Hartsfield Jackson Airport Archives

Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Sen. Brandon Beach

August 20, 2019 by John Ray

Business Beat

Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Sen. Brandon Beach

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Show Summary

Georgia State Sen. Brandon Beach joins Frazier & Deeter’s “Business Beat” to talk about the freight and logistics industry in Georgia, growth opportunities with the Port of Savannah and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and more. “Business Beat” is brought to you by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter.

Senator Brandon Beach, Georgia Senate District 21 and Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee

In 2001, Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Sen. Beach to the board of Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). In 2008, he was selected to chair one of GRTA’s most important committees — The Land Development Committee. In this role, Sen. Beach is responsible for leading a review of every significant development brought before the 16-county area that GRTA serves. Sen. Beach was elected to the Board of the Georgia Department of Transportation by state legislators from the 6th Congressional District in 2008.

Sen. Beach is a member of numerous community boards including the Regional Business Coalition, Grady Hospital Board of Visitors, the Greater Metro Atlanta American Heart Association, the Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, Encore Park and the Historic Roswell Convention and Visitors Bureau. Senator Beach received an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University and a Masters in Business Administration degree from Centenary College. He is also a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute and a former member of the Alpharetta City Council and the Alpharetta Planning and Zoning Commission. He and his wife, Shuntel, have two children and have lived in Alpharetta for the past 24 years.

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

Roger Lusby, host of Frazier & Deeter’s “Business Beat,” is an Alpharetta CPA and Alpharetta Office Managing Partner for Frazier & Deeter. He is also a member of the Tax Department in charge of coordinating tax and accounting services for our clientele. His responsibilities include a review of a variety of tax returns with an emphasis in the individual, estate, and corporate areas. Client assistance is also provided in the areas of financial planning, executive compensation and stock option planning, estate and succession planning, international planning (FBAR, SFOP), health care, real estate, manufacturing, technology and service companies.

Find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/frazier-&-deeter-llc/
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Past episodes of Frazier & Deeter’s “Business Beat” can be found here.

ATL Developments with Geoff Smith: Georgia Sen. Brandon Beach

April 29, 2019 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

ATL Developments with Geoff Smith: Georgia Sen. Brandon Beach

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**Geoff Smith and GA Sen. Brandon Beach on “ATL Developments with Geoff Smith”**

ATL Developments with Geoff Smith: An Interview with Ga. Senator Brandon Beach

Host Geoff Smith speaks with Georgia State Senator Brandon Beach on the process of improving transportation infrastructure in the state, how drivers of economic development has changed in recent years, the importance of transportation in economic development, and creating better coordination across local jurisdictions in Metro Atlanta.

Senator Brandon Beach, Georgia Senate District 21 and Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee

Senator Brandon Beach was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2013. He represents District 21 which includes portions of Cherokee and Fulton counties. Senator Beach is the Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He is also a member of the Economic Development, Higher Education and Science and Technology committees. Sen. Beach served as the Chairman of the Public Private Partnership Committee (P3 Committee). Under his leadership, the P3 Committee was able to acquire key local transportation projects approved for Cherokee and North Fulton.

Sen. Beach was named Executive Director of the North Fulton Community Improvement District (CID) in January 2018. Previously, he was President of the North Fulton CID and President & CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. Under his leadership, the North Fulton CID has invested more than $20 million to help bring more than $100 million in new infrastructure for the District area.

Geoff Smith, Host of “ATL Developments with Geoff Smith”

Geoff Smith is the host of “ATL Developments with Geoff Smith” and a mortgage banker with Assurance Financial. Possessed with a strong passion for helping his community, Geoff works closely with people and their families so they may live comfortably in fantastic homes and neighborhoods in the booming Atlanta area.

Geoff is an active member of his community serving on the Board of Directors of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, as well as holding the position of chairman for the Chamber’s Education Committee. He is also Secretary of the Roswell Youth Baseball Association and coaches his sons in football, baseball and basketball. Geoff enjoys golf, camping and traveling with his wife and two sons. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia.

Talking IT Strategy with Atlanta’s CIO Samir Saini

May 12, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Talking IT Strategy with Atlanta's CIO Samir Saini

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IT Strategy in Atlanta

This week I had the special treat of sitting down with a long-time acquaintance of mine, Samir Saini, Atlanta’s recently-appointed CIO (2014). He shared the story of his professional journey, beginning as an IT program manager with General Electric and his experience of successful completion of their 2 yr leadership training program.

He spent 10 years with this well-respected organization before accepting the opportunity to step into the role of VP, Corporate Strategy in IT for the MGM International Resorts in Las Vegas. They were in the middle of tackling the IT challenges that come with acquiring several established companies into an existing enterprise, in this case, several well-known hotels.

He was able to successfully lead them through the process of moving the hotels onto a common platform, allowing the company to begin to leverage their company’s size through its expanded buying power and maximize efficiencies in numerous other areas.

Samir returned to Atlanta several years ago, this time bringing his leadership and IT expertise to bear in the public sector, taking a role with Atlanta’s Housing Authority. Four years later he was appointed to be the new CIO for the City of Atlanta by Mayor Kasim Reed.

We talked about the challenges a municipality the size of Atlanta faces, balancing budgetary constraints against a myriad of government agencies, the world’s busiest airport, large population and infrastructure necessary to support them, along with a fast-growing business sector.

Samir discussed several of the tech solutions he and his team are working on and several that are already implemented to the benefit of Atlanta residents. Until we spoke I wasn’t aware that the city provides free Wi-Fi access in Piedmont Park, Grant Park, and numerous other hotspots (with more coming).

He shared the city’s plans to update the fiber optic network to allow for numerous tech upgrades such as synchronized traffic lights to alleviate gridlock, applications that allow drivers to easily locate available parking, and more. I also had the chance to ask him about the priorities he has laid out for the city going forward to address the enormous tech needs of our city to prepare us for the years to come that will make the city a better place to live as a resident and a solid choice for businesses looking for a place to plant their flag.

Special Guest:

Samir Saini, CIO, Commissioner, City of Atlanta