Author: pmiller

The October meeting of the Roundtable is at noon, Thursday the 18th, at the Capital City Club downtown.

We’re pleased to have as speaker, Brett Daniels, Chief Operating Officer of the Atlanta Super Bowl LIII Host Committee. The Committee is the liaison between the National Football League, the City of Atlanta and the local community. From the web site: “…we are eager to show football fans what Atlanta is all about on the world’s biggest stage.”

Before leading the host committee, Brett Daniels was Deputy Athletic Director at Georgia Tech. He had previously served as Sr. Director of Corporate Communications and Brand Management for the Dallas Cowboys.

A native of Oklahoma City, Brett graduated from Southern Methodist University and has an MBA from SMU’s Cox School of Business. He and his wife, Carla, a native of Atlanta, have two teenage sons.

The September meeting of the Roundtable is at noon, Thursday the 20th, at the Capital City Club downtown.

Our speaker is the popular AJC metro columnist Bill Torpy. His tentative topic is “How to Win Friends and Influence People at City Hall”. You can review Bill’s recent columns at https://www.ajc.com/staff/bill-torpy/.

Bill Torpy joined the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1990. He has covered politics, government and countless stories about police, courts and the justice system. The Chicago native graduated from Southern Illinois University, and previously worked for the Daily Southtown in Chicago.

We look forward to seeing you on the 20th.

And, if you have not already done so, pay your dues for the 2018-2019 season—see https://atlantabusinessroundtable.org/dues/.

The May meeting of the Roundtable is at noon, Thursday the 17th, at the Capital City Club downtown.

Our speaker is Tom Croteau, the Deputy Commissioner, Global Commerce for the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD). In this role, he leads Georgia’s Global Commerce team to increase jobs and investment through locating and expanding businesses. The Global Commerce team includes Georgia’s international representatives in 11 strategic regions around the world.

Prior to joining GDEcD, Mr. Croteau worked in the economic development divisions of MEAG Power (currently Electric Cities of Georgia) and the Metro Atlanta Chamber. He has also worked for Ernst & Young and the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Croteau holds a degree in Economics from Florida State University. He lives in Roswell with his wife Suzanne and their three children.

The April meeting of the Roundtable is at noon, Thursday the 19th, at the Capital City Club downtown.

We’re pleased to have as speaker Jennifer Bonnett, the General Manager of the Advanced Technology Development Center. In January, her Roundtable presentation on ATDC was outstanding. She returns to highlight ATDC’s Tech Square Innovation Week, scheduled for May 7-10. From the web site: “The Tech Square neighborhood is one of the nation’s most successful ecosystems of ideation and disruption”.

ATDC is the technology incubator for the state of Georgia. Founded in 1980, ATDC has developed a global reputation for fostering technological entrepreneurship. Forbes Magazine named ATDC to its list of “Incubators Changing the World” in 2010 and 2013.

Jennifer Bonnett is a technology entrepreneur with more than 25 years experience in the Information Technology/Software Development field with a specialty in web and mobile applications. She has served as Founder/Chief Technology Officer of a number of venture- and angel-backed firms.

The March meeting of the Roundtable is at noon, Thursday the 15th, at the Capital City Club downtown.

We’re pleased to have as speaker Ms. Katherine “Kitty” Cohen, President of the Georgia Bar Foundation. The foundation is the charitable arm of the Georgia Supreme Court and funds justice system projects, most notably legal services for the poor.

Katherine Cohen is Of Counsel for the international law firm Eversheds Sutherland. She manages tax issues affecting health care providers and tax-exempt organizations. Since 1987, she has served as outside tax counsel to the State Bar of Georgia.

Before joining Eversheds Sutherland, Katherine worked as a staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, first with the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and later with the Subcommittee on Health and Environment.

Katherine’s undergraduate degree is from Wellesley College and her J.D. is from the University of North Carolina Law School.

The February meeting of the Roundtable is at noon, Thursday the 15th, at the Capital City Club downtown.

We’re pleased to have as speaker Kim Williams, Executive Director of Year Up Atlanta. Year Up is a national program that provides young urban adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. Year Up achieves this mission through a high support, high expectation model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, internships and college credits.

You can learn more about Year Up at https://www.youtube.com/user/YearUpInc.

Before taking over Year Up Atlanta, Ms. Williams was Chief Operating Officer of iCorps Technologies. Prior to iCorps, she spent 17 years at Microsoft in multiple senior leadership roles. Williams has a BS in Business from the University of Maryland University College.