Letter from the President
It is an honor to serve as the president of Invest Atlanta and to work with our talented staff. I would like thank our senior team for their leadership and commitment to our mission:
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Tom DiGiovanni, Chief Financial Officer
- Ernestine Garey, Managing Director of Housing Finance
- Veronica Jones, General Counsel
- Sonya Moste, Director of Marketing & Public Relations
- Cheryl Strickland, Managing Director of Tax Allocation Districts
- Charles Whatley, Director of Commerce & Entrepreneurship
 We thank our employees for their focus every day on moving the city->s economic development goals forward. We would also like to thank our board members for their commitment to our city and their continued leadership and good counsel. We also appreciate the support of the Atlanta City Council. Together, we have faced the challenges of 2008 and accomplished a lot.
We recognize the effective relationships we have with our economic development partners, more than 50 organizations. We thank our partners for their collaboration and commitment to achieving the vision and goals of the city->s New Century Economic Development Plan.
The New Century Economic Development Plan continues to be our framework and report card for economic development. The remainder of this report explains the results of this year. Significant highlights include:
- Marketing and promotion of the city expanding locally, nationally and internationally, with tangible results
- The successful statewide referendum allowing school districts to participate in tax allocation districts
- The HOME Atlanta down-payment program, which helped 173 homebuyers purchase homes in the city
- The 2008 Westside TAD bonds, which funded five projects downtown and provided seed funding for the Center for Civil and Human Rights
- The steady progress of multi-year projects like the Atlanta BeltLine and the redevelopment of Fort McPherson
- International business development missions to India and China
In November, voters statewide affirmed tax allocation districts as an effective economic development tool for cities and counties, preserving a school district->s option to participate in tax allocation districts. Within the city, the amendment passed in 84 percent of precincts -> 63 percent of city residents voted in support of the amendment. Unfortunately, some additional legal challenges are temporarily hindering our ability to move forward. We are committed to the successful resolution of these matters.
Large multi-year projects like the Atlanta BeltLine and the redevelopment of Fort McPherson moved steadily forward in 2008. The Atlanta Beltline is already changing how Atlanta looks, and McPherson will be a major economic catalyst in southwest Atlanta and our region.
Two events in particular caught my attention in December and are molding our approach to 2009. The U.S. Treasury signaled to the country that it would use all the tools at its disposal to combat our recession. At the Midtown Alliance annual meeting, the CEO of The Coca-Cola Company challenged us to focus on what works, expand partnerships and push forward with resolve. In 2009, we will be investing in what works, using all the economic development tools available to us and strengthening our partnerships.
We thank you for your interest in our city and encourage you to join us as we push forward in 2009.
Sincerely,
Peggy McCormick, President
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