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Latest News
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Delta CEO on jet deal: ‘We will not pay those tariffs’
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Delta battles rise in costs including Hurricane Irma flight cancellations
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Contractors sentenced to prison in Atlanta City Hall bribery scheme
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Hurricane Nate slowed down the drop in metro Atlanta gas prices
From the wires
Lawyers, prosecutors face off at Samsung heir's appeal case
Rare photos by early NASA astronauts being auctioned off
Plan to scrap state and local tax deduction hits resistance
SpaceX launches communications satellite, lands booster
Assets of ex-Brazilian president frozen over refinery deal
Delta sponsors Masters Tournament
Delta Air Lines will become a major sponsor of the Masters Tournament starting in 2018. The Atlanta-based carrier will be an international partner of the tournament, along with UPS and Rolex. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a written statement that the deal will help the airline grow its brand with global customers. The company plans to promote the Masters partnership with advertising and social...
Updated: Contractors at center of Atlanta bribery scandal sentenced to federal prison
Two contractors who have pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to pay bribes to win city of Atlanta contracts were sentenced to prison on Tuesday in federal court. Elvin “E.R.” Mitchell Jr., a politically connected Atlanta contractor and the federal government’s star witness in its long-running bribery investigation, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for his role...
Mitchell expands call to clean up Atlanta contracting amid bribe probe
Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell said Monday he wants to install an independent compliance officer to root out fraud and review purchasing at City Hall. Mitchell, who is running to succeed Mayor Kasim Reed, said he wants someone of the pedigree of former acting-U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates or former U.S. Attorney Richard Deane in the role. The bribery scandal has shaken up...
UPS starting negotiations on massive Teamsters contracts
UPS says it has started contract talks with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on new collective bargaining agreements covering 250,000 workers. The current five-year Teamsters contract covering drivers, package sorters and loaders, operations and dock workers runs through July 31, 2018. UPS said it has had contracts with the Teamsters since the 1930s, growing from a few thousand Teamsters-represented...
Delta-Bombardier deal at center of U.S.-Canada trade dispute
Delta Air Lines is caught in the cross-hairs of a Trump administration “Buy American” fight against the carrier’s deal to buy jets from a Canadian aircraft manufacturer. Atlanta-based Delta negotiated low prices to purchase 75 Bombardier jets along with options for 50 more aircraft. That move prompted rival Boeing to allege that Bombardier was getting illegal subsidies and dumping...
Atlanta tech growing; Indian firm hires in Alpharetta
The American arm of a large, global Indian tech firm is adding more than 100 positions in Alpharetta. Tech Mahindra, which has 115,850 employees and a $4.5 billion-a-year global business, will pay salaries of up to $125,000 for the jobs here, most of which will be filled by engineers, according to a spokesman for the company. “The hiring has already begun and will continue through...
Atlanta second-best for making a tech salary go further
For purchase power, metro Atlanta tech salaries pack the second-strongest punch in the country, according to an analysis by an Austin-based jobs site. By the standards of places like Silicon Valley, the pay for Atlanta tech workers is really pretty modest. But when it comes to how much you can stretch that paycheck, Atlanta may make the hotshots in California look underpaid, said the...
A former FBI agent’s advice on protecting yourself from cyberfraud
In this day and age, we all have to take cyber security very seriously. And with good reason: Equifax, Yahoo!, Target, and the list continues to grow of major company data breaches. Given the opportunity, the seemingly never-ending parade of techno criminals would take you to the proverbial cleaners. These hackers employ new and nefarious techniques to steal your identity, drain your accounts and...
Hartsfield-Jackson grows, but what about smaller airports?
Big cities are gaining while smaller towns are losing when it comes to airline service, according to an industry report by Airlines Council International. Some smaller airports are shrinking in passenger traffic as large airports grow even larger, ACI said its World Airport Traffic Report shows. The airport “mega-hubs” of the world grew 5.5 percent year-over-year in 2016, according...
Atlanta wages up, but not as fast as housing costs
It looks like most working people in Atlanta have been getting raises, but the average bump of 1.5 percent may not be enough to cover the increase in rent or mortgage. There’s been sluggish growth in wages pretty much across the board, with the best pay hikes coming in jobs that are not that high-paying, according to a report from Glassdoor. “Wage growth continued its slightly upward...
Atlanta-based staffing company Hire Dynamics buys Charlotte rival
An Atlanta-based staffing company has acquired a similar, Charlotte-based firm, a combination that creates a company with roughly 38,000 jobs – half of them in Atlanta. The merged company will be one of the five largest staffing firms in the southeastern United States. Hire Dynamics, which typically arranges work for about 22,000 people, has purchased StaffMasters, which handles job assignments...
Delta wants more passengers to pay for first class
If you’re hoping to get a free upgrade to first class on your next flight, don’t get your hopes up. Delta Air Lines is moving away from giving frequent fliers the big seats in the front gratis, and instead wants customers to pay for them. It’s a point driven home by Delta CEO Ed Bastian at a recent travel industry conference. “Any business where you give the majority of your...
Despite data breach, Equifax likely to escape corporate death penalty
Equifax couldn’t protect the personal data of millions of Americans, but the company may yet successfully defend itself. The massive data breach announced Sept. 7 did untold damage to individual consumers and the nation’s financial system, enough for some experts to take seriously the possibility of a corporate death penalty, but most say the odds favor survival for the Atlanta-based...
Atlanta’s soccer shocker? Ridiculous success with fans
A strange virus is running rampant through metro Atlanta, with the potential to shake things in ways we hadn’t expected. We’ve seen symptoms: red, black and gold flags billowing all over town. A throng of the infected walked right by John Wilson, a reasonable football guy, as he stood outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium on a recent weekday evening. “I didn’t know this many people...
Senators call for more actions from Equifax in wake of hack
As former Equifax Chief Executive Richard Smith appeared Wednesday for the second of three Congressional hearings this week, senators called for the company to do more to make amends to almost 146 million Americans affected by a massive hacking incident. The suggestions ranged from calls for Equifax to take more legal and financial responsibility for the likely harm to consumers, to demands that the...
Aman says he would halt Atlanta airport procurement ‘if I were mayor’
Atlanta mayoral candidate Peter Aman on Wednesday said that if he were mayor he would stop a large airport procurement for new shops at the Atlanta airport which has come under scrutiny amid the ongoing City Hall bribery scandal. Aman, a former chief operating officer under Mayor Kasim Reed, was quick not to criticize the current mayor and ongoing operations of the city. But he said there were &ldquo...
Senators call for more actions from Equifax in wake of hack
Former Equifax Chief Executive Richard Smith appeared Wednesday for the second of three Congressional hearings he is facing this week over the company’s massive hacking incident affecting almost 146 million Americans. Here are some snapshots from today’s hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, where a video replay is available online: Give it back Stock...
Equifax’s ex-CEO gets a grilling in Washington over data breach
Sitting alone before a panel of dozens of lawmakers in Washington, D.C., former Equifax CEO Richard Smith tried Tuesday to explain how the Atlanta company he recently headed allowed hackers to steal the most private identifying information for half a nation. “My name is Rick Smith,” said the executive, calm but appearing chastened. An apology quickly followed. “The criminal hack...
Two Georgia counties on list where home buying makes most sense
If you feel like now is the time to buy a house, then where is the place? When it comes to finding the place where it makes the most financial sense to buy rather than rent a home, two counties near metro Atlanta rank in the top 10: Walton and Hall, according to report by a personal finance company. Turns out that you’re better off buying in the city of Atlanta only if you plan to own the house...
Delta, UPS operate Puerto Rico relief flights
Two Atlanta-area companies are operating Puerto Rico relief flights. Sandy Springs-based UPS and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines are each operating relief flights to Puerto Rico, bringing emergency supplies. Delta operated its third humanitarian flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico on Friday, carrying 50 state troopers, 100 FEMA officials, electricians, workers to help remove debris and other relief workers...
Mr. Smith goes to Washington
Equifax CEO Richard Smith told lawmakers at a Tuesday hearing that the company’s massive investments in data security didn’t work because one individual failed to tell the right people to patch faulty software. On March 8, Equifax got a notice from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that software it used, called Apache Struts, had a “vulnerability” to hackers. The next...
Kempner: Last assignment for Equifax's ex? Survive Capitol Hill
Speak really slowly and stall when testifying before hostile lawmakers on Capitol Hill, a corporate executive once suggested. But that won’t be an easy task for former Equifax CEO Richard “Rick” Smith this week. Starting today, Smith is slated to be on the hot seat in multiple House and Senate hearings digging into Atlanta-based Equifax’s massive breach ...
Timeline of the hacking of Equifax
Ex-Equifax CEO Richard Smith told lawmakers Monday that “both human error and technology failures” opened the way for a massive hacking incident in which thieves got away with sensitive information on more than 145 million Americans. Here’s a chronology of what happened, based on his prepared testimony before a hearing Tuesday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee...
Ex-Equifax CEO apologizes for hack, blames human and technical errors
On March 8, Atlanta-based Equifax received an urgent notice from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A vital security update needed to be installed in a software application used on its websites and those of many major companies. The alert was sent the next day via email to the Equifax personnel who oversee security of the application, known as Apache Struts. It’s Equifax’s policy...
Plant Vogtle partners get first $300 million “guarantee” payment
Georgia Power said it and its partners in Plant Vogtle received $300 million from Toshiba Corp. Monday, the first installment of almost $3.7 billion aimed at covering cost overruns at the troubled project. The Japanese conglomerate promised to pay $3.68 billion in installments after subsidiary Westinghouse Corp., formerly a key contractor at Plant Vogtle, filed bankruptcy in March. Projected ...
Delta CEO lauds Trump tax reform plan
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian praised President Donald Trump’s tax reform plan, in advance of Congress this week taking its first legislative steps on the matter. Trump has proposed a plan to slash taxes, calling for a reduction of the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent. The plan also aims to simplify and cut taxes for the middle class by doubling the standard...
Ex-Equifax CEO blames human and technical errors for massive breach
Former Equifax Chairman and CEO Rick Smith will tell members of Congress on Tuesday that a mixture of “human error and technology failures” led to a breach of the credit bureau’s security in a hack that compromised the personal information of more than 140 million people. In prepared remarks, Smith is expected to address what is known about the breach so far and explain a number...
These metro Atlanta companies are making big hires this October
There are number of employers making big hires in the metro Atlanta this October, including Grady Hospital and Toys R Us. In the case of retail jobs, some companies are already starting to hire for the holidays, and some of these seasonal employees may be retained for regular employment. If you're looking for a job, here's a brief snapshot of what's available this October: Grady is hiring Certified...
Guilty plea, FBI raid of vendor roil debate over Atlanta contracting
Citing a guilty plea this week by Atlanta’s former purchasing director and a raid by the FBI on the office of a longtime city vendor, a local watchdog group and several mayoral candidates renewed calls Friday for reforms to the city’s procurement process and a halt to the awarding of certain large-scale contracts. Amid an ongoing federal bribery probe of city hall, Adam Smith, the...
Energy Department offers extra $3.7 billion loan backing for Plant Vogtle
The Department of Energy has given initial approval for $3.7 billion in additional loan guarantees to help cover more cost overruns at the troubled Plant Vogtle project. The U.S. agency said Friday it gave conditional approval of loan guarantees for the project to add two new nuclear reactors at the plant near Augusta, drawing praise from Georgia Power and other supporters, and anger from...
5 things that are costing you the promotion you want
When you're looking to make more money at work, an annual raise probably won't do too much to make your life easier. You'll probably need a promotion if you want to earn enough of a wage increase to have a noticeable impact on your budget. If you're angling for a promotion, you'll naturally want to make the best impression possible on the higher-ups at your company. But without realizing it, you could...
Georgians take a $300 million-plus hit from Irma
Hurricane Irma, which had weakened to a tropical storm by the time it hit Georgia earlier this month, still packed a wallop, causing at least $300 million in insured losses, according to Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens. “Our preliminary estimate today is $336 million in damage across Georgia. That figure may rise as new claims are submitted,” Hudgens said Thursday in a statement...
Equifax breach stirs consumer fears; experts say protect yourself
The massive hack of data from Equifax has spurred consumer anger and a rush by many to take defensive measures to protect their personal information. But it’s also sparked this: A lurking fear that whatever consumers do, it will never be enough. The consumer reporting agency announced nearly a month ago that information for as many as 143 million Americans may have been compromised in a colossal...
FedEx hiring 2,300 seasonal workers in Atlanta
FedEx is adding 2,300 jobs in metro Atlanta to handle the surge of packages during the holiday season. The company is already hiring so that they can staff up in November for the roughly three-month-long escalation in demand for help, according to Jonathan Lyons, a spokesman for the Memphis-based company. The jobs here will be part of a holiday hiring wave that FedEx said will add 50,000 positions...
Energy Department offers extra $3.7 billion loan backing for Vogtle
The Department of Energy has given initial approval for $3.7 billion in additional loan guarantees to help cover more cost overruns at the troubled Plant Vogtle project. The U.S. agency said Friday it gave conditional approval of loan guarantees for the project to add two new nuclear reactors at the plant near Augusta. The commitments include $1.67 billion to Georgia Power, which owns almost half...
Kempner: Thieves taking over 401(k) accounts. How to protect yours
Haven’t checked your retirement account balance in awhile? Um, now might be a good time. Few financial nightmares are as frightening as life savings being looted by identity thieves. It isn’t easy, but it’s also not quite as difficult as I had thought. Steven Voss checked his 401(k) account balance a couple months back. It was empty. “It’s an awful feeling,” he...
Georgians take a $300 million-plus hit from Irma
Hurricane Irma, which had weakened to a tropical storm by the time it hit Georgia earlier this month, still packed a wallop, causing at least $300 million in insured losses, according to Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens. “Our preliminary estimate today is $336 million in damage across Georgia. That figure may rise as new claims are submitted,” Hudgens said Thursday in a statement...
Hartsfield-Jackson to begin heavy lifting of canopy construction
The first truss of steel will soon be lifted into the air to begin building massive curbside canopies at Hartsfield-Jackson International — and that means traffic congestion for travelers trying to navigate around the world’s busiest airport. This Sunday, trusses will be moved from a staging area to the terminal curbside roads to start the heavy lifting of the project. Each truss...
Equifax to offer free credit freezes for life, new CEO says
Equifax’s new interim chief executive said the company is planning to offer a new life-long credit freeze service for free by the end of January. Paulino do Rego Barros Jr., who was named the company’s new CEO on Tuesday, announced that move Thursday, along with other efforts to improve its problem-plagued response to a massive data theft affecting 143 million Americans. “On...
Ex-Atlanta official’s guilty plea raises new questions in bribery probe
Atlanta’s ex-purchasing chief entered the federal courtroom Tuesday in a crisp navy suit, briefcase in hand. He looked the part of a trial lawyer, not a defendant about to plead guilty to taking more than $30,000 in bribes. Adam Smith, in fact, is an attorney. He earned a juris doctor from Georgetown University, part of a C.V. that includes a master’s in public health from Yale and...
Delta switches contractors, affecting jobs at Atlanta airport
Delta Air Lines is switching contractors at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, affecting jobs for more than a thousand workers. Atlanta-based Delta is shifting the work done by wheelchair agents who help passengers around the world’s busiest airport from contractor ABM to its own subsidiary Delta Global Services effective Nov. 15. The move affects 1,179 jobs at Hartsfield-Jackson...
Equifax to offer free credit freezes for life, new CEO says
Equifax’s new interim chief executive said the company is planning to offer a new life-long credit freeze service for free by the end of January. Paulino do Rego Barros Jr., who was named the company’s new CEO on Tuesday, announced that move Thursday, along with other efforts to improve its problem-plagued response to a massive data theft affecting 143 million Americans. “On...
Delta to increase profit sharing for employees
Delta Air Lines is boosting profit sharing for employees, matching the rate the carrier’s pilots already get. Atlanta-based Delta has been paying out 10 percent of its pre-tax profits to non-pilot employees. Delta switched to the current profit sharing formula for most employees in 2016, which pays out less than it previously did if Delta’s profits grew. The airline disclosed the...
Former Equifax CEO walks with at least $48.9 million stake and pension
Former Equifax Chief Executive Richard Smith will walk away from the company with at least $48.9 million in company stock and pension benefits, according to company disclosures. That has some lawmakers upset, who believe the man who was in charge of the company during one of America’s worst data breaches should give up some compensation through so-called “clawback” provisions. Some...
Trump talk of Korea trade re-boot spurs worry about Georgia business
Talk of ripping up the current trade deal with South Korea and renegotiating a new pact has sparked fears that the change would hurt trade, chill investment and kill jobs in Georgia. Trade deals set the rules that can make it easier — or harder — to ship goods, to get through ports, to sell at a competitive price and to invest in a business venture. The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement...
Kempner: 143 million reasons to be mad at Equifax’s CEO
There’s an old saying that’s not always true: You get what you pay for. Unfortunately, Equifax’s board got exactly what it paid for when it lavished money on now-former CEO, Richard “Rick” Smith. Smith was hired to grow Equifax big time. That’s exactly what he did while acquiring a massive trove of sensitive data on nearly a billion people. What he and the board...
Equifax CEO Rick Smith out after massive data breach
Equifax Chairman and CEO Rick Smith has stepped down in one of its biggest moves so far to right its ship after the company’s massive data breach. The move, described Tuesday as a retirement, is effective immediately. Smith’s sudden departure prompted a trading suspension of the company’s stock Tuesday morning until the news was released. The news comes as Equifax’s shares...
House-hunting for first-time metro Atlanta buyers is best off-season
Housing sales are down. Prices are soft. Interest rates are going to rise. Yet coming soon is the best time of year for the first-time buyer to look for a home, according to an online real estate site. The best time to buy starter homes in metro Atlanta is the first quarter of the year, January through March, according to Trulia. The price of lower-tier homes in Atlanta drops 6 percent during that...
Metro Atlanta housing market unbalanced and cooling, experts say
Home sales are down, but prices are up in metro Atlanta, according to a highly watched national report issued Tuesday. Area home prices last month, on average, were up 0.3 percent, half as much as the month before, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. Over the past year, Atlanta home prices are up 5.3 percent. Driving that increase has been an unbalanced market, which has generally...
5 Halloween jobs to snag in metro Atlanta right now
If you're trying to scare up a job in Atlanta, you might have some luck with businesses that have special Halloween-related events or ones that are specifically dedicated to the holiday. Whether you'd like to help adults or little ones pick out the perfect costume or dress up, don makeup and give visitors a fright, there are several gigs that will let you do just that as you earn a paycheck. Check...
Two Atlanta deals: GE selling, Genuine Parts buying
Two multi-billion dollar deals involving Atlanta were announced Monday – one in which a local company made a European acquisition, one in which a European giant snapped up an Atlanta-based unit of General Electric. GE Industrial Solutions, a 13,500-employee firm headquartered in Atlanta, was sold to Swiss-based ABB for $2.6 billion. Boston-based General Electric had been under pressure from...
More congestion coming to Hartsfield-Jackson curbside amid construction
Travelers headed to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport could encounter more congestion at the terminal curbside, as the airport steps up construction of massive canopies outside the terminal. The airport will close the Terminal North upper roadway at 9 p.m. Monday evening until Tuesday morning at 5 a.m. The lower roadway will be open during that time. And starting Sunday, the airport will...
Kempner: Why cyber muggers keep winning (and we keep losing)
It’s not uplifting to chat with cybersecurity experts these days, because our most sensitive data is not safe. Sure, the businesses, government agencies and others that have our private information try to protect our valuables. They smack away lots of attempts by bad guys to grab our data. But, ultimately, many of the defenders end up buckling, just like credit reporting agency Equifax recently...
Equifax: Five things you should know about the raid on your data
Atlanta-based Equifax Corp. and consumers whose credit it tracks have continued to struggle with the fallout from a data breach that affected 143 million people in the United States, and more in other nations. Here are five things you should know about the hacking incident — one of the worst so far — and how it affects you. 1. Protect yourself: You should take a number of steps to...
Gwinnett solar firm wins U.S. support for charges of unfair trade
The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday sided with a bankrupt Gwinnett company’s complaint that America is being flooded with cheap imported solar cells, setting up a potential trade battle with China or other countries that export solar panels. Norcross-based Suniva said it was “gratified” by the trade commission’s finding, which opens the way for the agency to recommend...
Officials watch for any travel restriction effects at Atlanta airport
As President Donald Trump’s administration prepares to soon announce a new set of travel restrictions on visitors to the United States to replace the existing travel ban, local officials are looking out for any potential impact on travelers arriving at the Atlanta airport. At the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International officials are monitoring the situation, which could...
Delta operates all-female charter flight for Atlanta-area girls
Delta Air Lines will operate a charter flight staffed by women for girls from Atlanta-area community groups and schools, part of an effort to boost interest in aviation among a cohort that represents a small fraction of the industry. Women make up less than 6.4 percent of the commercial pilot workforce, and an even smaller share of airline mechanics, flight engineers and dispatchers, according to...
Equifax apologizes for sending people to fake company website
Equifax linked people to a fake online site that mimicked the link for its site on its massive Sept. 7 security breach that affected 143 million Americans. After the breach, which involved Social Security numbers and other key identifying information, Equifax set up a site, equifaxsecurity2017.com, that directed people to information on the hacking incident and links to sign up for free credit monitoring...
Wes Moss: Lessons from ‘The Lost Decade of Stocks’
As the stock market continues to reach new highs, with the Dow soaring well above 20,000, I’ve found myself reflective of other times in recent investment history. Over the years, the high and low tides — and sometimes crashing waves — of our always changing economy have taught me certain financial truths. Let me share what I learned from 1998 to 2009, a period I refer to as &ldquo...
Atlanta software company says it’s adding 500 jobs
Atlanta software company OneTrust said it expects to add 500 jobs locally over the next several years and to invest $5 million in a Fulton County expansion. The company, which currently has about 200 employees in Atlanta, London, and other locations, including Asia, produces privacy management software that helps companies comply with privacy laws in various nations. Gov. Nathan Deal and the company...
Feds investigating Plant Vogtle nuke project’s twin in South Carolina
SCANA Corp. said Thursday that federal investigators are seeking information on a South Carolina nuclear plant project that was shut down in late July. The South Carolina utility said it received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office seeking “a broad range of documents related to the project.” The company said it would “cooperate with the government’s investigation...
UPS mechanics renew push for leverage in contract talks
A union representing aircraft mechanics at shipping giant UPS is again asking a federal board to release it from mediation, saying negotiations on a new contract are at an impasse. Contract talks have been going on for nearly four years between Sandy Springs-based UPS and Teamsters Local 2727 representing the roughly 1,300 airline maintenance workers. The mechanics are are covered by health insurance...
Airline fees: Nickel-and-diming or, as Delta says, adding ‘choices’?
As two senators push for legislation to limit airline baggage fees, Delta Air Lines says its the fees for extra services offer “choice in pricing.” After a U.S. Government Accountability Office report this week scrutinizing airline fees, U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal, who requested the study, said the report “confirms… that airlines are nickel and diming...
Summerhill, Midtown projects win tax breaks from Invest Atlanta
The board of Atlanta’s economic development agency approved more than $17 million in tax incentives for several developers on Thursday, but tax breaks for a pair of projects at the former Turner Field caused a clash among board members, with one saying the agency needs to re-think its public investment strategy. The board of Invest Atlanta narrowly approved a nearly $2.6 million tax break for...
Equifax’s rapid growth probably added to its hacking risk, experts say
Until a dozen years ago, Equifax Corp. quietly made most of its money helping banks and other lenders figure out which U.S. customers were a safe bet for a mortgage, auto loan or credit card. Then Richard Smith was hired on as the Atlanta company’s new chief executive in 2005. The former General Electric executive quickly embarked on a plan to rev up Equifax’s growth. These days, thanks...
Study: TSA lines shorten, but airport construction causes frustration
Last year it was long TSA lines frustrating travelers. This year, it’s airport construction. That’s not just in Atlanta at the world’s busiest airport, but at airports across the country, according to a new J.D. Power survey. Hartsfield-Jackson is in the middle of a $6 billion expansion and modernization plan, that has created construction zones disrupting passenger flows in parking...
Georgia recruiters crowdsourcing for sites to pitch Amazon for HQ2
Got 100 acres or more to sell? Is it near a bus or MARTA rail line, and within 45 minutes of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport? If the answers are yes to those questions, the Georgia Department of Economic Development wants to hear from you. The state’s top recruiting agency has set up a web page to essentially crowdsource locations to pitch to e-commerce giant Amazon as part of the state&rsquo...
Accenture project a ‘milestone’ for Atlanta’s tech scene
Global consulting giant Accenture will locate a new innovation hub in Technology Square in Midtown Atlanta, a lab where the company will help their clients bring new technologies to market and “a milestone” for the region’s technology scene, state and city leaders said Wednesday. In confirming the project, Accenture said it plans to create 800 new high-paying jobs in the city...
Delta flights disrupted by Hurricane Maria, Mexico earthquake
As Hurricane Maria tears through the Caribbean, airlines have canceled flights and are urging customers to check their flight status and consider changing their travel plans for the next week. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines’ operations in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas have been disrupted. The carrier said it plans to restart operations at those airports Thursday, but that’s dependent on the...
8 side hustles you can start with almost no money
Dreaming about starting your own business? Don't let your hopes sink just because you're low on financial resources.There are many businesses you can start inexpensively, according to the Balance, a personal finance website. "Some can be started for nothing if you already have the equipment."Such businesses can offer a good living and the satisfaction of being your own boss. These...
Accenture Midtown Atlanta innovation hub to bring 800 new jobs
Global consulting giant Accenture on Wednesday confirmed its plans to create an innovation hub at Technology Square in Midtown, where the company plans to create 800 new jobs by 2020. The innovation hub, part of a planned network of 10 such facilities around the nation, will be designed to that Accenture technologists can aide their Fortune 500 clients and other major companies in designing and testing...
UPS hiring 95,000 seasonal workers
Sandy Springs-based UPS plans to hire about 95,000 seasonal employees for the busy holiday shipping period that runs from November through January. The jobs include drivers, driver-helpers and package handlers. Those interested must apply at UPSjobs.com. The company will also recruit at college campuses during NCAA college football games this fall. The number of hires planned is on par with the...
Kempner: Equifax data breach fiasco? It’s actually a stunning repeat
Tell me if you think you already know this: An Atlanta area company with a horde of sensitive personal information lands on the hot seat for letting bad guys get consumers’ secrets. Consumers complain the company waited too long to warn them, didn’t have its act together when it finally did and then offered inadequate protections. Federal investigators dig into questions of insider trading...
Accenture to announce 100s of new Atlanta jobs; more jobs might follow
Business consulting giant Accenture will announce on Wednesday it is adding more than 500 largely-tech related jobs in Atlanta over the next few years, a decision that comes as the state gears up for what might be its largest ever economic development push to win the second headquarters for Amazon. The planned expansion of Accenture’s operations at Technology Square in Midtown will be announced...
Pirates might be to blame for why the U.S. doesn't use the metric system
The proposal, conceived by a bunch of pointy-headed Parisian philosophes, sounded brilliant: A universal system of measurement, derived from decimal-based units and identified by a shared set of prefixes. It would end the era of merchants buying goods according to one unit, selling in another, and pocketing the ill-gotten profit. It would simplify scientific calculations and enable the free exchange...
Equifax breach could shake consumer confidence, cut spending
It’s too early to know if Equifax’s massive data breach will have a significant impact on the U.S. economy, but it’s not too soon to worry, economists say. The Atlanta-based company recently acknowledged that information on 143 million people was commandeered by hackers. That’s not the largest such breach – information from more than 1 billion accounts was exposed last...
Atlanta’s home sales slip in August, Re/Max says
The end of the summer meant declining sales, dipping prices and continued drop in listings of homes for sale in metro Atlanta real estate, according to a report issued by Re/Max on Tuesday. The expected cooling of the market followed the usual patter, said John Rainey, a vice president with the company. “Atlanta’s housing market is following the seasonal and national trends for the year...
Deal touts big year for Georgia business recruiting
Gov. Nathan Deal visited the new offices Tuesday of one of the state’s highest profile corporate recruits to celebrate what the state called a record-breaking year for its economic development team. The Georgia Department of Economic Development played a role in expansion and business relocation decisions in the year ended June 30 that will lead to 30,309 new jobs in the state. The work by the...
White people are really confident that things are getting better for black people
Americans, especially wealthy whites, vastly overestimate progress toward racial economic equality despite evidence of persistent gaps between black and white workers when it comes to hourly wages, annual income and household wealth, according to a new paper by Yale University researchers published Monday. The study's results are especially stunning in the wake of census data released last week that...
Media report: Feds investigating top Equifax executives’ stock trading
Two federal agencies are investigating three top Equifax executives’ stock trades to see whether they violated insider trading laws, according to a media report. Bloomberg reported Monday that a criminal probe by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta is focused on Equifax’s chief financial officer and presidents of two business units, who sold a combined $1.8 million in stock...
SEC: SunTrust pays $1.1 million for steering clients to costly funds
SunTrust Banks agreed to pay a $1.1 million penalty after a federal agency accused the Atlanta-based bank of steering investors to more costly mutual funds and pocketing part of the money. The federal Securities and Exchange Commission said SunTrust betrayed its clients by selling them mutual fund shares that charge extra fees, called 12b-1 fees, when cheaper share classes were available for the same...
Why little has been done to protect people from breaches like Equifax
The hacking of Atlanta-based credit reporting giant Equifax has revealed the patchwork nature of the nation’s system of cybersecurity when it comes to protecting sensitive consumer data. The breach, which exposed the Social Security numbers and other data of 143 million Americans, has also revealed how little protection and how few remedies consumers have in the wake of such a devastating...
Media report: Feds investigating top Equifax executives’ stock trading
The Department of Justice is investigating three top Equifax executives’ stock trades to see whether they violated insider trading laws, according to a media report Monday. Bloomberg reported that the federal agency probe is focused on its chief financial officer and presidents of two business units who sold a combined $1.8 million in stock in early August, days after the company learned...
Atlanta housing takes a hit in August — but prices up over the year
The housing market in metro Atlanta took a hit in August, although prices were up compared to a year ago, according to the Atlanta Realtors Association. The median sales price of a home sold last month was $250,000 – up 5 percent from a year earlier, according to the group’s report issued late Friday. However, the number of sales during the month was 6.1 percent lower than in August of...
9 ways to be more confident at work – or just look like you are
Those co-workers that always win their point and never seem to have one second of self-doubt – what have they got that you don't?"Confidence equals security equals positive emotion equals better performance," says The Energy Project CEO Tony Schwartz in Harvard Business Review. Life Hacker also noted that confidence means more promotions at work.But if you have bouts of self-doubt...
Two top Equifax executives step down Friday after massive data breach
Equifax Corp. said late Friday that two of its top executives are retiring in the wake of the embattled Atlanta company’s recent disclosure that hackers got away with sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, on 143 million people. The company, which is one of the nation’s three key credit-tracking agencies, said its chief information officer and chief security officer...
Two Equifax executives retire after cyber breach
Two senior Equifax executives are retiring from the company effective immediately, the company said Friday, as an explosive cyber security breach rocks the Atlanta-based credit bureau. Chief Information Officer David Webb and Chief Security Officer Susan Mauldin are out, though the company did not name the executives in announcing the retirements. Webb led global information technology, according...
Atlanta and Georgia leaders to make big Amazon push for HQ2
In a once-in-a-generation sweepstakes to win Amazon’s $5 billion second headquarters — and 50,000 jobs — the state and Atlanta are all in. Legislative leaders are open to new incentives to lure the tech firm. Recruiters are scouting potential mega-sites close to transit and highways. And Gov. Nathan Deal said he’s ordered his economic team to make a “big push” to...
Prospects for Atlanta hiring still good, says jobs company
Among big cities, Atlanta ranks as the 18th best place to look for a new job, according to an online database. As of last month, there were nearly 200,000 job openings in the region, giving job-seekers better odds than in many places, according to California-based Glassdoor. But those seeker should proceed cautiously: Where the metro area comes up short is in the satisfaction that awaits in those...
Georgia utilities say power restored to almost 95 percent of customers
The number of Georgia homes and businesses without power dropped below 100,000 on Friday for the first time since Tropical Storm Irma roared into the state. The storm had knocked out power to about 1.5 million customers in the state on Monday, more than a third of them in metro Atlanta. By Friday afternoon, the state’s utilities reported that 80,500 customers remained without power, including...
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