The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), in collaboration with local economic development agencies, governments and chambers of commerce, is developing a Regional Economic Development Strategy for metro Atlanta. This strategy will help provide a clear roadmap to strengthen the region’s position within an increasingly competitive global economy.

Voters in the Atlanta region have the opportunity to vote on a referendum on July 31 that would raise $8.5 billion through a one percent sales tax to fund transportation projects across the region.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) today presented its Chairman’s Award for Achievement in Historic Preservation to the General Services Administration (GSA) for restoration, rehabilitation, and reuse of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Building in Atlanta.

During the past several months, Lake Lanier—the primary source of water for metro Atlanta and the largest reservoir on the Chattahoochee River—has slowly been rising thanks to winter rains.  But, Lanier is close to four feet below the average for this time of year and is some seven feet below where it was this time last year.

Based on the projection the Corps of Engineers has posted on its website, Lake Lanier is approaching what the Corps calls Zone 4, the level at which releases are made only for water supply, water quality and minimal power generation. At the same time, dry conditions persist across South Georgia, southeast Alabama and the panhandle of Florida.  Conditions are so dry that stream flows on the lower Flint River are near historically low levels.  That means Lanier may be called both to meet metro Atlanta’s needs for drinking water and to supplement the lack of rain in the lower basin.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is building a better tomorrow by participating in the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge (BBC).

Atlanta is joining Denver, Washington, Seattle, Los Angeles and Sacramento, Calif., in this environmental initiative. The Airport’s goal is to reduce energy and water consumption by at least 20 percent at its Technical Campus and in its parking decks by 2020.

Interns need your help from Emory University, Mercer University and Georgia College & State University

Valentine’s Day officially kicked off the beginning of a 60 day social media promotion of 6 green(er) industrial chemicals offered by Ecolink Inc - a 20-year old specialty chemical company operating in Tucker, GA. Through their COO Brandon Pelissero's board membership with the American Marketing Association (AMA-Atlanta) and support of GA DECA a high school marketing program with more than 10,000 students participating, Ecolink recruited three super talented AMA collegiate members just last Friday, February 10th at the Biltmore Conference Center during the AMA Collegiate Conference.

Over the span of Valentine's Day (2/14/12) through Earth Day (4/22/12) ~ 10 weeks, each of our 3 interns will manage 2 new product launches utilizing at least 8 different social media tools and networks and design their own T-shirt and belt buckle (cowboy, cowgirl up ya'll) maintaining total creative control throughout their internship. We are unleashing an army of David's in an industry dominated by Goliath sized market leaders. Chemical industry & Social Media mentioned in the same sentence/paragraph/city/country/planet got you scratching your head? We are too. What do a bunch of chemists, accounting people and technical sales people know about Social Media? Not enough. Hence, our investment in subject matter experts: super social college students.

Our entire team is thrilled and delighted to introduce our 3 very talented interns – Chance Hood, Courtney Rivkind and Jackie Hooper. Each intern will promote two brand new distributed products through Ecolink's alliance partners: Randolph Products, Nugentec and Hubbard Hall respectively. We will emphasize social media as the primary way of accelerating exposure and engagement of these new strategic relationships and their unique products mutually selected. Each intern has 8 digital profiles and 2 merchandise promotions to design, implement and integrate. The intern who accumulates a combined score of most page views, on-page social sharing and return-on-investment (leads generated, quotes, samples, sales) will earn an extra $1,000 + donate $100 to their favorite charity.

Fuel cell installation marks completion of Cox’s 14^th alternative energy project in California

Cox Enterprises announced today the installation of five fuel cells at its Cox Communications subsidiary in San Diego. The fuel cells join nine previous alternative energy projects in the state. Combined, Cox’s 14 alternative energy installations in California annually prevent 15,500 tons of carbon emissions from entering the environment, the equivalent of removing 367 cars from the road.

The five new fuel cells are Bloom Energy Servers and utilize a unique fuel cell technology, which converts fuel into electricity via an electro-chemical process without any combustion and no harmful, smog-forming particulates. These fuel cells are powered by biogas, a renewable fuel, to make them even more eco-friendly.

Program to donate $15,000 to local environmental nonprofits

Cox Communications, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land (TPL),  today announced finalists for Arizona's Cox Conserves Heroes program. A total of $15,000 will be donated to local environmental nonprofits on behalf of the finalists.

Kimberly-Clark Professional has received the 2011 Sustainability Award from Marriott International and is the first product supplier to receive the prestigious award, which recognizes organizations that help Marriott reach its environmental sustainability goals worldwide.

"We are proud to partner with suppliers that share the same values as we do, particularly those like Kimberly-Clark Professional that support our more than 20-year commitment to conservation and preservation," said John Adams, Senior Vice President – Global Operations Services, Marriott International.  "With the increase in global travel, we have a responsibility to ease our business impact on our natural environment.  Working in partnership with our suppliers to create more sustainable products helps us uphold that commitment to our sustainable initiatives in our hotels and beyond."