January-February 2012 - The Jewish Georgian

Page 22 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN January-February 2012
BUSINESS BITS
By Marsha Liebowitz
PRESIDENT’S MEDAL. George S. Stern,
founding partner of Stern & Edlin, PC,
received the International Academy of
Matrimonial Lawyers President’s Medal at
the academy’s 25th anniversary meeting in
Harrogate, England, September 10, 2011, in
recognition of his work as academy treasurer,
1991-2011. Active in the Atlanta Bar
Association and State Bar of Georgia for
years, Stern has been included in “Best
Lawyers in America” since 1997, serves on
the Temple Sinai and Breman Jewish
Heritage and Holocaust Museum boards, is
a vice president of the Amit Program, and is
a past president of the Marcus Jewish
Community Center of Atlanta.
George S. Stern (left)
and David Salter
NEXT GENERATION LEADER. Renée
Rosenheck has been selected for the inaugural
class of the Zin Fellows Leadership
Development Program of American
Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev. This exclusive innovative program
is designed to create a community of “next
generation leaders” committed to furthering
David Ben-Gurion’s vision for Israel’s
Negev region. The program will provides
insight into challenges presented by the
Negev and intends to imbue in fellows a
commitment to the region. Rosenheck is a
founding member of Limmud Atlanta + SE
and serves on the board of the Atlanta
Chevre Minyan.
PIEDMONT NATIONAL EXPANDS.
Piedmont National Corporation is expanding
into South Carolina, with the acquisition
of Winder Packaging LLC, in Greer. Allen
Ivester, Winder Packaging’s president, will
join Piedmont National and assume the role
of sales director for the Carolinas division.
Piedmont, headquartered in Atlanta, has
distribution warehouses and offices in
Atlanta and Albany, Georgia; Chattanooga
and Knoxville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North
Carolina; Montgomery, Birmingham,
Decatur and Dothan, Alabama; and Tampa,
Florida.
SWARTZ JOINS AICC. Barry Swartz is the
new vice president of Trade &
Development at The American-Israel
Chamber of
Commerce, SE
Region (AICC),
and executive
director of the
American Israel
Educational
Institute, AICC’s
charitable affiliate.
Swartz was
senior vice president
of the
J e w i s h
Barry Swartz
Federations of
North America,
where he created
the continental system-wide emergency
preparedness and response system and
directed the JFNA Consulting division,
Next Generation programs, and the
Washington Public Policy Office. He
received a BA from York University and a
master’s in Jewish communal service from
Brandeis University and graduated from the
Mandel Executive Development Program.
FEATURED EXPERT. Karen Botnick Paz,
director of Programming and Development
at The Amit
Program, was
the featured
expert for the
week of October
4, 2011, on the
Impact ADHD
Blog. Her blog
entry, “Life
Under the Big
Top,” describes
how her children’s
various
Karen Paz
diagnoses,
including learn-
ing disabilities, ADHD, OCD, and Tourette
Syndrome, led her to volunteer with the
Amit Program, eventually leading to fulltime
employment. Impact ADHD
(impactadhad.com) is a national community
that was created to bring a coach-approach
to parents; it is intended to effectively support
entire families by helping parents positively
raise their ADHD kids.
Lauryn Elizabeth
Solodar
IN THE BAG.
L a u r y n
Elizabeth
Solodar, a 2011
fall graduate of
The Savannah
College of Art
and Design
(SCAD), Atlanta
Campus, is the
new art director
and designer for
the handbag
c o m p a n y
Hammitt Los
Angeles. She interned with the company
this summer, where she created her first
design, The Viper, which is being shown all
across the country. Solodar also attended
the Hebrew Academy and Riverwood
International Charter School and is the
daughter of Helena and Seymour Solodar.
SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS TECH-
NOLOGY. Over 200 participants attended
the American-Israel Chamber of
Commerce, Southeast Region’s “Social
Media: Making Business Sense through
Analytics,” a demonstration and discussion
of the latest Israeli technologies, December
7, 2011, at UPS world headquarters in
Atlanta. Three leading Israeli companies,
ActivePath, Pursway, and Verint, made
“Ignite” presentations, and a panel moderated
by Professor Benn Konsynski, Emory
University Goizueta Business School, and
including Adam Naide, Cox
Communications; Martin O’Conner,
Equifax; Del Ross, Intercontinental Hotel
Group; and Joe Guerrisi, UPS, discussed
the latest trends from the enterprise perspective.
AICC Social Media event panelists
Dov Wilker has been appointed director
of the American Jewish Committee’s
Atlanta Regional Office. He succeeds
Sheri Labovitz, interim director, who
served on the search committee.
Wilker previously worked as AJC
Atlanta’s assistant director, a position he
held for two and a half years. He also
brings international experience from his
time representing AJC in the United States’
first professional exchange to South Asia
and his service as regional director of
Academic and Community Affairs for the
Consulate General of Israel to the
Southeast. Wilker returns to Atlanta after
earning his international MBA from Tel
Aviv University and working in the private
sector with an Israeli company.
Founded in 1944, the Atlanta Regional
Office of AJC is dedicated to building
bridges of understanding between the
Jewish community and other ethnic and
faith communities, as well as the diplomatic
corps representing numerous interna-
30 YEARS. Abbadabba’s is celebrating 30
years of improving people’s health through
better footwear. Janice Abernethy opened a
tiny crafts shop in the late 1970s, but her
passion for comfort shoes began when she
discovered Birkenstocks, which were not
carried by traditional shoe retailers. She
began selling them at the Atlanta Flea
Market and then at Abbadabba’s first brick
and mortar store, in Little 5 Points, in 1981.
Abbadabba’s, now with five locations, carries
numerous other brands, including
Israel’s Naot footwear. International shoe
designers and manufacturers consult
Abbadabba’s for input and critique, sometimes
before a new line goes into production.
Abbadabbaʼs sales associate Laura
Sultenfuss with the Buckhead
storeʼs Naot selection
Dov Wilker named director
of AJC Atlanta Regional Office
Dov Wilker
tional governments in metro Atlanta and
the Southeast. AJC Atlanta is known for
such successful initiatives as ACCESS,
AJC’s national young adult division; The
Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition; and The
Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.