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. In our case, the fans, customers, guests or grantees, whatever the case may be, you're going to find out the ultimate truth of what you need to do to build a business response to issues, spot opportunities, deal with problems, whatever it may be. The statement came about five days after Gov. Arthur Blank enjoys one of his favorite hobbies at Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, one of three guest ranches owned by Blank Family of Businesses. So in this case, we were coming back from a game after the team had played in St. Louis against the old St. Louis Rams theyre now in L.A. and instead of riding in the front of the plane with the coaches and managers, I sat in the back with the players. 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. So, then we opened up The Home Depot. But I know that his essence, at his heart and his soul, is a really good person that cares deeply about humanity. Arthur Blank talks sensible gun reform. "It's healthy to disagree on things, but it's not acceptable to not be kind.". Weve never won a Super Bowl, and this years loss in Super Bowl LI was especially hard to take. 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. You can change your choices at any time by clicking on the 'Privacy dashboard' links on our sites and apps. The stadium boasts roughly 4,000 solar panels and will use 70 percent less energy. So I'm happy to see that, you know, he came back to Atlanta and spent time here. 2010-2023 Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Why Should Tim Walz Even Bother Debating Scott Jensen? But Id like to say to CNN right now: Karmas a mother. I've had conversations with a number of senators who made it very clear that some of their best friends, both politically and otherwise, are on the other side of the aisle. /Width 625 The largest donor was Falcons owner Arthur Blank. Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United owner Arthur M. Blank released a statement Monday on the importance of fair elections and democracy: "Free and fair elections are vital to the health of our. And I remember he told me, he said, You know, when [I went into] the prison system, they gave me three pair of underwear, three shirts, three pair slacks, three socks and one pair of shoes, and that was it. He said, That was all I was going to have, as opposed to the lifestyle he was leading before. "His approach obviously is different. The guest. In 1978, they co-founded the home-improvement retailer The Home Depot, with the help of merchandising expert Pat Farrah and New York investment banker Ken Langone who assembled a group of investors. Additionally in 2014, the Atlanta Braves announced that they were building a new stadium outside the city in the northern suburbs, and leaving Turner Field, which was originally the site of Centennial Olympic Stadium for the 1996 summer games. They were trying to indicate that what the military had fought for these rights, the civil rights, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc. The views expressed here are the authors' alone, not necessarily the views of their clients, employers or families. Yeah, It Could Have Been Worse. 260 14th St. NW As I've said, 95% of my estate is going to be recycled back through our foundations and they will provide their insights and their leadership and their views and values that their father and their mothers would be very proud of. So it was good. So, I would say it was very successful. But, you know, I think the word civility is terribly important today in the political world in which we just don't see it the way we need to see it. We dont have the answers, but we are committed to listening and responding to the people who have made this their lifes work and to the citizens they serve. 12, Blank has been married three times. The latest of Blank's many charitable endeavors is aimed at helping the museum expand its reach. I had another NFL player, while [Vick] was in prison, come visit me and say I came from exactly the same neighborhood, but it was in a part of Pittsburgh. So sadly, Michael was raised in an environment where that was kind of normal behavior, if you will. We Present You Trumps Deposition, More or Less Verbatim. Give them hope. Its also part memoir of how his ethics evolved from watching his father run a neighborhood pharmacy in Queens, New York, to launching multi-billion dollar ventures. 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. In 1978, both he and future Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank were fired during a corporate power struggle at Handy Dan. I mean, you know, all those things. A message sent to Arthur Blank from President Obama in 2018, thanking him for his commitment to affordability at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium after Blank cut concession prices by 50%. There are people and other countries who are posting things pretending to be US, pretending to stand for peaceful protest, but they are trying to incite us into violence and chaos to try and do more harm! Soccer fans don't want to feel like they go into a stadium and they're a second-class citizen citizen. Student Loan Forgiveness and The Ghost of John Kline, (Who?). The Falcons' owner, Arthur Blank, the co-founder of Home Depot with a net worth of $3 billion, at first glance certainly fits the bill of your standard billionaire athletic team owner. The Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR) mission is to ensure elections are secure, voters have confidence in election outcomes and democracy thrives as civic engagement grows. For years, Americans have fallen prey to the con of wealthy businessmen who want to build shiny new sports arenas yet dont want to pay for them. And I told him before, You get in a convertible and drive around the field and Michael, there are 73,000 people in the building. /BitsPerComponent 8 Hey, Senate DFLers, Dont Forget The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact! He had three children with his first wife Diana Blank, whom he divorced in 1993. But tell me what I can do to help? And they said, Well, you know, the reality is about 40% of our stadium is empty. It's good to be different, said Blank, but he said it's the intolerance of some that worries him about the future. And next thing I know, he was sitting on his knees and with a gun to his head. RELATED:Georgia Secretary of State calls many election changes 'solid'. 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. They all have a great set of eyes and they're all different. We don't have any fans in our building, and this is what we plan on doing: We're going to, you know, promote season tickets for 100 bucks or $10 a ticket. And I remember waiting for, you know, probably two minutes. With Labels, Listen to Affected Populations, Not Activists, As With Alcohol, Mitigation, Not Prohibition, Is the Answer, It Seems Democrats Are Blundering Badly (Again) with Their All-Abortion, All-the-Time Campaign. When he came out, he was on house arrest and I took a meal to him and his family from his favorite restaurant here in Atlanta. To assist with the effective inclusion of community voices, the city of Atlanta participated in the Living Cities City Accelerator program, which streamlined and articulated (PDF) best practices for service providers and community leaders to build stable communities in Atlanta. In the 1940sGeorgia mountains, eight children were taken into the woods and left to die. Liz Cheney Aint Going Nowhere in This Republican Party, Jensens Abortion Ban Promises Come Back to Haunt Him, Thanks to Oppo. Given its footprint, we have good rights to expect a lot more from this monolith. However, peaceful protests really go back and look at the history of our country back to the Boston Tea Party. And he had to mop the floors for weeks and months on end. I mean, I was stuttering when I was senior class president, [and in] student government. One was in pricing. 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. /Creator ( w k h t m l t o p d f 0 . Its appalling how heavily-to-tightly-managed entities, especially those controlled by a small cluster of well-heeled egos turn into shuddering eunuchs at the thought of riling just an ugly faction of its consumer base. I mean, those fans, they feel like that's the only sport that we're hosting in that stadium. He notes pervasive cynicism about corporate leaders and perceptions that the drive for profit comes at the expense of public good. We were living in a single-bedroom apartment in Queens. All Rights Reserved. And then he worked in the laundry. This is chaos. /Title ( A r t h u r b l a n k p o l i t i c s) follow. This is not the legacy of civil rights in America. Were trying to do the exact opposite of that.. I'm not sure how they're going to receive you. Two Gruden compadres, ex-Gophers star and former NFL coach Tony Dungy and his ESPN partner Mike Tirico, both black, are in a bad spot for defending Gruden about his michellin [sic] tires description of another black guys lips. Arthur blank politics The largest donation made to a political party by an Atlanta Falcons employee was by Arthur Blank. Low Expectations and Dark Hopes for the New Year, Minnesotas Wealthiest Social Security Beneficiaries Shouldnt Be First in Line for Help, Time to Limit HOAs Solar Panel Policing Powers, Pop Quiz: How Many People Actually Know Whats Going On?. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Enter your email address to be notified about new posts. 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. So we spent six months maybe talking to fans, or people that were not fans, but were, you know, living in the Atlanta area at that time, and we found out that there were four or five things we had to fix. Sign up for notifications from Insider! By Bob Bahr October 12, 2021, 5:48 pm. that those rights were not being fully reflected in our society today. Ticket pricing was higher than it could have been or should have been at that time, and so I brought Dick Sullivan over from Home Depot, the gentleman who now runs our PGA Superstores and we came up with a strategy that we've got to sell season's tickets for $100. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. I know you see my partner, Bernie, on Fox News very often. And they love that. "And I'm not 100 years old I'm getting there, but I'm not but the things I see and deal with are just inherently not what's made this country great. It's not trying influence, but trying to share philosophies of life and stories and thoughts about a certain set of values, which really transcend business, nonprofit, as well as the political arena. 6 Blank was the 2003 Chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. So that was a low price a lower price than before Michael Vick the star quarterback was born 22 years before that. "He cares deeply about giving back and making a difference in people's lives. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images), WSOC TV facebook feed(Opens a new window), >> Go home. He's done a lot of work in terms of animal rights, which has been great and been appreciated by all of those agencies and all those institutions. Marcus has been an outspoken Donald Trump devotee throughout both the 2016 and 2020 elections, donating $7 million to Trump's campaign four years ago. $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ? ATLANTA - Atlanta Falcons Owner Arthur Blank released a statement on Saturday following President Donald Trump's comments on Friday about the NFL. 15, Two of Blanks children, Dena Kimball and Kenny Blank, sit on the board of directors of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Also watchRISING UP: A Westside Story,a documentary film by David Lewis Productions that gives viewers a detailed look into the ideation, construction, and impact of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on the city of Atlanta. The couple filed for divorce in 2013. But We Aint Seen Nuthin Yet. GALEO engages in advocacy, creates opportunities for engagement and networking, and develops leadership skills for Latino community members. All of us as human beings, I think need to do a much better job of being a good listener. Please consider making a gift today to support this vital public service. Blank also contributed $28,500 to the Obama Victory Fund in 2008. j"[p!d~oB?1].drwe GM]/v2q3^u[\ /. Home Depot cofounder, Arthur Blank, is a longtime Democratic supporter and donated $250,000 to committees supporting Joe Biden between July and September in 2020, Forbes reported. During the past year, GALEO staff and volunteers have participated in events at food banks, churches, and schools, where they provide information while assisting with free COVID-19 testing and food distribution. It starts with respect. I went to a small business school outside of Boston called Babson College I would always sit in the front because I always wanted to pay attention and learn. I'll flip words around, you know, subconsciously and, and make sentences complete. It is making no promises that it will reveal everything it has found out about the Redskins and others who had contact with the team. But go ahead and do it, if that's what you want. So we did it. Georgia businessman Arthur Blank joins with voting groups on Democracy Class Atlanta The Jolt: Arthur Blank teams with voting groups to forge 'Democracy Class Atlanta' Caption Credit:. So it really never defined me. The NFL owners club is a remarkable collection of avaricious gargoyles. Its more like cowardly, and meatheaded. Left to right: Dennis Ross, Arthur Blank, Bernie Marcus, Pat Farrah, Ron Brill. These are the kinds of people we need in leadership today, not thinking about red, blue, purple. And the Falcons new stadiumscheduled to open this summerwith an estimated cost of $1.5 billion, $200 million coming from Atlanta hotel-motel taxesis definitely big and shinny with tons of gadgets to enhance the fan experience. But this is where the similarities with most other stadiums end. It's the customers. /CreationDate (D:20210314125741+02'00') But really, in my view, it's mostly that talking to young people about, you know, here's somebody who's been there, done it, gotten on T-shirts, lived it, and somebody whose name they respect or the least they know of, I should say, in most cases. Can We Please Kill Off the Tipping Mumbo-Jumbo? Arthur Blank is worried that capitalism is getting a bad rap. Scott Jensens Dramatic Fall Shows Ads Still Matter. MATTIE'S CALL: A 9-month-old baby girl was reported missing from the Ellenwood area with a man police say was diagnosed with a mental illness. Those come first. [/Pattern /DeviceRGB] Looting is NOT THE ANSWER!!! No. endobj He just opened the door. About Arthur Blank Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus cofounded Home Depot in 1978 after being fired from their jobs at a regional hardware store. 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. In 1989, the company opened its 100th store. Peaceful protests of the past have led to new ways forward. GPB is committedto bringing you comprehensive news coverage from Georgia, across the country and around the world. ", It is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy We have to be better than this moment. Stay up to date with what you want to know. 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. Their siblings, their families, you know, may have gone to battle and wore a variety of uniforms for our country over many, many years. Blank is a strong supporter of the Democratic Party. We need to recognize those truths. But my mother would say to me, You know, what you have to say is important. Mercedes-Benz Stadium will also be home to Atlantas MLS team, Atlanta United FC. Now it's ranked like seventh. 7) All those 25,000 tickets were gone. And at the top of that is who is being served comes first. But what, I ask, would be the effect of a dozen or so top current and former stars, coaches and league executives stepping up to a camera and telling pro footballs millions (and millions) of fans to get vaccinated for the sake of other people like the season ticket holders sitting next to them if not themselves? Blank retired from the company in 2001 as co-chairman. Atlanta Falcons vNew Orleans Saints Owner Arthur Blank of the Atlanta Flacons reacts before a game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on November 10, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. That coming the day before the New York Times dropped the bomb(s) about Gruden calling the NFL commissioner a faggot, ripping the leagues concussion protocols, (in other words, Grudens pro-concussion) and trading nudie pictures of cheerleaders. My suspicion is that while Dungy and Tirico and dozens if not hundreds of other NFL leaders may have been surprised by Grudens racist imagery, they arent as unfamiliar with his other boys club stupidity. All Rights Reserved. Because It Delivers Comfort, Status and Cash. But that was typical of my mother. Resistance to Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Futile. His is another example of how well powerful systems, in this case, the almighty NFL, can throw a PR cocoon around people and project to the public only the parts of its culture that serve its business interests until they dont. All of which is, yknow, really classy stuff. Nationality: United States Executive summary: Co-Founder of Home Depot. The Falcons leadership knows how to play politics. meathead) culture inside the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins. 8 In 2012, Blank signed the Giving Pledge and committed to giving more than half of his wealth away to philanthropic efforts in his lifetime. The foundation is . /Producer ( Q t 4 . The public discourse on these and other issues is too divisive, too political. The Atlanta Falcons new stadium is going to be beautiful. We hold all the records. Owner Arthur Blank of the Atlanta Flacons reacts before a game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on November 10, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. 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. ", CNN -- Ted [Turner] did a great thing. They have no serious public, political advocates. /AIS false Players and coaches appear giving quick testimonials. A study by ESPN and FiveThirtyEight in October 2020 showed Blank is a bipartisan contributor to political campaignsbut contributed more to Democratic candidates from 2012 to 2020. Tikkun Olam [a Jewish concept of repairing the world through action]. 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. It is in effect protecting the teams owner, a guy regularly reviled by sportswriters, players and fans as a (very wealthy) toxic idiot. The ones in Atlanta on Friday started off peaceful but later turned into violent demonstrations and looting of local businesses. I love CNN, I love Cartoon Network. And he recently gave $250,000 to committees supporting Joe Biden, Forbes reported. Your support makes this possible. I am, in a certain sense. I suspect he had help. Arthur Blank is worried that capitalism is getting a bad rap. Paul, are you there? In recent years Atlantas sports teams have attracted controversies that have highlighted the racial disparities that still largely define the city. And Blanks role in this project extends beyond the stadium. And then as Dr. King wrote in his last book, which his wife published a year after he passed away. And they love the camaraderie. If executed improperly, this stadium could continue a long line of broken promises for this blighted community. I concede, as others who know him personally have, that Im stunned that a guy like Gruden who has been a high-profile media/cultural presence for over 20 years, regularly giving live interviews, chewing up air time as a TV analyst and obliging all the other requests for personal contact that go with being a football celebritry could conceal his essential meat-headedness so long and so well. !, Do not fall for this foolishness!!! Another Home. To anyone interested in a deeper dive into NFL culture I strongly recommend, Big Game by New York Times Magazine writer Mark Leibovich for an inside-the-suites sense of who says what to who when its more or less just them peer billionaires talking. [Thats] something that I talk about in the book, which most people are not aware of. Max died when Arthur was 15, leaving his mother to grow what became a multi-million-dollar business. And I love him. He's committed to his wife now, his children. Home Depot cofounder, Arthur Blank, is a longtime Democratic supporter and donated $250,000 to committees supporting Joe Biden between July and September in 2020, Another Home Depot cofounder, Bernie Marcus, is an. /Filter /DCTDecode And I remember him looking at me saying, If I told your mother what you just said, she would wash your mouth out with soap. But that was the last thing I said. So I think that part of that comes out of really being a good listener and responding to what you're hearing and trying to find a way to make things work for the benefit of everybody collaboratively. But you want your core values to be the same, ideally. I would suggest, for anybody in business, that you listen to who you're serving. Please, please stop this violence!! He received his MBA from Harvard. Blank retired as Home Depot's co-chairman in. 5 Other Blank family businesses include the nationwide PGA TOUR Superstore as well as a handful of ranches across the country. But it's really not a story about dogfighting. Blank, speaking with Falcons reporters via phone from the Super Bowl, expressed confidence in the direction of the team following a 7-10 finish under second-year coach Arthur Smith. So there was no disrespect to the military. "Obviously, it's a tragic time in the history of the. What Would Trump Steal That is So Ultra Top Secret and Why? Arthur Blank on NFL kneelers: 'Players have no interest in being disrespectful to flag' Political Insider By Jim Galloway, Political Insider Trump is apparently referencing a highly sourced. The Number of White Teachers About to Get Fired is Exactly Zero. I still remember this as if it was yesterday. It doesn't mean we agree on everything, we don't, but that's healthy," he said. And if you go to the Museum of Equal Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, [Equal Justice Initiative Director] Bryan Stevenson says the same thing: We need to recognize [that] these 5000 lynchings took place in the United States[a 2019 Report from the EJI documents more than 4440 racial terror lynchings in the U.S. between 1877 and 1950]. Its a story about making bad choices and the impact of young people. Playoffs, playoff championships, etc. That Vote for Secretary of State? Arthur Blank is firmly in Joe Biden's corner. The system has worked well for the multi-billionaire and co-founder of The Home Depot. The problem for the big, powerful, macho NFL, as it is for every other giant public entity, is that racism and cancer are kind of the easy stuff. Why Is Doc Jensen Still So Obsessed With His Long-Disproven COVID Claims? Our history of voting rights is a constant struggle, a repetitive cycle of expansion followed by restriction. ,> U#kw1%dHT6qZq]9Ki o Blank's statement did not specify any initiatives or call any elected officials or political parties by name. A Member of the Blank Family of Businesses. So you take your time, you get the words out and people will listen to you. So I think that from those days in college where I raised my hand and I know my buddies around the class would think, Oh, boy, here goes another 5-minute answer, you know? 1, I think at that time I didn't probably fully appreciate the environment, the communities and neighborhood that Michael was raised in, an area called New Newport News.