Blank, who is Jewish, also addressed the administration's failure to recognize the losses suffered by the Jewish people during the Holocaust. GALEO engages in advocacy, creates opportunities for engagement and networking, and develops leadership skills for Latino community members. He and an associate, Bernie Marcus, began experimenting with product discounts in one Handy Dan outlet and observed positive effects of decreasing costs as a percentage of sales and an increase in customer volume. We believe the right to vote is sacred and should be protected, so that we can have an active and engaged citizenry that participates in our democracy year-round, not just during presidential election cycles. The Blank foundation also emphasizes environmental sustainability and aims to support programs that foster this message in the Westside. And if I stop talking now for two minutes, you realize just how long two minutes is. And Ambassador Young, another good friend would say the same thing. (Confidentiality, you know.) 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. Liz Cheney Aint Going Nowhere in This Republican Party, Jensens Abortion Ban Promises Come Back to Haunt Him, Thanks to Oppo. And so he's used that time since he got out of prison and giving back to community, speaking to young people. CEIR works to build voter trust and confidence, increase voter participation and improve the efficiency of election administration. Despite being widowed at a young age, his mother managed the familys mail-order pharmaceutical business and sold it to a large retail conglomerate. Fernandez says that they intend to use the stadium as an anchoring institution, and that the number one thing people in the community said they wanted are jobs. It's the customers. One of the beauties is that when you come to the stadium, it feels like it's the United Nations. Home Depot cofounders Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus have long been on separate sides of the fence when it comes to politics. The public discourse on these and other issues is too divisive, too political. These are not political issues, they are human issues that need serious, earnest attention from leaders and . Proceeds from sales of Good Companygo to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. 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. The firing in 1978 was a political situation primarily between my partner Bernie [Marcus] and a gentleman, that has passed away now, who was his boss. This is not a protest. 15, Two of Blanks children, Dena Kimball and Kenny Blank, sit on the board of directors of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. He received his MBA from Harvard. 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. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Arthur%2BBlank&contributor_employer=The%2BArthur&two_year_transaction_period=2016&contributor_state=GA, https://www.ajc.com/news/local/molly-blank-strong-widow-grew-successful-business-sons/JMYrzmcGsGc4nXD58rqltJ/, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197614, https://corporate.homedepot.com/sites/default/themes/thd/images/timeline/History-Of-The-Home-Depot.pdf, https://www.forbes.com/profile/arthur-blank/?sh=ae7b330749c3, https://www.atlantafalcons.com/team/front-office-roster/arthur-blank, https://blankfoundation.org/trustee/arthur-m-blank/, https://www.atlantafalcons.com/news/statement-from-arthur-blank-on-georgia-voting-rights, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/04/11/companies-voting-bills-states/, https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/arthur-blank-wife-angela-are-getting-a-divorce/897352464/, https://saportareport.com/a-longtime-anonymous-donor-reveals-her-identity/sections/abcarticles/maria_saporta/, https://blankfoundation.org/trustee/dena-kimball/, https://blankfoundation.org/trustee/kenny-blank/. Why Is Doc Jensen Still So Obsessed With His Long-Disproven COVID Claims? In 1978, both he and future Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank were fired during a corporate power struggle at Handy Dan. 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. Give them hope. The Falcons leadership knows how to play politics. But Id like to say to CNN right now: Karmas a mother. By all accounts, those associated with the new stadium and the Westside view their presence as at least a 10-20 year commitment toward revitalizing a downtrodden community and bringing the city together. I know you see my partner, Bernie, on Fox News very often. Brian Kemp signed SB 202 into law. The Gruden e-mails were leaked from a (way too) long-running investigation of the toxic (i.e. You're going to get a lot of your fellow owners really pissed. When GALEO was established, Georgias Latino community was not well represented, nor was it a viable electoral force; today, there are over 385,000 registered Latino voters in the state. Now it's ranked like seventh. 4 0 obj meathead) culture inside the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins. Blank also contributed $28,500 to the Obama Victory Fund in 2008. Big Game by New York Times Magazine writer Mark Leibovich, BLM Has Achieved Much More Than Its Critics. He had a gun on his lap, sitting on his right thigh. << Do it in November. I was gagged. Among Blanks diverse interests are the nationwide PGA Tour Superstore chain, three guest ranches in Montana, and a family foundation that counts millions in economic development investments on Atlantas beleaguered Westside among its $660-million outlay to date. Today, Blank is the Chairman of AMB Group LLC, parent company of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United. We had the option of going to a variety of companies, doing a variety of things in a traditional sense of management leadership. /CA 1.0 Our democracy is made stronger when we hear from all Americans on the issues of our day whether they be national or local. "It's healthy to disagree on things, but it's not acceptable to not be kind.". Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Please consider making a gift today to support this vital public service. I understand that, but I respect it," said Blank. Virginia Prescott is theGracie Award-winning host of On Second Thought for Georgia Public Broadcasting. His professional team Atlanta United FC brought professional soccer to Atlanta beginning in 2017. 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. Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with businessman Arthur Blank about gun regulation and philanthropy. We Present You Trumps Deposition, More or Less Verbatim. 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. In 2022, they plan to connect with over 1 million voters/ potential voters through phone banking, text banking, in-person canvassing events, and going door to door. Enter your email address to be notified about new posts. We've broken every season ticket record per game. Looting is NOT THE ANSWER!!! Thats great. follow. And my mother was giving him a lecture saying, You realize this is not what your parents would want you to do. 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. How best to put it? 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. We expect to learn a great deal from these groups and have that learning inform our strategy on voting access and civic participation in Georgia and beyond. 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. We were living in a single-bedroom apartment in Queens. 260 14th St. NW Politicians, business owners and celebrities are speaking out to share their thoughts on Floyds death, the issues his killing have brought to the forefront and the protests that turned to chaos, specifically in Atlanta. 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. There are nearly one million Latinos in Georgia, with one of the fastest growth rates of the Latino population in the nation. How? 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. Playoffs, playoff championships, etc. More must be done to address the underlying issues that have led to these incidents across the country. But that was typical of my mother. These are the kinds of people we need in leadership today, not thinking about red, blue, purple. Dueling Visions for Minnesota: Scandinavia or South Dakota? "So, you know, I love him. . At the time, Atlanta liked to call itself The City Too Busy to Hate, but as more African Americans moved to the city the moniker shifted to The City Too Busy Moving to Hate, as more white Atlantans escaped the city to the northern suburbs. << A number of events over the last couple of weeks have reminded us again that the long, worthy quest for equal justice, civility and unity in America is far from over. They all live life with purpose. I remember I called the commissioner then, who was Paul Tagliabue, and I say, Well, Paul, I have this idea. /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB Arthur Blank (Atlanta Falcons owner and co-founder of Home Depot) 2020Joe Biden 2016Hillary Clinton 2012Barack Obama Maxine Clark (founder and former CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop) 2016Hillary Clinton Michael Eisner (former CEO of Disney) 2016Marco Rubio, then later Hillary Clinton 2016Kamala Harris Jack M. Greenberg (former CEO of McDonald's) 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. /Height 155 It is time to hold mayoral offices accountable, chiefs and deputy chiefs. All Rights Reserved. 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. Please, please stop this violence!! They all have a great set of values. 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. I mean, those fans, they feel like that's the only sport that we're hosting in that stadium. Animals and Pets Anime Art Cars and Motor Vehicles Crafts and DIY Culture, Race, and Ethnicity Ethics and Philosophy Fashion Food and Drink History Hobbies Law Learning and Education Military Movies Music Place Podcasts and Streamers Politics Programming Reading, Writing, and Literature Religion and Spirituality Science Tabletop Games . Stop feeding fear and anger every day. His daughter Dena is the executive director of the Kendeda Fund, a left-of-center private foundation founded by her mother, Diana Blank. 7, Blank founded the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation in 1995 and has awarded over $560 million to causes such as education and early childhood development. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. They all understand it's, you know, you have an opportunity to be here on Earth and how do you want to leave it? If you do not want us and our partners to use cookies and personal data for these additional purposes, click 'Reject all'. 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. The largest donor was Falcons owner Arthur Blank. 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. 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. So there was no disrespect to the military. He said, All of that really gave me time not only for redemption, but more importantly, for reflection. And he said, I really realized that I had done a lot of good things in my life putting aside and playing ball. A Handful of Things I Could Not Care Less About, Matt Birk: Rape Victims Are Playing the Rape Card?, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The league has recently been running in-game PSAs pushing cancer and mental health awareness screenings, etc. Walz Cooperation With Law Enforcement Deserves Praise, Not Punishment, If You Think Republicans Cant Ban Abortion in Minnesota, Look No Further than Iowa, Russia, Ukraine and My Seven Months with YouTube. With Enemies Like Scott Jensen, Who Needs Friends? It is my hope that we take this terrible moment in our history to elevate that conversation toward productive action and lasting, positive change. Since then, they have re-organized their focus areas more specifically into four groups: policy advocacy, organizing and civic engagement, impact litigation, and legal services. All those 25,000 tickets were gone. Open, honest dialogue is needed on a much greater scale. But We Aint Seen Nuthin Yet. The NFL owners club is a remarkable collection of avaricious gargoyles. And being a good listener, it's an art form that we all can possess. 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. >> And so he carries a weight of authority that somebody who's just called a suit and comes in and talks to them and doesn't quite feel the same, same way. !, And listen to me, be careful where you are getting your information to JOIN protests!! "I know Bernie's heart. And Blanks role in this project extends beyond the stadium. And they've worked collectively for the United States, for everybody in this country, 330 million people. It starts with respect. ATLANTA - Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United Owner Arthur Blank said Tuesday afternoon he believes voting should be made "easier, not harder for every eligible citizen" and his business and non-profit partners plan to support efforts to advance voting access. Then I would not be bashful about asking questions. The statement came about five days after Gov. And I love him. Like many other enormous corporations the NFL, selling a slick, bristling mix of testosterone and patriotism, ducks away from anything with a whiff of political conflict. I think when the president [Donald Trump] in the fall of 2017 commented during his speech in Alabama about I don't want to use the words, you know what they were but he termed the players that were kneeling, in my view, in a very derogatory way. I am, in a certain sense. (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.). If you sit in your homes instead of burning your home to the ground, you will have time to properly plot, plan, strategize and organize and mobilize in effective ways., Two of the most effective ways is first taking your butt to the computer and making sure you fill out your census so that people know who you are and where you are. Players and coaches appear giving quick testimonials. So, I would say it was very successful. I mean, you write a book like this, it's really getting into kind of the political arena. And myself, if you will, I'm at the very bottom of the pyramid as a servant leader and somebody who is there to provide leadership, but also provide whatever that needs to be done for us to be successful. 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. I want you guys to come up with real solutions. /Title ( A r t h u r b l a n k p o l i t i c s) But he was. Arthur Blank greets a crowd of cheering Atlanta United fans in 2017. This can create a steady stream of jobs and revenue for the community. Over the past week, figures around the NFL have So the answer would be yes. ", It is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy We have to be better than this moment. Not about dogfighting. But I would keep raising my hand. /Type /ExtGState 17. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. And I think we got disconnected. 14, He also had three children with his second wife of 16 years, Stephanie Blank. And I love him. It had to do with our set of values.". Blank's statement did not specify any initiatives or call any elected officials or political parties by name. There was a six-year period in there, when things went a little south. A co-founder of Home Depot increased his giving for children in the pandemic because, he said, "they don't always have the tools to deal with what's happened to them.". So there wasn't a word on the other end of the phone. The rescue team said the man was buried up to his neck in soil.