James March-April 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 21
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natural gas distribution company in the
Southeast. A former Georgia Power executive,
Cherry is on the boards of several high-profile Atlanta organizations including Grady
Hospital, 100 Black Men of Atlanta, and the
Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Those successes have only ramped up since
Corbin became CEO in 2018, with five
consecutive years of returns over $1 billion,
including $1.5 billion last year.
CHRIS CLARK
If you think Georgia economic
development officials have
succeeded in attracting new
companies and industries to the
state, wait until you see what Corso and his
team have scored. Multiple College Football
Playoff National Championships, Super Bowl
LIII, WrestleMania XXVII, both Men’s and
Women’s College Basketball Final Fours, and
coming in 2026 the grandaddy of them all—
the FIFA World Cup.
PRESIDENT & CEO, GEORGIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
It’s no coincidence that since Clark
took the reins of the Georgia
Chamber in 2010 the state has
seen one of the most explosive
periods of economic growth in its history.
Clark leans on his many political connections
made from stints as commissioner of the
state Department of Natural Resources and as
executive director of the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.
DAN CORSO
PRESIDENT, ATLANTA SPORTS COUNCIL
STUART COUNTESS
TOM CLARK
PRESIDENT & CEO, KIA GEORGIA
EXEC. DIRECTOR, CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER
ALLIANCE FOR FT. EISENHOWER
After 32 years of Army service and
several years as a General Dynamics Contractor, Clark is now one of
the faces of Georgia’s rapidly
growing cybersecurity community and serves
as an effective liaison between the Augusta
business community and Fort Eisenhower
(formerly Fort Gordon).
Kia’s West Point plant was one of
the biggest single foreign investments in state history when it was
completed back in 2009, and
Countess has been along for the entire ride.
In that time the South Korean auto manufacturer’s American market share has grown
from three percent to nine percent, and its
west Georgia facility pumps out 340,000 vehicles every year.
LORRAINE COCHRAN-JOHNSON
LISA CUPID
CEO, DEKALB COUNTY
CHAIRWOMAN, COBB CO. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
With a background in print and
visual media, Cochran-Johnson
certainly knows marketing—
which no doubt helped as she
received a majority vote in 174 out of 191
voting precincts last year to become the first
black woman CEO in county history. She’s
made economic development, public safety
and eliminating food deserts the core
mission of her first term leading the state’s
fourth-largest county.
Cupid has served on the Cobb
Board of Commissioners since
2013, and in 2020 became the first
black and first female chair in the
history of the state’s third-most populous
county. Among her accomplishments:
Increasing transit options, improving public
safety, and launching the Keep Cobb Beautiful Sustainability Forum.
LAUREN CURRY
CHIEF OF STAFF, GOV. BRIAN KEMP
DOUG COLLINS
U.S. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
This former Georgia congressman,
attorney and Air Force chaplain is
a close ally of President Donald
Trump, who nominated him to
serve as the nation’s 12th Secretary of
Veterans Affairs. He was swiftly confirmed,
and assumes responsibility for overseeing the
health, education, disability and financial
benefits earned by U.S. military veterans.
Curry had a distinguished career
in public service before last year
becoming the first woman to fill
the governor’s chief of staff role in
state history. From that lofty perch she
guides the popular governor’s legislative
agenda and oversees the web of state
agencies that carry out the government’s
work.
RANDY DAVIDSON
PRESIDENT, GEORGIA ENTERTAINMENT
GRETCHEN CORBIN
PRESIDENT & CEO, GEORGIA LOTTERY CORP.
Since its inception in 1993 Georgia’s lottery has been heralded as a
stunning national success,
generating billions of dollars for
the HOPE Scholarship and Pre-K programs.
With Georgia becoming a global
entertainment hub over the past 15
years, media outlets have grown
alongside the industry to cover the
exploding creative economy. Chief among
those is Davidson’s Georgia Entertainment, a
critical resource for legislators and economic
SPE AK ER OF TH E H O U S E
Jon Burns
Newington
SPE AK ER PRO T E M P O R E
Jan Jones
Milton
MAJORITY LE A D E R
Chuck Efstration
Dacula
MAJORITY W HI P
James Burchett
Waycross
MAJORITY CAUC U S C H A I R
Bruce Williamson
Monroe
MI NORITY LE A D E R
Carolyn Hugely
Columbus
MI NORITY W HI P
Sam Park
Lawrenceville
MI NORITY CAUCU S C H A I R
Tanya Miller
Atlanta
development professionals, as well as
industry leaders and interested Georgians.
TED DECKER
CHAIR, PRESIDENT & CEO, HOME DEPOT
Business is booming at the Cobb
County-based home improvement
giant, where Decker started a
quarter century ago as a director of
business valuation. He now oversees an
organization that operates over 2,300 stores
in all 50 states and employs 475,000 associates. Outside the office Decker sits on the
board of the Atlanta Committee for Progress.
GREG DOZIER
COMMISSIONER, TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
OF GEORGIA
The state’s economic development
wins in recent years can be
attributed in no small part to TCSG
and its Georgia Quick Start
program. That’s been a point of emphasis for
Dozier, a former state CFO and commissioner
of the Department of Corrections, as he
oversees Georgia’s 22 technical colleges and
88 locations.
JIM DURRETT
PRESIDENT & CEO, BUCKHEAD COALITION
Upon succeeding legendary former
Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell in
2020, Durrett was thrust into the
middle of the Buckhead Cityhood
scrap, which he deftly navigated. He also
