(August 2024 Atlanta, GA) Over 350 people celebrated a unique aspect of Atlanta, GA’s success as the Atlanta Business League (ABL) hosted its 18th Annual Men of Influence (MOI) Reception and Induction Ceremony. The Tuesday, August 6th evening event showcased accomplishments from a specially selected group of Black men and inducted a veteran business broker into its Legends Hall of Fame.

 

However, the evening started with a tradition that allowed previous MOI recipients to be recognized. Seventeen honorees from earlier years told the audience who they were and what their induction year was before going to the front of the Hyatt Regency Atlanta’s Imperial Ballroom. Milton Jones, Jr., small business owner, Chair for 100 Black Men of America and the United Negro College Fund, joined Gregory Baranco, co-owner of Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead, as representatives from the year 2007, which was the first time ABL held the ceremony.

The evening’s awards ceremony also saluted an iconic legislator from the past. Shirley Franklin, the City of Atlanta’s 58th mayor, explained why The Honorable Marvin Arrington, Sr. deserved the Men of Influence Legacy Award. She offered insight into the personality of a man who is credited with restructuring city government during his 17 years as City Council President.

 

“One of my favorite stories was when I was lobbying city council for a position Maynard Jackson supported, and Marvin whispered to me, ‘Will you tell me when it is my time to quit?’ He understood the arc of life and that there was a time to let young people take over,” she said. “He had a sense of humility and a sense of humor. He could see into the future what Atlanta would become.”

 

 

Then, the program jumped from the past into the present as thirteen members of Atlanta’s business, religious, educational, and non-profit communities received accolades and were recognized as the 2024 Men of Influence. Each man wrote 60 seconds of information about himself that was presented as a video bio. He then had a chance to come to the stage and spend one minute talking about his life. 

 

Author, media personality, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights and

Honorary co-chair Judge Penny Brown Reynolds, Ph.D., introduced each man. Honorary co-chairs JaKathryn Ross, the Senior Director of Community Affairs for Georgia-Pacific, Monique Richard, Southwest Airlines Director, Atlanta Region, and Dionne Moore Peasant, founder, and CEO of Meat Masters, Inc., came to the stage to assist.  

 

The final award of the evening went to someone who stayed with one department in city government for almost 50 years. Lonnie Abdul Saboor took a job helping small business owners find money when Invest Atlanta was called the Economic Development Agency. Lonnie was inducted into the Atlanta Business League’s Legends Hall of Fame because he changed the lives of thousands of entrepreneurs. He brought himself more than half-billion dollars worth of public and private funding to the city. 

 

For more information about the Atlanta Business League and its programs, go to www.atlantabusinessleague.org or contact the names listed on this press release.