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Were trying to do the exact opposite of that.. I mean, you know, all those things. 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.". 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. In order to put this grinding pandemic behind us once and for all? The portfolio includes nearly $10 million in grants to 12 nonprofits that represent a diverse set of organizations with a strong presence in Georgia and the Southeast. In 2014 it emerged that Bruce Levenson, who owned the NBAs Atlanta Hawks, had written an email that amongst other things theorized that the black crowd [at Philips Arena] scared away the whites, adding for good measure: I have even bitched that the kiss cam is too black. Levenson later that year sold his stake in the franchise, and the Hawks have worked hard to win back their black audience. I love CNN, I love Cartoon Network. In the 1940sGeorgia mountains, eight children were taken into the woods and left to die. 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. Team owner Arthur Blank, who has high expectations for the franchise, sat down with FOX 5 Atlanta one-on-one to talk football, philanthropy, and Kanye West. Blank told Business Insider that despite their political differences, their different leanings never got in the way of their ability to work together as partners or as friends. 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? 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. I mean, you write a book like this, it's really getting into kind of the political arena. It doesn't mean we agree on everything, we don't, but that's healthy," he said. Blank is a dedicated Democratic supporter, having donated thousands to Hillary Clinton's campaign, the Bullock Victory Fund, which backs the party's 2020 candidate for Montana senator, Gov. We are better than this We are better than this as a country. I know you see my partner, Bernie, on Fox News very often. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images), WSOC TV facebook feed(Opens a new window), >> Go home. One of the beauties is that when you come to the stadium, it feels like it's the United Nations. 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. But COVID vaccination, as a consequence of being made political by belligerent partisans, many of whom love football more than life itself, is terrifying territory for the NFL. But, we really could not have done it without great service, great pricing, and great product knowledge. Soccer fans don't want to feel like they go into a stadium and they're a second-class citizen citizen. Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with businessman Arthur Blank about gun regulation and philanthropy. You need to figure out something else to do for the rest of your life. And after a while, he said, Would you please shut up? And she never did. 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/. When you find common solutions that work for everybody and [are] respectful of everybody to represent the best of you. In a time when more than half of Americans are dissatisfied with the state of our democracy, the most powerful way to demonstrate and have our voices heard is through the vote. The book lays out a set of values that guided him to turn around the struggling Atlanta Falcons NFL team, launch the Atlanta United FC soccer club and build the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. And then he worked in the laundry. In 1978, they were both fired from Handy Dans by a corporate raider who took over the chains parent company. All Rights Reserved. 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. follow. 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. 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. That Vote for Secretary of State? One of the robbers tied me up in the bathroom, the bathtub, and I said a few things to him, which, at 10 years old, I don't think my mother even knew I knew those words. All the issues that Colin [Kaepernick] raised at that time [2016-2107] about the social injustice and lack of equality and equity in the criminal system and all those issues, I think they were real then and they're certainly real now. 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. The stadium boasts roughly 4,000 solar panels and will use 70 percent less energy. (Confidentiality, you know.) Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Playoffs, playoff championships, etc. The Westside also suffers from severe flooding problems, and the stadium has a 1.1 million gallon storm vault underground to trap and reuse their rain water, and help prevent flooding. CEIR works to build voter trust and confidence, increase voter participation and improve the efficiency of election administration. Theres at least one more level to the Jon Gruden disaster that NFL fans should consider about the leagues remarkable influence. 2010-2023 Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Sign up for notifications from Insider! But go ahead and do it, if that's what you want. So we did it. The league has recently been running in-game PSAs pushing cancer and mental health awareness screenings, etc. All those 25,000 tickets were gone. 1 0 obj Arthur Blank is worried that capitalism is getting a bad rap. Enter your email address to be notified about new posts. 260 14th St. NW The documentary will premiere exclusively Nov. 23, 2020 at 8 p.m.on Georgia Public Broadcasting. Give them hope. Falcons owner Arthur Blank made a $15 million donation on Tuesday to The Cooper Institute, run by its founder Dr. Kenneth Cooper, a friend of Blank's and a strong proponent of preventive medicine. Marcus handed the CEO reigns to Blank in 1997; Blank held the position until a new president and CEO was hired in 2000. But he was there and he finally said, Listen, you own the franchise, you have the option. And they've worked collectively for the United States, for everybody in this country, 330 million people. Did the Vikings and NFL Just Blacklist Another Left-Leaning Player? One where guys like the Vikings Mark and Zygi Wilf and Arthur (Home Depot) Blank of the Atlanta Falcons come off as comparatively rational. (Airlines resisting vaccination mandates for passengers are another prime example of failure of true leadership.) (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.). 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%. They survived. ', We have to be better than this moment. Atlanta rapper, advocate Killer Mike has message for protestors https://t.co/zb3oMHK7sx, "You are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country. Founded in 2010 as the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center (AALAC), the organization became part of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation in 2014. 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. 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. /Producer ( Q t 4 . /Filter /DCTDecode These are not political issues, they are human issues that need serious, earnest attention from leaders and . And they found ways to get things done with people who had a little bit a different view but found that commonality that was really important. The latest of Blank's many charitable endeavors is aimed at helping the museum expand its reach. So that's really what it was about. How? Well, I shouldn't say I'm not. So I would just cut him some slack. Hey, Senate DFLers, Dont Forget The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact! Arthur Blank is firmly in Joe Biden's corner. Blank retired from the company in 2001 as co-chairman. 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. Full statement from Arthur Blank: https://t.co/1lU870TGWa pic.twitter.com/0qejiahKKY, Please, please stop this violence!! << How do I do my part in it? So, you know, we understood that our culture had nothing to do with which party you are affiliated with. So everything is designed to accommodate the soccer fans so they feel like this is their place as a result of that. This is not a protest. How could Trump possibly have lost re-election? /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB 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. Is the Jensen-Birk Campaign Minnesotas WOAT? Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is married to Angela Macuga, his third wife. But we both said, you know, if we ever had to compete with Handy Dan that was the most successful conventional chain of home improvement center stores in the country at that time it would be with a large, no frills, downmarket store. Home Depot co-founders pictured in 1979, a year after the first store opened. Their siblings, their families, you know, may have gone to battle and wore a variety of uniforms for our country over many, many years. Brian and Arthur welcomed their daughter Blake into the world via Arthur's sister Aoife, who acted as a surrogate for the couple, back in September -- with Brian previously teasing the documentary before Blake's arrival. Link Copied! /ca 1.0 The organization works directly with election officials to maintain accurate and complete voter lists and to secure their election technology infrastructure. He just opened the door. 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. His percentage of giving back from his estate will be equal to mine and some of his philosophies don't exactly match mine. 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. Blank is a strong supporter of the Democratic Party. However, peaceful protests really go back and look at the history of our country back to the Boston Tea Party. I worked with him for over 40 years and we shared the same bathroom for over 30 years, which is more than any of our marriages lasted," said Blank, who's currently valued by Forbes at about $6.2 billion. And in fact, one of her famous expressions was: You do the right things for the right reasons and live with the consequences of them. And I'm trying to build that into my life as well. 4 0 obj Falcons owner Arthur Blank is weighing in on Georgia's sweeping overhaul of election laws. A protest has purpose. We Have Every Reason To Expect a Lot More from the NFL, no promises that it will reveal everything it has found out. I look at my six children, Batch 1, Batch 2, and, you know, they go from age 19 to age 52, if I have it right. They all have a great set of values. But Id like to say to CNN right now: Karmas a mother. Together we will rise above this on the strength of what has always made Atlanta great its people, its leaders of past and present and its unique culture that is welcoming to all. 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? 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.