Sam Massell, President of the Buckhead Coalition and former Atlanta mayor, will receive the  Council for Quality Growth’s 23^rd Annual Four Pillar Award on October 4, 2012 at the Georgia World Congress Center. 

The prestigious Four Pillar Award has become the business community’s highest honor celebrating the pillars of Quality, Responsibility, Vision and Integrity.  Recent honorees include Charlie Loudermilk, Arthur M. Blank, Mayor Shirley Franklin, Tom Cousins, U.S.Senator Johnny Isakson and John Wieland. 

Mayor Massell has been the founding President of the non-profit civic association, Buckhead Coalition, for twenty five years.  This is a prestigious association of chief executive officers of major businesses in this area on the north side of Atlanta who have pooled their strengths to nurture the quality of life and guide the orderly growth of Buckhead.

Massell, a life-long resident of Atlanta, has had successful careers in real estate brokerage, elected office, the field of tourism and association management. He spent twenty years as a realtor.  During that time, he was elected a charter member of the Atlanta Real Estate Board’s Million Dollar Club and was honored three times by the Georgia Association of Real Estate Boards for creating the “Outstanding Transaction of the Year.”

While in real estate, Massell became extensively active in a wide range of civic work, which eventually led to the political arena.  He served twenty-two years in elected offices, including eight as President of Atlanta’s Board of Alderman (now known as the City Council) and four as this city’s Mayor.  While holding that office, he was also chosen as President of the 15,000-member National League of Cities.  In addition, he has served a four-year term on the Board of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and was a board member of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

Council President & CEO Michael E. Paris states:  “Mayor Massell’s  life has been about public service and improving the quality of life in our region.  We can thank him for the creation of MARTA and for polishing Buckhead to make it what it is today.”

Massell’s  administration as Mayor is credited with establishing MARTA, with developing the city’s first enclosed arena (the Omni Coliseum), and with providing the “Five Points” Central City Woodruff Park, all with no call on ad valorem taxes.  He also pioneered minority opportunities in city government, appointing the first female to Atlanta’s City Council and the first African Americans as City Department heads.

After leaving full-time public service, he entered the tourism business in Buckhead where he operated for thirteen years under the name of Your Travel Agent Sam Massell.  He is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC), and a former President of the Travel Industry Association of Georgia. 

The Four Pillar Award & Tribute is a unique honor that celebrates the recipient’s significant contributions to economic development and the region’s quality of life. This prestigious award is unparalleled in the Atlanta region and has come to be known as the highest honor bestowed for the aforementioned contributions.

The recipients of the Council’s Four Pillar award include: 

1990          Steve Reynolds

1991          Wayne Shackelford

1992          J.W. Benefield

1993          D. Scott Hudgens

1994          Wayne H. Mason

1995          Virgil R. Williams

1996          Paul A. Duke

1997          Jim Cowart

1998          J.D. Caswell                                                                  

1999          A. Ray Weeks

2000          Richard L. Tucker

2001          Louise Radloff

2002          George Busbee

2003          F. Wayne Hill

2004          Charlie Brown

2005          Senator Johnny Isakson

2006          John Wieland                      

2007          John A. Williams

2008          Tom Cousins

2009          Mayor Shirley Franklin

2010          Arthur M. Blank

2011          R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr.

The Council for Quality Growth is a trade organization that works to ensure continued growth and economic success for generations to come by providing advocacy, information and education to its members.  Committed to the mission of promoting balanced and responsible growth, the Council is proactively involved in the formulation of policy and legislation critical to the growth and development industry.  The Council addresses, head-on, strategic economic planning, infrastructure needs and tough quality-of-life issues throughout the metro Atlanta region and state.