is continuing to evolve as a result of its changing demographics. According to most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau — which does not include the 2010 Census information, which was not yet released when this section went to press — the county’s population was estimated at 714,692 in 2009 compared to 607,751 in 2000. Along with more residents, additional changes have been made that are sure to have a lasting impact on the county for years to come. Cobb residents are more educated than they were nearly a decade ago, according to the data that included American Community Survey estimates. The number of people age 25 or older with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased to 43 percent in 2009, up from 39.8 percent in 2000. The median household income rose to $66,515 in 2009, up from $58,289 in 2000. However, the population of individuals living below the poverty level has jumped from 6.5 percent in 2000 to 9.4 percent in 2009. The county seems to be getting a little grayer as well. The percentage of the population age 65 or older
Staff/Mike Jacoby
Every event in Cobb just seems to get bigger and bigger. Last November’s Gobble Jog, sponsored by the Marietta Daily Journal and presented by WellStar, drew a record 8,333 participants for the 10K, 5K and Fun Run races which began and ended at the Marietta Square. term challenge for the counhas risen to 8.5 percent, or 59,023, in 2009 compared to ty will be demands placed on public safety, infrastruc6.9 percent, or 42,036 peoture, and recreation that ple in 2000. remain strong while the “Our population growth housing market is weak.” has slowed down considerLee said he expects that ably over the last 10 years over the next 10 years the but it does continue to county’s rate of growth will grow,” said Tim Lee, chairslow down. man of the Cobb Board of “The good news is, we Commissioners. “The short-
should continue to expand our business base, which will support an increasing demand for housing in the county. Of course we also recognize that our senior population is expanding. Empty-nesters are choosing to stay in Cobb, which will have its own positive impact on our housing mix. We are already seeing trends towards low maintenance, high quality communities that appeal to this demographic.” It also appears that Cobb has grown more culturally diverse in the past decade, as 119,257 residents (age 5 or older), or 18.8 percent, speak a language other than English at home. In 2000, that number was 83,002 people, or 14.7 percent. Dr. Harold Trendell, an associate professor of geography at Kennesaw State University, said the number of Latino restaurants in Cobb have grown from one, Los Reyes on Roswell Street in Marietta, in 1979 to 85 restaurants in 2009, according to Cobb Public Health department data. “A lot of them are found in areas that aren’t predominantly Latino,” Trendell said. “A lot of people who are patronizing them find them in strip malls in west and northeast Cobb that are predominately white areas. We think there is a trend in how people are taking to ethnic cuisine because of the spices and exotic nature.” According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2000, there were 46,964 Latino residents in Cobb, accounting for 7.7 percent of the popula-
tion. In 2009, that number increased to 77,837 such residents, (11.3 percent of the population). Here are other statistical facts about Cobb County, according to the American Community Survey data reported by the Census Bureau. POPULATION: Between 2005-09, Cobb County had a total population of 690,000, with very close to a 50/50 split of men to women. The median age was 34.5 years. Twenty-seven percent of the population was under 18 years old, and nine percent was 65 years and older. Racially, the county was 65 percent white; 23 percent black or African American;
and 4 percent Asian, with the balance being of some other race. Ethnicity, which is different from race, is one of two categories: Hispanic, or nonHispanic. People of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Sixty percent of the people in Cobb County in that same time period said they were non-Hispanic.
HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES: Between 2005 and
2009, there were 250,000 households in Cobb County. The average household size was 2.7 people. Families made up 68 percent of the households in Cobb County. This figure includes both married-couple See Changing, 5AA
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It is well worth the drive for you and your family to come join us as we worship and serve together through:
Discipleship Now Student Ministry March 18-20
• In-depth study of the Bible • Praise and Thanksgiving • Community involvement • Fellowship and family fun • Building and growing physically and spiritually
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Men’s Softball Tuesday/Thursday or Saturday League
We need you as we move forward by faith to fulfill God’s call for His people. Visit our website for details of our ministries
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Men 16 years or older
SUNDAYS 8:15 and 11:00 AM Traditional Worship Service 9:45 AM Bible Study for all ages 6:00 PM Evening Worship/AWANA/College & Career Meeting
TUESDAYS 6:30 PM Church Wide Outreach
Dr. Richard Walker, Senior Pastor
Third Annual
Ashley’s 5K Run March 19, 2011 Registration begins at 7:30AM
Rev. Walker Moore, Associate Pastor Mr. Jerry Turner, Music Director Rev. Kyle McHargue, Student and College & Career Ministries
Proceeds go to the Ashley Collis Memorial Scholarship Fund at Truett McConnell College
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Mrs. Dawn Shaffer, Children’s Director Mrs. Karla Lynch, Preschool Director
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WEDNESDAYS 9: 15 AM Precept Bible Study 6:00 PM Evening Meal 7:00 PM Prayer Service and Children’s Activities
SATURDAYS Upward Basketball
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Office: 770.943.5511
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K N O W Y O U R W AY A R O U N D C O B B
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families (52 percent) and other families (16 percent). Nonfamily households made up 32 percent of all households in Cobb County. Most of the nonfamily households were people living alone, but some were composed of people living in households in which no one was related to the householder. EDUCATION: Between 2005 and 2009, 90 percent of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school, and 43 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher. Ten percent were dropouts
who had not graduated from high school and were not currently enrolled in school. There were 193,000 students enrolled in all levels of schooling in Cobb during that time. Most of those — 118,000 — were in grades 1 through 12. There were 50,000 students attending college or graduate school during that time. And the number of students in nursery school and kindergarten was 25,000.
OCCUPATIONS AND TYPE OF EMPLOYER: Among the
most common occupations were management professionals, 43 percent; sales and office occupations, 27 per-
cent; service occupations, 13 percent; construction, extraction, maintenance, and repair occupations, 8 percent; and production, transportation, and material moving occupations, 8 percent. Eighty-two percent of the people were privately employed; 11 percent worked for some level of the government; and 6 percent were self-employed.
NATIVITY AND LANGUAGE:
Fifteen percent of the people living in Cobb County in 2005-2009 were foreignborn. Eighty-five percent were born in the United States, including 37 percent who were born in Georgia.
received income from more than one source. POVERTY: Between 2005 and 2009, 9 percent of Cobb residents lived in poverty. Twelve percent of related children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 6 percent of people 65 years old and over. Seven percent of all families and 20 percent of families with a female householder and no husband present had incomes below the poverty level. HOUSING COSTS: The
median monthly housing costs for mortgaged owners was $1,613, non-mortgaged owners $408, and renters $927. Thirty-two percent of owners with mortgages, 9 percent of owners without mortgages, and 48 percent of renters in Cobb County spent 30 percent or more of household income on housing. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005-2009 American Community Survey
Meet Us at the Arbor - 174th Marietta Campmeeting
GROWTHFACT
You are warmly invited to join us for the 174th year of Marietta Campmeeting, a non-denominational Christian revival where everyone is invited to join in the glorious celebration of Lord Jesus Christ!
From staff reports
The Marietta Housing Authority has been awarded a $9 million federal grant to build a $13 million apartment building for seniors on Carruth Street in Acworth. To make room for the building, MHA will demolish a 25-unit family housing project on the site, continuing a trend of moving families out of public housing. Current tenants will be relocated into private rentals with Section 8 vouchers. Bulldozers are slated to be on site this spring. If construction goes as planned, the four-story, brick apartment building should open in early 2012, said Ray Buday, executive director of MHA. The 108 units will have one or two bedrooms, and rents will be in the $700 to $800 range, he said. Ninety-three units in the new building will be subsidized, and 15 units will be leased at market rates.
Among people at least five years old living in Cobb County between 2005 and 2009, 19 percent spoke a language other than English at home. Of those, 53 percent spoke Spanish and 47 percent spoke some other language. INCOME: The median income of households in Cobb County was $66,515. Eighty-eight percent of the households received earnings and 14 percent received retirement income other than Social Security. Eighteen percent of the households received Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $16,349. Some households
Daily Service Times:
11:00 AM & 7:30 PM Beginning Friday evening the 15th and concluding Sunday afternoon on the 24th
MARIETTA CAMPMEETING 2011
Au t o • H o m e • B o a t • Cyc l e
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2100 Roswell Road NE • Marietta 770-565-9696
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
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Group seeks to brand Marietta with new image Project designed to attract broader range of visitors to Square By Jon Gillooly jgillooly@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — Business owners intent on showcasing downtown Marietta as a place where jazz babies and bons vivants can enjoy theater, art, food and history, unveiled their campaign in January. Marietta Square gift shop owner Johnny Fulmer, who is helping to spearhead the effort, says downtown antique shops commonly become what they sell: things of the past. “We’re not old and dusty any longer, and it’s time to move forward with new ideas,” he said. The idea for the project came from merchants like Fulmer after they were slammed last winter not only by a bad economy, but bad weather and road construction that kept shoppers away. “Merchants were just, ‘we need help, we need help, we need help,’” said Donna Krueger of dk Gallery. “I’m relatively new here. We’ve just been here since ’08, but I think everybody comes and says, OK, where do you go
for all our marketing and advertising support, and we don’t have that,” she said. So with $2,000 in seed money from the Downtown Marietta Development Authority last spring, the shopkeepers formed an eight-member nonprofit board called The Branding Project to brainstorm ways to attract visitors to downtown Marietta. Visitors to Disney World know of the Disney brand, just as soda drinkers know the Coca-Cola brand. The merchants said it’s high time to start promoting a historic downtown Marietta brand. “What we thought we would try to do is organize the city’s advertising campaign, try to work with the Welcome Center on their advertising and maybe the museums and individual merchants, so we put out the same message, the same image, so we know exactly where we’re going and how we’re going to get there,” said Fulmer, who serves on the DMDA. Krueger said they want to See Branding, 10AA
Staff/Todd Hull
From left: Bonnie Reavis, owner of Zenith Design Group in Marietta, speaks with The Branding Project Board members Donna Krueger, Johnny Fulmer and Cassandra Buckalew about design concepts for their upcoming Downtown Historical Marietta branding project.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
BOC Chair Lee puts emphasis on landing new jobs By Donna Espy and Katy Ruth Camp despy@mdjonline.com krcamp@mdjonline.com
Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee announced during his state of the county speech in early February that CCH Small Firm Services is expanding its workforce in Cobb by relocating 200 current employees to its Kennesaw location. The chairman also told the hundreds gathered for the breakfast about a new initiative spearheaded by the Chamber to bring more jobs to the county. CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, provides tax and accounting software, research and training to more than 45,000 small professional firms throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The company also processes its customers’ electronically-filed tax returns. The additional employees will come from SFS offices in Fort Pierce, Fla., and Caribou, Maine, and will begin arriving this spring, company president Jeff Gramlich said. Lee announced the job additions before the Cobb Chamber of Commerce First Monday Breakfast in February. “We looked at Rome, Cartersville and Acworth, among other locations, before we found space in Kennesaw,” Gramlich said. “The Cobb officials were very receptive to us and well-organized. We’re happy to be here.” SFS opened its corporate headquarters at 225 Chastain Meadows Court last August, consolidating more than 350 employees from offices in Rome and a Barrett Parkway location. The current workforce is 400 permanent employees and 200 temporary employees working during tax season. “CCH Small Firm Services is a valued member of our community, and I am thrilled at their continued business success,” Lee said. “Their planned expansion is welcomed news and is a great example of how low taxes, solid infrastructure and a great quality of life keep our county competitive when it comes to growing business.” Lee added that economic development and bringing jobs to Cobb will be his administration’s main focus in 2011. Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews also welcomed the additional jobs to his community. “Seeing companies like SFS continue to grow and expand in Kennesaw and Cobb County is very encouraging given this harsh economy,” Mathews said. “We welcome their continued growth in our community and are honored they have chosen us as the location to grow their operations.” The company’s state-ofthe-art facility houses development, sales, training, customer support and internal operations staff and includes a television studio, shipping and fulfillment operations as well as employee food, recreation and fitness areas. For more information, visit www.cchsfs.com. In addition, Chairman Lee announced that NCR Corporation, a global technology company, will relocate its corporate jet and six pilots from Gwinnett County to McCollum Airport in Kennesaw. The company, which specializes in assisted and self-service solutions and comprehensive support services for retail, financial, travel, health care, hospitality and entertainment sectors, is headquartered in Duluth. A new corporate jet hangar will be completed in June at McCollum, Lee said. In his speech, the chairman quoted economist Dr. Roger Tutterow, who has predicted that the coming years will be even more difficult financially, and that the economy won’t really rebound until 2013. To overcome that, Lee announced a countywide economic development initiative spearheaded by the Cobb Chamber, which Lee claimed will “leapfrog any other and put Cobb at the forefront of economic development.” Lee said the initiative would be wholly financed by
‘We’ll look at everything we have and what industries we need to go after. What makes sense? We won’t go after a large automotive plant, for example, but with Lockheed here we could try to attract more aerospace companies. We have four major universities and we’re close to Georgia Tech so we can market our technologicallyadvanced graduates. We’ll base it off of the SWOT analysis, which businesses use and stands for identifying an entity’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.’ — Tim Lee, Cobb Commission chairman
businesses, in an effort to better market and lure companies to Cobb. The project will take six to seven months to get fully up and running, he said. It will bring together businesses, academia, and economic development experts, with input as needed from city and county staff and elected officials. “We’ll look at everything we have and what industries we need to go after. What makes sense? We won’t go after a large automotive plant, for example, but with Lockheed here we could try to attract more aerospace companies. We have four major universities and we’re close to Georgia Tech so we can market our technologicallyadvanced graduates. We’ll base it off of the SWOT analysis, which businesses use and stands for identifying an entity’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats,” Lee said. Ideally, he said, the Chamber initiative would lure new businesses to Cobb without ever going through the Chairman’s office. Lee also said the county would evaluate its existing business incentive package for ways to make it stronger. That was a campaign promise made last summer when he sought the chairman’s seat, he said, and is “necessary for us to succeed. The consensus between the government and business community was that economic development needed to be stepped up, and for us to come to a consensus.” As for the kind of impact he hopes this initiative will have a year from now, Lee said, “I hope we will have recognition of our program at the state, national and international levels as one of the best economic development programs offered, and to have growth and impact in all four of the areas I discussed — job creation, business expansion, business retention and an expansion of tourism.” State Rep. David Wilkerson (D-Austell), who just took office in January after defeating incumbent Don Wix in last summer’s Democratic primary, attended the breakfast and said he knows the county faces even tougher economic times ahead. But he was encouraged by Lee’s economic development plans. “There are a lot of challenges coming through, but with challenges also come opportunities. It’s good to see businesses coming to Cobb, and that people will be coming together to keep that growing. It’s a challenging time, but I thought his address was encouraging,” Wilkerson said.
Commuter rail option being developed in Cobb Staff/Anthony Stalcup
President and CEO of American Maglev Technology Tony J. Morri, left, and project manager Andy Wissing stand in front of their prototype commuter rail train at their operation in Powder Springs.
Engineer says Powder Springs-based Maglev firm taking off By Katy Ruth Camp krcamp@mdjonline.com
POWDER SPRINGS — At the end of the dirt-paved Burrow Trail in a swampy area of Powder Springs sits a 50,000-pound rail cart that looks like something from “The Jetsons.” But the white, bubble-shaped cart on a rail track is not a figment of imagination — it is the test track for American Maglev Technology, an energy-efficient commuter rail option developed right here in Cobb County. “We’ll run it back and forth and people will pull in and want to know what’s going on,” Maglev’s founder and Marietta resident Tony Morris said. “Some people ask if it’s a replacement for the space shuttle, some people want to know if it’s MARTA sneaking into Cobb. We have fun with it, but the real fun is the fact that we have officially signed our first customers.” In 1991, when Morris owned a consulting firm on the Marietta Square and the Braves were in talks about moving to Cobb County, he was approached about rail options to get commuters from Atlanta to Cobb, he said, and he developed Maglev in response. On Feb. 4, Morris announced that his company had
signed nearly $400 million worth of agreements with Puerto Rican and Mexican officials to bring his dream to their towns. And with the state considering commuter rail systems with the upcoming Regional Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, and the county considering its own light-rail along the U.S. 41 corridor, Morris said his hometown system would be an extremely viable option, though no state officials have contacted him about Maglev and only a few county officials have expressed some interest in past years. In fact, Ga. House Speaker David Ralston took a weeklong trip to Germany last Thanksgiving to look at rail lines there — with the $17,000 trip financed by lobbyists pushing a highspeed rail line between Atlanta and Chattanooga. Morris said his Maglev train is relatively inexpensive. “We are giving estimates that it would cost around $20 million per mile. That is in comparison to what the Federal Transit Administration says the costs are for light-rail — around $100 million per mile,” he said. “And when MARTA was in talks to expand into Gwinnett, published reports said it would cost about $220 million per
mile to bring MARTA into Gwinnett. So we’re clearly much less and we’re a very, very lightweight system that has no moving parts, is much lighter, much cheaper to implement, runs on an automated system, and uses 60 percent less energy than other systems and is much, much cheaper over its useful life. There are all kinds of smarts built into the vehicle. It would have smaller stations than others and it leaves a smaller footprint on the environment.” The system travels up to 60 miles per hour, which is the maximum regulations allow, he said. Morris said Maglev is similar to lightrail, but he and his associates prefer the term “mega regional rail,” for Maglev because he said light-rail tends to be more expensive with heavy, costly vehicles and can use up to 70 percent more energy than the Maglev system. Morris said the Maglev system uses electromagnetic fields to lift the 50,000pound vehicle up 3/8ths of an inch. “When it’s lifted up, it’s weightless — you can even push it because there is no friction. It takes the energy equivalent of 15 hairdryers to lift it, so it’s very energy efficient. There’s no resistance, no friction, and it’s essentially like skiing or ice skating down the track,” he said. “It uses just enough energy for wind resistance, to go up hills, that sort of thing.”
Kroger to anchor new Norman Medford-Peden Smyrna shopping center Funeral Home & Crematory Inc.
From staff reports
SMYRNA — Although it took nearly five years of planning, an Illinois-based redeveloper broke ground earlier this month on the redevelopment at the Crossings Shopping Center on South Cobb Drive and Concord Road. The shopping center which was purchased by TriLand Properties, Inc. in 2006, will be anchored by a 96,000 square foot Kroger to be opened in November. At a groundbreaking ceremony, Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon said the city hopes the shopping center will have a halo effect on the surrounding area and inspire the redevelopment of stalled projects such as Belmont Hills and Jonquil Village. The Kroger planned for the new Crossings shopping center will replace an existing
40-year-old Kroger that is currently located across South Cobb Drive. The new store will include a gas station, bakery, floral shop and wine shop and a drive-thru pharmacy. Kroger bought 7.5 acres of land from Tri-Land in December. Demolition began on the old shopping center’s anchor store in early January. Tri-Land Executive Vice President Hugh Robinson called the deal with Kroger “critical” in the redevelopment of the project, saying it wouldn’t have happened without the company’s commitment. While the current shopping center is 153,000 square feet, the new center will reach 230,000 square feet and include eight out-parcel buildings that will be for sale or lease. Officials said that several small tenants have already signed leases for the new shopping center.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
GROWTH & REVITALIZATION
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Battle lines drawn to promote, reject Cobb ’11 SPLOST Funds targeted primarily for parks, transportation and infrastructure By Katy Ruth Camp krcamp@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA – Residents across Cobb will decide March 15 whether to approve a four-year extension of the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. The penny-on-the-dollar tax is projected to bring in $492 million over its life, and the money would be used mostly for infrastructure maintenance, transportation, and parks. But the proposal had a rocky ride on its way to the ballot. County leaders originally presented a six year proposal project to bring in $746 million. Amid criticism that the proposal was too filled with fluff, county Chairman Tim Lee brought back a five-year plan, and ultimately, the fouryear plan. From that stir emerged passionate views for and against extending the current one-percent sales tax. To read the full project list, visit www.cobbsplost2011.org. On one side stands four groups vocally opposed to the SPLOST, who are actively trying to defeat the referendum. The Georgia Taxpayers Alliance, Cobb County Taxpayers Association, Georgia Tea Party and Cobb Libertarian Party have all announced they will actively campaign against the county’s proposed SPLOST. Although the groups have some similar complaints about the SPLOST, each group’s main reason for opposition is different. James Bell, leader of the Georgia Taxpayers Alliance, said his group’s biggest concern with the SPLOST is that they believe the large amount of maintenance and operations projects proposed in the SPLOST are against the law. Lance Lamberton, leader of the Cobb Taxpayers Association, said his group feels the county has been wasteful with taxpayer money and that residents would benefit more from a break in the tax. Tom Maloy and J.D. Van Brink, leaders of the Georgia Tea Party, said they believe the proposed four-year, $492 million SPLOST is still for too many years, too much money, that there are too many wants and not enough needs on the county’s project list. And Matt Godown, chair of the Libertarian Party of Cobb County, said his group
Branding Continued from Page 7AA
reach out to east and west Cobb residents before targeting metro Atlanta. “It’s almost like the campaign should be, ‘I love Marietta. I just don’t go there,’” Krueger said. Bonnie Reavis of Zenith Design Group, the marketing firm the group is using, said the strategy is to remake the old image of downtown Marietta to be more contemporary. “We’re trying to promote that there’s a lot of really cool, current, hip, cultural, immersive, tons of restaurants, impromptu bluegrass gatherings outside of the Australian bakery, tours on pedicabs, trolleys, museums. So we’re really trying to come out with a bold message of what’s here and now, and that’s actually the title for the campaign,” she said. Board member Cassandra Buckalew, owner of the Historic Marietta Trolley Company, said the campaign is meant to complement, not supplant, the city’s historic past. “There still will be the aspect with the historical element of the city,” Buckalew said. “We’re not getting rid of that. That’s why we put ‘historic downtown’ in the name of this, and that’s what we do
is opposing the SPLOST because they believe it creates more infrastructure, which in turn creates more maintenance and operations costs for the county and leads to increases in property taxes. All four groups, at one point or another, have held meetings together and worked together to get information out to the public and actively oppose the SPLOST. Bell, a resident of Lithia Springs, Douglas County, who campaigned against three SPLOST proposals there and was successful in defeating two, said he formed the group with Gwinnett County resident Ron Williams about a year ago to create a team of community organizers and activists, and empower residents to fight excessive taxation. On the other side ... “The SPLOST is the most fiscally responsible way to fund local government,” said Marietta attorney Heath Garrett, who is a member of the group, Citizens for Cobb’s Future. “It lowers property taxes, it avoids debt, you pay as you go, the projects have no discretion in expenditure, it’s 100 percent transparent, and the voters have to approve it. “Thirty percent of all revenues are paid by those who use our county’s infrastructure, but don’t live here. It is a local version of a fair tax. Everybody who is engaged in Cobb County pays his or her share. At the end of the day, the SPLOST is the reason why Cobb County has the lowest tax rates in metro Atlanta, even with the SPLOST, which would be a continuation of the tax and not a hike in taxes.” Garrett said the group will conduct a “good old fashioned grassroots campaign.” “We’re going to visit every civic organization that will have us to talk about and educate people about the SPLOST, and our polling data is done, which indicates people are supportive of it,” Garrett said, referring to a phone survey the group had performed in November through a company called American Viewpoint to gauge residents’ opinions on SPLOST issues. “We plan on seeking the endorsement of dozens of other civic organizations within the county, including business, political, neighborhood groups and others ... and we just started our website, www.cobbsfuture.org.”
with the trolley, is tell the story of this town. So that’s not something I’m trying to shy away from. But we do need some new people to be in the area because there is so much here.” Reavis said the goal is to usher in people who will sustain the area long-term. “We’re wanting to pull the Decatur crowd and pull some of those OTP folks up here, not only to come for a play or coffee shop or jazz celebration, but to say, ‘boy, I could get this similar kind of experience, pedestrian friendly, and I could live in a loft environment, and I could spend 60 percent for what I’m spending now for my lifestyle,’” she said. They look to roll out advertisements on billboards along Interstate 75, place ads in tourist-related periodicals and start a website to market the downtown in the near future. The group hopes to rely on three sources of funding. It is charging annual $100 membership fee to the 650 stakeholders, from churches to restaurants, that are located within a three-block radius of Glover Park. It plans to hold fundraisers during the year, such as a jazz celebration and displays of university student art work. The group also hopes to get more money from the city and DMDA.
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
E-waste eliminated Tommy Nobis Center’s new recycling program a success By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
KENNESAW — The Tommy Nobis Center wants your old TVs, computers, cell phones, gaming systems and CD players. In June 2009, the nonprofit organization, which provides job training to adults with physical, mental and auditory disabilities, started collecting and recycling old electronics. Headquartered in a warehouse in Kennesaw, the program, called Recycletronics, takes the old electronics, shreds them and sells the parts on the commodities market, or resells the unwanted, but still useable electronics on eBay. “In our first year of operations last year, we processed four million pounds of what we call e-waste, or electronic waste,” said Karen Carlisle, vice president of communications at the Tommy Nobis Center. “We thought we would do 1.5 million pounds ... We take just about anything that plugs in, except your big kitchen and laundry room appliances.” Electronics that can be recycled there include cell phones, telephones, computers, CPUs, stereos, toasters, laptops, copiers, printers, VCRs, alarm clocks, remote controls, MP3 players, disk drives, can openers,
Staff/Laura Moon
Carl Moore breaks the glass and separates the lead and unleaded pieces from a computer monitor. camcorders, cameras, modems, CD players, fax machines and gaming systems. Like most recycling companies, Recycletronics charges $10 to donate old TVs or computer screen monitors with CRTs, or cathode ray tubes, and $5 for each additional TV or computer screen monitor, to cover hazardous waste fees. The center waives the fee if the entire computer is donated.
The Tommy Nobis Center’s Recycletronics program was first headquartered at the nonprofit’s main location on Bells Ferry Road in Marietta, but quickly expanded and moved to its new location in September on Cobb International Boulevard in Kennesaw. Walking into the expansive warehouse where the electronics go to be recycled, a visitor is instructed to wear protective eye gear and met with stacks upon stacks of old TVs, computers, copiers and even HVAC units. “It’s 150,000 square feet of busted-up computers,” said Joe Burum, the director of operations for Recycletronics. There is a special, gated area designated for computers that have been donated from banks and health care providers to ensure that the computers are held in a secure area before the staff has a chance to delete the hard drives. All computers donated to the Tommy Nobis Center go through the same hard drive wipe. Most of the work in the warehouse, Burum said, involves the secure deconstruction of computers and CRTs. Assembly line workers take apart computers for scrap materials, like precious metals, circuit boards and plastics that can be used to sell to reclamation centers, Burum said.
Catholic headquarters moved to Smyrna By Jon Gillooly jgillooly@mdjonline.com
SMYRNA — The new headquarters for the 750,000 Catholics in North Georgia is now in Smyrna. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta has moved its headquarters with nearly 300 staff from West Peachtree Street in Midtown to a space three times larger at 2401 Lake Park Drive in Smyrna, according to The Georgia Bulletin, the Archdiocese’s official newspaper. The new Catholic center moved into the former 96,000-square-foot
Sunshine Mortgage Corp building between Windy Hill Road and Cobb Parkway. The Archdiocese purchased the building for $3.3 million as part of an overall budget of $10 million including renovation and moving costs, the Bulletin reports. Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon welcomed the Catholics to the Jonquil City. “It’s great news for us,” Bacon said. “I look forward to meeting the folks and giving them an official greeting. I think it is a great plus for our community and will generate jobs and more folks and help more businesses do well and that’s what we’re
all about.” The Catholic newspaper quotes Msgr. Joe Corbett, the vicar general and moderator of the curia, saying with the relocation of its new Chancery building, the various offices serving the archbishop will once again be in a position to work together as a community, instead of offices working at various locations. The sale or lease of its Midtown property, which stretches between West Peachtree and Spring streets across from the AT&T Tower, valued at $3.4 million, is being handled by Richard Bowers and Associates, the Bulletin reports.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
GROWTH & REVITALIZATION
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
BUSINESS
PROGRESS 2011 MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL FEBRUARY 27, 2011 SECTION BB / 2 OF 8
BIOPHARM GIANT PROSPERS IN SMYRNA 6BB
INSIDE:
HE’S STILL IN CHARGE 3BB
COMPUTER WHIZ KID 10BB
BUSINESSS
2BB
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Lockheed has ‘incredible’ new leader
Shan Cooper deemed ‘strategic, a visionary, charismatic’ by the man she follows, Lee Rhyant By Donna Espy despy@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — The year 2011 will see big changes in the area of leadership at the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta. Shan Cooper, 42, is the new vice president and general manager and took the reins on Jan. 3 from Lee Rhyant, 60, who will be retiring in May. Cooper previously served as vice president of human resources for Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Solutions in Gaithersburg, Md., where she was responsible for the human resource functions for 36,000 employees based in 48 U.S. states and 64 countries. “Shan is an incredible leader and is exactly what Lockheed Martin Marietta needs right now,” said Rhyant, who spent 10 years at the helm of the aeronautics facility. “She is strategic, a visionary and is very well-rounded in her career experiences. She is charismatic and people respect her because she is genuine and passionate about Lockheed Martin and its employees.” Rhyant said he will miss the people at the plant more than any-
COVER
Sue Curro is the vice president and Global Project leader and Greg Duncan is the president of North American operations for Smyrna-based UCB (see 6BB). MDJ staff photo / Laura Moon
“
Focusing on our employees is a high prioirity of mine. I want to continue to ensure our employees are communicated with on a consistent basis, so that they understand our business priorities and strategies and understand the critical role they play in our success story today and in the future. — Shan Cooper, Lockheed vice president, GM thing else. “Our culture at Lockheed Martin is one where we are a family,” Rhyant said. “I know that may sound cliché, but it’s the absolute truth. Though we have 8,000 employees, I take pride in knowing the vast majority of them personally.” Rhyant said he enjoys walking the hallways and engaging in conversations about families and important milestones in employLee Rhyant ees’ lives. “That brings me great joy,” he said. Family is also important to Cooper. She and her husband, Eddie, have a daughter who is a graduate of the Florida State University School of Law. She’s also a sports fan. Her favorite college team? Probably the Seminoles, although she admits enjoying all college sports. She received her MBA from the Business School at Emory University in Atlanta and is a graduate of the
Rutgers Global Executive Master’s in Human Resource Leadership Program. “Focusing on our employees is a high prioirity of mine,” Cooper said. “I want to continue to ensure our employees are communicated with on a consistent basis, so that they understand our business priorities and strategies and understand the critical role they play in our success story today and in the future.” Lockheed-Martin’s Marietta facility works on the C-130 Hercules, the F-22 stealth fighter, the P-3 Orion, the C-5M Super Galaxy and the C-130J Hercules — the bread and butter program for the plant since it opened in 1951. These are some of the world’s finest military aircraft, and Cooper said she realizes the importance of good customer service to the U.S. Department of Defense and to other countries who purchase these aircraft. “I plan to work closely with our
customers to make sure we are always able to anticipate their needs and react accordingly,” Cooper said. Lockheed Martin has sold aircraft to countries like Canada, the United Arab Emirates, India and Qatar. Cooper said she also has a passion for the community and education in particular. “Having the opportunity to grow and engage our workforce of the future is imperative,” Cooper said. “We will continue to look for ways to round out our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities with our local Partners in Education Schools.” Mentoring is a huge part of Rhyant’s legacy at Lockheed Martin — and he doesn’t plan to stop it. “I do a great deal of mentoring,
which will always be something I make time to do,” Rhyant said. “Music and the arts have always been a passion of mine, so I plan to continue participating in that work to promote the arts and encourage our youth to pursue their artistic dreams.” In retirement, Rhyant said he will also have time to travel, spend time with his family, and root for his favorite pro football team — the Indianapolis Colts. He and his wife, Evelyn, have twin sons who are both practicing physicians, and have three grandchildren to enjoy spending time with. Cooper is familiar with Cobb and has already had one stint at the Marietta plant in the human resources department. Before joining Lockheed in 2002, she worked for various Fortune 500 companies. She has received several national honors, including the Women of Color in Technology Corporate Responsibility Award, and the YWCA Tribute to Women of Achievement. She was also named to Diversity MBA Magazine’s 2009 Top 100 Under 50 Executives. Rhyant said the leadership of the 900-acre Marietta facility is in good hands with the addition of Cooper. But what does he hope his legacy will be? “Part of the legacy I hope to leave is that I played an integral role in bringing some great talent to Marietta and helped develop some of the incredible workforce we have at our facility today,” Rhyant said. “I also take great pride in being able to mentor some of our future leaders who will one day lead Lockheed Martin.” He hopes that the employees have also gained something from his years of leadership. “I can honestly say that all our employees are valued and treated with dignity and respect when they walk through our doors to come to work,” Rhyant said. For Cooper, he offered this piece of well-learned advice: “Focus on employees’ needs. Be a better listener than talker. And, finally, lead by example.”
BUSINESS
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
3BB
Second time around
Garcia chosen to lead Cobb Chamber for another year By Jon Gillooly
Cobb Chamber of Commerce Chairman Rob Garcia, right, presents Ben Mathis with the Chairman’s Award at the recent Chamber 69th Annual Dinner Awards. Mathis is a managing partner for Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP and was recently appointed as a special assistant attorney general by Attorney General Sam Olens to assist in representing Georgia in the legal challenge to the Federal Healthcare Reform Act.
jgillooly@mdjonline.com
Staff/Todd Hull
Rob Garcia, president and COO for Bank of North Georgia, will lead the Chamber of Commerce for the second straight year. Garcia said his goal this year is to put together a team made up of Chamber staff, Cobb cities, county government, Cobb business associations, development authorities, Cobb Convention and Business Bureau members and others to create a strategic plan to ensure Cobb retains and grows jobs.
BUSINESSFACT Cobb businesses among Atlanta’s best places to work — ranked by overall survey scores:
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT SERVICES INC., located at
2675 Paces Ferry Road, Suite 150, in the Atlanta portion of Cobb County, was ranked No. 19 on the Best Places To Work list in the Small Company category by The Atlanta Business Chronicle. Established in 2001, this private company is a full-service third-party project management firm specializing in the development, conversion and renovation of hotels and resorts. The company’s chief officers are Ralph Engelberger and Angie Fife.
MOUNT PARAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, located at
1275 Stanley Road in Kennesaw, was ranked No. 15 on the Best Places To Work list in the Medium Company category by The Atlanta Business Chroni-
cle. Established in 1976, this private Christian school is a fully accredited (SACS-SAIS) independent college preparatory school (pre-K through grade 12) providing academics in a Christ-centered environment. The company’s chief officers are David Tilley, Eric Bradley, Stephen Shelton and Judy Hansard.
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL INC., located at 10
10th Street, Suite 1400, in the Atlanta portion of Cobb County, was ranked No. 2 on the Best Places To Work list in the Large Company category by The Atlanta Business Chronicle. Established in 1967, this public company is a worldwide operator and franchiser of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. The company’s chief offices are Erika Alexander and Scott Freed.
— Source: The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Book of Lists
MARIETTA — Bank of North Georgia President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Garcia has taken on the leadership role for another year as the Cobb Chamber’s Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2011. While it’s unusual to serve two consecutive year terms, it’s not unheard of. Senior Cobb Superior Court Judge Conley Ingram served in 1961, 1962 and 1990; developer John Williams served in 1985 and 1992; and banker Kessel Stelling served in 1998 and 2006. Garcia didn’t have much choice. WellStar Health System CEO Dr. Greg Simone was in line to become Chamber chairman for 2011 before WellStar’s 18-member Board of Trustees abruptly fired him on Sept. 3 without explanation. Simone subsequently resigned from his Chamber responsibilities. Garcia took the move in stride, observing that the Chamber has enjoyed a 14-year period of stable leadership, and its contributions to the community have been tremendous. He said the Chamber was directly responsible for helping to recruit and retain quality companies that built more than 200,000 square feet of new facility development in Cobb, along with the new 84-acre sporting complex at Kennesaw State University. These developments, he said, were worth more than $184 million and created 1,650 new jobs. As existing leadership faced retirement, the Chamber Board had the opportunity to bring in a new team to take the Chamber to an even higher level on contributing to the Cobb community, Garcia said. One of the transitions Garcia oversaw last year was the retirement of Chamber president Don Beaver, who was succeeded by former Georgia Power regional manager David Connell. Connell, in turn, has been in the process of hiring a new staff such as Demming Bass of Smyrna as chief operating officer. Mr. Bass worked for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce for the last five years, where he served as vice president of marketing and public policy.
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
In January Connell also hired Rome native Brooks Mathis as the Chamber’s vice president of economic development. “We now have that new team in place, and we have already created a vision of ensuring Cobb County is the most competitive choice in the Southeast in markets we chose to compete,” Garcia said. “I am proud that this process was completed and this new team was put in place during 2010. The Board of Directors as well as the community has never been more excited about where our Chamber and community is headed, even in this current recession.” Former county chairman Earl Smith said Garcia is the right man for the job. “He’s been involved in the business community, it’s been demonstrated by his elevation in the private sector, certainly with the banking community and the Synovus family, so I think it’s indicative of the leadership that’s going to be good for Cobb County and the region, so I think it was a good decision, and I’m pleased that Rob chose to re-up
for it,” Smith said. “I think it’s going to bode well with the changes with David coming on board. They’ve got a good team.” Garcia said that in banking, one has to make strategic decisions in running the business with confidence that there will be a high return on investment for the owners. In the Chamber business, Garcia said his team has made a strategic decision to put an experienced team with a strong business focus in place to carry Cobb into the future. This year, with guidance from his board, Garcia hopes to put together a team made up of Chamber staff, Cobb cities, county government, Cobb business associations, development authorities, Cobb Convention and Business Bureau members, and others to create together a strategic plan to ensure Cobb retains and grows jobs. Garcia, 49, is a 1984 graduate of Auburn University and an east Cobb resident. He and his wife, Teena, have two children, Robert, a high school senior, and Elizabeth, a senior at Auburn.
BUSINESS
4BB
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Smyrna gun shop owner to expand his business Wallace won’t be bullied by NYC mayor’s suit By Jon Gillooly jgillooly@mdjonline.com
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
Pedro Cherry, the new region manager for the Metro West Region of Georgia Power, praises Cobb as the location for his company. ‘It’s definitely a great place for Georgia Power’ Cherry said. ‘We have tried to get involved in Cobb County and in the community and help enhance the quality of life.’
Great place for business Top taxpayers: Many reasons for locating in Cobb By Donna Espy despy@mdjonline.com
TOP 10 TAXPAYERS IN COBB TOTAL TAXES
MARIETTA — Georgia Power tops the list of the 10 largest taxpayers in Cobb last year, and Home Depot was next at No. 2. Pedro Cherry is the new region manager for the Metro West Region of Georgia Power, replacing David Connell, who was named president and CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce last September. Cherry’s office in Cobb is on Sands Place in Marietta. He said Cobb County is a great place to do business and be in business. “It’s definitely a great place for Georgia Power,” Cherry said. “We have tried to get involved in Cobb County and in the community and help enhance the quality of life.” Cherry said the low taxes in Cobb help, too. “That’s great for economic development, and we often team up with Cobb to try and bring companies here,” he said. He added Georgia Power has the Georgia Resource Center on the campus of Georgia Tech to help lure companies to the state. The Cobb Tax Commissioner’s office released the top 10 list, and the list itself has some unfamiliar names. Felicia Daniel, tax accounting manager in the tax commissioner’s office,
1. Georgia Power*
40% ASSESSED VALUE
$8,082,487
$283,725,794
2. Home Depot
$5,172,508
$167,193,082
3. Ohio Teachers Retirement Fund
$3,259,598
$96,580,672
4. SP4 (3 properties)
$2,993,445
$88,694,652
5. Cobb EMC*
$2,933,769
$105,340,415
6. BellSouth Telecommunications* $2,454,407
$99,947,819
7. Lockheed Martin Corporation
$2,452,526
$93,659,000
8. Wells Reit Wildwood Prop.
$2,207,716
$65,413,498
9. Walton Communities
$1,881,793
$61,815,215
10. Diamondrock Waverly Owner
$1,802,886
$53,418,840
* Public utilities; based on real & personal digest and 2010 public utility digest; prepared 02/01/2011
says many of the names are those associated with paying the taxes, not necessarily the names on the properties. At No. 3 is the Ohio State Teachers Retirement Pension Funds, which represent properties located at the Galleria Complex on Galleria Parkway near Cumberland Mall — specifically Galleria 100, Galleria 400 and Galleria 600 office towers, as well as vacant Galleria land yet to be developed. Daniel said the separate funds are a self-balancing set of accounts, separated for specific purposes in accordance with laws and regulations or special restrictions and limitations, but are all owned by the retirement funds organization. At No. 4 is SP4 properties,
which operates under the business names Windy Ridge LP, Windy Hill LP and the Platinum Tower, located at 400 Interstate North Parkway. Utilities Cobb EMC and Bellsouth Telecommunications are fifth and sixth respectively, followed by Lockheed Martin Corp. at No. 7. Wells Real Estate Investment Trust Wildwood Properties is No. 8 on the list, followed by Walton Communities in Marietta at No. 9. Rounding out the list is Diamondrock Waverly Owner LLC, representing the Waverly Hotel across from Cumberland Mall in the Galleria complex, at No. 10. The tax numbers are based on the 2010 Real and Personal Digest and the 2010 Public Utility Digest.
Gary Leake, owner of Johnnie MacCracken's on the Marietta Square, stands in the Beer Garden that sits behind the restaurant. Leake is building a non-smoking addition next door to the original Celtic establishment.
SMYRNA — For five years Smyrna gun shop owner Jay Wallace has been the target of a lawsuit by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But that isn’t stopping Wallace from opening a $5 million, 70,000-square-foot sporting goods store on South Cobb Drive in August complete with a 17-lane shooting range with computer operated targets, a café and a mezzanine that will seat more than 600 for NRA events, and the like. In 2006, Mayor Bloomberg filed suit against Wallace and several other gun shops around the country, claiming they had made illegal sales of firearms that ended up on the streets of New York. Wallace disputes his employees did anything wrong. In fact, of the café, he said: “We’re thinking about calling it the Bloomberg Café. We don’t want people to lose sight of what can happen when you have a bully with endless amounts of his own money, with endless amounts of money that he doesn’t mind spending of the taxpayers of New York, throwing it around for his own agenda. We want to keep people reminded of what has happened.” Wallace’s attorney, former Congressman Bob Barr, called the lawsuit an “arrogant crusade against firearms retailers.” “Jay Wallace is an excellent businessman, in part because, especially in his line of work that is so heavily regulated, he follows the letter and the intent of the law,” Barr said. “This is why his reputation is so stellar. He is most definitely not a quitter.” After dabbling in pawnshop merchandise and book sales, Wallace opened a sporting goods store and firearms retail store in the mid-1980s called Adventure Outdoors, and the store moved it to its current location on South Cobb Drive near Windy Hill Road in 1998. His family also owns Smyrna Police Distributors, which sells police and security equipment in another store on Windy Hill Road. His goal is to house both businesses in the former Bruno’s Grocery building he bought and is renovating at 2500 South Cobb Drive. Wallace first heard of the lawsuit when
Staff/Laura Moon
Jay Wallace’s new $5 million sporting goods store will include a 17-lane shooting range with computer operated targets, a café and a mezzanine that will seat more than 600 for NRA events. he was on vacation in the summer of 2006, when his son called him to say customers were asking about it after reading Internet reports of the lawsuit. A week later they were served with papers, alerting them that they were being sued by the City of New York under Mayor Bloomberg. “It just startled me and scared me, because this is a family business here and the mayor of New York is suing me. It’s unbelievable,” Wallace said. Wallace retained Barr to represent him in Georgia and attorney John Renzulli to represent him in New York. According to the New York City Law Department, the city claimed that Adventure Outdoors created a public nuisance by selling guns that later ended up being used in crimes in NYC. The city hired an investigative agency, the James Mintz Group, See Expand, 11BB
Powder Springs: A Great Place to Work... A Better Place to Live
Mayor: Patricia C. Vaughn
Council Members: Thomas D. Bevirt Albert L. Thurman Rosalyn G. Neal Cheryl Sarvis Nancy J. Hudson P.O. Box 46 • Powder Springs, GA 30127 • 770-943-1666
www.cityofpowder springs.org
Staff/Laura Moon
MacCracken’s Pub on Square adding non-smoking restaurant By Donna Espy despy@mdjonline.com
Gary Leake has been a business owner on the Marietta Square for more than 20 years. And now he is expanding his Celtic-themed restaurant and pub, Johnnie MacCracken’s Celtic Pub, to keep up with the changes on the Square and in his own business. Johnnie MacCracken’s is on Atlanta Street, just off the downtown Square, and next month, Leake is opening a 2,600-square-foot, smoke-free area beside his restaurant. “I’m hoping this area will allow kids and folks who don’t smoke to come in and enjoy our food as well,” said Leake, 54. He added he has enjoyed financial success with his pub and now wants to offer a vegetable buffet and entertainment in a smoke-free environment. His current restaurant is housed in an 1885 building which was home to Marietta’s oldest standing fire department in Cobb County — Marietta Engine Company No. 1 — and one of the oldest professional fire departments in Georgia. In 2003, he bought and transformed the multi-level building into a place both locals and tourists could gather for a good meal and brews — he offers 35 varieties. “There are 1,200 pubs in Ireland, and many look just like this,” Leake said. “I’m the second-most-visited restaurant on the Square, behind Marietta Pizza Company, and I did a millon dollars in sales last year — that’s pret-
ty good in a bad economy.” The new space will seat 75 to 100 patrons and will be open just weekends at first, said Leake, adding he’ll hire a disc jockey and spin 1980s tunes for dancing. Leake said he hopes customers will venture down from the main Square to enjoy the space, complete with a separate bar and bathrooms. Nearby business owners applaud Leake’s efforts. “MacCracken’s is one of the most eclectic, charming and fun places on the Square,” said Donna Krueger, owner of dk Gallery on West Park Square. “But often the smoking issue keeps folks away. The smartest thing he could have done was add a smoke-free area for patrons.” Krueger, a proponent of a new branding image for the Square, said the 40 and 50-yearold crowd will enjoy the weekend music at MacCracken’s, as will young people who like classic rock. “This is what people are looking for on the Square,” Krueger said “Great food and unique places to go with something to do.” Leake, an Acworth resident, opened his restaurant seven years ago after two other successful business ventures on the Square, and dedicated it to his late father, Henry Grady Leake, who is of Scots-Irish ancestry. Leake said the Celtic heritage includes Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Wales, Galicia and Cornwell, and more than 70 million Americans can trace their heritage to those nations.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
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Legislators, Cobb leaders back Sunday alcohol bill By Jon Gillooly jgillooly@mdjonline.com
Staff/Laura Moon
Gov. Nathan Deal, center, speaks with Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce President Sam Williams, left, and GE Energy-Services President and CEO Dan Heintzelman after taking a tour of the Smart Grid Center of Excellence recently.
GE-whiz!
Interactive Smart Grid energy center opens in Cobb By Donna Espy despy@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — Gov. Nathan Deal and GE vice president Bob Gilligan flipped a giant switch in January to officially open an interactive “Experience Center” at GE’s Smart Grid Center on Powers Ferry Road. The so-called “Smart Grid” is not any one physical thing, but rather a concept of how to create and use energy more efficiently with various products such as wind turbines, solar panels, and “smart” power meters, GE officials said. The idea behind GE’s Experience Center is to teach consumers, lawmakers and industry groups how energy is distributed and used, and about the benefits of conservation. Gov. Deal thanked GE for another important aspect of the interactive center: jobs. General Electric and the Smart Grid Center has brought 200 jobs to Cobb since 2009 — 150 of them green engineers — and plans to add 380 more by 2013. GE currently employs 2,500 people on Wildwood Parkway in Cobb.
‘This has been a partnership with GE and Georgia Tech and a combination of government, the private sector and academia. Together, we can do some important things and help change the attitude in our culture in regards to energy.’ — Gov. Nathan Deal
“We have made job creation in this state our No. 1 priority,” Deal said. He thanked GE for bringing jobs and for also bringing together several entities in the Atlanta area to make the center a reality. “This has been a partnership with GE and Georgia Tech and a combination of government, the private sector and academia,” Deal said. “Together, we can do some important things and help change the attitude in our culture in regards to energy.” The Smart Grid Center is reminiscent of an interactive museum tour, where visitors can read and push buttons to access information. Walking through the laboratory with an iPad in hand, visitors can take an Energy IQ test and learn
ways to save money by installing items such as a solar panel or wind turbine and create their own “Smart Home.” They can visit the interactive game table where, using the iPad, they can make a “dirty” city more energy efficient by choices in transportation or appliances — and see the computed result to the city’s carbon footprint. Why is there a need for a Smart Grid Center? “Global electricity demand is expected to increase 75 percent in the next 20 years, and 40 percent of our current emissions are from the generation of electricity,” said Gilligan, vice president of GE’s Digital Energy business. “This is an area of great concern for our consumers.”
Cobb government leaders who attended the event said they were thrilled with the new center, and the jobs that came with it. “Jobs, jobs, jobs — that’s what is on all of our minds this year,” Cobb Commissioner Helen Goreham said. Cobb Commissioner Woody Thompson said the center’s opening was a good way to start 2011. “This is huge for Cobb because GE is recognized worldwide,” Thompson said. “It’s a good way to start off the year businesswise.” GE’s Smart Grid Center is at 2018 Powers Ferry Road in Marietta, just south of Windy Hill Road, in the Parkwood Point office complex. The free interactive “Experience Center” is open by appointment for tours. For more information or to schedule a tour, contact Swati Joshi at 678-742-1908. Tours are open to educational and industry organizations only. Although there are no age restrictions, company representatives say the center is best geared toward middle-school students and higher. GE Digital Energy Communications Specialist Isabel Espaldon explains the Interactive Virtual House to Bob Pertierra as he tours the new Grid IQ Experience Center during its opening. The Smart Grid is not any one physical thing, but rather a concept of how to create and use energy more efficiently with various products such as wind turbines, solar panels, and ‘smart’ power meters, GE officials said.
Affordable Fabrics & Trim
Superstore: 770.794.8106 2440 Canton Road • Marietta, GA 30066 www.fabricsandfringe.com
MARIETTA — Most Cobb lawmakers, all six mayors of cities in Cobb and the county chairman say they support legislation that would let communities in Georgia decide by referendum whether to permit Sunday alcohol sales. Georgia is one of three states that bans beer, wine and spirits at package stores and other offpremise locations on Sundays, according to Benton Jenkins of the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. Connecticut and Indiana are the other two. State Sen. Doug Stoner (D-Smyrna), a supporter of the Senate version of the legislation, SB 10, said it allows local cities and counties by voter referendum to approve Sunday sales for beer, wine or liquor. State Rep. Don Parsons (R-east Cobb) is a cosponsor of the House’s version, HB 69. Parsons said the legislation would allow the Sunday sale of alcohol from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at retail stores, if approved by voters in their communities. State Rep. Judy Manning (RMarietta) said it’s discriminatory to allow restaurants and clubs to serve alcohol on Sunday, as they do now, but not grocery and convenience stores. “I don’t think it’s fair that they Sen. Doug ought to be penalized when other Stoner people are selling the same thing,” Manning said. State Rep. Sharon Cooper (Reast Cobb) also supports Sunday sales. “I think it’s ludicrous that you can go to a bar or restaurant and drink on Sunday, and that person Rep. Don cannot buy something and drink Parsons in the privacy of their own home,” Cooper said. “I would much rather have someone have a drink in their own home and be off the highway than someone have to go to a bar or restaurant and drink and be tipsy or intoxicated when they’re out on the highway.” Other lawmakers in favor of the legislation allowing local communities to decide on Sunday sales are state Reps. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna), Sheila Jones (D-South Cobb), Earl Ehrhart (RPowder Springs), David Wilkerson (D-Mableton), Stacey Evans (D-Smyrna), and Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock). “I support the voters making this decision,” Rogers said. “Free adults should be able to choose at the ballot box for themselves.” State Reps. Matt Dollar (R-east Cobb) and Sam Teasley (R-Marietta) said they remain undecided, as does state Sen. Lindsey Tippins (Rwest Cobb), who said he wants to see what the bill looks like after it comes out of the Senate Rules Committee. State Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-east Cobb) answered the question this way: “The last time I read the 4th Commandment, it did not say, ‘Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy, except by majority vote in a local referendum.’” State Rep. Terry Johnson (D-Marietta) said he opposes the legislation, saying he has not had any constituents contact him about Sunday sales. “My constituents sent me down to work on jobs, education and transportation,” Johnson said. “Right now, they are concerned about buying groceries and paying the gas bill.” A recent survey commissioned by the state’s food industry group indicated that many Republican voters in Cobb also support the legislation. The survey asked Republican primary voters who are represented by Tippins and Judson Hill (R-east Cobb) if they support the legislation. Results showed 76.7 percent in favor in Hill’s district and 83.3 percent in favor in Tippins’ district. The Georgia Food Industry Association commissioned McLaughlin & Associates, a national survey company with offices in New York and Virginia, to conduct the survey. For his part, state Sen. Hill noted on his Facebook page that “I stand with many in my district, the Georgia Baptist Convention, Georgia Conservatives in Action, and the Georgia Christian Coalition in opposing Sunday sales.” See Alcohol, 11BB
BUSINESS
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
‘We think the support here for getting top talent from the scientific community, based on the university system that’s nearby, is right. We can get superb finance, legal, human resources talent as well. You have a world-class business center here in Atlanta’ — Greg Duncan, president of UCB’s North American operations
Biopharm giant likes Smyrna location
International company specializes in drugs for treatment of epilepsy, primarily, and other serious diseases By Marcus E. Howard mhoward@mdjonline.com
SMYRNA – Quietly tucked away on a 47-acre campus complete with a lake, near Cobb Parkway in Smyrna, sits the North American headquarters of biopharmaceutical company UCB. Based in Brussels, Belgium, UCB performs research, development and the commercialization of medicines particularly in the fields of central nervous system and immunology disorders. Drugs like Cimzia for rheumatoid arthritis, Keppra for seizures and Tussionex for cough relief, are trademarks of UCB. Smyrna is home to the company’s executive team and a number of departments such as sales, human resources, finance, legal, medical group, regulatory affairs, drug safety, and business development. In total, about 400 UCB employees work in Cobb County. Greg Duncan, president of UCB’s North American operations, said Cobb is a great place in which the company can grow. And the company intends to stay in Smyrna, as long as the company continues to be successful. “We think the support here for getting top talent from the scientific community, based on the university system that’s nearby, is right. We can get superb finance, legal, human resources talent as well. You have a worldclass business center here in Atlanta,” Duncan said. “So we think both the people and the environment that the state is creating is a good
Staff/Laura Moon
Sue Curro, UCB vice president and Senior Global Project leader, and Greg Duncan, president of UCB’s North American operation, discuss an easy-to-grasp syringe designed for rheumatoid arthritis patients. place for us to be.” Duncan first joined UCB in 2007 as president of European operations. In 2008, he became president of operations for both Europe and emerging markets. Duncan previously spent 17 years with the Pfizer drug company. “We think it is an important responsibility to help raise the standard of care for serious diseases,” he said. “Part of our job is not just to educate people on our medicines, it’s to educate them on the highest quality standards of treating particular diseases.” Specifically, UCB pro-
duces drugs for patients with such conditions as Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. However, the company’s primary focus is on patients with epilepsy, said Sue Curro, vice president and senior global project leader for patient solutions. Nearly 3 million people in the U.S. have some form of epilepsy, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. “We’re very proud of the products that we’ve introduced in the epilepsy field,” said Curro, who began her 30-year career in health care as a nurse. “Our goal as a
company is for patients to be seizure-free. We just think that seizures are not acceptable. We’re not there yet, but that’s our goal and we think that should be the goal of every patient.” In 1994, UCB entered the U.S. marketplace through the acquisition of Whitby Pharmaceuticals and Northampton Medical Inc. In 1996, UCB launched Zyrtec in copromotion with Pfizer. UCB acquired Celltech Pharmaceuticals in June 2004. UCB also acquired majority shares of Schwarz Pharma AG in December 2006, making it the world’s fifth-largest bio-
pharmaceutical company. In 2008, Cimzia, the first biologic product for UCB, became commercially available in the U.S. Internationally, UCB employs about 9,000 people in more than 40 countries, including a total of 1,700 employees in the U.S. UCB has research and development facilities in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina, and two manufacturing facilities in Rochester, N.Y. and Seymour, Ind. In 2009, UCB generated approximately $4.3 billion in revenue, according to the
company. UCB is publicly traded on the Euronext Brussels stock exchange. Duncan said the company is excited about its business prospects. “Ultimately we feel like if we can get it right for patients, the business benefits,” he said. UCB has a number of local and national programs including: Women Succeeding with Epilepsy: The program features real women sharing their stories of how they have dealt with the challenges of epilepsy both as patients and as caregivers. Two new videos will be available on www.EpilepsyAdvocate.com. Epilepsy Advocate Radio: Hosted by “Epilepsy Advocate” Chris Maxwell, this Internet radio show features patients and epilepsy experts discussing a wide array of epilepsy topics, including navigating college with epilepsy, achieving career goals, caring for a loved one with epilepsy and tips from an epilepsy nurse. UCB also produces Epilepsy Advocate magazine, which has a readership of 100,000. There’s also the UCB Family Epilepsy Scholarship Program. Since 2005, UCB has awarded more than 200 scholarships, totaling more than $1 million in educational support. Scholarships are awarded to those living beyond the boundaries of epilepsy including patients, caregivers or family members seeking higher education opportunities. For more information, visit www.ucb.com.
BUSINESS
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
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Cobb’s top 10 employers: ‘Terrific corporate citizens’ Home Depot heads the list with 20,000 workers By Jon Gillooly jgillooly@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — The top 10 employers in Cobb County represent well over 72,000 employees, making a huge economic impact on the county, said David Connell, CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. The Home Depot ranks at the top with 20,000 employees, followed by the Cobb School District with 14,027, WellStar Health System with 11,785 and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics with 7,568 employees, Connell said. WellStar operates five hospitals in Cobb, Douglas and Paulding counties. The health system, whose flagship is Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, is one of the largest in the nation, with revenues of $1.5 billion. Jim Budzinski, acting president and CEO for WellStar Health System, said his 11,785 team members make coming to work each day a privilege and an honor, with exceptional compassion and commitment to world-class care. Budzinski said he recently got to witness the performance of his physicians, nurses and other team members during the unprecedented snowstorm. “Because of their dedication to patients’ needs, all WellStar hospitals operated smoothly and effectively and were able to continue to deliver the high-quality, compassionate care our community expects from us,” he said. As a not-for-profit health system, Budzinski said WellStar strives to be good stewStaff/Todd Hull ards of the community assets WellStar Health System, with its 11,785 employees, maintains its third-place ranking and saves a portion of its revamong Cobb’s Top 10 Employers. Above: Candice Sanders, executive vice president and hospital administrator for WellStar Kennestone Hospital, sits as Jim Budzinski, acting president and CEO for WellStar Health System, stands behind her.
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Nita Nettles of Austell, left, and Andre Johnkins of Douglasville are assistant managers for The Home Depot’sDallas Highway store in Marietta.
COBB’S TOP 10 EMPLOYERS 1. Home Depot (1) 20,000 2. Cobb Schools (2) 14,027
6. KSU (6) 7. Publix (7)
2,973
3. WellStar (3)
11,785
8. Wal-Mart (9)
2,750
7,568
9. Six Flags (8)
2,386
5,223
10. Kroger (10)
2,150
4. Lockheed (4) 5. Cobb Gov’t (5)
3,400
Parentheses indicate 2009 rank; numbers are workforce
enues each year to reinvest back into leading-edge technologies and the expansion of services and facilities. “Simply put, our focus is on patients and the communi-
ties we serve,” he said. “This focus and commitment can be seen in such things as our provision of over $200 million See Employers,11 BB
BUSINESS
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Economist: Job market needs time to recover By Marcus E. Howard mhoward@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — The labor market will not return to pre-recession status for another two years, at the earliest, economist Roger Tutterow told a Chamber of Commerce group in January. Before losing 8.4 million jobs in the recent economic downturn, the United States had added an average of 200,000 jobs per month between 2002 and 2007, he said. To return to that level of growth will take years, the Mercer University economics professor predicted. “The bad news is while we are adding jobs again, it will be at least late 2013, and may be even 2014, before the labor markets get back to where we have as many people working as we had prior to this
downturn,” said Tutterow, who is the Chamber’s economic development chairman. While Cobb County has put itself in relatively good fiscal shape as a result of making difficult, but wise decisions over the past several decades, which resulted in a great credit rating, Tutterow said officials shouldn’t be naive about what needs to be done to maintain the county’s standing. “At the local level, so much of our tax revenues are tied to property taxes,” said Tutterow, a Cobb native. On a brighter note, Tutterow asserted that the housing market has bottomed out. He found good news in the fact that nationwide, existing home sales jumped 12.3 percent in December to an annual rate of 5.28 million units, as the National Asso-
ciation of Realtors reported recently. “We are starting to see an uptick in the absorption rate of housing,” he said. “The thing to keep in mind is that we’re going to see some Roger big numbers for the Tutterow percentage change in the housing market going forward; but to some degree it’s an illusion. Because when you drop by 80 percent from peak to trough, that means you have to go up by about 400 percent to get to where you were prior to the downturn. So we will have years where we are up 20 percent, 50 percent, in the next several years. But housing will still remain well below where it was in the 2003 to 2005 window.”
Tutterow was also optimistic about an end to problems in the banking sector, though he said the overall banking crisis won’t be history until at least 2012. Banks will extend more credit to small and medium-size businesses. And though he predicted that more banks will fail this year, Tutterow believes that 2010 was the peak year for bank closings. Since mid2008, more than 50 banks have closed in Georgia, the highest of any state in the nation. “Part of that is our historical legacy in this state is of having a large number of banks. Part of that legacy is driven by the fact that for so many years we prohibited cross-county banking,” Tutterow said. “So to some degree the number of bank failures that we see reflects that historical legacy, as much as any under-
lying softness in the economy.” At any rate, if the nation is to completely rebound, it must make reducing the $1 trillion-plus federal budget deficit a priority, he said. “At some point, that deficit starts to be a threat to economic growth,” he said. “We run the risk of the government competing with the private sector for that special, important resource we call capital.” Matthew Ellis, a financial advisor at Edward Jones in Marietta, said he found Tutterow’s talk interesting, particularly concerning the challenges facing local governments. “It’s amazing from the standpoint of my investors, concerns about municipal markets is actually an ongoing concern about local defaults – whether it will happen,” said Ellis, 30.
KSU program will help businesses network with students, professors By Katy Ruth Camp krcamp@mdjonline.com
KENNESAW — Kennesaw State University leaders are touting a new corporate partnerships program, in which businesses would pay $5,000 a year to gain better access to the university’s professors and students. “We need each other. This program will build and nurture relationships between the business community and the university, and will broaden our scope, and enhance and enrich our community,” Pam Hubby, director of corporate development for KSU, told about 60 local business leaders during a meeting in Kennesaw. Hubby said the program would offer events specific to each business partner, including roundtable meetings with some of the university’s 1,200 professors who are experts in relatable fields and can offer such development incentives as customized executive education and Staff/Laura Moon research, international growth and conKSU President Dr. Dan Papp addressed an audience of flict management. Hubby said compabusiness leaders and announced the new corporate pro- nies, by joining the program, can also gram in which businesses would pay $5,000 a year to gain benefit from hearing from sought-after better access to the university’s professors and students. speakers, networking, and gaining better
access to the university’s students for internship and employment opportunities, as well as arts and athletic programs. The program already has at least seven corporate partners, including Childress Klein Properties of the Galleria area, Croy Engineering of Marietta, First Citizens Bank of Cobb County, General Parts of Marietta, Hardin Construction of the Cumberland area, The Henssler Financial Group of Kennesaw, and ServIT of Kennesaw. Although Vince Dooley, the former University of Georgia athletic director and head football coach, was the meeting’s featured speaker and spoke on the importance of the university’s developing football program, Dr. Dan Papp, president of KSU, said money raised from the program would go to the university’s academic programs and university as a whole, rather than the football program. As for the football program, Wes Wicker, KSU’s vice president for university advancement, said the university may name its athletic director by the end of March. “We’re looking for someone who has experience with a Division I program,
with football, and with fundraising. Those at the Division II level typically are not involved in fundraising, and that will be important for us,” Wicker said. Wicker said the search committee is also looking for an associate athletic director for development, a new position that will act as a full-time fundraiser for the athletic department. Meanwhile, Wicker said efforts to raise the necessary $8 million to $12 million to get the football program going are running smoothly, though “we’ve just started to meet with parties and companies.” Wicker said KSU is still in the midst of its $75 million fundraising campaign for the university itself, and that football only came into play in the fourth year of the campaign, so those funds have to be raised separately. Still, Wicker said the program is on track so that by 2013, the school will have its first recruiting class, head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators in place. Wicker said the training facility will likely cost $6 million to $8 million and will include a weight room, football coaches’ offices, a film room and space for physical therapy.
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
BUSINESS
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Gas going up Expert predicts that if the cost of oil goes up to $120 per barrel, then gas prices will jump to $4 a gallon By Donna Espy despy@mdjonline.com
While Cobb drivers have received a reprieve on gas prices recently, the recent political upheaval in Egypt may result in higher pump prices. “The price decrease we’ve experienced might be short-lived because of the situation in Egypt and the possibility of protests spreading to neighboring Saudi Arabia,” said Garrett Townsend, a spokesman with AAA Auto Club South in Atlanta. “Saudi Arabia is the largest oil exporter, so much of this depends on what goes on in the Middle East.” According to AAA’s FuelGaugeReport.com, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline in the Atlanta area was $2.99 per gallon in early February, compared to $2.51 a year ago. The state’s average price is also holding steady at $2.99, compared to $2.54 a year ago. Nationally, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gas is $3.10, compared to $2.66 a year ago. Townsend said he doesn’t foresee $4 per gallon yet, but prices in the $3.50 range wouldn’t surprise him. He added that AAA’s fuel-saving tips to drivers include keeping the “gas guzzler” car at home and taking the energy-efficient model. He also recommends consolidating errands, and shopping around for the best gas prices. Richard Cobb, executive director of the Georgia Petroleum Council, said the harsh winter the United States is experiencing will also play into higher fuel costs.
“With the rough winter, major oil companies need a higher percentage of heating oil,” Cobb said. “That high demand drives up the price of crude oil – 65 percent of the cost of gas is dependent on crude oil prices.” Cobb, whose organization represents the oil and natural gas industry, agrees the situation in Egypt will bring rising fuel costs in the near future. Crude oil is trading around $100 a barrel, he said, adding that’s the highest it has been in a year. Inventories can also run low because of the dual responsibilities of refineries producing gasoline and heating oil as cold weather lingers. Don Sabbarese, director of the Econometric Center at Kennesaw State University, said that, if the price of crude oil hits $120 a barrel, consumers will see $4 a gallon prices at the pump immediately. “My suspicion is that it won’t get to $120 a barrel now, but could in six months or so,” Sabbarese said, adding that’s just in time for the peak summer travel season. “It’s kind of scary, really,” Sabbarese said. “If it goes up just one dollar more a gallon, that will cost consumers about $750 more per year, adding another high expense to already tight budgets.” East Cobb resident Gloria Beauchene said she often scopes out the best prices at the pump and has found that both the QuikTrip and RaceTrac on South Marietta Parkway have the lowest prices. “Gas prices are way too high right now and are predicted to go up,” Beauchene said. “Our leadership is not attempting to resolve the problem – they’ve just put it on the back burner.”
Staff/Laura Moon
Aki Urrutia of Marietta fills one of his two 11-gallon tanks on his pickup truck at the QuikTrip on Scufflegrit Road in Marietta. Urrutia says he usually fills his truck once a week.
Harness technology Entertainment attorney offers advice to Kennesaw State University students on careers in music industry By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
KENNESAW — World-renowned entertainment attorney Joel Katz presented the first guest lecture to the inaugural class of students attending the Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business Program at Kennesaw State University in early February. Katz, who was introduced by KSU President Dr. Dan Papp as an “impressive man” who “is having one impressive career,” shared his stories of working more than 40 years in the music business, and what he sees for the industry’s future. The lecture hall at the new Prillaman Hall building buzzed with excitement, as about 100 students, professors and faculty members waited to hear the entertainment business guru speak. Joel Katz Katz graduated from law school at the University of Tennessee. After working for Department of Housing and Urban Development, moonlighting for an Atlanta law firm and working part-time as a professor at Georgia State University, he started his private law practice in 1971, he said. He shared a small office with several other young attorneys. “And I had absolutely no clients — not a one,” he said. Several weeks later, Katz got a call from a banker who had taken his class at GSU. The man asked Katz if he knew anything about entertainment law. Katz answered no. The man told him he had a client who needed an attorney to help him negotiate a contract with a record company, and that the client had specifically requested a lawyer who knew nothing about entertainment law. “I said, well, I’m your man,” Katz said. The next day, Katz met his first client: James Brown. Katz helped Brown negotiate a $5 million record contract with the newly formed Polydor Records. The magnitude of the contract, which included access to a private jet for Brown, was almost unheard of at the time, Katz said. For the job, Brown gave Katz a $50,000 check. When Brown held a press conference announcing the contract, Katz said, he told the world about his new entertainment attorney. “To be honest, I had absolutely no idea what a press conference even was. It was very
sophisticated in 1971,” Katz said. “As (James Brown) was finishing his really emotional and intelligent remarks, he stated, ‘and I want to thank my lawyer, Joel Katz from Atlanta, Georgia. The very best lawyer in the business.’ And I was so shocked.” Through the years, Katz said, he has seen the entertainment industry grow and change with technological advances. Katz talked about how the revolution of the CD in the early 1980s caused anxiety among record companies, but turned out to incite what Katz called the “golden age of music.” Technology changed the industry again in the late 1990s, Katz said, with the Internet and file sharing, which allowed consumers to download music for free. “What caused this dramatic downfall in the late 1990s, the very same force that created the boom in the 1980s — technology,” Katz said. “Coupled by the lack of understanding by the world’s music executives of how to get out and deal with this technology. They ignored the impact that technology was having on their industry. And technology overcame their businesses and totally negatively affected it, commercially.” But, Katz said, as the technology of mobile phones and Apple’s iPod developed in the early 2000s, the music industry began to realize how to profit from legally downloadable music and how to offer consumers products that allowed them to access music at the touch of a button from their phones. As Katz said, it seems that the music industry is finally getting the picture, understanding how to harness technology to help the business grow, instead of debilitating it. “History has taught us that attempts to stifle innovation by technology, which the music industry tried to do, are misguided and are clearly impossible,” he said. “But we have every reason to insist, and we really will insist, that a business which is predicated on the theft of property — the theft of property — are not businesses at all.” For the future, Katz said, the music industry is excited to provide new and legal ways for people to access music and entertainment products through the technology of phones. This will, in turn, create myriad job opportunities to young people seeking work in the industry, Katz said.
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
Chris Saboura of Marietta, left, pharmaceutical director at WellStar Windy Hill Hospital, helps Gary Holbert of Calhoun with his purchase.
WellStar Kennestone Hospital adds on-site retail pharmacies By Donna Espy despy@mdjonline.com
WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta is adding yet another convenience to their Church Street campus — a retail pharmacy. The health system has created the WellStar Pharmacy Network as a convenience to patients and their 11,000 system employees, according to public relations director Keith Bowermaster. “This is part of a national trend of hospitals either opening or expanding existing pharmacy services on their campuses,” said Bowermaster, adding Emory Hospital announced the opening of a retail outpatient pharmacy last summer. Eventually, pharmacies will be in place at the WellStar Cobb and Paulding hospitals as well, with Windy Hill Hospital already providing the service, he said. The Cobb and Kennestone locations will open in May with the Paulding location to follow. All of the pharmacies will be located in the hospital lobbies and will be open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Items sold, in addition to prescriptions, will include over-the-counter medications and light medical equipment such as braces and bandages. “Patients will have the opportunity to leave the hospital with prescriptions in
hand and go straight home to rest and recover,” Bowermaster said, adding the pharmacy will not be a destination pharmacy for the community but services are available to all visitors. He said he doesn’t foresee any issues with competing with nearby pharmacies, such as the Rite-Aid Pharmacy on Church Street across from Kennestone. Sally Gichuki, shift supervisor for the Rite-Aid Pharmacy at 780 Church St., said she doesn’t know what impact the new pharmacy will have on their business. She estimates about 50 percent of their business during the week is from hospital patients or visitors. “On weekends it slows down quite a bit,” Gichuki said. Chris Saboura, pharmaceutical, lab, food and nutrition services director at WellStar Windy Hill Hospital, said about 55 percent of the prescriptions filled there are for WellStar Health System employees or their dependants. “We started a pilot program back in April 2010 of providing prescription fulfillment services to patients who are here for outpatient surgery,” Saboura said. “The prescription is written by the physician prior to surgery and, if the patient chooses, is filled here at the hospital during surgery. The response from our patients and their families and friends has been overwhelmingly positive.”
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Making a CASE for Cobb EMC reform Chairman explains group’s ‘grassroots’ role by EMC customers Butch Thompson, Bo Pounds and a handful of others. That lawsuit alleged breach of fiduciary duty, gross misMARIETTA — Leaders of Cobb Alliance management, waste of corporate assets and for Smart Energy see themselves as the “Paul unjust enrichment. A settlement in the lawReveres of getting Cobb EMC reformed” — suit was reached in December 2008, but delivering stances of “reform candidates” and some of the terms of the agreement, such as mobilizing members for upcoming elections of holding postponed election of directors, are co-op directors, Chairman Tom Barksdale said. on hold pending a Georgia Supreme Court As a “genuine grassroots movement,” decision on bylaw changes made just days CASE leaders go door-to-door and set up after the settlement. stands at major All 10 directors Cobb events to on the Cobb EMC hand out literature board are now up and urge adoption for re-election. The of their reformist civil suit and subseplatform, Barksdale quent appeals have told the Journal. postponed the past Started with three annual elecseeds sowed by tions. CASE is environmental backing five reform groups in 2008 in candidates for the direct response to board. the announcement One specific that Cobb EMC change Barksdale would be involved wants is for EMC in the building of a members to be coal-fired power allowed to attend plant in middle directors’ meetings. Georgia, CASE today Although the MariTom Barksdale says CASE is an indeis an independent etta-based Cobb EMC organization with a pendent organization with a core leader- is a cooperative ship of seven individuals and 15 dedicat- owned by its memcore leadership of seven individuals and ed committee members. He said CASE bers, the member15 dedicated commit- has a roster of hundreds of EMC mem- owners are barred tee members, Barksfrom attending board bers who receive the group’s mailings. meetings unless they dale said. He said CASE has a roster of submit a written hundreds of EMC request 14 days in members who receive the group’s mailings. advance of that meeting. Barksdale, however, When Barksdale, 68, started leading the said he knows of no case when a request has group in February 2009, he said CASE leadbeen granted. ers were focused on getting Cobb EMC to “We see no reason why those meetings can’t back away from supporting Plant Washington. be handled like any other elected body,” he However, “At the same time, there was devel- said. “I know Cobb EMC is not exactly like county commissions. But, look, if you are electoping a reaction against what, nationwide, ed, we don’t see any reason why they can’t folseemed to be these out-of-control EMCs,” low the same pattern that CASE does, that Barksdale said. “What we concluded was, the county commissions and city councils (do).” best way to achieve any environmental goal Barksdale asked co-op officials to change was to precisely reform Cobb EMC.” their rule regarding members attending board He said changing the composition of the meetings, but was told it is in place because Cobb EMC board would appeal to those who directors regularly talk about confidential and are concerned with corporate governance as sensitive matters. Barksdale acknowledges well as the people who support CASE’s envithat some things need to be discussed behind ronmental objective. This was at a time when Cobb EMC was involved in a lawsuit filed in October 2007 See CASE,11AA By Brandon Wilson
bwilson@mdjonline.com
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
Marietta resident William LeGate, 16, developed Game Giveaway, a popular iTouch app that allows the user to try a game for 24 hours before buying it.
Computer whiz kid develops popular iPhone app for games By Sally Litchfield sallylit@bellsouth.net
Sixteen-year-old William LeGate seems like an ordinary teen, but his age belies his business savvy. With the finesse of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, computer whiz kid LeGate develops iPhone apps taking the Apple App Store by storm. “Age doesn’t matter that much. Being young isn’t always bad. It can be a good thing sometimes. You think about things differently,” LeGate said. He began developing applications for iPhone when he was in seventh grade. The Walker School sophomore recently launched a new free app for iPhone, Game Giveaway through his company Imagination Research Labs. LeGate explained that Game Giveaway allows users to try out new paid
games for a 24-hour period without obligation and developers to promote their games. At the end of each day, users can opt to purchase the game if they choose. “It’s basically a Groupon for the mobile-gaming environment, except that it’s free,” he said. In a marketplace with more than 300,000 game applications available for iPhone users, Game Giveaway enjoyed overnight success. The app had 100,000 downloads in just 24 hours at a rate of almost three hits per second, quickly rising to No. 2 on the Top 25 Free iPhone applications at the time.
With a 4.5 out of 5 star rating, the app had reached number 6, above Facebook and Google. The first game promoted by Game Giveaway, “Paper Ninja” soared to No. 1 in the App store, creating a whirlwind of enthusiasm for game developers to promote their games through LeGate’s app. “I knew people would like it. Who wouldn’t want free games?” the east Cobb resident said. The success of LeGate, who enjoys long boarding and hanging out with friends, is no fluke — it’s all in the idea. LeGate, a self-taught developer through online research and tutorials, has developed 15 apps with five currently in the App Store. “You’ve got to be in the top of the App Store to get exposure,” said the son of Lisa and Duane LeGate. “It has to be a good app. It’s got to be something unique that hasn’t been seen before.” LeGate’s creativity when it comes to technology garners attention. His app Fake-A-Text! with almost 1 million hits was featured in the New York Times. Fake-A-Text!, still at the top of the charts for its category, allows fake texts to be sent to the iPhone or iPod Touch. “You can get a fake text from the president or from your parents to get out of an awkward situation,” LeGate said. LeGate’s first app, Now News, a news browser for iPhone, reached No. 9 in its category on the first day; Tips and Tricks for iPad provides iPad tutorials; and Twitbook combines social networking sites into one app. With success knocking at his door, LeGate hopes to attend Stanford University, but “it’s highly competitive to get in.” In the future he hopes to start a technology-related company. “Be an entrepreneur. Work for myself,” he said. “That feeling that a lot of people have my app on their phone is pretty cool,” LeGate said. From left are Doug Warner, CEO of Stonehenge Solar Energy; Karl Von Hagel, airport manager; and Thomas Huff, CEO Atlanta Jet Center. They pose near the solar panels
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Solar energy powers company By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
KENNESAW — On a recent bitterly cold day when most people would have liked to get more energy from the sun, a company at McCollum Airport put the power of the sun to work. “You don’t have to be in Arizona or Florida for these to work well,” said Doug Warner, a pilot and CEO of Stonehenge Solar Energy, a Cobb-based company that developed and built the 140-kilowatt solar array on top of a row of aircraft hangars at McCollum. “It does work best on a sunny day, although it does create energy on days like today.” The recently completed solar array is the largest such installation at a general aviation airport, Warner said. It will generate 200,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually and prevent seven million pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted over its 30-year lifespan. The project was commissioned by Warner and Thomas Huff, CEO of Atlanta Jet Center, a landing fixed base operator, or FBO, at the airport. Huff’s company rents space in the county-owned airport and pays for its own
utility costs. Airport manager Karl Von Hagel said the county will retain the solar array after Atlanta Jet Center’s lease expires in 2026. But Von Hagel said going green is what really matters to the airport. “It just makes us a good partner with the environment,” Von Hagel said. “The county’s role was really to work in cooperation with our tenant, Atlanta Executive Jet Center ... It brings us one more opportunity to share with our flying community that we’re doing everything we can to make our carbon footprint as small as we can.” The Jet Center firm secured federal stimulus grants to cover much of the $1.4 million cost of the array, Warner said. The money came from the Department of Energy and was administered by the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority. The solar array will generate about $40,000 worth of energy this year, a figure that he expects will increase to about $55,000 as energy prices rise when the economy rebounds, Warner said. Excess energy created by the array will be sold back to Georgia Power, according to Warner.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Delivery on ice newseditor@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — A cold, wet, icy night will not keep Reggie Redding from delivering a Domino’s pizza. One night last December, freezing rain made a mess of roadways in Marietta and much of north Georgia. About 6:30 p.m., retirees Lyle and Ginny Maude Schaefer ordered a large sausage, tomato and onion pizza from the Domino’s near Marietta Square, to be delivered to their Beauregard Drive home, off Chestnut Hill Road. “We weren’t even thinking about the weather,” Ginny Maude said. “Then we got a call from the driver that our pizza was on the way. He said he had tried to drive up the steep slope on our street, but had slid back down, so he was going to walk. We told him not to bother, but he was bound to get that pizza to us. He said, ‘I’m sure you’re waiting for your dinner.’ And when he got here,
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
Marietta residents Lyle and Ginny Maude Schaefer were unaware of the ice storm when they ordered a Domino's pizza. Despite not being able to drive up the steep road to their house, Reggie Redding made the delivery even after falling and losing his glasses. he was wearing shorts!” She said that Redding had delivered pies to her home before, and that he is “always jolly and pleasant.” Redding, 33, grew up in Marietta and now lives in Kennesaw. He delivers for Domino’s part-time, and also works at Sears at Town Center at Cobb mall, he said. And yes, delivering the Schaefer’s pizza that night was an unusual — but nec-
Alcohol Continued from Page 5BB Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee supports the legislation. “I think the Cobb Commission would approve putting it on a ballot for the citizens to vote on,” Lee said. Lee moreover believes the citizens would approve Sunday sales in Cobb. “I think they would. I may be wrong, but that’s what the voting box is for,” Lee said. All six of Cobb’s mayors say they
CASE Continued from Page 10BB
closed doors, but believes the co-op directors should merely convene in executive session when needed. Not all agree with Barksdale on this and other issues. After Barksdale wrote a letter to the editor publicizing his views, Bob Elsberry, who retired in 2005 as the co-op’s senior vice president for member relations, wrote a response that was published in the Journal Feb. 1. “The core of Barksdale’s argument seems to be that Cobb EMC members have no control over the co-op. Apparently he has chosen to ignore the principles of representative governance,” Elsberry wrote. “A short refresher for Mr. Barksdale: Just as voters elect members to Congress to represent their interests, members of EMCs elect boards of directors to ensure their co-ops provide reliable and affordable electricity. But EMC members do not vote on decisions they have elected board members to make, just as citizens do not vote on legislation in Congress.” He later wrote: “Aside from Barks-
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in unreimbursed care annually; by our award-winning efforts to eliminate hospital infections, and by our outpatient service satisfaction which ranks in the top 10 percent in the country.” As the largest health system in Georgia, WellStar is fast becoming a nationally recognized, world class organization. In fact, WellStar recently found itself on two prestigious national “Top 10” lists. The first was related to
essary — ordeal, he said. “I never like to see people go hungry. I had tried walking on the street, and it was glazed. I walked in the grass a lot, but the leaves on the ground there were also glazed, and every driveway was icy,” he said, laughing at the memory. “I found a couple of dry spots, but once I slipped and lost my glasses. I’m a burly guy, and I wear shorts because they’re easier to
move in. So I was on my bare knees scraping around the ground for my glasses like Thelma in ‘Scooby Doo.’ And man, when I got up to their house, their whole driveway was like Disney on Ice.” The Schaefers insisted he come in and warm up, but Redding would stay only a minute, the Schaefers said. The couple tipped him generously, and Ginny Maude Schaefer said his parting words to them were “God bless you.” Redding said, “They’re some of my favorite customers.” For the record, the trip back down the hill was just as treacherous, he said. “I basically slipped all the way down, and I tried again to find my glasses, but didn’t. Once in my car, I tried to get down another hill, but ended up parking my car on Colston Road and calling a friend to come pick me up. But I had to walk down to Chestnut Hill to meet him, because he wouldn’t be able to get up here.”
support legislation that would allow their cities to vote on Sunday sales, although they’re not sure how their cities would vote. “If they want to put it on the ballot, that’s fine with me,” Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon said. “I’d feel real uncomfortable buying beer or whiskey on Sunday myself — and I drink. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. But I’d hate to be seen leaving church in my Sunday clothes and go get a fifth of liquor. I just wouldn’t do that.” Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews
said it was backwards to allow people to visit their local sports bar and drink all Sunday before driving home, but not allow them to buy spirits from a grocery store. Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins, who owned a liquor store 21 years ago, said while he supports allowing voters to decide, he personally would not vote for Sunday sales. Powder Springs Mayor Pat Vaughn holds the same position as Jerkins. “I think six days is enough. If they want, they can get it the night before,” Jerkins said.
dale and the handful of malcontents that attend CASE meetings — including representatives of the anti-coal Sierra Club — a 2010 survey of Cobb EMC members found the majority are satisfied with their co-op. And with good reason.” Although Elsberry insisted that opponents of Plant Washington are becoming “desperate” in their “quest to stop the development of this important energy facility,” Barksdale says the plant and others proposed in the state pose a direct threat to the health of Georgians. “We’re talking about the pollution of Georgia’s air and water,” he said. Additionally, Barksdale said Cobb EMC members should be concerned with the “economic and financial drawbacks of building that plant.” He said Georgia Power’s leaders and other heads of electric utilities have “specifically said, ‘We are not going to put our future in coal-fired power plants.’” He said CASE leaders would like to see the co-op invest in alternative energy sources, but he said “energy efficiency alone would accomplish a great deal.” Cobb EMC spokesman Sam Kelly, however, maintains that building Plant
Washington will be cheaper for ratepayers than investing in nuclear or solar energy. Power4Georgians is a consortium of six electric membership cooperatives, including Marietta-based Cobb EMC, that plan to build and own Plant Washington in Sandersville, about 130 miles southwest of Atlanta. Dean Alford, spokesman for Power4Georgians, said the group hopes to have all permitting issues resolved and financing in place by the end of this year, paving the way for four years of construction and a fully operational, $2.1 billion, 850megawatt coal plant by 2016 or 2017. Barksdale was an analyst with the federal government for 32 years. He is a native Georgian who lives in Woodstock. He spent two years in the Army. He said CASE does not have an opinion on Cobb EMC leader Dwight Brown’s recent indictment on multiple counts of theft and racketeering. CASE’s monthly meetings, which are open to anybody, are held at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at the Rib Ranch restaurant, 2063 Canton Road in Marietta. CASE’s website cobbemcwatch.org.
its unique status of being an integrated health system. Wellstar was noted as being the ninth most integrated health care delivery system in the country by the healthcare research firm, SDI — ahead of such organizations like Cleveland Clinic and Geisinger Health Systems. Further, it was the only Georgia health system on that list. WellStar is also the only Georgia company selected as one of the Top 10 companies in the nation by Working Mother magazine, in which it was recognized for it extensive family-friendly benefits and workplace excellence.
WellStar is constantly being recognized as a great place to work by such organizations as AARP, Companies that Care, National Association of Female Executives, the Dave Thomas Foundation and others. “As I said at the beginning, I am proud and honored to be part of such a great organization,” Budzinski said. “I believe deeply in our WellStar team, and we are making a difference in people’s lives.” The other top 10 employers in Cobb are the Cobb County Government, which employs 5,223 people; Ken-
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The mayor’s office declared victory. “We have always said that Continued from Page 4BB we have no interest in bankrupting gun dealers, only in which sent undercover buyers ensuring that they follow fedto five states, including to eral laws,” Bloomberg said in Adventure Outdoors, where a statement. they attempted to buy guns in Said Wallace: “There wasstraw sales. A straw sale is n’t any reason for me to when one person buys a gun spend a half-million dollars for someone else, which is on a bench trial when it was illegal. already a foregone conclusion The city then sued 27 gun of what he was going to do. I dealers, including Adventure will not back down, and I Outdoors, that the undercover told Bloomberg that when we buyers allege made the sales, were face to face. I will not claiming they had created a back down. I haven’t done public nuisance. anything wrong. Matter of “(Bloomberg) is saying we fact, I’m over and above the were call of knowingly duty in the doing this. way I run He found my busiwhere 21 ness, and guns had the only made it to thing I’m New guilty of is York. being part You’ve of an got to industry understand they don’t here, this like.” is an agenRight da to disnow, Barr arm this said the country. case is tied ‘He (Mayor Bloomberg) is That’s in proa bureaucrat who thinks up what this cedural is all he knows better and that issues. about,” “Hopeindividuals are not smart Wallace fully these enough to take care of said. issues will “He is themselves. He thinks he be resolved a bureaushould be protected with in the not crat who firearms and bodyguards too-distant thinks he future and knows and all, but he thinks the we can better and focus on individual, you need to that indithe subwait on police to get viduals stance of are not there.’ what the smart — Jay Wallace mayor and enough to his people take care of themselves. He did to Jay, his family and his thinks he should be protected business here in Georgia, with firearms and bodyguards where the mayor clearly has and all, but he thinks the indino jurisdiction or business vidual, you need to wait on conducting private, undercovpolice to get there.” er operations,” Barr said. The case was set to go to He’s talking about Waltrial in 2008 before Brooklyn lace’s own lawsuit against Federal Court Judge Jack Bloomberg and New York Weinstein. City, claiming libel, slander But Wallace and his attorand other complaints, and ney, Renzulli, did not appear seeking in excess of $300 because they believed the million in damages. The deck was stacked against Georgia Supreme Court curthem, as was Judge Weinrently has that case, in which stein. Bloomberg is represented by For example, he said, well-known lawyer Peter Bloomberg’s team never Canfield, of the Dow Lohnes bothered to contact the Alcofirm in Atlanta. hol Tobacco Firearms agents “Even though several and inspectors that monitor years already have passed his store. since the mayor’s people “If they had, they would went into Adventure Outhave known we are an exemdoors on their improper misplary dealer,” Wallace said. And when the ATF sent a let- sion and then sued Adventure Outdoors and made ter to the court stating that what we believe clearly Wallace had done nothing wrong, the judge dismissed it were defamatory statements to the media about Advenas hearsay, Wallace said. ture Outdoors,” Barr said, Judge Weinstein would “Jay Wallace remains as not allow Bloomberg himself committed today as then to to testify, and also said he fighting not only for his would decide the case, with only an advisory jury present. rights, but to show others what outrageous actions the At that point, Wallace mayor and his people constepped back and waited to ducted based on their zeal to appeal the default judgment entered against him. The U.S. punish law-abiding businessCourt of Appeals for the Sec- es and individuals who ond Circuit now has the case, chose to exercise their rights as guaranteed under the Secthough there is no timeline for a decision. ond Amendment.”
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Heavy ice storm couldn’t stop this pizza delivery man By Kim Isaza
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nesaw State University, which employs 3,400, a number that includes full time, part time and student assistants; Publix Supermarkets, which employs 2,973; Wal-Mart, which employs 2,750; Six Flags Over Georgia, which during peak season employs 2,386, compared to its full time year round employment of 122; and The Kroger Company, which employees 2,150, Connell said. All 10 employers are “terrific corporate citizens that the Chamber is proud to have in the community,” Connell said.
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GROWTH & REVITALIZATION
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
EDUCATION
PROGRESS 2011 MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL FEBRUARY 27, 2011 SECTION CC / 3 OF 8
PARENTS PRAISE PRIVATE SCHOOLS 6CC
INSIDE: NEW SCHOOL BOARD TRIO 3CC
HEADMASTER RETIRING 5CC
EDUCATION
2CC
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Report card: Excellent!
Marietta Center for Advanced Academics chosen for top state school honor By Jon Gillooly jgillooly@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA – It didn’t take his son’s school being named a 2010 School of Excellence for Tom Rizzi of Mableton to know that the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics is a very special place. In its sixth year of operation, the magnet school that educates third-, fourth- and fifth-graders focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “The math and science was the big thing,” Rizzi said regarding why he enrolled his son Derek, who is now in the fifth grade, in the school. “He’s got a natural attraction to that kind of learning as far as his education goes, and at this early, an age to take advantage of that and have a school that caters to that, has worked perfectly for us.”
COVER
Mount Paran Christian School students from left, seated on the ground, are: Bradley Kemp, Merritt Knox, Eckow Hudson, Griffin Kim (behind) and Banks Ethridge. Seated: Hillary Yankey, Kayla Wilson, Tristan Sterling, Taylor Dunn and Lily Buehler. Standing: Macey Dawson, Riley Young and Logan Rusk. On marquee: Jake Jeans and Zack Greenwell. MDJ staff photo / Laura Moon
Rizzi, who runs a graphic design firm, pays $3,300 annually in outof-district tuition for his son to attend the school, not to mention the daily commute from Mableton. “It’s a drive plus the tuition — it adds up,” Rizzi said. But Rizzi is happy with his decision. “It’s worth it when I compare schools. I don’t want to say specific schools, but when we do a comparison of those, it’s worth the sacrifice we have to make,” he said. “When you compare it to some of these other schools, you hear the stories there, and you see here, I mean, we’re eons above. Just watching Derek do his science project last night … he’s so far beyond where I was at that age.” In early February, Georgia Schools Superintendent Dr. John Barge named Marietta Center for Advanced Academics a 2010 Georgia School of Excellence in Student Achievement. The state schools chief also visited the school in celebration of the high designation, which means it is one of 11 schools statewide recognized as a Top 10 percent school — a school that is in the 10 percent of schools in Georgia as measured by assessments in reading and mathematics. “You are truly living up to your motto, ‘learning without limits,’” Barge told the students, faculty, parents and board members who attended the celebration. Marietta City Schools Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck praised the school for doing such things as partnering with Kennesaw State University and China to learn about the environment, as well as partnering with Southern Polytechnic State University’s computer programming students to work on designing a video game. Dr. Karen Smits, who is in her third year as the school’s principal, said a child must score at or above the 75th percentile on a nationally normed test in both math and reading to enrolled in the 260-student school. Smits said the award was validation for all the hard work.
Above: Marietta Center for Advanced Academics Principal Dr. Karen Smits, left, greets Georgia Schools Superintendent Dr. John Barge. Right: Barge, left, congratulates the students, teachers and staff for being chosen as a Georgia School of Excellence. Staff/Laura Moon
“This is a huge honor and I think the greatest thing about this honor is there are some people here who have worked absolutely tirelessly to see this school from the vision it was six years ago to where it is today,” she said. “It is validation of all the hard work, the persistence that people have put in.” Daniel Kumi of Marietta, a fourth-grader at the school, described his favorite things about it. “Pretty much all the support we get and a lot of the friends and the partnerships. Pretty much everything,” Kumi said. “All the tech-
nology that we have because it makes things easier for us so that we don’t always have to go and open a text book.” Barge said part of the honor of being recognized as a school of excellence was receiving a $1,000 check, courtesy of Georgia Natural Gas. “This school, as Dr. Lembeck said, has not been in existence very long and to post the achievement that they have posted as a fairly new school is very significant, and that’s one of the reasons why we chose to come here first,” Barge said. They’ve done a very good
job.” Cobb County School District’s Lassiter High was also named as one of only 11 state schools of excellence for achievement. “When I first heard the news that Lassiter had been named a 2010 Georgia School of Excellence, I can’t tell you what a tremendous sense of accomplishment that I felt for our faculty, students, and community,” Lassiter principal Dr. Chris Richie said. “This is a welldeserved recognition and validation that what our teachers do for students on a daily basis is truly remarkable.”
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
EDUCATION
3CC
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
Cobb School Board members are, from left: Lynnda Eagle, David Morgan, David Banks, Scott Sweeney, Chairwoman Alison Bartlett, Superintendent Fred Sanderson, Tim Stultz, Kathleen Angelucci and Cobb School District Attorney Clem Doyle. Sweeney, Stultz and Angelucci are new members.
‘Reformers’ on board
Parents hoping 3 new members, chairwoman can restore trust between board, community By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — For the Cobb County School District, 2010 might be remembered as a year of the great budget deficit, leading to a massive layoff for many of the district’s most vital employees — its teachers. In the July 2010 Primary Election and then in the November General Election, Cobb residents went to the ballot box and declared that it was time for a change on the school board, electing three self-proclaimed reformers to the board — Kathleen Angelucci to north Cobb’s Post 4, Scott Sweeney to east Cobb’s Post 6 and Tim Stultz to Post 2 in Smyrna. While the elections did incite excitement among many board watchers, so far in 2011, the school board has had to combat divisiveness that could stand in the way of the new members’ pledge to tackle controversial issues, like the calendar and vacation accrual for administrators. In the meantime, many Cobb parents say they are hopeful that the new members, along with the board’s new Chairwoman Alison Bartlett, will listen to voters, parents, teachers and administrators and restore trust between the school board and community. Jim Leagan, who has a son at Lassiter and lives in northeast Cobb, said he thinks the school board is on the right track so far. “The previous board, in my opinion, set up the change,” Leagan said. “When you have people like Dr. Crooks and David Banks, who ran under a platform which they immediately repudiated, it just inflamed me; it inflamed a lot of people that I know in east Cobb. That kind of repudiation of the voters made this last election extremely important. And I think everybody realized that we need to have people up here who mean what they say and do what they say. The ones that were elected were elected under this whole concept of we’re taking over. We want transparency; we want people who do what they say they’re going to do.” So far this year the lines are clearly drawn with Bartlett and the three newest board members on one side and former board Chairwoman Lynnda Eagle, Banks and David Morgan on the other. Immediately following the swearing-in ceremony for the new members on Jan. 6, they along with Bartlett, called a special meeting to elect the new board leadership and set an agenda together for the board’s first meeting the next week. The special called meeting ruffled feathers among the incumbent members, none of whom showed up at
New school board members, from left, Scott Sweeney, Tim Stultz and Kathleen Angelucci joined the board in early January as self-proclaimed reformers. After the budget deficit in 2010 that led to the massive layoff of teachers and school district employees, many parents are hoping the new members will create better times for the district. the Jan. 9 meeting. to me, it’s not a perk. Do we revenge against the principals want to start our school year Leagan said he believes that soundly denounced your off with this kind of morale that Banks, his board reprefalse accusations back in deflating?” sentative, has lost his electors. 2009. That’s the only concluAt Sweeney’s request, the “It’s a start of a new sion I can come up with trend, and I am happy to see because it serves no purpose.” board held off on the vacathe board taking some of the At one point in the conver- tion accrual decision, much to the chagrin of some board actions that they’re taking,” sation, Eagle leaned back and Leagan said. “I think the idea said to Bartlett, “Well, I guess watchers. But Sweeney insisted he just wants to of having a meeting on Sunyou’ve got your four votes.” study it further to make the day — because we want to At the following board have an agenda that means meeting on Jan. 27, when the best decision, and Bartlett planned to bring it up again something — I think that’s board again discussed vacaduring the board’s budget marvelous. There’s no question accrual, Superintendent discussions. tion that At the they came same meetin to shake ing, the things board also around.” postponed a Bartlett vote on a and the cell tower at newest Compton board Elementary members’ School in efforts to Powder — Jim Leagan, parent of a Lassiter student “shake Springs, at things the request around” of many have led to several confrontacommunity members, includFred Sanderson warned the tional moments among board ing Mayor Pat Vaughn. board — to which he reports members in the first few Vaughn and the speakers — that taking away the perk meetings of the year. requested the vote to be put might not be good goverAt the board’s first work off until all of the board nance. session on Jan. 14, Bartlett members, especially the new “Be very deliberate in the asked members to consider ones, had more time to action that you take tonight or ending a perk that allows review input from the comwhenever you want to take it administrators and other munity. Morgan, who repreregarding the vacation accruyear-round employees to sents the area, asked that it als,” Sanderson said. “Someaccrue vacation days indefibe on the board’s agenda at times campaign rhetoric and nitely and then receive a payits Feb. 9 meeting. politics are one thing and out for those accumulated The board reversed severresponsibility for governance days when they retire or al decisions made by the preis something else.” leave the district, something Eagle agreed with Sander- vious board, including the that she asked the board to controversial decision to son, saying that she believed consider last year as well. break the SPLOST oversight ending the perk might cause The vacation accrual F&T Committee into two the district to lose a number debate caused both Eagle and of administrators. subcommittees: one for facilBanks, who became visibly ities, and one for technology. “I’m very proud of our frustrated during the converAlso, the board unaniprincipals; I’m not ashamed sation, to question Bartlett’s mously reversed the previous to say it. I think you do a intentions. board’s decision to combine fabulous job,” Eagle said. “Something else keeps the ‘meets’ and ‘exceeds “But if we don’t have good gnawing at me as to why you leaders here, we’re not going standards’ categories on the want to bring this up, why this to have the improvement in is a big issue for you,” Banks student achievement. It will said. “I’ve thought about this change. A principal in Cobb for several months now and County can go next door to the only conclusion, and it’s Fulton County and be an kind of a sinister conclusion, (assistant principal) and is this is your way of having make more money. This is,
‘It’s a start of a new trend, and I am happy to see the board taking some of the actions that they’re taking. ... There’s no question that they came in to shake things around.’
Strategic Plan. The board accepted the bid for short-term construction notes to accelerate SPLOST III. The bid was awarded to Barclays Capital, Inc., who offered the district a 0.03 percent interest rate, in January. The $62 million shortterm construction notes will allow the district to do more projects in the SPLOST III notebook at a faster rate, thus taking advantage of the current construction market. The board plans to tackle the calendar, an issue that both Sweeney and Angelucci
both campaigned on. Kelli Evertsen, an east Cobb mother of three children in the district, and the co-president of Sope Creek Elementary PTSA, is a proponent of the traditional calendar and spoke to the board about it at its Jan. 27 meeting. Evertsen said she has been impressed by the newest board members’ efforts to listen to the community and district employees. “I anticipate that they will listen more effectively both to parents and to teachers,” Evertsen said. “And that’s what I’ve gathered from friends who are teachers at other schools as well. They feel like they’ll have more of a voice. It’s very difficult for people to hear all of the different entities in education. From what I know about Scott Sweeney, I think he’s very attuned to the needs of administrators and teachers. From talking to other people I think they’re very encouraged in that way as well.” Evertsen, a former teacher, said she’d like to see the atmosphere improve for teachers. “I’d like to see where teachers feel a little more empowered. Right now they feel a little on edge; that they’re not secure in their job if they voice their opinions,” Evertsen said. “They feel that if they speak there’s too much threat of grade placements in the next year and things like that. I just wish that teachers could feel a little more of a comfort zone to express their needs.”
Currently Accepting Applications for the 2011-2012 School Year For information call 770-428-3328
EDUCATION
4CC
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Immaculate performances Trio of Cobb students score perfection on ACT or SAT By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
Perfection is rarely reached on college entrance exams, but was recently accomplished by three Cobb County students. Campbell High School senior Joan Bedinger and Walton High School senior Abubakar Abid scored the top score of 2400 on the SAT, and The Walker School’s Grant Deedy, 17, scored a perfect 36 on the ACT. Deedy, a senior at the Walker School, took the ACT on Sept. 11, 2010, and learned about his score a few weeks later before school. He said he forgot all about the test until he saw other students checking their scores on their cell phones that day. “I walked into school and there were people all around me pulling out their phones and checking, and I had forgotten all about it,” Deedy said. “I pulled out my phone to check my score Grant Deedy of The before class and I just smiled. I Walker School was very happy. I sent my mom a message, and I was like, ‘I think you should check the scores, I think you might enjoy them.’” Deedy, son of Linda and Justin Deedy of east Cobb, said he took the test the spring of 2010 and received a near-perfect score of 35, but wanted to give it another shot because his score on the reading portion of the test wasn’t as high as he wanted it to be. The ACT consists of tests in English, math, reading and science. A student’s composite score is an average of See Immaculate, 10CC
Campbell High School’s Joan Bedinger.
Staff/Laura Moon
Sprayberry High School juniors Joy Lee, left, and Zach Lamarre work on their accountability groups assignment which will help them prepare them for life in college in their Tools for College Success class.
Cobb private schools top SAT scores By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA – Not surprisingly, Cobb’s private schools continued to score high on the SAT in 2010, while Cobb County and Marietta City Schools both saw a dip in their average composite SAT scores. Of the private schools that reported Scholastic Aptitude Test scores to the Journal, The Walker School led the pack, with an average composite score of ,1830. It is unclear whether this score is higher than last year’s composite score for the school, because in 2009 Walker provided a range for its average score, which was 1620 to 2000. Walker, situated at the corner of Cobb Parkway and Allgood Road in Marietta, had 100 students take the test in 2010. The SAT covers reading, math and writing, with each section worth a maximum of 800 points, for a total of 2400. Walker Headmaster Don Robertson said the school doesn’t necessarily focus on preparing students for the SAT, but rather centers on a rigorous collegeprep education, which is believed to help students achieve a higher SAT score. “We are proud of our students’ SAT
Sprayberry sophomore Sam Lawrence works on an assignment in his Tools for College Success class.
scores,” Robertson said. ”Rather than focus on a single test score, we concentrate on preparing our students for college by using a rigorous collegepreparatory curriculum in a nurturing environment. As a result, our students thrive at some of the most academically challenging colleges and universities in
the nation. In fact, three students in the Class of 2011 have been accepted on an early-decision basis to Brown, Dartmouth, and the University of Pennsylvania. Without the dedication of talented faculty members and devoted parents, such successes would not be possible.” At North Cobb Christian School, in Kennesaw, seniors in the class of 2010 scored an average of 1688. Headmaster Todd Clingman said a relatively small class of 23 students took the test last year. In 2009, students at North Cobb Christian scored an average of 1671. Clingman attributed the increase in average score to the school’s academic rigor and its dedicated teachers. “We have just really been concentrating on rigor and accountability in our classes,” Clingman said. “The numberone asset of our school is our faculty and staff. They give their hearts every day and most of them have been here a long time.” The school’s academic dean, Dr. Carolyn Ware, said the goal is to make sure students are ready for college when they graduate from North Cobb Christian. Last year, 100 percent of the school’s graduating seniors went on to a fouryear university, Clingman said. Seniors at Mount Paran Christian See Scores, 10CC
FURTAH PREPARATORY SCHOOL
S ’ A I G R O E G N O I T I TU T I D E R C X P TA I H S R A L O SC H
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urtah Prep offers Pre-School, Elementary, Middle and High School. We are a unique school community that embraces diversity, provides a creative learning atmosphere, and encourages positive self-esteem.
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FURTAH PREPARATORY SCHOOL 5496 Highway 92 • Acworth, GA 30102
678-574-6488
www.furtahprep.org
EDUCATION
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
5CC
Looking back, fondly Retiring Walker headmaster discusses the school’s evolution, his 26-year tenure By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — When he came to Marietta 26 years ago, Walker Headmaster Don Robertson said his plan was to stay for five years, but falling in love with the school and community kept him here and helped him turn Walker into a wellrespected and nationally known private school. Although he said he can’t take the credit for Walker’s transformation throughout the last few decades, Robertson, who is retiring July 1, said he feels like a proud father as he leaves the school in a bigger and more advanced state than it was when he was hired. “It’s kind of like raising a child,” Robertson said. “I took on the school when it was a baby and now I’m leaving it as a young adult, and I know there’s going to be some exciting things that are going to happen down the line, but I’ve been glad to be part of that process of growth over the years. I kind of feel like a proud papa, as I look back at the school and what everybody here has been able to accomplish.” And Robertson, 64, should be proud. When he first came to Walker in 1985, the school had 450 students in one building and was situated on 16 acres of land. Today, it has grown to 1,040 students on 34 acres of land, on the corner of Cobb Parkway and Allgood Road in Marietta. Robertson guesses the school has more than 1 million square feet of teaching space. Despite its small size in 1985, Robertson said, he was still captivated by the school’s environment and community. “It was interesting, because when I visited, the school wasn’t much to look at,” the Walker headmaster said. “We were in the old Sprayberry building and when I saw it, we came up Cobb Parkway, and I said, ‘oh my.’ And as soon as I walked in the door, though, it took on an incredible glow. It became apparent to me as I interviewed, and then I was fortunate enough to
‘I kind of feel like a proud papa, as I look back at the school and what everybody here has been able to accomplish.’ — Don Robertson
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
come back for a second interview, that everything Walker School needed at the time money could solve. You could get the enrollment and buy the equipment, but it had a heart and soul that was really quite impressive…this place had substance. It was just a tremendous family-type school.” The Walker School, unlike other large private schools in Cobb County, does not have a religious focus, although it was originally part of the St. James Episcopal Church in the 1960s. It educates children from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade and tuition ranges from $10,040 for preschool to $17,950 for the upper school. Before coming to Walker, Robertson had been an assistant headmaster at the Pennington School outside Princeton, N.J., for 17 years. When he moved to Cobb, Robertson said he and his wife Les-
ley were so impressed with Walker that they wanted their daughters to attend school there. “Frankly, my wife and I really wanted our daughters educated here,” he said. “So in many ways, I picked the school for the same reasons others were at the time.” The Robertsons’ daughters both graduated from Walker, Lynn in 1993 and Shelly in 1996. Through his 26 years at Walker, Robertson said he has seen Cobb County grow, which has in turn brought more students to the school. While Robertson said the academic atmosphere hasn’t changed too much during his tenure as headmaster, he said the school wasn’t realizing its potential in the earlier years. “We had and still have an extraordinary faculty and staff, the people that work here are just topnotch,” Robertson said. “And I think they underestimated how
wonderful they were. They just didn’t realize what an outstanding school they had because they were in the old building. What we did, ultimately, was expand our facilities and have new facilities. Once you start getting waiting lists to come, the harder it is to get in, the more people want to come.” As for parents, the headmaster said they have become more involved in advocating for their kids. “It used to be whatever the teacher said, that’s what it was,” he said. “And you know, parents have consistently over the years loved their children the same. Every parent loves their children and is devoted to helping them in any way they can. There’s a tendency today, not only just at Walker but at all schools, for parents to try to alleviate the real struggles that their kids might have. Trying to help intervene in certain kinds of matters,
where in the past, the kids were kind of left on their own to do it. I think in some cases, this is good, in others it’s unfortunate.” Being in a private school, Robertson admits he is spoiled with parents who are truly involved and invested in their children’s education. Tripp Kay, a Walker parent and chair of the board of trustees, lauded Robertson for his openness and willingness to listen to the board, parents and students. “I give him an awful lot of the credit for bringing the school where it is and getting it ready to hand over the reins to somebody else,” Kay said. “He’s very accessible. He’s tireless. He is at a number of events and he cares about the kids, he knows them and is engaged with them. He continues to teach a class and, with the demands on his time, it’s hard to imagine that he has time to do that.” Robertson said he believes one of his biggest accomplishments as headmaster has been being able to meet the needs of the board, parents, students and alumni. But most of all, Robertson said he is proud that he has been able to help Walker grow into the school it is today, something that could not have happened without a dedicated teaching staff. “I take great pride in the fact that we were a school that many people didn’t know about and now we’re a school that is highly regarded not only just locally, but regionally and nationally,” he said. “Although I would like to take the credit for it, it all starts with the faculty … I can do anything I want, but without good teaching, the school could just not continue to be successful. So I’m really indebted to all of our teachers who have given so much of themselves to see that the students get the finest education they can get.” In retirement, Robertson, who lives in west Cobb, said he is looking forward to playing golf and spending time with his wife, who retired two years ago as a longtime teacher at the Lovett School in Atlanta.
EDUCATION
6CC
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Parents find confidence in private schools
By Kathryn Malone
kmalone@mdjonline.com
Staff/Laura Moon
Mount Paran Christian School senior Darryn Hutchinson has the unique distinction of having been accepted into Georgia Tech and the U.S. Naval Academy. At Mount Paran, Darryn has been the student body president and carries a 4.25 grade point average.
Darryn’s dream After immigrating from South Africa, Mount Paran senior is accepted to Georgia Tech and U.S. Naval Academy By Marcus E. Howard mhoward@mdjonline.com
KENNESAW — He may have been born in South Africa, but Mount Paran Christian School senior Darryn Hutchinson’s story of success is the essence of the American dream. The east Cobb resident has received early acceptance to study engineering at Georgia Tech and recently learned that he’s been accepted by the U.S. Naval Academy as well. By his own admission, the student body president and standout cross-country runner has largely fulfilled his parents’ expectations when they immigrated to America for a better life. “I was raised here — you can hear the way that I talk and the way that my parents talk. It’s two completely different areas,” said Darryn, 17. “I was raised here so my allegiance has always been an interesting part to me. That I can actually play (a role) in a country’s future and defending our country is a big deal to me.” Darryn’s parents, George and Lucinda Hutchinson, met in 1989 and married in 1990. Lucinda Hutchinson is a native of South Africa and George Hutchinson is originally from Zimbabwe, which he left to establish a better life for himself in Cape Town. Together, they came to America to find better opportunities for their family. After arriving in 1995, they lived out their American dream by opening a restaurant equipment installation and service business, Taska Inc., in Marietta. They also enrolled their only child in Mount Paran as a kindergartener, seeking the best education they could afford. The family became American citizens sev-
eral years ago. “I am extremely proud of him and his achievements,” George Hutchinson said of his son. At Mount Paran, Darryn placed third at the state cross-country competition in 2010, and he’s also participated in basketball and track and field. Since his sophomore year, he has served in the school’s student government, which culminated with his election as student body president. Darryn said his grade point average is around 4.25. While Darryn said he is thrilled about the opportunity to study at Georgia Tech, he is leaning toward the Naval Academy, to which he was nominated by U.S. Rep. Tom Price. He was planning to travel to Annapolis, Md. to get a closer inspection of campus life at the academy. “That’s an option that not too many people get,” Darryn said of the Naval Academy. “I had no idea until I got my appointment that my mom’s grandfather actually served in the South African Navy. I had no idea if that was some tie to me or not. All I knew was it was some pull that I had. A lot of people say ‘if you apply to one service academy, you apply to them all.’ But it was just something about Navy.” Lucinda Hutchinson said the decision is up to her son, but she admitted that she’s not thrilled about the prospect of him serving out his military commitment for so long away from home. “He’s all I’ve got,” she said sincerely. Darryn said he definitely believes his destiny in life is in God’s hand. “He’s given me this opportunity,” Darryn said. “It’s not really where I go, it’s what I carry.”
Counselor among top in nation By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
MABLETON — Anthony Pearson, a counselor at Sky View Elementary School in Mableton, was honored as one of the nation’s top 10 school counselors by the American School Counselor Association earlier this month. Pearson, 30, a counselor at Sky View for six years, visited Washington, D.C., to be formally recognized, along with school Principal Cynthia Cutler and Gail Smith, the school counseling superAnthony visor for Pearson Cobb County School District who nominated him. He learned in early January that he was a finalist, which Pearson said was humbling. “I’m completely honored,” Pearson said in a phone interview from Washington. “This is probably one of my biggest accomplishments.” From the top 10 counselors, one was named School Counselor of the Year. That award went to Randy McPherson, of the Trezevant Career and Technology Center in Memphis. Smith said she nominated Pearson for a variety of reasons.
“He is running a comprehensive school counseling program,” Smith said. “He’s great with the children and they love him. He’s very creative. His creativity is beyond normal. He’s intuitive, understanding what his students need at their grade level and then matching the program with what they need.”
She said he has done everything from homework help programs to mentoring students who don’t have father figures in their lives. Pearson said many of his programs are data-driven, meaning that he measures the impact his involvement has See Counselor, 8CC
MARIETTA — In many households, the choice to send children to private school over public can be a major debate. For Kim and Tony Jeans, of Kennesaw, that debate began when their sons reached middle school. The Jeans sent their sons, Josh, now 18, and Jake, now 16, to public elementary schools. But when the boys entered middle school, they decided to switch to Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw. “We hit middle school and that’s where a little bit of a debate began,” Kim Jeans said. “Well, if we’re going to try it, when do you begin? Middle school (years) are very formative years. A child can turn in middle school one direction or the other. So we decided in middle school to let them try.” But before eighth grade, Jake Jeans said he missed his friends and football team at Lost Mountain Middle School in Kennesaw. He returned to the public school for that year and then went to Harrison High School for ninth grade. But he changed his mind again and returned to
Mount Paran. “He went back for a year and he even went into Harrison as a freshman and really enjoyed it, but he told me he missed the community,” Kim Jeans said of her youngest son. “He missed the closeness of his friends. How much the teachers actually care, at a whole different level. With it being such a small environment, they’re just very nurturing and encouraging … He missed that community and he missed his brother. We had one year that they could be on the football field together and we took it.” Located on Stanley Road, off Stilesboro Road, in North Cobb, Mount Paran Christian has about 1,200 students from pre-kindergarten, which begins at age 3, through 12th grade. The school was founded in 1976. While Barbara Knox said the decision to send her children to private over public school was difficult, choosing Mount Paran was a no-brainer for her and her husband, Jack Knox. “Besides just the assurance of having a good education, we wanted our kids to be See Parents, 10CC
Staff/Laura Moon
One of the projects for The Walker School lower school children was to raise money for the needy at Christmas. Alison Hebert, 10, receives help filling her stocking from parent volunteer Kristie Cowan for Cobb Christmas. The lower school raised between $5,000 to $6,000 worth of money and gifts to fill 350 to 400 stockings for Cobb Christmas.
EDUCATION
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
63 54
10
15 18
48
37
30 59 45 25 20 68 38 72 11 16 57
23 78
24
41
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1 3
26 31
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6
2
75
42
19
29
64 13 27
70
74 71
18
31
2
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1
28 19 32
12 21
51
26
36
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30 5
27
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50 44 60 28 23
43
34 22 65
17
14
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9 43
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69 79
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4 8
20 35 25
42
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49
7
21 7
24
36
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3 37
29 10
58
52
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12 17
40 66 67
Elementary schools
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Middle and high schools
Cobb and Marietta elementary schools 1. A.L. Burruss Elementary 325 Manning Road Marietta, 30064 Phone: (770) 429-3144
6. Park Street Elementary 105 Park Street SE Marietta, 30060 Phone: (770) 429-3180
11. Addison Elementary 3055 Ebenezer Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 578-2700
16. Bells Ferry Elementary 2600 Bells Ferry Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (678) 594-8950
21. Brown Elementary 3265 Brown Road Smyrna, 30080 Phone: (678) 842-6838
26. Cheatham Hill Elementary
2. Dunleith Elementary 120 Saine Drive Marietta, 30008 Phone: (770) 429-3190
7. Sawyer Road Elementary 840 Sawyer Road Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 429-9923
12. Argyle Elementary 2420 Spring Road Smyrna, 30080 Phone: (678) 842-6800
17. Belmont Hills Elementary
22. Brumby Elementary 1306 Powers Ferry Road Marietta, 30067 Phone: (770) 916-7070
27. Clarkdale Elementary 5243 Meadows Rd. Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (770) 819-2422
8. West Side Elementary 344 Polk Street NW Marietta, 30064 Phone: (770) 429-3172
13. Austell Intermediate 5243 Meadows Road Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (770) 819-2387
28. Clay Elementary 730 Boggs Road Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2430
9. Marietta Charter School 368 Wright Street Marietta, 30064 Phone: (770) 590-4430
14. Austell Primary 5600 Mulberry Street Austell, 30106 Phone: (770) 819-5804
19. Birney Elementary 775 Smyrna-Powder Springs St. Marietta, 30060 Phone: (678) 842-6824
23. Bryant Primary and Intermediate 6800 Factory Shoals Road Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2402
10. Acworth Intermediate 4220 Cantrell Road Acworth, 30101 Phone (770) 975-6600
15. Baker Elementary 2361 Baker Road, NW Acworth, 30101 Phone: (770) 975-6629
20. Blackwell Elementary 3470 Canton Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (678) 494-7600
3. Hickory Hills Elementary 500 Redwood Drive SW Marietta, 30064 Phone: (770) 429-3125 4. Lockheed Elementary 1205 Merritt Road Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 429-3196 5. Marietta Center for Advanced Academics 311 Aviation Road Marietta, 30060 (770) 420-0822
605 Glendale Place Smyrna, 30080 Phone: (678) 842-6810 18. Big Shanty Elementary 1575 Ben King Road Kennesaw, 30144 Phone: (678) 594-8023
24. Bullard Elementary 3656 Old Stilesboro Road Kennesaw, 30152 Phone: (678) 594-8720 25. Chalker Elementary 325 North Booth Road Kennesaw, 30144 Phone: (678) 494-7621
1350 John Ward Road SW Marietta, 30064 Phone: (678) 594-8034
29. Compton Elementary 3450 New Macland Road Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (770) 222-3700 30. Davis Elementary 2433 Jamerson Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (678) 494-7636
Continued on 8CC
EDUCATION
8CC
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Cobb and Marietta elementary schools 31. Dowell Elementary 2121 West Sandtown Road Marietta, 30064 Phone: (678) 594-8059 32. Due West Elementary 3900 Due West Road Marietta, 30064 Phone: (678) 594-8071 33. East Side Elementary 3850 Roswell Road Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 578-7200 34. Eastvalley Elementary 2570 Lower Roswell Road Marietta, 30067 Phone: (770) 578-7214 35. Fair Oaks Elementary 407 Barber Road Marietta, 30060 Phone: (678) 594-8080 36. Ford Elementary 1345 Mars Hill Road Acworth, 30101 Phone: (678) 594-8092
Phone: (678) 842-6905 40. Harmony Leland Elementary 5891 Dodgen Road Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2483 41. Hayes Elementary 1501 Kennesaw-Due West Rd. Kennesaw, 30152 Phone: (678) 594-8127 42. Hollydale Elementary 2901 Bayberry Drive Marietta, 30008 Phone: (678) 594-8143 43. Imagine International Academy Of Mableton (K-8) 6688 Mableton Parkway Mableton, 30126 678-384-8920 44. Imagine International Academy Of Smyrna (K-8) 4451 South Atlanta Road, Suite 200 Smyrna, 30080 678-370-0980
37. Frey Elementary 2865 Mars Hill Road Acworth, 30101 Phone: (770) 975-6655 38. Garrison Mill Elementary
4111 Wesley Chapel Road Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 642-5600
45. Keheley Elementary 1985 Kemp Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (678) 494-7836
39. Green Acres Elementary
46. Kemp Elementary 865 Corner Road Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (678) 594-8158
2000 Gober Avenue Smyrna, 30080
47. Kennesaw Charter
School 1370 Lockhart Drive Kennesaw, 30144 Phone: (678) 290-9628 48. Kennesaw Elementary 3155 Jiles Road Kennesaw, 30144 Phone: (678) 594-8172 49. Kincaid Elementary 1410 Kincaid Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 578-7238 50. King Springs Elementary
1041 Reed Road Smyrna, 30082 Phone: (678) 842-6944 51. LaBelle Elementary 230 Cresson Drive Marietta, 30060 Phone: (678) 842-6955 52. Lewis Elementary 4179 Jim Owens Road Kennesaw, 30152 Phone: (770) 975-6673 53. Mableton Elementary 5220 Church Street Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2513 54. McCall Elementary 4496 Dixie Avenue Acworth, 30101 Phone: (770) 975-6775 55. Milford Elementary 2390 Austell Road Marietta, 30008
Phone: (678) 842-6966 56. Mount Bethel Elementary
1210 Johnson Ferry Road Marietta, 30068 Phone: (770) 578-7248 57. Mountain View Elementary 3448 Sandy Plains Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 578-7265 58. Murdock Elementary 2320 Murdock Road Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 509-5071 59. Nicholson Elementary 1599 Shallowford Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 928-5573 60. Nickajack Elementary 4555 Mavell Road SE Smyrna, 30082 Phone: (678) 842-5814 61. Norton Park 3041 Gray Road Smyrna, 30082 Phone: (678) 842-5833 62. Pickett’s Mill Elementary
6400 Old Stilesboro Road Acworth, 30101 Phone: (770) 975-6673
Elementary 4570 Grady Grier Road Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (770) 222-3746 65. Powers Ferry Elementary
403 Powers Ferry Road Marietta, 30067 Phone: (770) 578-7936 66. Riverside Intermediate 285 South Gordon Road Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2553 67. Riverside Primary 461 South Gordon Road Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-5851 68. Rocky Mount Elementary
2400 Rocky Mountain Road Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 591-5050 69. Russell Elementary 3920 South Hurt Road Smyrna, 30082 Phone: (770) 437-5937 70. Sanders Primary and Intermediate 1550 Anderson Mill Road SW Austell, 30106 Phone: (770) 819-2568 71. Sedalia Park Elementary
63. Pitner Elementary 4575 Wade Green Road Acworth, 30101 Phone: (678) 594-8320 64. Powder Springs
2230 Lower Roswell Road Marietta, 30067 Phone: (770) 509-5162 72. Shallowford Falls Elementary
3529 Lassiter Road Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 642-5610 73. Sky View Elementary 5805 Dunn Road Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2584 74. Sope Creek Elementary 3320 Paper Mill Road Marietta, 30067 Phone: (770) 916-7085 75. Still Elementary 870 Casteel Road Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (678) 594-8287 76. Teasley Elementary 3640 Spring Hill Road Smyrna, 30080 Phone: (770) 437-5945 77. Timber Ridge Elementary
5000 Timber Ridge Road Marietta, 30068 Phone: (770) 642-5621 78. Tritt Elementary 4435 Post Oak Tritt Road Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 642-5630 79. Varner Elementary 4761 Gaydon Road Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (770) 222-3775 80. Vaughan Elementary 5950 Nichols Road Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (678) 594-8298
Cobb and Marietta middle and high schools 1. Marietta Sixth Grade Academy 340 Aviation Rd. SE Marietta, 30060 Phone: (770) 429-3115 2. Marietta Middle School 121 Winn St. NW Marietta, 30064 Phone: (770) 422-0311 3. Awtrey Middle School 3601 Nowlin Rd. Kennesaw, 30144 Phone: (770) 975-6615 4. Barber Middle School 4222 Cantrell Rd. Acworth, 30101 Phone: (770) 975-6764 5. Campbell Middle School 3295 South Atlanta Rd. Smyrna, 30080 Phone: (678) 842-6873 6. Cooper Middle School 4605 Ewing Rd. Austell, 30106 Phone: (770) 819-2438 7. Daniell Middle School 2900 Scott Rd. Marietta, 30066 Phone: (678) 594-8048 8. Dickerson Middle School 855 Woodlawn Dr
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had on students. For example, Pearson said, he did a lesson for fourth- and fifth-grade students on study techniques and using flash cards to help with memory recall. Pearson taught the students how to make the flash cards and then how to drill themselves using the cards. Pearson analyzed student test scores before and following the flash-card activity and found a 13 percent increase in grades in one
Marietta, 30068 Phone: (770) 578-2710
Phone: (770)578-7225
Kennesaw, 30152 Phone: (678) 331-8131
9. Dodgen Middle School 1725 Bill MuRd.ock Rd. Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 578-2726
16. Lindley Sixth Grade Academy 1550 Pebblebrook Circle Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2496
23. Palmer Middle School 690 North Booth Rd. Kennesaw, 30144 Phone: (770) 591-5020
10. Durham Middle School 2891 Mars Hill Rd. NW Acworth, 30101 Phone: (770) 975-6641
17. Lindley Middle School 50 Veterans Memorial Hwy Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2496
24. Pine Mountain Middle 2720 Pine Mountain Circle Kennesaw, 30152 Phone: (678) 594-8252
11. East Cobb Middle School
18. Lost Mountain Middle School 700 Old Mountain Rd. Kennesaw, 30152 Phone: (678) 594-8224
25. Simpson Middle School 3340 Trickum Rd. Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 971-4711
380 Holt Rd. Marietta, 30068 Phone: (770) 578-2740 12. Floyd Middle School 4803 Floyd Rd. Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2453 13. Garrett Middle School 5235 Austell-Powder Springs Rd. Austell, 30106 Phone: (770) 819-2466 14. Griffin Middle School 4010 King Springs Rd. Smyrna, 30082 Phone: (678) 842-6917 15. Hightower Trail Middle School 3905 Post Oak Tritt Rd. Marietta, 30062
class and an 18 percent jump in another. While he admits that his study techniques lesson probably wasn’t the only factor in the grade increase, Pearson does believe it had something to do with the improvement. “Even though school counselors are kind of known as touchy, feely and cuddly, the thing I like to focus on is making sure the students are academically prepared,” he said. Cutler, who has worked with Pearson for six years, said his use of such data sets him apart. She also praised his ability to address the individual needs of every student
19. Lovinggood Middle School 3825 Luther ward Rd. Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (678) 331-3015 20. Mabry Middle School 2700 Jims Rd. Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 928-5546 21. McCleskey Middle School 4080 Maybreeze Rd. Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 928-5560
26. Smitha Middle School 2025 Powder Springs Rd. Marietta, 30064 Phone: (678) 594-8267 27. Tapp Middle School 3900 Macedonia Rd. Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: 770-222-3758 28. Marietta High School 1171 Whitlock Ave Marietta, 30064 Phone: (770) 428-2631
22. McClure Middle School 3660 Old Stilesboro Rd.
29. Allatoona High School 3300 Dallas-Acworth Hwy Acworth, 30101 Phone: (770) 529-7743
at the K-5 school. Sky View is a Title 1 school, reflecting its high proportion of students from low-income families, but the school has recently been honored again by the state of Georgia as a Distinguished Title 1 school, meaning it has made Adequate Yearly Progress for three years in a row. “What impresses me about Anthony is his sincerity and how much he cares about each of the students,” Cutler said. “He’s always striving to meet all of their needs. He doesn’t only impact their academic achievement, but also strives
to address social and emotional development. He works closely with students and parents to address specific needs that some students might have, and if they need additional support.” Before becoming a school counselor, Pearson was a case manager for adults with developmental disabilities in Suwanee. He switched careers into school counseling, he said, because he was always interested in child psychology. Although Pearson said he enjoys psychological research, he realized that many times in psychology, the more
30. Campbell High School 5265 Ward. St Smyrna, 30080 Phone: (678) 842-6850 31. Harrison High School 4500 Due West Rd. Kennesaw, 30152 Phone: (678) 594-8104
3400 Highway 293 North Kennesaw, 30144 Phone: (770) 975-6685 38. Osborne High School 2451 Favor Rd. Marietta, 30060 Phone: (770) 437-5900
32. Hillgrove High School 4165 Luther WaRd. Rd. Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (678) 331-3961
39. Pebblebrook High School 991 Old Alabama Rd. Mableton, 30126 Phone: (770) 819-2521
33. Kell High School 4770 Lee Waters Rd. Marietta, 30066 Phone: (678) 494-7844
40. Pope High School 3001 Hembree Rd. Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 578-7900
34. Kennesaw Mountain High School 1898 Kennesaw-Due West Rd. Kennesaw, 30152 Phone: (678) 594-8190 35. Lassiter High School 2601 Shallowford Rd. Marietta, 30066 Phone: (678) 494-7863 36. McEachern High School 2400 New Macland Rd. Powder Springs, 30127 Phone: (770) 222-3710
41. South Cobb High School
1920 Clay Rd. Austell, 30106 Phone: (770) 819-2611 42. Sprayberry High School 2525 Sandy Plains Rd. Marietta, 30066 Phone: (770) 578-3200 43. Walton High School 1590 Bill Murdock Rd. Marietta, 30062 Phone: (770) 578-3225
37. North Cobb High School
44. Wheeler High School 375 Holt Rd. Marietta, 30068 Phone: (770) 578-3266
advanced you get professionally, the less interaction you have with patients. “School counseling was really a good fit for me because I get to do the groundwork side and I get to focus on research of what strategies are best for the kids,” Pearson said. “It marries both worlds.” The author of a counseling workbook entitled “Guidance with Good Measure,” Pearson will also debut his first children’s book in spring 2012 about a bear who is afraid of the dark. He lives in Marietta with his wife and 2year-old daughter.
Pearson said his favorite thing about school counseling is watching the students grow. “I really enjoy when I get to see the kids make progress,” he said. “That is such a huge affirmation for me. When there’s something concrete that you’re focusing on, it really really energizes me to try even harder or expand even more. When teachers tell me ‘Suzie is doing better’ or ‘things are better with this group of kids,’ I feel great because the kids are doing better and it makes me feel like I know what I’m doing.”
Developing children in wisdom & stature, in favor with God & man. Luke 2:22
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770-425-7001 6:30 A.M. - 6:30 P.M.
2111 Lower Roswell Road • Marietta, GA • 770-973-8921 • www.faithlcms.org
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
EDUCATION
9CC
Papp carries a full load at KSU
President says university could add 10,000 more students in next 10 years By Kim Isaza newseditor@mdjonline.com
KENNESAW — Dr. Dan Papp, 63, is in his fifth year as president of Kennesaw State University, and in 2010, the spotlight repeatedly focused on his school. Papp recently sat down with Journal editors for a wide-ranging interview about the state of Kennesaw State, the future of football, the impact of one illegal immigrant student’s story, and whether he is wrangling to return to the Regents as the University System of Georgia’s next chancellor. Kennesaw State now enrolls 23,400 students, 90 percent of them undergraduates. Full-time, in-state tuition is $2,000 per semester, which is about one-quarter of the cost for out-of-state students. The school does not have an enrollment cap, and any student who scores at least a combined 950 in reading and math on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, and meets other basic criteria, is admitted. About 50 percent of all freshman at KSU receive the Hope Scholarship. Although the school has been considered a commuter college that caters to the nontraditional student for much of its 47 years, the university now attracts a large number of traditional students, and more than 3,000 live on campus. Projections indicate KSU could see an additional 700 to 1,000 students in each of the next 10 years, he said. The main campus off Chastain Road near Interstate 75 is bursting at its seams, and Papp said that his legislative request list includes $20 million to expand the Bagwell College of Education building. Papp said KSU graduated a record 4,300 students — eight percent of its total alumni — in 2010, and will likely break 5,000 new graduates in 2011. The following are excerpts of Papp’s interview. Q. What do you see happening at Kennesaw in 2011? A. Let me start with the football side of things. While the student vote wound up being very, very favorable for football, the Dooley Committee report also said we needed $8 to $12 million worth of infrastructure funds before we should move forward with it. We need to begin raising that eight to 12 million dollars to develop our football infrastructure, practice field, football building, Title IX sports funding, weight room, and things like that. We are also hoping over the course of 2011 to increase the number of degrees that we offer at Kennesaw. Specific targets would
Staff/ Laura Moon
KSU President Dr. Dan Papp, left, and former University of Georgia head football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley reported the news last year that the university will pursue a football team. Dooley led an exploratory committee that determined KSU can support a team. Papp says a timetable is in place to field a team in 2014. be some combination of culinary arts and hospitality management. There’s a huge demand for that. Q. What’s coming out of the ground now? A. We should have a groundbreaking on the expansion on the laboratory sciences building within the next month or two. Our laboratory sciences is a bottleneck for graduation. We are also going to break ground soon on phase three of the sports and recreation park. Phase one was the Owls Nest and associated fields there. Phase two is the stadium, the practice field and the sports club field there. Phase three will be the four or five intramural and sports club fields that will be on the east side of the lake. Q. Where does KSU cap-out, enrollment wise? A. If you only look at our current land holdings with the current buildings... we top-out at about 25,000. That having been said, we have launched a major initiative to expand our online degree programs at Kennesaw State. In February or March, we should be asking the Board of Regents to approve four or five additional 100 percent online degree programs. That would obviously expand our capacity beyond 25,000. We are also working with Georgia Highlands College at the Paulding County site in downtown Dallas. We only have about 200 students there right now. Projections are that over five to 10 years, we will be able to educate 1,500 to 2,000 students at that site.
We are also hoping to obtain additional sites around our core campus. Q. Is it accurate to say that KSU could hire its first football coach in fall of 2012, begin to recruit players in fall 2013, and play its first game in fall 2014? A. If everything goes perfectly, that would be the most likely timeframe. Q. Have the Regents approved football, or is that another hurdle yet to come? A. That is another hurdle. I have said that right now, we have a half-time lead. End of the first quarter was the Dooley Committee report. That came back very positive. Then we went to the students with $100 per student per semester, and they said yes. That is our half-time lead. Now we are in the third quarter, and that’s raising the $8 to $12 million. If we raise that, then we put together a business plan. In the best of all worlds, we go down to the Regents in spring 2012 with a business plan. ... It could be spring of 2013 if the fundraising effort takes longer. Q. As you know, the Regents are looking for a new chancellor to succeed Dr. Erroll Davis. You are well-known to the Regents, having been one of their key people previously. Are you going to apply for the job? A. I am not going to apply for it. I might be nominated for it, and if I am, I’ll look at it. I have not been notified that I have been nominated.
There are so many moving parts there. ... There are so many unanswered questions. What does Gov. Deal think of the future of the University System? What is the funding situation? What’s the attitude of other presidents? You have to have so many things going in the right direction to be successful. I would have to look at all those things. Q. What is attractive about that job? A. Last time around, I was a candidate. Being chancellor, you have the potential to impact statewide educational programs. At the same time though, what is absolutely tremendous about being on
the campus is that you can move that campus forward much more rapidly, and you also have the opportunity to be with students and faculty on a regular basis. I am totally satisfied at Kennesaw State University. I just couldn’t think of a better job in the world. Q. Some critics of KSU that cropped up during the immigration issue say the faculty is a hotbed of liberals more interested in indoctrinating than educating. You know your faculty well. How would you describe them? A. We have people on our
faculty that are across the ideological spectrum, and across the political spectrum, from extremely, extremely conservative to extremely, extremely liberal with just about every point between the two. Q. Have you met Jessica Colotl, the illegal immigrant student whose traffic stop landed her in federal immigration custody? A. I met Jessica for about 30 seconds at the beginning of this fall semester, at the student government association’s annual Meet the President event on the campus green. Q. Looking back, did you underestimate the sentiment over illegal immigration? A. I don’t think so. I was surprised that a single incident wound up becoming a billboard event. That surprised me. Q. Would you have done anything differently in regards to that situation? A. I probably wouldn’t have used the word “thrilled” (in reacting to Colotl’s being given a one-year deferment of immigration proceedings). That word is just part of my vernacular. When we opened the new stadium, we were thrilled. We were thrilled about opening the Prillaman Building. When we got our first Ph.D. program, we were thrilled. Quite honestly, I didn’t realize I was using that word that much. Q. You’ve taken quite a bit of heat over the Colotl incident. Has your reputation been tarnished? A. In some quarters, it probably has. But when you are in public life, you learn to develop a thick skin, and you live with things like that. Reporter Jon Gillooly contributed to this report.
EDUCATION
10CC
Parents
The Walker School's Grant Deedy, 17, scored a perfect score of 36 on his ACT after taking the exam twice. Deedy is applying to seven colleges, including his first choice of Yale University.
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the four tests. Tests are scored on a scale of 1 to 36. Students can also take ACT’s optional writing test, but the score for that is reported separately from the composite score. Each year, roughly one-tenth of 1 percent receive a perfect score. Although he was surprised by his score, Deedy said he didn’t realize just how extraordinary his achievement really was at first. “I knew it was a big deal, but I didn’t know how rare it was and how much attention it would get me,” Deedy said. A varsity basketball player for Walker, Deedy said he has yet to decide where he wants to go to college. He has been accepted to Georgia Tech and Clemson, but is waiting until April to hear back from the five other colleges he applied to. “My top school would be Yale,” he said. “It’s kind of one of those places, if you get in how could you not go?” Bedinger, 17, said she didn’t go to great lengths to study for the SAT. She credits her perfect score to a rigorous schedule in the International Baccalaureate program at Campbell and a love for reading. “I didn’t take any (SAT prep) classes,” Bedinger said. “I just checked out books in the library and studied at home. The last three weeks, I studied, but I just kind of procrastinated to that point.” Bedinger first took the PSAT, an SAT prep test, in eighth grade to gain admission to the IB program at Campbell. She took it again in the fall of her junior year. She said she struggled most with the writing portion, and had to practice timed writing when studying for the SAT. She did say there was a limit to the amount of practice that anyone can do for the SAT, and stressed the importance of reading. “I have always enjoyed reading. If I did have a tip for the SAT, that really helped me,” Bedinger said. “I think people don’t have to feel they’re sort of doomed if they can’t afford an expensive
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School, in Kennesaw, scored an average composite SAT score of 1618, down from the 2009 average score of 1657. Headmaster Dr. David Tilley attributed the dip in scores to the fact that the school tested more specialneeds students in 2010 than it did the year before. He said he expects the class of 2011 to score very high on the SAT. The school has started holding in-house SAT preparatory classes and has hired a college counselor for the first time in its 35year history. “Quite honestly we are just getting really really good candidates for high school admission,” Tilley said. “That’s really the answer to most schools is, input in a lot of ways determines output. Of course you have to do a lot with them while they’re there … We’re doing everything we can to enhance the scores.” Private schools in general have fewer students taking the exam. They are selective in which students they accept for admission, whereas public schools must teach everyone. Whitefield Academy and Dominion Christian did not respond to the Journal’s request for scores. In Cobb Schools, the 2010 average score was 1523, down from last year’s 1534. Cobb is the state’s secondlargest school district, with about 106,000 students. Superintendent Fred Sanderson said the trend of students taking the ACT rather than the SAT may account for a portion of the district’s drop. “Over the last several years we’ve seen a real shift
taught in a Christ-centered environment, where their education was going to be based on the same truths and beliefs we have at home,” Barbara Knox said. “Mount Paran specifically just lined up with everything we believe at home. We took the decision very seriously, because our kids are spending seven hours, our middle school boys 10 hours, of the day away from us. And we wanted to know that they were going to be somewhere that was going to teach them the same beliefs that we know to be true at home.” The Knox’s three children all attend Mount Paran, with two boys in sixth and seventh grade and a daughter in first grade. Both Barbara Knox and Kim Jeans agree that the balance and sense of community that Mount Paran offers is what sets the school apart from other private schools in Cobb. “I feel like Mount Paran does care so much about their academic achievements, but just as much about their spiritual growth — like who they are and who they are becoming,” Barbara Knox said. “Mount Paran makes it clear what their standard is and that’s God’s word in His Bible.” Added Kim Jeans: “And I love that they hold them accountable to that (standard). There’s not a lot of playing, and I love that.” Her oldest son, Josh, is not only on the varsity football team, but also will graduate with 11 Advanced Placement credits and a 4.87 grade point average, she said. While both women said it has been a financial sacrifice to send multiple children to private school, they agree it has been worth it. “It is a sacrifice to make a commitment for three kids, or two kids in tuition, but I can honestly tell you I have never thought, is it worth it? I have never questioned it,” Barbara Knox said. Nor has Kim Jeans. “It’s a tremendous sacrifice. I have friends and family on the outside looking in, saying, why? Why? …I feel blessed just for our family, that we were able to experience both,” Jeans said. “It just worked in our world.” Average tuition at Mount
Paran ranges from $2,857 to $13,220, depending on grade level. Jim and Cheryl Leagan, of east Cobb, have also experienced both public and private schools in Cobb. Their son, a junior, goes to Lassiter High School and their daughter, a freshman, attends The Walker School in Marietta. “They’re both in exactly right place for both of them,” Jim Leagan said. “I’m pleased with both schools. I do think, personally, that the public school system is broken, including the one in Georgia.” Jim Leagan said he and his wife decided to send their daughter to The Walker School because of the schools’ rigorous academics. “We chose Walker as one that was on this side of the Chattahoochee River,” Jim Leagan said. “When I evaluated all of schools in this area, I looked at graduation rate, SAT scores and put them all on a spreadsheet. I felt that Walker had one of the highest academic programs of the schools that I was looking at. Erin went to school there and she has done marvelously well.” Kim Epstein, of west Cobb, said she and her husband Jeff also chose the Walker School for their daughter because of its academics and the fact that it is not associated with a religion, like a lot of the other private schools in the area. “We, quite honestly, were not impressed with public school in our particular area,” Kim Epstein said. “We are Jewish, so we were not looking for a Christian school. Schools like Mount Paran and North Cobb Christian were not an option for us.” The Walker School, unlike other large private schools in Cobb County, does not have a religious focus, although it was originally part of the St. James Episcopal Church in the 1960s. Situated at the corner of Cobb Parkway and Allgood Road in Marietta, Walker has about 1,040 students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. Tuition ranges from $10,040 for preschool to $17,950 for the upper school. Kim Epstein, who is president of the Walker School Association (the school’s parent-teacher association), said she is impressed with the variety of academic, athletic and art opportunities at Walker. Her daughter, a fifth grader at Walker, said her favorite thing about the school is her
relationships with her teachers, Epstein said. “The relationships that she’s built with her teachers and how they care not only about her academic growth, but her growth as a person,” she said. “It’s amazing how much they truly and sincerely care about those kids. You feel like each child is truly an individual at that school.” Robin Hoover said she and her husband, Wayne, chose to send their children to North Cobb Christian School because they were looking for a school that offered a balance of opportunities and included a biblical aspect. “We looked at a number of private schools. North Cobb seemed to offer a real balance between academics, athletics, the arts and some of the biblical aspects,” Robin Hoover said. “We were really looking for that … The administrator that was there at the time actually said that at a meeting I was at one time. And I thought, OK, that’s what I’ve been looking for and you’re verbalizing it. They kind of focus on the whole student and not just one aspect to it.” The Hoovers have a son who is a senior at North Cobb Christian. Their 23-year-old daughter graduated from the school in 2006 and will graduate from college in the spring. Located in Kennesaw off Old Highway 41, North Cobb Christian has 785 students in pre-kindergarten, which starts at age 3, to 12th grade. Tuition ranges from $3,285 to $10,995 per year. Robin Hoover said her kids have been involved in a variety of sports, including cheerleading, track, basketball and baseball, and in the arts. Her son, she said, has one of the lead roles in the school’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” that will be performed in March. “They encourage you to play all kinds of sports and be in arts,” Robin Hoover said. “For a parent, that’s very appealing and comforting to know that they’re not just trying to keep you in one pigeon hole. We weren’t trying to raise a Major League Baseball player or a professional track runner. We were trying to send our kids to school and teach them a lot of things about life, and enjoying all those and exploring all those. I’ve been really happy about that.”
school, with an average of 1196, significantly down from last year’s average score of 1285. Cobb’s average score was above the national average, which was 1509, and ahead of Georgia’s average of 1453, which includes public and private school students. In Marietta, the 2010 average was 1481, way down from last year’s 1514. MCS Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck called the
drop in scores both disappointing and perplexing. “We really don’t know exactly why they went down,” Lembeck said. “We need to have some time to look at all of the reasons that they could possibly be.” Like Sanderson, Lembeck cited the fact that more high achieving Marietta students could be taking the ACT, instead of the SAT. Lembeck did, however, say she saw a few positives out of the dis-
trict’s lower scores. “Our African-American students and white students outscored the nation (in those demographics); however, we did not outscore the nation (overall),” Lembeck said. “There were some glimmers, such as the fact that those students did outscore the nation. The achievement gap between African Americans and whites is decreasing. But we don’t like to see our scores go down.”
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Staff/Laura Moon
class. Practicing the format, it can really help, because the SAT is in its own category. You can practice on your own. If you dedicate yourself to that, you shouldn’t have to spend a lot of money.” Although Bedinger has already been accepted to the University of Georgia, she said she plans to make her final decision on which school to attend in April. She has also applied to several, out-of-state liberal arts colleges. She is involved in Amnesty International, Literary Journal, Indirect, a junior version of Rotary, film club and math team at Campbell. Unlike the other two students, Abid, 17, said he was shooting for a perfect score on the SAT, but was nervous he wouldn’t reach that high bar. “I found out at the end of March,” Abid said. “We got an e-mail at school. But I was so nervous, I didn’t open it up until I got home.” He said he studied for the SAT almost solely by taking practice tests, and was scoring near perfect on most of the practice tests, so he was hoping to earn a 2400. Though he does not yet know where he will be going to college next year, Abid said he has been accepted to MIT, Georgia Tech and Cal Tech. He said he is waiting to hear back from Harvard in March before he makes his final decision. Besides taking practice tests, Abid credits his success to a rigorous academic schedule. He is taking seven Advanced Placement classes this year alone and has a weighted grade-point average of 4.72. “I think taking AP English in the 10th grade, that really helped,” Abid said. “By taking those core classes, they really emphasized working my weaker sections.” He claimed his “weaker sections” of the SAT were writing and English. He said Walton’s requirement of studying vocabulary words also helped him prepare. Abid is a member of the Walton math team, science team and the Quiz Bowl team.
as more and more students are taking the ACT. A lot of those kids are relatively high achievers whose scores would have improved the district average had they taken the SAT instead,” Sanderson said. While the ACT is growing in popularity among Georgia students, the SAT is still the most well known and highly regarded college entrance exam. In a 2010 interview with the Journal, Dr. Michael Adams, president of the University of Georgia, said his school relies on the SAT in admission decisions, not the ACT. “It’s more history than
anything,” he said. “Nationwide, your best universities are more prone to use the SAT.” Cobb’s decline also hurts its Strategic Plan. The target average for 2010 was 1538, an increase of four points from 2009. Six of Cobb’s 15 reporting high schools showed improvement in their SAT scores from 2009. Allatoona High School did not have a graduating class to release scores for in 2009. Cobb’s top performing high schools include Walton (1711), Wheeler (1655), Pope (1653) and Lassiter (1633). Osborne High School was Cobb’s lowest scoring
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
EDUCATION
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Redevelopment project includes school in Smyrna By Kathryn Malone kmalone@mdjonline.com
Staff/Laura Moon
Dean Jeff Ray, left, and Tom Currin, associate Dean of Engineering, speak about the use of the wind tunnel in the fluid mechanic room in the new Engineering Technology Center at Southern Polytechnic State University.
Best that money can buy SPSU unveils $30.8M Engineering Technology Center By Marcus E. Howard mhoward@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — A new, $30.8 million Engineering Technology Center opened in January on the campus of Southern Polytechnic State University. The three-story, state-of-the-art building contains 12 classrooms, faculty offices, dozens of laboratories, two 74-seat seminar rooms, a 200-seat auditorium, and highly specialized lab spaces. President Dr. Lisa Rossbacher, dignitaries, faculty, students and alumni attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, at which Lee Rhyant, retiring Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager, was the guest speaker. The 122,000-square-feet facility is the new home of SPSU’s School of Engineering Technology & Management and its Division of Engineering, both of which had been housed in
several separate buildings across the university’s campus. “Aging facilities on campus and really the explosive growth that the university has experienced over the last four or five years, really necessitated the addition of more instructional space,” said Jeff Ray, dean of the Engineering Technology & Management school. Mechanical engineering technology, electrical and computer engineering technology, and business administration — three of six programs in the School of Engineering Technology & Management — were among the most popular majors of incoming students at SPSU, which had a total fall enrollment of more than 5,500 students. Two of the Division of Engineering’s programs, mechanical engineering and civil engineering, were also among the most popular majors. Thomas Currin, associate dean of engineering, said it was important to bring the two schools together under
one roof for them to learn to collaborate as they would in the real world. “Unlike some other schools, our priority mission is really workforce development,” Currin said. “Most of our students graduate and go into the workforce. They don’t go on to grad school, so the better we can prepare them for entering into the job market, the better job we’re doing.” The Engineering Technology Center — which is on track to receive silver-level LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council — was designed by Atlanta-based architect Cooper Carry. The builder was Atlanta-based DPR Construction. Construction began in October 2008. SPSU received $33.3 million in state funding to construct the Engineering Technology Center, spokeswoman Sylvia Carson said. The remaining $2.5 million was used toward building a $4 million, 14,500square-feet addition to the university’s Architecture Design Building.
SMYRNA — The Cobb County School District has announced its plans for the long-awaited new Smyrna elementary school. The school is to be located between Ward Street and Atlanta Road in Smyrna, which would make it a central part of the redevelopment of the former Belmont Hills shopping center. The district plans to buy three parcels of land to make up an 18-acre site for the new school, which will back up to Campbell High School property. About 9 acres of the proposed school site is part of the 48-acre Belmont Hills redevelopment, owned by Halpern Enterprises. The district has also committed to buying the Smyrna Commons apartment complex from the City of Smyrna’s Downtown Area Development Corporation. That complex is to be torn down in 2012 to construct an Atlanta Road-Ward Street connector as part of the county’s 2011 SPLOST referendum, a plan that was already set in place when the city bought the complex. Part of the 7.5 acres acquired from Smyrna Downtown Area Development Corporation, which would border the new road, would be converted to playing fields and open space to be used by both the new elementary school and Campbell High School. The district plans to buy a final 1.5-acre parcel of land from a private owner. Combined, the land will cost $7.8 million, and the new school is expected to open by fall 2013. School board member Tim Stultz, who represents the
area where the school would be built, said he has worked closely with Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon and the city council, and that they are excited about the district’s plans for the site. Although the board has yet to discuss construction of the school, the district’s initial plan was to use the new school as a replacement for the 1955-era Brown Elementary, located on Brown Road, about 2 miles from the site of the new school. The school will also alleviate overcrowding at Argyle Elementary, about 2.8 miles from the new site; Belmont Hills Elementary, about 1.2 miles from the new site; and King Springs Elementary, which is more than 3 miles from the proposed site. Voters approved construction of the new, $28 million Smyrna elementary school as a part of the district’s third special purpose local option sales tax in 2008. The entrance for the new school will likely be off Atlanta Road, district spokesman Jay Dillon said. But Stultz said the school would be far removed from the street, so that traffic on Atlanta Road should not be a factor. Both Dillon and Stultz said the school’s plans are not contingent upon the passage of the county’s 2011 SPLOST referendum in March, and that if the Atlanta Road-Ward Street connector was not built the district would make other plans for that area. Stultz said he believes the land adjacent to the school, which is owned by Halpern, is still slated for mixed-use commercial and residential development.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
PROGRESS 2011 MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL FEBRUARY 27, 2011 SECTION DD / 4 OF 8
PLAY IT LOUD ALLATOONA HIGH SCHOOL BAND AMONG COBB’S FINEST 2DD
INSIDE:
A TOUCH OF GLASS 10DD
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC 4DD
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Staff/Nathan Self
The Allatoona High School band performs during halftime during a game against St. Pius X. ‘Band programs stress positive attitude, character, perseverance, the value of commitment, dedication, determination, work ethic, teamwork, respect and pride,’ said Ginny Markham, Allatoona High School band director.
Making beautiful music Award-winning Cobb bands show talent exceeds halftime show By Marcus E. Howard mhoward@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — High school marching bands are more than a short performance between two halves of a Friday night football game. Halftime shows are just a snippet of a band’s entire performance production. At high schools throughout Cobb, bands practice for hours each day, and sometimes 12 hours on Saturdays, in preparation for band competitions. Auditions can be competitive and individual dues for travel and equipment can cost more than $1,000, resulting in some dedicated parents working an extra job. “Band programs stress positive attitude, character, perseverance, the value of commitment, dedication, determination, work ethic, teamwork, respect and pride,” said Ginny Markham,
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Allatoona High marching band member Timothy Alcorn performs during halftime. Photo special to the MDJ
Allatoona High School band director. “All students benefit and enjoy belonging to a band program that has these attributes. Students also enjoy making lasting friendships and memories through the band, as well as having a sense of belonging. Bands travel and participate in onceof-a-lifetime experiences that usually students can only find by being a part of this particular organization. It is very rewarding and fulfilling for them.” For students such as Cara Mayberry, a Wheeler High School senior who plays alto saxophone, the benefits of being a band member are worth it. Over the past four years, she said she has learned leadership skills and how to deal with people from different backgrounds. “Students love being a part of something that is greater in scope than they can be by themselves. Being in a group of peers from all grade levels with common goals gives a sense of belonging,” said Gary Gribble, Pope High School band director. “While we wish it was only the music and the performance opportunities that motivates students to join band, reality is that the social bonding is a major factor.” The Pope band program has between 175 and 190 students each year. Many marching bands are composed of more than 100 students who are divided into sections based on their instruments. One or more drum majors direct the band on the field. In addition, bands include dance teams and color guards. In total, Walton High School has 196 band members, Kennesaw Mountain High School has 170 students, Allatoona has 120
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members, and Wheeler High School is made up of 116 members. Not unlike in sports, band directors often review footage of performances the day after a show in order to find out what aspects need improvement. “Students who play instruments activate both sides of their brain and strengthen the pathways connecting these hemispheres,” Gribble said. “Research shows that students with long term musical involvement have greater success in many situations outside of music due to the
enhancement of specific cognitive skills.” Marching bands at Cobb schools were busy this past season competing in and winning a number of band competitions around the country. The 145-member Kell High School band competed in two out-of-state competitions in the fall. The band won first place in class AA division on Oct. 9 at the Bands of America Southern Regional Championship at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala., and was the overall grand champion. It also won
first place in class AA and was the overall grand champion of the Bands of America Mid-Eastern Regional Championship on Oct. 16 at the University of Akron in Ohio. Winning back-to-back regional championships is something no other Cobb band has ever done, according to David Roth, assistant band director. Winning two regional championships in the same season is something only four Cobb bands have ever done, he said. The McEachern High School band also competed in the Bands of America
Southern Regional Championship and won for the first time their class AAA division as well as the High Visual Performance Award during the preliminaries. The band finished fifth overall in the finals. The band competed at the Georgia Dome on Oct. 30 at the Bands of America Super Regional competition. Harrison High School’s band made history on Oct. 16 by winning back-to-back grand championships and class AAA championships at See Band, 7DD
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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MISS MANNERS Carolyn Davenport teaches grace, poise and style Sally Litchfield MDJ Features Editor sallylit@bellsouth.net
n today’s society, proper etiquette sets people apart. Carolyn Davenport, an instructor for A Gracious You said, “Proper etiquette and the practice of it affect every aspect of life.” A Gracious You offers personal etiquette instruction to those individuals seeking to improve their image and demeanor and to appear more polished and sophisticated. Through one-time classes conducted at the client’s home or business, AGY provides training for teens, bridal parties, and businesses as well as dining instruction. “A Gracious You is all about personal conduct and demeanor. It’s all about appropriateness and decorum,” said Davenport, who enjoyed a 30-year corporate career working with the top echelon of major companies providing management support along with meeting and event planning. She also worked with the Miss America organization. “I really get (individuals) involved and get really
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Abbey Warbington learns the correct way to hold a knife and fork.
hands-on, interactive sessions with them,” the east Cobb resident said. AGY also offers comprehensive dining instruction included in the bridal and business package. Dining can also be added to Teen Social Etiquette instruction. The class, centered on a meal provided by AGY with formal place settings, delves into all aspects of dining including table manners, silverware usage and polite conversation. “This (class) really prepares a person to dine at a five-star restaurant where there’s plenty of silverware and glasses to go around,” Davenport said. Offered at the client’s convenience, a class ranges from two to 3½ hours. “If you practice proper etiquette, you are automatically going to treat people nicely because that is exactly what (proper etiquette) is. If you’re treating people nicely, you’re whole attitude and demeanor will change internally not just the external display of it,” Davenport said. Visit www.agraciousyou. com or e-mail AGracious You@hotmail.com for more.
Marietta resident Carolyn Davenport, above, owns A Gracious You, a local company that teaches etiquette for teens, businesses and bridal parties. It also offers dining classes. Far left: Davenport gives teens a dining etiquette lesson. Left: Nicholas Goh is taught how to fold a napkin into his lap. Staff/Mike Jacoby
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Perfect harmony Enthusiasts from all walks of life unite to bring sounds of music to Marietta By Sally Litchfield MDJ Features Editor sallylit@bellsouth.net
his will be music to your ears. There’s a new symphony in town — Symphony on the Square. Symphony on the Square debuted in Marietta on May 27, performing to a crowd of more than 200. “We had a great response from those who came to it,” said Dr. Paul Hill Paul Hill, the founding music director/conductor. “There really was not a standing orchestra associated with Marietta and associated principally with the heart of Marietta, the Square area,” said Hill, the minister of Music & Worship at First Baptist Church of Marietta for 10 years. Hill, who has been conducting orchestras and choirs professionally for more than 30 years, explained that arts in Marietta include dance, theaters, bands and choral groups. “Having a symphony associated with Marietta will complete that package in that way. There hasn’t been a symphony,” he said.
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Hill received an enthusiastic response for Symphony on the Square after publishing posters around the Square as well as putting feelers out to other churches and conductors in the area. “Literally in a matter of weeks we were well closing in on 50 members with orchestra members who just wanted to play. Some had not played in a while, not had an opportunity to play. Some were active players and just wanted another outlet,” Hill said. “There’s just a lot of interest,” he said. Symphony on the Square rehearses and usually performs at 148 Church St. “The facility is volunteered to the group as community outreach,” he said. Orchestra members are from all walks of life. Some are formally trained, but there are no professional players. “For the most part they’re business people, family members. It’s clearly a community group from all walks of life,” Hill said. Membership is through audition or invitation. “The audition isn’t meant to scare you off. It’s intended to see how I can fit you into the group,” he said. “We now have an orchestra that we can call home to Marietta. The intent is that it remain associated with the Marietta Square, Marietta area. I just think it completes the picture for the arts in this area,” Hill said.
Staff/Erin Gray
Sprayberry graduate Adam Cannedy made his European opera debut in Ireland and will be performing in ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ this spring with the New York City Opera.
MUSIC MAN
Staff/Mike Jacoby
Sprayberry alum uses talent to reach the top By Sally Litchfield MDJ Features Editor sallylit@bellsouth.net
prayberry High School graduate Adam Cannedy has always had a song in his heart. Over the years, the young baritone’s song has taken a classical direction. Cannedy, one of 12 resident artists at Opera Institute of Boston University, grew up singing at Faith Lutheran Church on Lower Roswell Road. He and his older brother, Eric, also sang in the Cherokee County Boys’ Choir. By second grade, Cannedy secured his first solo at school. “I loved making music,” said Cannedy, who is working on a post-graduate certificate in performance. Cannedy’s love for making music expanded throughout his youth. Cannedy played the cello while attending J.J. Daniell Middle School and began writing and performing church music in fifth grade.
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‘I’ve never heard one doubt that I could make a career of opera.’ — Adam Cannedy, singer
“(Church) was a very supportive atmosphere for music,” said the son of Sarah and Steve Cannedy. “I was singing ever since. My passion was in making music.” Cannedy continued singing through high school in the chorus and musicals sparking his interest in musical theater. “I had little exposure to classical singing,” he said. After graduating from high school, Cannedy received a vocal music scholarship to attend Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. By chance, he was thrust into classical singing because SMU’s musical theater was dismantled the year he arrived. “I greeted (classical music) kind of kicking and screaming at first,” he said. Cannedy found himself surrounded by accomplished
singers. “I just wasn’t sure opera was for me,” said Cannedy, who made his European opera debut in Wexford, Ireland, and was a guest artist at Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts last summer. Though Cannedy found the discipline of the music and language at SMU challenging, he persevered with encouragement from his vocal teacher, Virginia Dupuy, and family. “I’ve never once heard from my family, ‘Are you crazy?’ I’ve never heard one doubt that I could make a career of opera,” he said. Cannedy will make his New York City Opera debut performing in a principal role in “Where the Wild Things Are” in April. He said, “I began to appreciate the power of opera and the music. For me, it’s a combination of all the great forms of art and theater. It’s a wonderful combination of sounds and visual artistry. “I fell in love with what it felt like to sing (classical music),” Cannedy said.
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March 5 Chubby Checker Chubby Checker is the unrivaled king of the rock & roll dance craze. As a young man, Chubby’s workplace antics helped him win an audition with the local Cameo-Parkway label; who subsequently signed him on at the suggestion of Dick Clark’s wife. After several singles, he recorded “The Twist” in 1958 which rocketed him to the top of the charts in 1960. Chubby’s career continued with “Do the Pony” and “Let’s Twist Again.” In 1961, while remaining number one, he recorded “The Fly;” and in 1962 recorded “Slow Twistin,” and the “Limbo Rock.”
March 19 Lorrie Morgan Lorrie is the daughter of the Grand Ole Opry star George Morgan, and made her professional debut on the ‘Opry’ at the age of 13 years. After several major hits in the 80’s, including “Don’t Go Changing.” Lorrie found her best audience in the 90’s when she scored a string of Top Ten hits and released her “Merry Christmas from London” album. Lorrie returned to the RCA label in 2001 with “I Finally Found Someone,” an album of duets with her husband Sammy Kershaw.
April 2 Brenda Lee Known as “Little Miss Dynamite,” Brenda Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Lee’s career has been remarkable for its constance: inaugurating a string of ballads like “I’m Sorry” and “Break it to Me Gently.” Her impact on rock and roll in the late Fifties and early Sixties had much to do with her youthful ability to belt out a tune, and her impact can be summarized with a few statistics: she sold more than 100 million records and charted in more categories (pop, rhythm & blues, rock, easy listening, and country) than any other woman in the history of recorded music.
April 16 Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers Larry Gatlin is known for his rich tenor voice and the string of pop-inflected hit songs he recorded during the 70’s and 80’s: but he became best-known when he decided to team up with his brothers in the late 70’s. They enjoyed their greatest success period in the 80’s with hits like “Broken Lady,” “All the Gold in California,” “Houston,” “She Used to be Somebody’s Baby,” and “Talkin’ to the Moon.” It was also then that Larry Gatlin was awarded “Top Male Vocalist of the Year” by the Academy of Country Music.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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Otter’s Chicken serves good food in family setting By Sally Litchfield MDJ Features Editor sallylit@bellsouth.net
tter’s Chicken serves great food at affordable prices in a family friendly atmosphere. The eatery specializes in freshly made, never frozen chicken tenders prepared in a variety of ways — fried, grilled or buffalo. It also has wraps, wings, salads, sandwiches and signature appetizers of fried pickles and fried mushrooms and more. Beer and wine are also available.
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“First and foremost, Otter’s has some of the very best chicken tenders that can be found anywhere in the world,” said owner Will Peterson. “In my opinion, they are really special.” The food is good, the staff is friendly and the atmosphere is a place for family fun. “I felt there was a niche for a place where families could go after an local athletic event,” he said. As a child, the 2003 McEachern High School graduate played football at Due West and baseball at
Oregon Park. Peterson recalls eating dinner out with his family after games. “It was and is my hope to have a restaurant that is very family friendly and a place where other families can bring their kids,” the lifelong resident of Cobb County said. The graduate of Shorter College in Rome focuses on teamwork in the day-to-day operations of Otter’s. A starting offensive lineman for the Shorter’s first conference championship team who earned all conference honors, Peterson said, “(Otter’s) is
also a great spot to drop by both before and after a high school football game, a basketball game or really any athletic event. That said, (Otter’s) is really just a great place to visit anytime.” Otter’s Chicken is geared toward the lifestyle of families in west Cobb. “I grew up here, attended McEachern High School, so I believe I have a good feel for that,” said Peterson, who played for Coach Jim Dorsey during high school and received the Eric Petty Award his senior year.
Located next to the Men’s Wearhouse near Gap, the decor exemplifies Peterson’s love for sports. Helmets and sports memorabilia from local high schools and colleges, including his favorite school, Florida State University, adorn the restaurant. Peterson’s love for FSU comes from his grandfather, Bill Peterson, Sr., who was FSU’s head football coach from 1960-70. Otter’s Chicken takes an active interest in the community. The restaurant fed local
high school football teams during their season last year. It also named “player of the week,” awarding the athlete a free meal. “This is my home and that’s why it has been so important for us to support all of the high schools in and around this part of the county,” Peterson said. Otter’s Chicken is located at 3625 Dallas Highway, Suite 690, at The Avenue West Cobb. To learn more about Otter’s, visit www. otterschicken.com or call (770) 428-8333.
Menu items include fried pickle chips, above left, and ice-cold beer, above right. Powder Springs residents Carley Higgins, left, and Autumn Prater, right, enjoy a late lunch at the eatery after a morning of shopping at The Avenue West Cobb.
Staff/Mike Jacoby
Otter’s Chicken owner Will Peterson offers up a pair of popular dishes from his sports bar-style eatery in The Avenue West Cobb: a grilled chicken salad, left, and handbreaded chicken fingers.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
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Above: The horn section of Allatoona High School plays as the Bucaneers enter the field at a game against Mt. Pius X. Right: The marching band performs. Below: The Allatoona band is one of Cobb’s many awardwinning groups.
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Band Continued from Page 2DD
the Western Carolina University Tournament of Champions. Pope’s marching band was the grand champion of Lassiter High School’s 8th annual Marching Band Showcase competition on Oct. 9. South Cobb High School’s band finished fifth out of nine schools that competed in the contest. Lassiter’s Trojan Band has performed at a number of competitions this year but the highlight of the band’s season was no doubt when it performed on Nov. 25 at the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. In October, the Allatoona High School band traveled to Townson, Md., for the Bands of America regional competition and won the class AA Best Music Performance Award and sixth overall.
The Sprayberry High School band competed on Oct. 23 at the White Columns Invitational at Milton High School. The band was the overall grand champion and also won the Most Outstanding Visual Award, Most Outstanding Music Award, and Most Outstanding General Effect Award. It placed first in the percussion and second in color guard categories. The Band of Gold has also been selected to participate in the 2011 National Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C., said Andy Esserwein, band director. The North Cobb High School band continued its successful 2010 competition season by capturing the second place trophy at the Georgia Bandmasters Championship on Oct. 23 in Cumming. The Warrior Marching Band started it season by placing third out of 20 schools at the 13 annual Heart of Georgia Marching Competition in Warner Robins.
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LOVE TO READ? By Sally Litchfield MDJ Features Editor sallylit@bellsouth.net
CHURCH STREET BOOK CLUB Five years ago, Jan Fazio started the Church Street Book Club, which is comprised of Church Street residents who live near the Marietta Square. The 10-member club meets for lunch once a month in neighbors’ homes. Occasionally, the club meets at a restaurant. “I just love to read and wanted to get to know my neighbors,” Fazio said. “I’ve always wanted to be part of a book club. I always wanted it to be local.” The person scheduled to host the club picks the book, announces it the month before and is responsible for facilitating the meeting when she hosts. “We’re not a real strict book club,” Fazio said. “If someone doesn’t read the book, they can still come.” “Some (clubs) can be very strict. Sometimes if we don’t really like the book we don’t spend a lot of time on discussion. We just sort of socialize. Other times we discuss it at length while enjoying lunch. It’s a fun time,” she said. “(Members keep coming back) sometimes for the book but (it’s) more of a social time together I believe,” Fazio said. “(It’s) been great. CENTRAL LIBRARY BOOK CLUB Two years ago, avid reader Elizabeth Vigil started the Central Library Book Club. Vigil, who also started book clubs in her prior residences of Tallahassee, Fla., and Evanston, Ill., facilitates the club. They meet on the third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Cobb County Library’s main branch, located 266 Roswell Road. Open to the public, 44 people receive e-mail announcements about the club with 10-16 people on average in attendance. Meetings are announced through the Sunday Edition of the MDJ on Page 5D and on the library’s website. According to member Sharon Hennigan, members choose the books to be read through discussion and consensus. Members often belong to other book clubs and make recommendations based on experience. “We choose books from the general categories of fiction, nonfiction and memoirs,” Hennigan said. The club receives support from the Cobb County Library system that created and circulated book kits
among the libraries for use by book clubs in the area. Because budget constraints for 2010 limited the purchase of books to create new kits, Central Library Book Club member donate their books to the library after they discuss the selection. “Our members wanted to give back to the library for their support of our group,” Hennigan said. The library also provides teleconferencing means for the club to contact authors who join the meetings via telephone and answer questions as well as share insights about the book. “I started attending the meetings because I wanted to meet other people who enjoy reading and who want to discuss and share their books with other people. I also wanted to read books that were out of my comfort zones, books that I may normally pass by when I selected books. Being a member of this group has introduced me to various authors, various topics and the opportunity to participate in discussions,” Hennigan said. “I have a greater appreciation for individuals who chose to write and share their ideas with the world.” For more information, visit www.cobbcat.org or call (770) 528-2320. The Central Library is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. THE BOOK CLUB Jane Daniel, along with several women belonging to the First Presbyterian Church of Marietta, started The Book Club in 1980. For 30 years, the club has met the third Wednesday of each month during the school year for discussion and morning refreshments. During December, they read something “light and happy” and enjoy a potluck lunch. They also read one classic annually. Daniel said they started at a time when the charter members were mostly young mothers with children. “We just all like to read. (The Book Club) was a way to recommend books to one another.” Former English professor at Kennesaw State University, Carey Turner led the club for the first two years. Since 1982, Nancy King, also a KSU English professor, has facilitated the group. The group contributes suggestions for selections of books to be read. The club, limited to 25, members keeps a waiting list for membership. “(The wait-
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
A book club is one of the best ways to stay engaged in reading, and three local book clubs share how they operate.
Above: Church Street Book Club members Ricky Cunningham, left, Mary Gillis, and Brenda Lyle have a luncheon at the Church Street home of Susan Johnson and discuss the book ‘Have A Little Faith: A True Story’ By Mitch Albom. Left: Church Street Book Club members Cindy Dye, left, and Matilen Sheram talk about the book selection. Staff/Mike Jacoby
ing list) is not as long as it used to be. People figured out that they could start their own book club,” Daniel said. The Book Club includes a diverse group in terms of where members were raised and interests, according to Daniel. “Everybody brings a different background to the book they read. You may read a book you don’t think you like and by the end of the discussion you may like the book and want to read it again or you have a real appreciation for the author just because you’ve gotten other perspectives.” “If you know you’re going to book club it makes you read something that you might not have read on your own,” Daniel said.
Staff/Laura Moon
Above: Members of The Book Club meet at the Marietta home of Estelle Bogle to discuss the book ‘The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family.’ Right: Marietta resident Elizabeth Vigil talks with the Central Library Book Club about the selection ‘Loving Frank.’
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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Taste of fame Howard’s Restaurant to be featured in upcoming movie By Kim Isaza newseditor@mdjonline.com
SMYRNA — The owner of Howard’s Restaurant is preparing for a few busy days at the Smyrna landmark, but the eatery won’t actually be open for business. It’ll be the site of some show business, instead, as Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah film a scene from the film “Joyful Noise” there. “We’re all excited,” Bobby Martin, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Sandra, said, a few weeks before the filming. “They’re going to use some employees, some family and friends, and maybe some customers as extras, and I’m hoping to be placed where you get to see my lovely face.” “Joyful Noise,” written and directed by Todd Graff, is a production of Alcon Entertainment, the same company that produced the megahit “The Blind Side.” It will be distributed by Warner Bros. The film is tentatively slated to be in theaters next January.
The restaurant came by its role by happenstance. Ryan Schaetzle, the location manager for the film, lives near the restaurant — though he acknowledges he had never been in. “When the director described the kind of restaurant he wanted, I poked my head in, and it’s about everything he described,” said Schaetzle, a 1990 graduate of Walton High School. The scene that will be filmed at Howard’s on Monday involves the characters played by Parton and Latifah walking through the restaurant while throwing food at each other. Howard’s had the right layout for the scene, Schaetzle said. Parton and Latifah visited the restaurant in January for a rehearsal, which thrilled everyone at Howard’s, Martin said. The restaurant is also providing the food for the filmed food fight. “Dolly was as nice as you would think. She had her picture made with all the staff,” said Martin, whose father opened the restaurant in 1965. “Queen Latifah was
Photo special to the MDJ
Singer/actress Dolly Parton, center, poses with Kellie Wizner, left, and Garret Preston at Howard’s Restaurant in Smyrna on Jan. 24. Parton will be back at the restaurant on Monday to film a scene from the movie ‘Joyful Noise.’ just as nice, but she wasn’t ready to have her picture made. She was hilarious. She ad-libbed a lot of lines through the rehearsal.” This is the first time Martin, 62, or his restaurant has been involved with the making of a movie, he said. The crew members, he said, are “good people to work with.” It was late last fall, he said, when Schaetzle first popped in and took a few photos.
Staff/Anthony Stalcup
Sandra and Bobby Martin are the owners of Howard’s Restaurant/Delicatessen. Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah will be filming a scene from their new movie ‘Joyful Noise’ at the restaurant on Monday.
All’s fair in fun New executive board gears up for this year’s event From staff reports
he 2011-12 Cobb County Fair Association executive board has been elected. Jay Whorton will be president of the North Georgia State Fair in 2011 and 2012. His executive board will consist of Vice President Roswell Story of Marietta; Secretary Phillip Robuck of Acworth; Treasurer Bill Hutson of Marietta; Member-atlarge Holly Walquist of Marietta; and Past President Max Bacon of Smyrna. The 2011 North Georgia State Fair will be held Sept. 22 through Oct. 2, and the following acts are confirmed: Kachunga and the Alligator Show: New this year, watch as Kachunga enters the arena with a 15-foot alligator. He will educate the patrons as he demonstrates the strength and characteristics of these ancient animals Keith King BMX Bike Stunt Show: Back by popular demand, Keith King and his band of stunt riders will amaze crowds as they fly through the air upside down, sideways and sometimes flat on their back if he misses the landing. K9’s in Flight: Audiences of all ages will be entertained by this non-stop, actionpacked performance showcasing the top amazing K9 sports, including K9 dock diving, high jump and Frisbee all in fun, high flying atmosphere. Oscar the Robot returns: OSCAR is a sophisticated, robotic people magnet. He generates and entertains crowds with his won-
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derful wit and outgoing personality wherever he appears. Brian Ruth “Master of the Chainsaw” is a perennial favorite. He will transform a raw, 3-foot long log into a true work of art with only a chainsaw. Ruth has been carving sculptures with a chainsaw for more than 20 years. The 2010 North Georgia State Fair continued its partnership with MUST Ministries with great results. The fair enjoyed the third year partnering with MUST Ministries by offering admission specials the last Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the fair for five cans of food for adult admission and three cans for student admission. Each year, the promotion has gained momentum and MUST Ministries was able to collect 27,000 pounds of food or 13.5 tons, equaling a value of approximately $46,500 to feed the hungry in Cobb and Cherokee Counties. Fair Manager Tod Miller is excited to continue the tradition in 2011. “We enjoy our partnership with MUST ministries food drive, and the public has really responded with a great admission deal and it is for a very worthy cause — a win-win situation for everyone,” Miller said. “I often see families bring more than the required can goods for admission just to help support the cause and that’s great to see.” For more information on the 2011 fair, visit www.northgeorgiastatefair.com.
“He said the director might love it or hate it, but he called me that evening and sai he wanted to send someone else out with the production company. A few days later, about five people came out to look at it again. After several weeks, they decided they wanted to use ours, and we came to an agreement just before Christmas,” he said. Of his compensation for
the project, he said only: “It’s not something you get rich at, it’s more for the experience.” Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon, a regular at the restaurant and lifetime friend of Martin’s, may also appear as an extra in the scene. “I’m on the list to be an extra,” Bacon said, and then he joked, “This may be a new direction for my life.” A Cobb County actress, 12-year-old Isabella Amara,
is cast as a choir singer in the film. Schaetzle, the location manager who grew up in east Cobb, said his interest in film production was sparked while he was in high school. “Walton High School had a media-production class that was so advanced in 1986 that that’s where it sparked my interest in it, by all means. It was a fantastic program, and I ate it up,” he said.
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
Morris Brothers celebrate decades-long career By Sally Litchfield MDJ Features Editor sallylit@bellsouth.net
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he Morris Brothers received the gift of music. Herb and Homer Morris, who have harmonized together for more than 60 years, recently received Gospel Album of the Year for their album “Heart to Heart.” The two brothers sing traditional, country bluegrass and possess a distinctive sound, bringing them international acclaim. “We’re very unique,” Herb Morris said. Not only did The Morris Brothers win Album of the Year in September, but their song “Cry, Cry for America,” written by Homer Morris with a patriotic gospel message, was the No. 1 gospel song in America and No. 9 overseas. “(‘Cry, Cry for America’ is) just being tremendously received nationwide,” Herb said. Nicknamed the “Masters of Harmony,” the brothers enjoy an international appeal as well. Last year, the Morris Brothers — whose music is distributed in 53 nations — won the No. 1 Overseas Gospel Artist of the Year. “(Our music is) just oldtime down-to-earth music. It’s good quality music. It’s just the basic message people enjoy,” he said. “(Our music is) highly accepted and we’re so thankful for that.” The Morris Brothers, raised in Hall County in north Georgia, came from a musical family. In 1927 their father, Rev. Frank Morris, a Baptist minister, formed the first gospel country group known as The Morris Family. The group performed regularly on
radio. In 1930, The Morris Family recorded their first songs with Vocalion Records. “We just grew up in it,” he said. Herb and Homer started singing with The Morris Family. After their father died, they formed The Morris Brothers in 1945. They continued recording songs, though neither made music their full-time profession. Herb worked in the automobile industry and Homer and his wife served in mission field in Mexico. “When (Homer) came back (from Mexico) in 1973, we picked up and have been going strong since,” Herb said. Herb, 83, and his wife, Virginia, live in Marietta. Homer, 81, and his wife, Pauline, make their home in Acworth. The brothers continue to record their duets along with Homer’s sons, Kent and Philip, who are members of the group. With five No. 1 songs in the last three years, The Morris Brothers received numerous awards over the years including membership in the Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame. “We’re kind of low-key. We don’t have a manager. We do everything ourselves. We’re so blessed. We cherish that,” Herb said. “The Lord’s just blessed us.”
Staff/Laura Moon
From left, Homer Morris displays the brothers’ CDs ‘Calvary’s Hill,’ which was named the Bluegrass Gospel CD of the Year in 2008, and ‘Heart to Heart,’ which was named Bluegrass Gospel CD of the Year in 2010, both by USA Rural Roots
Homer Morris plays the mandolin as he and his brother Herb (not seen) perform a song.
Left: Herb and Homer Morris grew up in gospel music as their father, the Rev. Frank Morris, sister Girlie Jean Morris and aunt Fannie Lou Morris Ringeisen, played a heavy influence on the brothers. Above: The Morris Family, which was considered the first country gospel group, recorded their records in Atlanta on March 19, 1930.
Torii creates art from glass
I N T R O D U C TO RY SPECIAL New Students Only
By Sally Litchfield sallylit@bellsouth.net
hen glass artist Tadashi Torii goes to his studio to create, he not only deals with the physical challenge of working in extreme temperatures of up to 150 degrees, but he also has a small window of opportunity to transfer his artistic inspiration to glass. The intense art form is difficult because the glass starts out molten and within 20 seconds becomes hard, said Torii, who was born in Osaka, Japan. “You have a set amount of time from start to finish. You can’t really stop until you’re finished,” he said. “The whole intention, and the whole emotion and working together as a team with my assistants, everything comes into one place like orchestrating. “You really have to have the focus. It’s more than concentration. It’s men-
Music Commission. Herb Morris holds a photograph of the original Morris Brothers Gospel Group when they performed at station WLAQ in Rome in 1947. In the photograph are, from left, brother-in-law Henry Moss, Homer, Vaughan and Herb Morris.
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Tadashi Torii’s innovative techniques in glass-blowing makes him a rising star in the art world. tal focus,” Torii said. Torii, who initially came to the U.S. as an exchange student, was not exposed to glass-blowing until he attended college at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus. The 42-year-old describes the medium as “mysterious.” Torii, a business major for three years at GSSU, visited the fine arts department by chance 18 years ago and found the glass blowing studio. After taking two semesters of classes, he changed his major and received a BFA in glassblowing/sculpture. “I decided that (glassblowing) is a true calling to myself,” Torii said. “I got more drawn to (the art of glass). The more I did (glassblowing), I just fell in love with that medium,” he said. “And I was open to myself by then. That’s why I decided to do glass as a major medium.” Another challenge of the medium is maintaining
artistic vision while working with the movement of the glass. “Because you see the other side at all times you have to think everything 3dimensionally. It’s almost like you can really see everything,” Torii said. “I can see my mind to the other side when I work on the glass. “It’s scary because I’m just touching with my tools, with my fingers, with what I see in order to do from my mind towards my hands. Everything translates almost like all the emotions come out to the surface of the glass,” he said. “It’s fascinating yet scary sometimes, seeing my emotions over the object I create,” Torii said. “Glass has its own beauty. I want everyone to do well and everyone to be inspired,” Torii said. “By looking at my piece, they can gain happiness or some sort of inspiration. That’s my love toward everyone.” To see works of Torii in Marietta, visit dk Gallery on the Marietta Square at 25 West Park Square or call (770) 427-5377. For more about Torii, visit www.duck billstudios.com, 3172 East
Ponce De Leon Ave. in Scottdale or call (404) 4602791.
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Congregation Etz Chaim held a Mah Jongg tournament to benefit its preschool.
More than a game Mah Jongg tournament to benefit synagogue’s preschool By Marcus E. Howard mhoward@mdjonline.com
EAST COBB — With their heads bowed and eyes focused, there wasn’t much laughter among the large crowd of mostly women at Congregation Etz Chaim on Indian Hills Parkway in east Cobb on a sunny Sunday afternoon. No, there wasn’t a special service going on at the synagogue. However, for many of the 100-plus participants from across metro Atlanta playing in the Mah Jongg tournament hosted by the synagogue, the beloved table game occupies a sacred place in their hearts. Though its origin is Chinese, Mah Jongg is an extremely popular game in the JewishAmerican community. It’s a highly competitive game played in groups of four, using a set of 152 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, with points awarded based on the difficulty of the hand won. Participants say the most comparable card game is Gin rummy. For many who play Mah Jongg, it is a game that holds special meaning in part because it’s passed down from one generation to another. Rachel Weber, 33, of Marietta, still remembers from the time when she was 3 years old, watching her mother cook, bathe and tuck her siblings in for bed before heading off to faithfully play on Wednesday nights with a group of her friends. “My grandmother has been playing for 65 years and the same thing with her,” said Weber, a married mother. “It is for me, my chance not to be home and having to deal with bedtime, being able to see my friends, and using my mind.” Allison Barchichat loves Mah Jongg so much that she decided to organize the tournament at Congregation Etz Chaim, where she worships.
Sandi Leavitt makes a play. “It’s social to me,” Barchichat said in explaining why she enjoys it. “But some of these women are very competitive and they take it very seriously. So everyone plays it a little differently.” About 88 people registered by paying $25 for the three-hour tournament. The top winner was slated to receive a $100 cash prize. There was also a raffle. In addition, there was a beginner’s class down the hallway that was attended by 13 women. The money raised from the tournament will benefit programming at Etz Chaim Preschool for children ages 14 months through prekindergarten. To learn more about Mah Jonng, visit www.nationalmahjonggleague.org.
From left, Roswell resident Hiedi Wess, Marietta residents Debbie Bethea, Windy Bohn and Helaine Shuster mix up the tiles, preparing for the next game.
LOCAL PERFORMANCE ART VENUES
COBB ENERGY PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE WHERE: 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta NUMBER:Ticketmaster, (404) 2496400 WEBSITE: cobbenergycentre.com COBB CIVIC CENTER WHERE: 548 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta NUMBER: (770) 528-8490 COBB GALLERIA CENTRE WHERE: 2 Galleria Parkway, Atlanta NUMBER: (770) 955-8000 WEBSITE: cobbgalleria.com CURTAIN CALL YOUTH PLAYERS WHERE: 2800 Canton Road, Marietta NUMBER: 770-973-4566 WEBSITE: ccyp.org EARL SMITH STRAND THEATRE WHERE: 117 North Park Square,
Marietta WHERE: (770) 293-0080 WEBSITE: earlsmithstrand.org KSU‘S BAILEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER WHERE: 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw NUMBER: (770) 423-6650 WEBSITE: baileycenter.kennesaw.edu THE ART PLACE / MOUNTAIN VIEW ARTS ALLIANCE WHERE: 3330 Sandy Plains Rd., Marietta NUMBER: (770) 509-2700 WEBSITE: theartplace.us THEATRE IN THE SQUARE WHERE: 11 Whitlock Ave., Marietta NUMBER: (770) 422-8369 WEBSITE: theatreinthesquare.com
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MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL / SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011