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2021: In March 2021, MAC awarded 19 small and medium-sized Black-owned businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with $180,000 of direct economic relief funded through investor donations from across the metro Atlanta business community.  

2018: The Atlanta Sports Council kicked off the first in a trifecta of major sporting events to be hosted in the region over the next three years: College Football Playoff National Championship, Super Bowl LIII and NCAA Final Four.  

2016: The year marked the passage of legislation to fund $2.7B for More MARTA. MAC also led the fight to defeat religious exemption legislation.  

2015: MAC provided leadership for $1B in additional annual funding for Georgia transportation, the first state increase since 1971. In addition, the chamber launched ChooseATL, an initiative to attract and retain next-gen talent.  

2014: The Atlanta Science Festival was founded in 2014 by Emory University, Georgia Tech and MAC. The Festival is now engineered by Science ATL, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing people together through the wonder of science.  

2012: MAC launched a new task force, comprised of top Atlanta mobile technology business leaders, to lead the vision and strategy for a mobility initiative aimed at making Atlanta the recognized global hub for wireless and mobile technology.  

2008: Helping to rally the business community, MAC led the Grady Hospital Task Force that saved our region’s only certified Level 1 Trauma Center.  

2001: MAC led efforts to have the Confederate symbol removed from the Georgia state flag.  

1996: MAC helped raise funds to construct Centennial Olympic Park, and the Atlanta Sports Council was a leader in preparing the city to host the 1996 Olympic Games.  

1991: MAC played an important role in a pivotal time of growth and recruitment of companies in Atlanta, including Fortune 500 headquarters such as Georgia-Pacific, General Electric, Newell Rubbermaid and UPS. 

1988: When Atlanta hosted the Democratic National Convention, MAC partnered with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Georgia Department of Industry and Trade to maximize the region’s visibility  

1980: MAC helped advance efforts to make Atlanta the “sports capital of the world” by establishing the Atlanta Sports Council.  

1970: MAC led efforts to attract foreign business, expand international airport routes and recruit industries in technology, manufacturing and research, adding more than 25,000 jobs annually. To attract more minority business to the state, MAC helped launch the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council.  

1965: MAC was involved in the passage of a regional rapid transit amendment that set the stage for the creation of a five-county authority evolving into today’s Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).  

1961: MAC founded the magazine “City Builder” in 1916, which ran until 1960. The magazine changed hands several times over the next two decades, and today, it is known as the Atlanta Magazine.  

1960: MAC issued a resolution to the Georgia General Assembly supporting legislation that would end school segregation. Under the leadership of Ivan Allen Jr. – Chamber president and later mayor of Atlanta – MAC called for businesses to peacefully comply with the Civil Rights legislation.  

1952: MAC was integral to an 81-square-mile expansion of city limits. As a result, MAC helped expand access to higher education through efforts to fund expansion in universities such as Georgia Tech and Emory University.  

1941: MAC helped to recruit major airlines to Atlanta, including becoming the home of Delta Air Lines in 1941.  

1930: MAC aided in the expansion of Atlanta that included a $40M project to create an interstate highway system. The “Keep Atlanta Ahead” campaign, as it was known, also led to changes in education, fire prevention, public health, urban housing and global trade. During this time, more than 90 new industries came to the city.  

1925: MAC launched its first advertising campaign, called Forward Atlanta, led by Ivan Allen Sr., president of MAC, which attracted more than 750 companies to Atlanta, bringing over $30M and tens of thousands of jobs to the area.  

1920: MAC was heavily involved in the development of Atlanta’s air transport industry. In partnership with the City Council, the chamber encouraged the city to purchase Candler Field. This move made Atlanta the third city in the country – after New York and Chicago – to offer regular daily flights.  

1900: A lack of paved roads and underequipped public schools led MAC to secure a $3M bond from the city that funded improvements in water and sewage systems, Grady Hospital and public schools.