The Home Depot co-founder, Arthur Blank, candidly shares details of an impromptu meeting in an airport hangar when he was asked to step down, the company's short-term mistake of replacing him. After cofounding Home Depot in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1978, Blank and Marcus helped put the do-it-yourself phenomenon on the map by offering the tools for personal home renovations. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 6 Blank was the 2003 Chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. The Georgia Dome was also built for the Olympics, and construction for Philips Arenathe Hawks home, which sits next door to the Dome and where the previous basketball arena, the Omni Colosseum, once satbegan in 1997. We hold all the records. Though the 78-year-old who's now the owner of the Atlanta Falcons NFL team was aware of their political differences, he said it never had any bearing on their shared values. The 79-year-old co-founder of Atlanta-based The Home Depot . /SA true "His approach obviously is different. 6 0 obj It Now Actually Matters, a Lot. I've always believed that the circumstances around me might change, but these core values, which we discuss in the book, they're not mine, they really belong to all of us. I want you guys to come up with real solutions. Young you are. On Thursday, Falcons owner Arthur Blank's foundation donated a five-year, $17 million grant to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. Here, using insidegov.com's database, are the disclosed political donations* for majority NFL owners dating back to the 2008 election. Is Arthur Blank the Only Good Owner in the NFL? - The Daily Beast Our Family Foundation and the rest of our businesses here in Atlanta and elsewhere remain committed to being part of the solution., Together for Atlanta. The book lays out a set of values that guided him to turn around the struggling Atlanta Falcons NFL team, launch the Atlanta United FC soccer club and build the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. PDF Arthur blank politics And so he speaks to people throughout the United States, young people primarily, about that. Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta is the first nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in Georgia and the Southeast. Theres at least one more level to the Jon Gruden disaster that NFL fans should consider about the leagues remarkable influence. ATLANTA Protests over the death of George Floyd have been gaining national attention. But you want your core values to be the same, ideally. /CA 1.0 I have what's called a veil state, or I am a stutterer. /BitsPerComponent 8 Home Depot Co-Founder Donates to Mentorship Program for Teens - The New 1, Arthur Blank was born to Molly and Max Blank in Queens, New York. And my mother was giving him a lecture saying, You realize this is not what your parents would want you to do. It is my hope that we take this terrible moment in our history to elevate that conversation toward productive action and lasting, positive change. (And Im not forgetting Colin Kaepernicks protests against police violence, and how the league effectively blackballed him before paying him off to avoid a certain-to-be-nightmarish public trial.). Like all stories meant to inspire, he takes some knocks. $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ? February 4, 2021 4:12 pm ET. Left to right: Dennis Ross, Arthur Blank, Bernie Marcus, Pat Farrah, Ron Brill. Citizens and municipalities have for far too long believed these baseless claims, paid for the stadium, and watched them lie dormant during the offseason as the new businesses never came. This is not a protest. my patience level probably is not the level it would have to be to sustain myself in this political atmosphere today. American professional sports owners have contributed nearly $47 million in federal elections since 2015, according to research by ESPN in partnership with FiveThirtyEight, including $10 million. More must be done to address systemic racism. In total, they anticipate hosting each year 40 to 50 big events and an additional 100 to 200 small events in the neighboring park that will be built where the Georgia Dome currently resides. Looting is NOT THE ANSWER!!!! I think back when I lived in a neighborhood, you know, a small neighborhood, when my mother and dad were alive, we all took care of each other. The Arthur M. Blank Foundation announced on Wednesday a new series of grants focusing on mental health and well-being in response to America's growing mental health crisis. So, long story short, I think, is that we should recognize the past, understand the progress we have made. Founded in 2010 as the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center (AALAC), the organization became part of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation in 2014. GALEO has also handed out flyers at city events, supermarkets, and churches that target Latinos. Blank told Business Insider that despite their differences, running a company is "not a red issue or a blue issue" and is instead about sharing the same values. 7) So that's really what it was about. But Still Not Even an Indictment. I mean, everybody's standing for an hour-and-a-half and they just don't sit down. Please, please stop this violence!! The ones in Atlanta on Friday started off peaceful but later turned into violent demonstrations and looting of local businesses. America has long struggled to deliver a fair and equitable democracy to all of its citizens. Georgia Public Radio GPTV, a 2019 Report from the EJI documents more than 4440 racial terror lynchings in the U.S. between 1877 and 1950], National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Political Rewind: Theater critic Jesse Green remembers Mary Rodgers in 'Shy', Longtime nature writer Janisse Ray delivers gripping debut novel, At new season kickoff, Atlanta United looks for fresh start on the field. Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Wednesday he is encouraged by the progress of quarterback Desmond Ridder and the potential of building around the rookie. In order to put this grinding pandemic behind us once and for all? So we had 35, 40 players kneeling before that, after that speech, we had close to 300 players kneeling because they took it personally and their families took it personally and their parents and their siblings and their grandparents and their heritage was being challenged. Arthur Blank is worried that capitalism is getting a bad rap. And the core values that our forefathers drafted for us they weren't perfect, either, but in their own ways, they strove for those things. The pair always strove to create a work environment that put people before politics, said Blank. Now 78, he is largely beloved in Georgia as an entrepreneur, owner of two professional sports teams and a prolific philanthropist. Think about How do I listen to the people that are actually trying to serve and how do we put results in place that would give them the very best chance for equality and for success and for fair treatment? And I think we have to strive more for that. "It's healthy to disagree on things, but it's not acceptable to not be kind.". Owner, Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC. How do I do my part in it? Thats great. The next thing is making sure you exercise your political bully power and going to local elections and beating up the politicians you dont like., It is time to beat up prosecutors you dont like at the voting booth. Continued: https://t.co/yePGJUaGVV, Ive got a lot of love and respect for police officers., We dont want to see Targets burning. Prior to the construction of the Georgia Dome they played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium with the Atlanta Braves, and you could see the spot where Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth in home runs. But the level where this Gruden idiocy touches the countrys perilous moment is where the NFL arguably one of the most popular and therefore influential organizations/corporations in the country could and should use Grudens buffoonish racism and sexism to make unambiguous statements to its fans, which is to say just about everyone in the country. Arthur Blank releases statement after Trump's comments on NFL And he had to mop the floors for weeks and months on end. To many Atlantans, myself included, leaving Turner Field was symbolic of the white flight that has defined the city since the 1960s. This isnt just a short-cut, this is a long-term play with significant input and investment into the community and its future, said Scott Jenkins, the general manager of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, to The Daily Beast. >> And he should know. The wealthy propose tax increases on the poor and middle class to pay for their new stadiums, and they claim that new businesses flocking to the area will magically cover the costs. I mean, it doesn't make a difference how old you are. 16 Blanks son, Kenny Blank, also sits on the foundations board and is the executive director of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. This must happen more than every four years, because theres no offseason for democracy. In a time when more than half of Americans are dissatisfied with the state of our democracy, the most powerful way to demonstrate and have our voices heard is through the vote. Scott Jensens Dramatic Fall Shows Ads Still Matter. He notes pervasive cynicism about corporate leaders and perceptions that the drive for profit comes at the expense of public good. /ca 1.0 A protest has purpose. Both John Lewis John, just a month before he passed away and Andy Young have said to me that we do have to recognize that things are better than they used to be. Currently, over 200 Westside residents are working on the stadiums construction and the foundation has funded, among other things, Westside Works to help residents find employment and learn job training skills. We need to recognize those truths. But, you know, I needed to change my view on what I could give back and how it could be connected to other people.. I, like almost everyone else, had already started celebrating at halftime. I listen to what he says and sometimes I'll cringe. /Length 7 0 R "I think one of the things that is wrong with America today that we can work on and become better at is that we need to become better listeners to each other and we need to be better about understanding where people are coming from," Blank said.