- Created on 22 April 2013
Major Delays Expected at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport Because of Recent Furloughs
Beginning Monday, passengers at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport could experience travel delays up to three hours long due to furloughs for air traffic controllers.
More than 15,000 air traffic controllers nationwide will have their work hours reduce, leaving fewer people to watch over the skies and longer wait times for planes to take off and land.
Federal budget cuts were made on Sunday by Congress, but flights ran normally due to generally light weekend travel.
Problems are expected to begin today for the world's busiest airport when business travelers enter Atlanta's terminals. Maximum delays predicted will be up to three hours or more depending on passenger totals.
The nation's largest pilots union and Airlines for America, which represents major airline carriers, are suing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) because of the furloughs for the control tower workers.
- Created on 22 April 2013
William Mills Promotes Andrew McCaskill to Senior VP
William Mills Agency, provider of financial public relations and marketing services, has promoted Andrew McCaskill to senior vice president.
McCaskill has spent more than 15 years defining and establishing the reputations of dynamic start-ups and reinvigorating and advancing legacy technology brands.
At William Mills Agency he has built campaigns that have taken clients from venture capital to IPO and back to privatization. He also leads William Mills Agency's Crisis Communications Practice and has consulted on communications strategy for more than 100 technology companies.
"The business of branding and selling technology fascinates me," said McCaskill. "Some of my clients are literally geniuses, but I appreciate that pressure. It has made me a better strategic advisor, and it makes the creative process a lot of fun. I'm excited about the responsibility I've been given at WMA. No other firm does what we do in this industry."
Prior to joining William Mills Agency, McCaskill worked in events and promotions at Turner Broadcasting Company and brand at Coca-Cola. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Morehouse College and an MBA in management strategy from Goizueta Business School at Emory University. McCaskill is a past president of the Black Public Relations Society/ Atlanta and currently sits on the Public Relations Society of America's national MBA Initiative committee.
McCaskill specializes in high technology public relations and crisis communications work. He is also a blogger and web columnist for the
UK-based marketing magazine, Urban Times.
- Created on 19 April 2013
Obama’s 2012 Tax Returns Show Lower Income This Year
He has a nice house and some fancy rides, but President Barack Obama's salary is embarrassingly low compared to other CEOs. And, it's going down.
In fact, the Obama's tax returns show they made less money in 2012 than in any other year since he took office. The President and First Lady Michelle, who file jointly, had an adjusted gross income of $608,611, down from $789,674 in 2011. They also paid $112,214 in total taxes, compared to $162,074 in 2011, as the family's tax returns, which were publicly released, indicate.
The Obamas' total income came to $662,076, which plummeted nearly 22 percent from $844,585 during the previous year.
The presidential yearly salary comes in at $400,000, and for the previous two years, the Obamas' earnings were $394,800, the difference of $5,200 is attributed to the pre-tax amount of their health insurance premium. Consider that the President of General Motors made $7.7 million last year and the President of Bank of America made $950,000 plus $9.05 million in stock awards.
The monies the Obama's made from various outside business ventures also took a dip. In 2011, the Obamas had business income that came to $441,369, and last year, their earnings dwindled down to $258,772.
As far as deductions, the Obamas claimed a $50,000 retirement plan contribution, two dependents (daughters Sasha and Malia), some mortgage interest, real estate, and state income taxes.
The presidential couple donated $150,034, or about 24.6 percent of their adjusted gross income, to 33 various charities. The largest gift to charity was $103,871 to the Fisher House Foundation, which aids military families. The Obamas paid $29,450 to the state of Illinois.
If you'd like to see more of the Obamas tax return, you can download it at www.Whitehouse.gov, the White House website, where Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill have also posted their returns.
- Created on 22 April 2013
Students Prepare to Unveil Creative Solutions to Major Urban Problem
Decades ago when the Downtown Connector was built, the area known as Auburn Avenue was literally split in half.
Over the years, the highway's underpass has become home for people who have nowhere else to go and an area that does not attract visitors and businesses. Now, a group of metro area students are working together to develop a plan to solve a problem that has not been addressed by adult planners and engineers. Their results will soon be revealed and presented to government officials for consideration of the New Auburn Avenue.
In less than three months, students from Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta and students from Hiram, Ga., have developed their own versions of what needs to happen to this valuable real estate.
"It will be fascinating to see if the students have come up with ideas that haven't been tapped by the 'powers that be' for years," said Atlanta architect Oscar Harris, who has been involved in mentoring the young people.
City planners will get their first look at what the students envision when they graduate from the Atlanta Center for
Creative Inquiry on Saturday, April 27, at the Georgia Pacific Tower.
A panel of distinguished architects, engineers and construction managers, will also scrupulously review and judge the students' work. Scholarships and internships will be awarded to the top designs, but all the students will benefit from this unusual endeavor.
The students walked along Auburn Avenue during the project and learned the importance the Fourth Ward played in the months leading up to Aug. 28, 1963. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. The students talked with historians and people who live and work in the area. Some of the students called their experiences "life changing."
"It has been wonderful to see these students progress and the ripple effect they have on other students...like a drop of water in a pond," said Hebrew Dixon, this year's chairman of the board.
The Atlanta Center for Creative Inquiry (ACCI) began mentoring students attending Atlanta Public high schools in 2004 as part of the Studio for Creative Inquiry program developed by Carnegie Mellon University. The mission of ACCI is to mentor, educate and develop creative abilities in youth to promote future diversity in architecture, engineering and construction. There is no other program like ACCI in the country.
The program is funded totally through private donations and grants. Last year, internationally renowned "stipple" artist Kyle Lane donated one of his rare works to ACCI, which was later acquired by Georgia Pacific in an exclusive auction. All donations are tax deductible.
For more information, go to www.cci-atl.com or call 770-460-7647.
- Created on 17 April 2013
UBR Spotlight: David Steward, CEO of Nation’s Largest Black-Owned Business
This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, Renita D. Young speaks with David L. Steward, the founder and chairman of Maryland Heights, Mo.-based World Wide Technology Inc. (WWT), the nation’s largest Black-owned business. With 2010 revenues of more than $4.1 billion, WWT is ranked No. 1 on the Black Enterprise 100s list of the nation’s largest Black-owned industrial/service companies.
Steward, who grew up in rural Missouri, spent his early career in jobs including working for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company and as an account executive with Federal Express. Then, in 1990, he created WWT, a leading systems integrator and the leading supplier of advanced technology solutions to the U.S. government. The company offers products from more than 3,000 manufacturers from around the world and ranks as one of the leading Cisco Systems partners in the country. Steward is also the author of Doing Business By The Good Book: 52 Lessons on Success Straight From The Bible. (Hyperion)
Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass sits down with author and self-made entrepreneur Nolan McCants. The owner of a full-service public relations firm by the age of 18, McCants represented Fortune 500 companies, non-profit agencies, entrepreneurs and the entertainment industry, and was recognized in 1990 by the U.S. Small Business Administration as Illinois’ Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In addition to being an entrepreneur and author of the book You Can Do It!: Inspiration and Motivation For Those Daring To Dream BIG, McCants is also a pastor and international speaker, overseer of an international alliance of churches, and an award-winning fine arts photographer. McCants joins the Roundtable to share how he did and how you can do it, too.
And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll hear Pepper Miller’s YOU-TURN segment, get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rashid Carter.
Pepper Miller is the Founder and President of The Hunter Miller Group and the host of The Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show. If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with us on Twitter @UBR1690.
Join more than 1,000 outstanding entrepreneurs and top business experts at the 2013 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by Nationwide, May 15-18, at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Expect innovative sessions, high-powered speakers, and an early peek at the products, trends, and services you’ll need to stay ahead of the curve. To register and find out more, follow the hash tag #BEEC on Twitter, “Like” the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference on Facebook and visit www.blackenterprise.com/ec!
