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. /Creator ( w k h t m l t o p d f 0 . He released a statement five days after Gov. Now 78, he is largely beloved in Georgia as an entrepreneur, owner of two professional sports teams and a prolific philanthropist. You know, better than in the 40s and 50s, but not where we should be. Now it's ranked like seventh. 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. << I mean, those fans, they feel like that's the only sport that we're hosting in that stadium. I mean, it doesn't make a difference how old you are. 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. Lawlessness, vandalism and intentionally upending the peace with any form of violence has never been productive and is not the answer. So it was a great story and is a great story. It starts with respect. Dueling Visions for Minnesota: Scandinavia or South Dakota? How do I do my part in it? %PDF-1.4 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) We had a different leader [Robert Nardelli ] in place that was eventually replaced. 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. The wealthy propose tax increases on the poor and middle class to pay for their new stadiums, and they claim that new businesses flocking to the area will magically cover the costs. So when we started, MLS was ranked like 22nd among all the leagues in the world. /SM 0.02 And being a good listener, it's an art form that we all can possess. 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. The 74-year-old Blank, who Forbes estimates has an estimated net worth of $3.1 billion, is the director of Cox. In their sixth season of Major League Soccer, the Five Stripes bring some new faces onto the field this year. I said, Paul? And he should know. I listen to what he says and sometimes I'll cringe. United States, Copyright 2023, Georgia Public Broadcasting. Philanthropist Arthur Blank has thrown his support behind a new voter education initiative aimed at young people. His faith is very strong. 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. That Vote for Secretary of State? 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. Arthur Blank is an American entrepreneur and a co-owner of the home improvement retail giant The Home Depot. Founded in 2010 as the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center (AALAC), the organization became part of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice affiliation in 2014. That origin story is well known in business and retail circles as an example of how bold, disruptive thinking can change the game, but Good Company provides a more personal view. 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. Link Copied! Friday on Political Rewind: Mary Rodgers grew up among some of Broadway's biggest names, from Sondheim to Bernstein. However, the Atlanta Falcons new home, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, may foster a new era of stadium construction and community engagement. 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. 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. In 1978, both he and future Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank were fired during a corporate power struggle at Handy Dan. /Width 625 Kimball previously served as the vice president of network support at Teach for All. And the great political leaders in the past, they were civil and they were good listeners. 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. OMG, Democrats Are Criminally Bad At Marketing What They Accomplish. He notes pervasive cynicism about corporate leaders and perceptions that the drive for profit comes at the expense of public good. And he had to mop the floors for weeks and months on end. /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB Blank spent 19 years as the company's president before succeeding Marcus as CEO. /Producer ( Q t 4 . Give them hope. But staying in the city and trying to work with the community definitely beats the usual stadium construction scam and unwanted racial division that has become far too common in sports today. "Obviously, it's a tragic time in the history of the. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All Rights Reserved. Falcons owner Arthur Blank is weighing in on Georgia's sweeping overhaul of election laws. 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.". Copyright 2023 InfluenceWatch. 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. CEIR works to build voter trust and confidence, increase voter participation and improve the efficiency of election administration. [Thats] something that I talk about in the book, which most people are not aware of. I mean, I was stuttering when I was senior class president, [and in] student government. The system has worked well for the multi-billionaire and co-founder of The Home Depot. Which country do you come from? 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. Arthur Blank co-founded the Home Depot in the late 1970s after being fired from a regional hardware store chain in Southern California. endobj I think back when I lived in a neighborhood, you know, a small neighborhood, when my mother and dad were alive, we all took care of each other. 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! But Still Not Even an Indictment. February 4, 2021 4:12 pm ET. I do know it is hard. They said it would take an act of courage on your part to go out on the field and and to be recognized. And, you know, people stood up! But go ahead and do it, if that's what you want. So we did it. 2010-2023 Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Find out more about how we use your personal data in our privacy policy and cookie policy. Arthur Blank is getting more involved in the political process. ,> U#kw1%dHT6qZq]9Ki o He had three children with his first wife Diana Blank, whom he divorced in 1993. 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%. I know you see my partner, Bernie, on Fox News very often. No, I'm not. /Subtype /Image The Braves leaving town also represented an end to the multicultural hub in the heart of the city that was forged by those Olympics. These are the kinds of people we need in leadership today, not thinking about red, blue, purple. So there was no disrespect to the military. Arthur Blank, owner of Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, co-founder of Home Depot . The Falcons were the first pro football team in the South, founded during the civil rights era in 1965. 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. I'm not sure how they're going to receive you. But We Aint Seen Nuthin Yet. Arthur is committed to changing the narrative around sports stadiums, said Frank Fernandez, the VP of Community Development at The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, to The Daily Beast. 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. 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. I mean, you write a book like this, it's really getting into kind of the political arena. The Blank foundation also emphasizes environmental sustainability and aims to support programs that foster this message in the Westside. Blank's statement did not specify any initiatives or call any elected officials or political parties by name. Arthur Blank is worried that capitalism is getting a bad rap. How best to put it? ", CNN -- Ted [Turner] did a great thing. Blank and Marcus put their discounting experiment to the test in their own brand of warehouse stores called Home Depot and opened the first two Atlanta-area stores in 1979. You're going to get a lot of your fellow owners really pissed. And, you know, you see the blending of every type of person and personality you can imagine. So, long story short, I think, is that we should recognize the past, understand the progress we have made. And it was early on a Sunday morning. I felt and others felt that we could be successful here. But my mother would say to me, You know, what you have to say is important. And that's it. We had the option of going to a variety of companies, doing a variety of things in a traditional sense of management leadership. So I'm happy to see that, you know, he came back to Atlanta and spent time here. In recent years Atlantas sports teams have attracted controversies that have highlighted the racial disparities that still largely define the city. "This grant will help The Center add to its existing . (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images). 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. Arthur M. Blank is responsible for the sorry state of the Falcons. All those 25,000 tickets were gone. In order to put this grinding pandemic behind us once and for all? It's the customers. 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]. Arthur Blank is worried that capitalism is getting a bad rap. But the level where this Gruden idiocy touches the countrys perilous moment is where the NFL arguably one of the most popular and therefore influential organizations/corporations in the country could and should use Grudens buffoonish racism and sexism to make unambiguous statements to its fans, which is to say just about everyone in the country. And I love him. 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. It is in effect protecting the teams owner, a guy regularly reviled by sportswriters, players and fans as a (very wealthy) toxic idiot. that those rights were not being fully reflected in our society today. But he was there and he finally said, Listen, you own the franchise, you have the option. The perceived linebetween politics and sports further blurred when Major League Baseball's union chief said players are ready to discuss moving the 2021 MLB All-Star Game out of Truist Park. "I think one of the things that is wrong with America today that we can work on and become better at is that we need to become better listeners to each other and we need to be better about understanding where people are coming from," Blank said. Soccer fans don't want to feel like they go into a stadium and they're a second-class citizen citizen. Here, using insidegov.com's database, are the disclosed political donations* for majority NFL owners dating back to the 2008 election. 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. Home Depot co-founders pictured in 1979, a year after the first store opened. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. Yeah, It Could Have Been Worse.