This week in BiS:
• The smart commercial real estate money in Savannah is through sitting on its collective hands and is busy bringing projects out of the ground. Here are a few places where you’ll see action taking place in 2013.
• Neville Stein spent five years as a city planner after he graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Then he tried construction management and consulting before he found a career and home as an accountant.
• Sandy Edwards started playing cornhole with his friends where he worked at Gulfstream. Then he and his friends tried building a few sets and gave him the notion to build more. He put them up for sale, finally convinced his wife to make bags to go with them and now they have their own business.
• Economist Kenneth Zapp, who’s a member of Savannah’s Downtown Neighborhood Association, suggests applying four criteria in the analysis of future public investments in downtown Savannah — job creation, financial viability, impact on the aesthetic neighborhood ambiance and conformity with a strategic vision for Savannah.
• Sustainability consultant Rick Crawford says while we hear of businesses “going green” or “implementing sustainable business practices,” a business has to use a “triple bottom line approach” to be considered sustainable.
• Edgar Smith, an attorney who specializes in maritime law, discusses a high-profile case that underscores the complexity of maritime law and emphasizes the fact that admiralty law does not always involve container ships and cargo and can even govern activity during ships’ loading and unloading.
Tour company supports Habit for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity Savannah has received a $1,000 donation from Old Savannah Tours to support its programs.
Old Savannah Tours’ Will Green presented the check to Virginia Brown, Habitat’s executive director, on Jan. 31. The company donated a portion of every ticket purchased through its 2012 “Home for Holidays” tour to Habitat Savannah.
“We want to recognize Habitat for Humanity for its ongoing work to provide affordable housing in Savannah,” Green said. “At Old Savannah Tours, we believe in supporting organizations that change the community in which we do business.”
Habitat for Humanity Savannah builds affordable housing for low-income families. Houses are simple in construction, energy efficient and sustainable by design and located in transitional areas to support neighborhood revitalization. “Corporate partners keep Habitat Savannah’s programs affordable,” Brown said.
