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Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Ann Hanlon with Perimeter CIDs

March 3, 2025 by angishields

Chamber Spotlight

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Ann Hanlon with Perimeter CIDs

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The inaugural Greater Perimeter Chamber Annual Meeting celebrated the launch of a new era in business leadership across Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and the broader Perimeter region. This pivotal event unveiled their bold vision for the future and clarified what the Chamber stands FOR: business growth, innovation, and collaboration.

As Executive Director for the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts (PCIDs), Ann Hanlon is in charge of the organization’s daily operations, as well as its investments in transportation infrastructure.

The CIDs have an annual operating budget of over $8 million. Previously, Ann was the Executive Director of the the North Fulton CID for 13 years, beginning when it was a start-up. Prior to entering the CID space, Ann served as a Senior Program Specialist at the Atlanta Regional Commission.

A native of South Georgia, Ann received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Government and Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame, and a Masters of Public Administration degree in Management and Finance from Georgia State University.

Ann was honored as the “Woman of the Year” by the Women’s Transportation Seminar Atlanta Chapter in November 2016. In April 2015 and again in 2017, Governor Nathan Deal appointed Ann to the Board of Directors for the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority where she serves on the Projects and Planning committees. Ann was named a “Notable Georgian” by Georgia Trend Magazine in 2017, one of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “Women Who Mean Business” in 2015 and as one of Georgia Trend Magazine’s “40 under 40” in 2012 and 2018.

In 2019, she served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Council for Quality Growth as the Council’s first female Chairman. Additionally, Ann serves on the Board of Directors for the Women’s’ Transportation Seminar, Atlanta Chapter, the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, the Sandy Springs and Dunwoody Perimeter Chambers of Commerce, and the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce.

In 2020, Ann was appointed by CEO Michael Thurmond to the DeKalb County COVID19 task force, and continues to serve in that capacity as a representative of large business interests in Perimeter during the pandemic.

Ann is a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute of the Atlanta Regional Commission (2010) and Leadership North Fulton (2006). Personally, Ann is a volunteer with the Girl Scouts of Metro Atlanta, a member of All Saints Catholic Church and a sustainer with the Junior League of Atlanta. She lives in Dunwoody with her husband, Michael, and their two daughters.

Connect with Ann on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the greater perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Spotlight. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual meeting. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Anne Hanlon with Perimeter CIDs. Welcome.

Ann Hanlon: Thank you so much. I’m thrilled to be here.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m asking everybody, why are you for the Greater Perimeter Chamber?

Ann Hanlon: Oh, I’m so excited to be here today. The kid has been in this market as a community partner since 1999. So we’ve spent decades advocating for this area. And I’m really, really excited that the chamber now is bringing an additional layer of horsepower to our ability to advocate for this region, for transportation projects and economic development, and just making our community a better place.

Lee Kantor: Can you educate our listeners a little bit about us, Sid? What does that mean? What is perimeter Sid’s mission purpose?

Ann Hanlon: Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So Sid stands for Community Improvement District. We are one of about 30 such districts in metro Atlanta. We’re one of the oldest and one of the biggest. We are a special tax district within which commercial property owners pay an additional increment on their property taxes. And those dollars are going to go into a special fund. And those dollars are used to help fund public infrastructure projects like roads and bridges and sidewalks and landscaping. So we’re the ones we work with the city governments. We work with the cities of Sandy Springs and Brookhaven and Dunwoody to help build things that make our community better.

Lee Kantor: Now, is this a government entity?

Ann Hanlon: We’re no, we’re not we’re actually a quasi governmental nonprofit. So we sort of sit in the same kind of civic space that the Chamber of Commerce does.

Lee Kantor: And then how do you work together?

Ann Hanlon: So we we work with the chamber all the time. And our city governments, we represent the big property owners. So in our market we represent the Brookfield properties. They own Perimeter Mall, State Farm, UPS, IHG, WestRock, Cox Enterprises. So a lot of the big corporate names that you may recognize, we represent their commercial interest when we’re sort of lobbying for big projects to come to the area.

Lee Kantor: And those big projects could be widening roads or adding street lights or things like that. That’s right, that’s right.

Ann Hanlon: So from the very, very large, you know, we helped lobby for the 285 at 400 interchange project as an example of a very big one, right also down to the smaller projects like getting the trail system connected throughout perimeter. We’re really excited to help the city of Sandy Springs build out a few trails along Peachtree Dunwoody Road, hopefully eventually connect that to path 400, which goes into Buckhead and Beltline, which ultimately helps us recruit more businesses to come to this area.

Lee Kantor: So is that part of your mission is to communicate with large organizations, say, hey, you should consider relocating in this area and we can help you kind of do that efficiently.

Ann Hanlon: Absolutely, absolutely. And the city governments have really strong economic development programs who are kind of the boots on the ground out there retaining our businesses and recruiting new businesses. So when we’re all working together as a team with the chamber to retain businesses, with the cities, to recruit new businesses, and with the CID to make sure that they have the infrastructure they need once they’re here. We all kind of work together as one big team to take care of the business community here in the market.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need and how can we help?

Ann Hanlon: So I’m so thrilled to be here with with under Adam’s leadership and at the chamber. Um, you know, we’re we want the business community to stay healthy. You know, we want to keep everybody engaged. Um, and looking for the chamber to to reach out to new businesses to get them involved in the community. So they know that perimeter, Sandy Springs and Dunwoody is their home.

Lee Kantor: Well, Anne, thank you so much for sharing your story today. Is there a way to connect? Is there a website? What’s the best way for our listeners to learn more?

Ann Hanlon: Absolutely. We’ve got a website, um, perimeter atlanta.org. Um, we’re on Instagram. We’re on TikTok, we’re on Facebook. We’re on all the things. Um, but, you know, anybody can feel free to reach out to me directly. Um, we got a great staff at the Sid, so we would love to hear from any of your listeners.

Lee Kantor: All right, Anne, thank you again for sharing your story.

Ann Hanlon: Thank you.

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Kevin Glass with Atlanta International School

March 3, 2025 by angishields

Chamber Spotlight

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Kevin Glass with Atlanta International School

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Committed to creating globally-minded students poised to shape the 21st century, Kevin Glass’s vocation and calling is international education. His career in education includes leadership and teaching positions in South and West Africa, Central and North America, and Central Asia. Prior to joining Atlanta International School, Kevin was Director of Tashkent International School in Uzbekistan for five years.

Kevin serves on various local, national and international Boards, including the Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE), the Academy for International School Heads (AISH), the Center for the Advancement and Study of International Education (CASIE), Horizons Atlanta, the Atlanta Area Association in Independent Schools (AAAIS) and the Buckhead Coalition.

Kevin has a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Framingham State College (USA), a Post Graduate Certificate of Education in Biology and Chemistry from Cambridge University (UK), and a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Degree in Bacteriology and Virology from Manchester University (UK).

Kevin is married to Stefani, a career diplomat currently on family leave from the German Foreign Service. They have three children all of whom attend AIS, in the German language program.

Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the greater perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Spotlight. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual meeting. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Kevin Glass with Atlanta International School. Welcome. Thank you.

Kevin Glass: Lee. Great to be here.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m asking everybody and I’m going to ask you, why are you for the Greater Perimeter Chamber?

Kevin Glass: I think organizations like the Greater Perimeter Chamber, they bring businesses and organizations together to build community, to build interest, to build networks, and ultimately enrich the lives for everybody who lives, works and plays in this part of town.

Lee Kantor: Now, tell us about Atlanta International School. How are you serving folks?

Kevin Glass: So Atlanta International School has been going for about 40 years now here in Atlanta. We have at our Buckhead campus, 1400 students, more or less from approximately 90 to 100 countries, 60 to 70 languages. And we work in partnership with organizations across the city to make Atlanta a wonderful place to come to locate your family, to locate your business, because we have a world class school there, and it’s super exciting that we’re about to open our new campus in the city of Sandy Springs this summer.

Lee Kantor: So can you tell us a little bit about the genesis of the idea? How did the school come about?

Kevin Glass: So the school came about with some local families, some local businesses, some international families, some international businesses who realized that there wasn’t yet a school here in Greater Atlanta that catered to folks who wanted to learn other languages, who wanted to learn about other cultures, who had a global mindset.

Lee Kantor: And then from there, it just slowly expanded over time.

Kevin Glass: We started in 1985, almost 40 years ago, with 51 students in a shed behind Sardis Methodist church. And as Atlanta and the area has become a global hub for doing business. So Atlanta International School has also grown now into Sandy Springs.

Lee Kantor: So now, who is the typical student that attends? Somebody that is from a consulate that they’re sending their kids? Or are you getting just local people who grew up here in Atlanta and say, hey, I want my kid. Did that have that type of education?

Kevin Glass: That’s what’s wonderful about Atlanta International School. There is not a typical Atlanta international School student. We have students who are local from many generations here in the southeast. We have students whose families come from all over the world, and we have students who are what we would call sort of third culture kid, blended with families from multiple countries and multiple cultures.

Lee Kantor: So what’s the experience like for a student that’s different than from maybe a public school or private school?

Kevin Glass: So it’s all about centering the life and the journey of the young person. And because we do have so many different ways of looking at the world, because we’ve got such an incredible rich community, the lenses and the perspectives that you consider challenges and issues and subjects. As you grow through that community, it completely broadens your outlook.

Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you to have your school become part of the chamber and get involved with the chamber at the level you have?

Kevin Glass: So our school, yes, it’s an international school, but we are absolutely rooted into the local community. There’s a really old phrase it talks about, it takes a village to raise each and every young person. So by engaging with our local community, with our local neighborhoods and the Sandy Springs campus, we’re working with our Rivergate neighborhood by engaging with, for example, the city of Sandy Springs and all of the different businesses and companies and organizations that are that are located there. Together, we create this incredible village and network that supports not just our own students who are attending our campus, but supports the entire community as well.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Kevin Glass: We would like to meet and connect with any company, any business, any organization who would like to get involved with the work that we’re doing at Atlanta International School, at our new campus that’s opening this summer in the city of Sandy Springs. There are so many ways that we can partner and that we can collaborate. And again, it’s one of those things that they said it today in the in the meeting there that a rising tide floats all boats. And we really want to be part of the rising tide. That is the greater perimeter chamber.

Lee Kantor: So what is the best way to connect with you or somebody on your team website? Best way to connect.

Kevin Glass: So you can reach out directly to me via email. Kevin Glass K glass@ischool.org. You can connect via our website. And that’s why school.org.

Lee Kantor: Well Kevin, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Kevin Glass: Thank you Lee, it’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you.

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Not So Obvious Reasons to Have a BRX Show

March 3, 2025 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Not So Obvious Reasons to Have a BRX Show

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BRX Pro Tip: 3 Not So Obvious Reasons to Have a BRX Show

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Now, Lee, we all know you don’t have to really sell me, but I’d love to hear you articulate it. Why should a professional services provider have a show on the Business RadioX network?

Lee Kantor: You know, we always talk about kind of the obvious reasons to have a show where it helps you kind of serve your ecosystem, you’re kind of growing your business, you’re building more authority, you’re meeting lots of people. All that stuff is obvious reasons why you should have a show. Some of the things that happen when you are a show and you are the media, and I think that’s an important part, being part of the Business RadioX network gives you the credential that, now, you’re part of the media. And when you’re part of the media, being part of the media has some benefits that when you’re not part of it, you don’t have.

One of the first things that I noticed when I had a show that I didn’t anticipate was that people want to do barter deals with me. They want to trade things. I mean, I had a gym membership at one of the nicest gyms in the city for years because they wanted to come on the show and talk about their business periodically. So, I let them sponsor some stuff. They would allow us to do our, kind of, meetings and big meetups in their restaurant at no charge because we had a relationship. So, barter opportunities are available because you’re providing a valuable asset to them, which is being in the media that can be traded for a variety of services in your market. I can’t tell you how many free restaurant meals that I’ve had over the years. I’m sure you can talk about how much free beer you’ve drunk over the years because of this, but it’s being the media has its privileges, and this is one of them. So, if you have opportunities to barter in ways that if you’re in another business, you probably don’t have access to this.

Second is that we create a perpetual prospect pipeline. And we talk about that a little bit as an obvious reason to be part of our thing, but I don’t think people understand the scope of how when we’re saying perpetual, we really mean perpetual. Having a show will give you a consistent flow of potential clients who are excited to be talking to you, making lead generation more efficient and less time consuming. And this is going to happen with so little effort on your part, you’re going to be blown away because people are going to constantly want to refer their friends to come on the show. This is, every guest that comes in, you’re going to ask them if they know any other guests that should come on the show. Every business group you’re part of, you can say, “Hey, we’d love to interview all your members,” and they’re going to send you all their members. Your guests are going to give you more guests. Your business groups are going to give you all their members. It’s just you’re going to have more guests and prospects in your pipeline than you know what to do with. It’s going to be silly how great this works for you and you’re going to be blown away.

And third, you get to establish authority just through the association. By being part of the Business RadioX network, you instantly get credibility for being associated with a larger, established media platform. That means you’re now a thought leader in your industry today, not down the road after you built an audience, all this stuff. You’re going to be on our website. Our website is going to have your picture on it. It’s going to talk about you. You’re going to send people to that website, and they’re going to be blown away that you’re affiliated with a group that’s been around for 20 years and has done 100,000 interviews. That’s where you start. That’s your starting point now. You didn’t have to do the 20 years, and you didn’t have to interview the 100,000 people. You get to have the credibility and authority just by being associated with us.

So, if you want to start this in your own place and you do your own independent podcast, you wouldn’t have that at your disposal. It’s going to look self-serving. It’s going to look like, “Oh, Bob’s doing a podcast to talk about Bob.”
And who’s Bob? You know, like you’re starting from scratch with zero. With us, you’re starting with a 20-year head start with 100,000 interviews under your belt before you’ve done your first one. So, these reasons go beyond the obvious benefits of increased visibility and networking that significantly impacts your professional service business, growth, and reputation. These are some, kind of, not so obvious reasons why you should be considering being part of the Business RadioX network.

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Natalie DeLancey with City Springs Theatre Company

March 3, 2025 by angishields

Chamber Spotlight

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Natalie DeLancey with City Springs Theatre Company

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Natalie DeLancey became the Executive Director of City Springs Theatre Company (CSTC) in 2021 after previously helping to form the company as the Managing Director beginning in 2017.

She is responsible for overseeing overall operations, fundraising, and artistic vision for CSTC, including raising over $2 million annually for the organization and serving roughly 50,000 patrons and students each season.

Before City Springs Theatre Company, Natalie was the Director of Arts Education & Community Outreach for ArtsBridge Foundation, the arts education outreach arm of Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Natalie managed four types of programs including: Field Trips, Master Classes, Family Performance Series & the Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards – Shuler Hensley Awards.

In addition, Natalie produced and directed the annual competition for the Shuler Awards and she received the program’s first-ever Southeast Regional Emmy Award for her 2017 Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards production. Prior to ArtsBridge, Natalie served as the Artist Partnerships Manager at Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center.

Before joining Woodruff, she served as the Manager on Duty at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre in the Cobb County Civic Center complex. Natalie has a performance background in musical theatre and received a BA in Theatre & Performance Studies from Kennesaw State University’s College of the Arts.

Natalie was a member of the 2014 Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta class, selected for the inaugural 30 Under 30 program with the International Association of Venue Managers in 2015, a member of Leadership Cobb’s class of 2016, received the 2016 Ernest Barrett Award from the Cobb Chamber for her commitment to excellence, and was a member of the 2024 class of Leadership Perimeter.

She was recently awarded with the 2024 BOLD Award: Businesswoman Dedicated to Doing Good from the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce and honored as the 2024 inductee into the Georgia Theater Conference’s Hall of Fame.

She currently serves as Chair of the Greater Perimeter Chamber of Commerce. Natalie is passionate about high-quality entertainment and arts education, and is thrilled to be in a community that fully supports those initiatives!

Connect with Natalie on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the greater perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Spotlight. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual meeting. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Natalie DeLancey, with City Springs Theater Company. Welcome.

Natalie DeLancey: Thank you so much, Lee. I appreciate you having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m asking everybody, why are you for the Greater Perimeter Chamber?

Natalie DeLancey: Absolutely. Well, I believe in community, and I think that is exactly what the chamber cultivates. And this merger between the perimeter chamber and the Sandy Springs perimeter chamber is just absolutely necessary to become the Greater Perimeter Chamber, where we can continue to cultivate the community of businesses in the perimeter area. So I am absolutely excited to be the co-chair of the Greater Perimeter Chamber this coming year and looking forward to engaging new businesses, new members, and continuing the great work that that both chambers have done in their incredible history.

Lee Kantor: So tell us about City Springs Theater Company. How are you serving folks in that regard?

Natalie DeLancey: Absolutely. We are a nonprofit, 501 C3 local professional theater company, and we perform at the beautiful Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center. We have served over 270,000 patrons since our inception in 2018, and 135,000 students from the state of Georgia. Through arts education programs. We put on big musicals. We have ragtime coming up in March. Beautiful. The Carole King Musical coming up in May, and we just announced our eighth season, which is the producers, The Wizard of Oz a Come From Away and Mean Girls. So that’s what you can look forward to with City Springs Theater Company, and we hope that you will go to City Springs Theater. Com and get some tickets.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you? Do you need more participants like actors and actresses? Do you need more just people to attend the shows? How can we help you?

Natalie DeLancey: Well, thank you for asking that because we are a nonprofit. Ticket sales do not cover the full expenses of our productions. In fact, ticket sales cover about 65%. The remaining 35% is made up from individual, foundation and corporate donations. So we are always looking for partners to make a tax deductible gift or sponsorship to City Springs Theater Company, where we can brand those companies and businesses to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship. But as far as actors go, we see about a thousand submissions and auditions per production that we do. So we are very well equipped with incredible talent, including Atlanta professionals and as well as folks coming from New York with Broadway credits. So that part we’ve got covered. We’d love to engage the community in a deeper, meaningful way with sponsorships.

Lee Kantor: Now, when it comes to sponsorships, can you tell us a little bit about the profile of that ideal sponsor? Is it a person that has kind of a passion for theater, or is that usually kind of the case that there’s some connection with the theater, and that’s what kind of gets them over the hump to donate?

Natalie DeLancey: I definitely think it starts with a passion for theater, but we provide Provides significant marketing branding. We’ve actually served patrons from 49 states and Canada. So we do have a really large reach of patrons that are coming and participating in our productions. But I think marketing is a huge piece of what we do. We have a great digital advertising package associated, and we’re looking for both big corporations and small businesses. We have tremendous small businesses in the Sandy Springs area that have supported us since our inception and year over year. They continue to say that they are making their investment back, because our loyal patrons are coming into their businesses and buying their products. So we’ve got something for everything, and especially those who feel very passionately about arts education for the next generation and our youth.

Lee Kantor: So one more time, the website.

Natalie DeLancey: City Springs, Theatre.com we hope to see folks at a show.

Lee Kantor: All right, Natalie, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Natalie DeLancey: Thanks, Lee. We appreciate you covering the greater perimeter chamber.

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Andre Koleszar with Regency Centers

March 3, 2025 by angishields

Chamber Spotlight

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Andre Koleszar with Regency Centers

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Andre Koleszar, Managing Director of Regency Centers, is responsible for a portfolio of 142 properties, totaling more than 17 million square feet, in the Southeast US. Andre also assists with the region’s development, acquisition, and disposition efforts.

Andre joined Regency in 2005 as a Leasing Agent in Palm Beach, Fla., leasing centers from Martin County to Dade County. In 2006, he transferred to Raleigh, NC, handling centers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee as a Senior Leasing Agent.

He assumed the role of Vice President in Atlanta in 2008. In 2010, Andre earned the Joan and Martin E. Stein, Sr. Award, Regency’s highest honor, recognizing employees’ business acumen and ethical standards.

Before joining Regency, he leased a retail portfolio and managed transactional real estate nationally for a private real estate holding firm in New York.

Andre earned his Bachelor of Science from Tulane University. He is also a member of ICSC, ULI, and a Perimeter Chamber Board Member for Sandy Springs.

Outside work, he is an active member of St. Jude the Apostle Church and Co-Chair of Holy Innocents Episcopal School Parent Association Faculty Appreciation.

He enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, exercising, rowing, boating, fishing, and gardening.

Connect with Andre on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Spotlight. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual meeting. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Andre Koleszar. Welcome.

Andre Koleszar: How are you doing?

Lee Kantor: Well, Andre, what firm are you with?

Andre Koleszar: I’m with Regency Centers. We’re a real estate investment trust. Uh, I live in Sandy Springs, but I’ve got offices all over the southeast.

Lee Kantor: So we’re asking everybody, why are you for the Greater Perimeter Chamber?

Andre Koleszar: Well, it’s pretty simple. Obviously, as a resident of Sandy Springs, I want everything for the betterment of both perimeter and Sandy Springs. But my company owns primarily grocery anchored shopping centers. And you can imagine a Publix, a Whole Foods, a Trader Joe’s, uh, even an Aldi in Sandy Springs and a number of tenants in every one of those shopping centers. So on average you got 25 to 30 tenants per shopping center. Times seven shopping centers between Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. That is a lot of merchants, a lot of retailers, a lot of restaurants, and a lot of people that could benefit from the greater perimeter chamber and all of the activities and positives that come along with it. So my job is really just to connect my tenants and my community with the greater perimeter chamber.

Lee Kantor: So that’s kind of built into your go to market strategy is to encourage your tenants to get involved in the chamber, because your firm feels it’s important for to be successful. They have to kind of immerse themselves in the community in that manner. 100%.

Andre Koleszar: You know, I mean, our tenants survive on their sales and that’s how they thrive is building sales. And what better way to do it than through the greater perimeter chamber and connecting all of those people together? So absolutely, the math is pretty easy.

Lee Kantor: So how do you recommend your tenants to kind of leverage the chamber for, you know, biggest bang for their buck?

Andre Koleszar: I continue to encourage all of our new tenants. So when we do sign a new lease with a Dave’s Hot Chicken or a new boutique. You know, one of the things, one of the links that we, our property management, sends them is the link to the greater perimeter chamber and and basically encourages them. We don’t we can’t force them obviously, but. Right. Good. Good encouragement to to join the chamber and and everything that comes along with it. So that’s our new tenants and then our existing base. We constantly have sort of a rolling, I guess we’ll call it an Excel spreadsheet of all of those tenants and, and go through them one by one over the course of a year. And again, encourage those guys to join because of all the benefits.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more in your business and how can we help you?

Andre Koleszar: I think honestly, I need to do a better job proving out the value of the greater perimeter chamber to all of those tenants. So any of those tools and obviously Adam’s been fantastic for us, but that’s sort of my mission statement for the year. Again, with the expanded chamber to get in front of specifically my, my, my Dunwoody tenants, I can see Michael Starling walking by our with Dunwoody, one of the good guys, and really just setting forth as much media material, marketing material and really just doing. I have to do a better job marketing to my tenants.

Lee Kantor: So how many tenants do you have in and around the area again?

Andre Koleszar: Uh, several hundred.

Lee Kantor: So there’s hundreds? Yes. And yeah. So that’s a great opportunity. Yes. For both you and your tenant.

Andre Koleszar: And we’ve done a really good job over time. I mean, we we own Dunwoody Village. I don’t know if you guys are familiar with that or the village is and David Davis, the restaurant tour that’s done a fantastic job in there. And those are the kind of connection points that we want to have with the community. And again, I really think the chamber, um, provides that benefit. And I need to double down on on those relationships.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, uh, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect with you?

Andre Koleszar: The easiest way is just to go to Regency centers.com. You can sort by all of our Atlanta properties. You can sort by, you know, obviously through Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, you can go to a big map and drill drill down and see all the all the tenants and grocery anchored shopping centers that we own in the area, including Buckhead and all around Georgia as well.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, Andre, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Andre Koleszar: Hey man, really appreciate it. Thank. You.

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: David Aviles with Human Interest

March 3, 2025 by angishields

Chamber Spotlight

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: David Aviles with Human Interest

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David Aviles, Partner Account Manager with Human Interest, is an experienced Sales Manager with 10 plus years of B2B experience.

He’s skilled in Sales Prospecting, Consultative Selling, Bilingual Communications, Account Management, and Marketing.

Human Interest helps small and medium-sized businesses offer low-cost, high-quality retirement plans to their employees.

Connect with David on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the greater perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Spotlight. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual event. So excited to be talking to my next guest, David Aviles with Human Interest. Welcome.

David Aviles: Hey. How you doing? Thanks for having me, Lee.

Lee Kantor: I am doing great. I’m asking everybody, why are you for the Greater Perimeter Chamber? Uh, to.

David Aviles: Be honest with you, I’ve been living in the Dunwoody Sandy Springs area for the past probably 15 years. And, you know, I started a new gig at Human Interest, and I’m a partner account manager. So ultimately, my job is to connect with business owners, to connect with really CPAs, financial advisors. And for me, it’s, you know, the chamber has been a great avenue for me to connect with not only business owners, but different partners in the financial advisory space. And it’s really helped me grow my business, and I love it so much and want to invest in my community so much that I actually became an ambassador for for the chamber. So I’m a member and an ambassador now.

Lee Kantor: So tell us about Human interest, how you serve folks in that regard.

David Aviles: So for all intents and purposes, we’re a 401 K wholesaler. But what we do is, you know, we want to provide equitable retirement to everybody. You know, the world right now, the United States has a retirement crisis. And studies have shown that if people aren’t really, like, forced to save money with a with a 401 K, right, where there’s matching and things that incentivize you to retire, they’re not going to save money. So you know, I’m almost 40 and I have quite a few friends, myself included, that do not have nearly enough money saved up for retirement. So I feel like I’m changing the world one conversation at a time.

Lee Kantor: So what is the ideal client profile? Like who’s who do you serve in your sweet spot.

David Aviles: So for us you know we’re technology forward 401 K fully bundled provider. What that means is ultimately we take all the responsibility off of the business owner on the 401 K side. So we help manage everything. We’re the fiduciary. So ultimately all the responsibility falls on us. We file that 5500, which is like a W2 that businesses file for their retirement services and take on all that liability. Perfect client. Really? Honestly, we have employees that are one, you know, one one owner, one operator companies all the way up to 10,000. So really is there a perfect size? No, there’s definitely I would say we tend to do really well in the 25 to probably 150 space as far as employee count.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, what’s the best way to connect? What’s the website? Oh listen.

David Aviles: I mean, Human Interest definitely has a website, but I think the easiest way to connect would be to find me at a chamber event, go to a chamber event and you will hear me speaking the good word about 401 K at human interest. But you know, ultimately you can also give me a shout. Am I able to share my phone number on the call? Yeah, whatever you’d like. So just give me a call at (678) 517-8128. And it’s me David.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, David, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

David Aviles: Yeah, it was a pleasure. Thank you. Lee.

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Stephen Moore with RCS Productions

March 2, 2025 by angishields

Chamber Spotlight

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Stephen Moore with RCS Productions

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Stephen Moore is President at RCS Productions.

RCS Productions is the southeast leader in acquiring and providing National and Regional talent to festivals, concert series, radio shows, corporate & other special events.

Flexibility assures RCS Productions can execute on your production services front. From the ultra expandable traditional staging solutions to small mid and large mobile stage units coupled with scalable sound & lighting solutions we can design a system for the mission and goal of your event.

Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the greater perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Ppotlight. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual meeting. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Stephen Moore. And he is with RCS Productions. Welcome.

Stephen Moore: Thank you. Thanks for your interest. Thanks for being here.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to be talking to you. But first I got to ask you, why are you for the Greater Perimeter Chamber?

Stephen Moore: So I live in Sandy Springs and the office is in Dunwoody and was a member of the perimeter chamber, which was the Dunwoody arm, and they asked me to be on the board and then got, uh, got roped into Project Unity, which was a really cool project over the last year and a half, two years, bringing the Sandy Springs perimeter chamber and the perimeter chamber together. And, uh, here we are, our first inaugural, uh, luncheon.

Lee Kantor: Well, tell us then a little bit about RCS. How are you serving, folks?

Stephen Moore: So pretty cool company. So we are in the live event space. So we book, which is kind of a fancy way of saying talent acquisition. So we go out and find bands, book bands, whether they’re local, regional or national acts. And we pretty much produce everything we book. So we’re using RCS is known for going outside, so we do a lot of the community concert series, a lot in the southeast, but a lot around the metro area, including the outdoor series at Sandy Springs. So we do the City Green Live and also the Heritage Series in Sandy Springs, as well as their July 4th um and blue Stone Music and Arts Festival, which is a new event. We’re in our third year this year for 2025, as well as their sparkle, and then we do a lot of that throughout the southeast, a lot of communities, everything, I guess in the in the greater metro area, everything from Villa Rica all the way up to Buford, down to Peachtree City and up into Woodstock.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How’d you get involved in this line of work?

Stephen Moore: I got roped into it in college at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Somebody asked me to be on the student Activities Board, and I think the first week I caught the concert bug, we did Tina Turner, Rod Stewart and George Thorogood with All Within, All within a week. And I’m like, this is pretty cool. Can I do this for a living? Yeah. So here we are.

Lee Kantor: Wow, that was a great start for you. So, um, who’s your ideal client? Like, do you work with municipalities or you work with who hires you? Yeah, a.

Stephen Moore: Lot of municipalities. You know, we’ve got a pretty good reputation with city managers. You know, we spend public money very wisely and sort of navigate, you know, what their vision is for, you know, outdoor concerts, placemaking. You know, you know, a lot of times these things are obviously they’re about the bands and the energy, but it’s also about bringing community families together and they can celebrate, you know, on the city lawn or the city amphitheater or the city parks or street parties, things like that. So municipalities obviously is sort of our, our niche, but we do a lot of, you know, like the Atlanta Botanical Garden, things like that. So, so entities that don’t have buyers year round, like, you know, like a Live Nation owns a lot of the building, a lot of the venues and towns. So they have their own, you know, they have their own internal buyers. But people like Stone Mountain Park, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, other entities like that, you know, that don’t necessarily need a year round talent buyer or producer. They will they will hire RCS productions to sort of do their seasonal.

Lee Kantor: Do they come to you and say, I want these bands, or do you help kind of curate, like, what’s the appropriate or who can I get in that window of time? Like, like, how does that work?

Stephen Moore: Yeah. The talent buying, especially in Atlanta, is.

Lee Kantor: Probably pretty competitive.

Stephen Moore: It’s very competitive, especially for the national acts. And folks have no idea, you know, for us to land an act for, say, the city of Woodstock and National Act or City of Peachtree City. Uh, a lot of times it will take 2 or 3 offers to just to land one band because they have, you know, relevant artists, people that, uh, that people want to see. You know, they have six, seven, eight, nine, ten offers to play Atlanta, and they’ll generally only play it once a year. Sometimes we can get them to play it twice a year.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, what is the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Stephen Moore: Uh, RCS productions.com. Pretty pretty easy. Rcs productions.com.

Lee Kantor: Well Stephen, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Stephen Moore: We appreciate your interest and thanks for being here for our inaugural event.

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Joe Seconder with the Dunwoody City Council

March 1, 2025 by angishields

Chamber Spotlight

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Joe Seconder with the Dunwoody City Council

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As a seasoned Workday HCM enterprise architect and retired U.S. Army Major, Joe Seconder brings over 28 years of leadership experience spanning private, public, and international markets. His career is defined by solving complex challenges and delivering impactful outcomes in both technology and governance.

Joe specializes in guiding organizations through complex Workday HCM deployments, leveraging my deep expertise in HR systems and enterprise architecture to align technology solutions with business goals.

In addition to his Workday focus, he serves as a part-time elected city councilor in Dunwoody, Georgia, representing 55,000 citizens and overseeing a $70M annual budget – demonstrating his leadership across both strategic and governance levels.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Spotlight. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual meeting. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Joe Seconder, with the Dunwoody City Council. Welcome.

Joe Seconder: Hey, welcome. Thank you. Glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m asking everybody, why are you for the Greater Perimeter Chamber?

Joe Seconder: I think it’s a great synergy because when you have businesses relocating from outside of the region or outside of the state, they don’t look to see if you’re in Dunwoody or Sandy Springs or Brookhaven or which county you’re in. It’s all about the perimeter area, and we have to work together because a rising tide lifts all ships.

Lee Kantor: So now how are you finding the evolution of accepting that premise?

Joe Seconder: I think it’s some great synergies that can go on because instead of it’s cooptation. So you’re cooperating and you’re also in a in a little opposition there. But it’s a it’s a collaborative effort. We really have to say a rising tide lifts all ships.

Lee Kantor: So now are you finding the buy in from the community or are they begrudgingly coming along?

Joe Seconder: I’m seeing buy in, I really am, because there are pro look every every separate entity has pros and cons, pluses and minuses. They’re bringing their best to the table. They’re collaborating and it’s a synergy. It really is.

Lee Kantor: So now what are you looking at in terms of a roadmap of how greater perimeter is being defined. And like what’s going to be ultimately the greater perimeter?

Joe Seconder: I would say we have to engage on different levels of corporations. You’ve got the fortune 100, fortune 500 corporations relocation here. We have such a huge office impact here of the office space. We have to engage on that level, continue on that level, seek out and find those great community partners. So I’m from Dunwoody. We used to have just the Dunwoody chamber, but yet you have Cox Enterprises and Cox right across the street. Let’s work together. What great resources they can bring to the table on on that. So I appreciate digging deeper into those larger corporations. The for the public sector private sector publicly held. But also let’s reach out to more of that medium and small businesses as well, because we know small businesses really grows the economy. There’s a lot of opportunity to help foster and build small businesses with business incubators for training, for education, professional development and networking and helping get up these get get these startups moving as well.

Lee Kantor: So what would you like the small business owner to know? Like what would be your pitch for them to be part of the chamber?

Joe Seconder: I would say if you’re starting out, it can be quite overwhelming on what you need to do and where you need to start. And I would say, go out and reach out to those chamber folks who have been in your shoes before, who have gone there, who know best practices, who have lessons learned that know best ways of hooking in to potentially getting a capital venture capital, perhaps, um, or investors and understand the regulatory environment and how to navigate that. Even as low level of how to hire the best trained workforce, how to network, to find workers, to where do you hang your hat and set up your shop?

Lee Kantor: Now, what about the enterprise level? How do you think they should best leverage the chamber?

Joe Seconder: I think the enterprise level can, can, can leverage the chamber as far as workforce engagement, um, and having other other workers and people gather like minded folks. We have people that all, all, all intents and purposes, there may be people looking for a promotion and transfer. So if you look at the individual, uh, participation, hey, it’s all about networking, building your brand, getting people out there, letting people know who you are, what, what skills you have you can do and what you can bring to the table.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to connect with you, what’s the best way to do that?

Joe Seconder: So, uh, so I’m on the Dunwoody City Council and you can just jump, go do a Google search. Actually go look look me up on LinkedIn Joe seconder. There you go. If you want to find me personally, um, I’ve worked for 30 years in the enterprise software. Uh, background. I worked at Accenture, Oracle, PeopleSoft. I spent six years living and working in Europe. Uh, I’ve been a senior manager, project management, uh, seven figure projects, doing back office ERP space. That’s my sweet spot. Uh, I do I still work in that field. And as well the part that’s a part time gig in city council. So it’s. I do this in my spare time just for fun.

Lee Kantor: So you’re you’re you have a day job as a consultant?

Joe Seconder: Absolutely. I’m a senior manager. I just transitioned from Accenture. Uh, now I’m independent. I’ve worked for myself prior to that. And I do project management roles and workday software as a service cloud, cloud ERP, back office solutions.

Lee Kantor: And do you have a website for that or is it just jump.

Joe Seconder: Jump on LinkedIn just Joe seconder.

Lee Kantor: Yeah good stuff. Well Joe, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Joe Seconder: You betcha. Glad to be here. Thank you.

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Adam Forrand with Greater Perimeter Chamber

February 28, 2025 by angishields

Chamber Spotlight

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Adam Forrand with Greater Perimeter Chamber

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Adam Forrand, President of the Greater Perimeter Chamber, is a master of relationships. It’s a skill that enables him to sit down at an initial client meeting and come away with a clear sense of who everyone is, where they’re coming from, and what their goals are.

It’s a skill that helps him use that knowledge to map out ways that various and often competing needs just might fit together in a solution.

And it’s a skill that mixes well with Adam’s abundance of creative energy, leading to innovative ideas to meet those needs. And with Adam, an unrepentant optimist who says “opportunity” a lot, there is always a solution. Always.

Connect with Adam on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the greater perimeter. It’s time for Greater Perimeter Chamber Spotlight. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber inaugural annual meeting. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Adam Ferrand, president of the Greater Perimeter Chamber. Welcome.

Adam Forrand: Hello, Lee. Hey, Stone.

Lee Kantor: I am so excited to be talking to you. And I’m asking everybody, why are you for the greater perimeter chamber?

Adam Forrand: Oh, my goodness, I am for the greater perimeter chamber because we are for our members. We are for their prosperity and their growth. Their growth may be defined in many different ways. And as we learn about those goals and objectives, our job is to make sure that they are connected, well resourced and networked in such a way that makes those goals achievable and absolutely possible.

Lee Kantor: So if you were giving a pitch to a business owner that’s part of the community but isn’t part of the chamber, what’s kind of the the the elevator pitch for them?

Adam Forrand: Yeah, you just said it. If they are a part of the community, then they should be a part of the chamber. The chambers of Commerce, no matter where you may be, are an absolutely vital institution in the community. We talk about good schools. We talk about good healthcare, good government, good business makes good communities, great businesses make great communities. And so if they are of the community, if they are rooted in the community, then they should be a chamber member.

Lee Kantor: So now if you’re a business owner out there listening and you you don’t need any sales, you’re good with sales. There’s still a reason to come, right? You still connect. You still learn. There is.

Adam Forrand: Yeah, there’s lots of reasons. One is we challenge our members here at the greater perimeter chamber to show up to coach and to be coached. And that’s shorthand for acknowledging that our members have expertise, have knowledge in a particular domain or a particular specialty that they can help coach other members on. Because you can’t be good at everything, right? I mean, if you’re a small business owner in particular, you try to be the best you can be in all of these different domains and different facets of your business. But fellow members can advise you, can provide guidance and can connect you as well. And so we ask our members to show up to coach with their with their point of view and their position of strength, but then also to be professionally vulnerable enough to show up, to be coached, to recognize that perhaps there’s areas of their business that they need help on as well, and that a fellow member can help.

Lee Kantor: Now, what if I’m an enterprise level organization and I’m I do business all over the world. I do all over the country. How am I getting value from the greater perimeter chamber?

Adam Forrand: Because you are rooted in this community. Your brand is not necessarily your service brand or your product brand or your consumer brand. Now your brand is your employer brand. We work diligently to help advance the employer brands that are particularly of our largest enterprise members because they have talent needs that are very significant. And so we amplify that message that this large company, this large employer, perhaps a multinational or perhaps a domestic employer is rooted in our community and has opportunity, professional opportunities in their in their buildings, in their offices, out in the field that perhaps a local resident may not have to commute as far to find economic opportunity, a professional or career opportunity in our community.

Lee Kantor: And then it’s like the keynote speaker was saying about, what are you for? If you’re saying you’re for your community, then show up and be a part of the community by joining the greater perimeter chamber and being active.

Adam Forrand: Absolutely. And that engagement, that activity is, is important to making sure to ensuring that this is a vibrant membership organization. And so we always challenge our decision makers who decide to join the chamber that, hey, this membership is not just for you, your entire employee roster are members of the chambers as well. And so if you want to advance women professionals, we’ve got a program for that. If you want to advance high potential young professionals, we’ve got programs for that. You name the topic, the issue, your business, regardless of size, when engaged, when active, can benefit directly, indirectly, and with other induced benefits.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Adam Forrand: Great question. Greater perimeter chamber. Com it’s a mouthful but once you type it in it auto populates. So please join us. Uh, learn more about the value proposition for the greater perimeter chamber. All of the opportunities to engage and to connect. Know that if you are a business in the perimeter community here in metro Atlanta, we are for you.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, thank you so much, Adam, for sharing your story.

Adam Forrand: Thanks, Lee. Thanks, Stone. Thanks. Abby, too. Over there in the corner.

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Ann Hanlon with Perimeter CIDs

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Kevin Glass with Atlanta International School

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Not So Obvious Reasons to Have a BRX Show

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Not So Obvious Reasons to Have a BRX Show

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Natalie DeLancey with City Springs Theatre Company

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Andre Koleszar with Regency Centers

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: David Aviles with Human Interest

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Stephen Moore with RCS Productions

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Joe Seconder with the Dunwoody City Council

Greater Perimeter Chamber Inaugural Annual Meeting: Adam Forrand with Greater Perimeter Chamber

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