(Big news from the Tour Championship at East Lake, where medium and small businesses can now take advantage of joint hospitality opportunities. No blog this week, but see below for my story which appeared in the June 8-14 Atlanta Business Chronicle print edition.)

Golf’s Tour Championship a winner for charity

By Gary McKillips
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Page 14A • June 8-14, 2012 www.atlantabusinesschronicle.com

Crowning golf’s FedEx Cup winner is only one purpose of the Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, held each fall at the East Lake Golf Club. The other is charity.

In 2011, the tournament raised $2.25 million for charity, primarily benefiting the East Lake Foundation, which supports housing, education and wellness programs in the East Lake community. This year, as the result of an agreement with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, tournament officials hope to encourage sponsorships among midsized and small companies and continue the revitalization that has made the East Lake community a national model for urban development.

Building in the green: Officials hope to build upon

prior success, lifting charitable funds raised to

more than $3 million.

Doug Hertz, president and CEO of United Distributors, a board member of the East Lake Community Foundation and on the executive committee of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, sees the joint Chamber-Tour Championship effort as a win-win for business and the community. “The Tour Championship is a real feather in the cap of Atlanta,” Hertz said. “Big businesses such as [The] Coca-Cola [Co.] and Southern Co. have stepped up as sponsors. Now we hope by partnering with the chamber we can communicate the value and the opportunities available to midsized and small businesses as well.” Added Hertz, “We think that once we get a small group of companies interested, in a few years this will be sold out.”

Organizers say they do not give out exact sponsorship sales numbers, but “typical sponsorships for PGA Tour events are in the mid-to-upper seven figures.”

For this year, officials want to build upon last year, lifting charitable funds raised to more than $3 million, and double what they did in so-called “shared hospitality.”

“The shared hospitality concept means that even medium and small companies can partner with other similar-sized firms for on-site hospitality tents, which come with food, refreshments and amenities such as big screen televisions,” said Todd Rhinehart, executive director of the Tour Championship.“For an investment of $2,500 to $10,000 small and medium-sized firms can provide their clients and customers with great entertainment, gain significant exposure, and receive the satisfaction of contributing to a worthwhile cause.”

A 501(c)(6) organization, the Tour Championship has raised more than $13.25 million for charity. The PGA Tour has raised more than $1 billion since 1938.  According to Lillian Giornelli, chair of  the board of directors of the East Lake Community Foundation, the initial funding for the project came from the Family Foundation of Tom Cousins and a variety of other individuals, foundations and businesses as well as the Atlanta Housing Authority and the Atlanta Public School System. “As a result,”Giornelli said,” East Lake was turned from an underserved, crime-ridden area into a community which boasts high levels of employment, exceptional education with the Drew K-8 Charter School, and an excellent overall quality of life.”

But Giornelli says there is still much work to be done. “From a capital investment standpoint much is done, but from a social capital standpoint, the work continues every day. We help the families in the community with supportive services such as work-force development and entrepreneurship, academically focused after-school programs, college preparatory programming and we are even considering a high school.”

While the emphasis is on the East Lake community throughout most of the year, it’s golf that will be center stage when the 30 top players in the world vie for the Fed Ex cup Sept. 20-23. The FedEx Cup goes to the golfer with the most points accumulated throughout the year in PGA tournament events. Those expected to be in the 2012 field at East Lake are Masters winner Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, last year’s Tour Championship victor Bill Haas and Luke Donald, among others.