In honor of Women’s History Month, Gateway85 CID would like to welcome the Atlanta Regional Commission’s (ARC) new executive director, Anna Roach. She is the first woman to hold this position in the ARC’s 70-year history!

Did you know that in 1947 the (then called) Metropolitan Planning Commission was created in Atlanta and became the first publicly supported, multi-county planning agency in the United States? Today, the ARC covers a 20-county region that radiates from the city of Atlanta. As executive director, Roach oversees all the planning and funding responsibilities the ARC holds for transportation projects across those 20 counties.

Public service has been a passion of Roach’s for quite some time. Before joining the ARC, she served the Fulton County government as assistant county manager from 2013 to 2016, chief strategy officer from 2016 to 2019, and chief operating officer from 2019 to 2022.

“The thing that I tell folks who think that there’s a pathway to this career is that I really have not planned it,” said Roach on her career in public service. “Each instance has opened the door to something new so there’s not a lot of architecting that went in to [it] but it has been very full, very rewarding in the area of public service. I’ve been really excited about the opportunities I’ve been afforded over the course of my career.”

Gateway85 CID is excited to work with Anna and continue its long relationship with the ARC. We have worked on multiple projects that will positively impact the district’s access, mobility and livability. Some of the projects include:

The ARC also has projects underway including the $28.7 million operation to widen Jimmy Carter Boulevard from four to six lanes from Buford Highway to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.

Anna spent the first 13 years of her life with her family in Jamaica before they moved to New York. She received her undergraduate degree from State University of New York, College at Courtland and her law degree from St. John’s University School of Law before moving to Georgia 15 years ago.

Anna spends her free time still serving her community as a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and the Atlanta Rotary Club. She is also a member of the American Bar Association and former chair of the Atlanta Market Board of the March of Dimes. Anna is also the current PTA president for Wolf Creek Elementary where she sometimes gets to walk the halls and high five her seven-year-old daughter and was previously involved with the Greater Atlanta Christian School (a Gateway85 supporter) which is where we originally met Anna.

When at home, Anna relaxes with her husband and their four children and exercises her green thumb. “I get to spend a lot of time with my husband in my garden and a lot of time with my thoughts,” says Anna. “It’s therapeutic for me.”

Congratulations on your new role Anna! The Gateway85 CID can’t wait to see all the amazing things we will accomplish together!

For more than 50 years, Builder Specialties, Inc. (BSI) has proudly supplied builders and homeowners across Atlanta with various home solutions, including appliances, fireplaces, mantels, garage doors, outdoor kitchens and more. The company not only sells supplies and appliances but also manages installations.

In 2015, BSI joined the Construction Resources group, a one-stop-shop for residential, multifamily and commercial construction, remodeling and more. As one of 15 companies belonging to the CR group, it offers products for new homes, upgrades or renovations, and discounted appliances at its BSI Bargains Warehouse, located off Best Friend Road in the Gateway85 district. BSI’s working inventory warehouse is open to the public by appointment only.

For more information, visit their website today and schedule an appointment before you visit to receive terrific service!

With the cost of gas fluctuating, commuters are rethinking their options. If you’re not familiar, Georgia Commute Options (GCO) is a federally funded program whose goal is to improve air quality by decreasing traffic. They do this by working with employers to provide employee incentives to choose clean commutes including carpooling, vanpooling, transit, biking, walking and working from home when possible. GCO’s Telework and Flexwork Programs help employers reduce costs, provide better planning options and identify tax savings. The program is no cost to employers or employees. Phillip Payne, GCO’s worksite advisor, is happy to meet in person or virtually. Call 678.356.8316 or click here to email him.

The Gateway85 and Tucker Summit CIDs are leading an effort to study the feasibility of transit service along the Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Mountain Industrial Boulevard corridor. This corridor is the center of more than 15,000 jobs and ties together significant concentrations of multi-family housing just outside I-285. As it traverses Gwinnett and DeKalb counties, transit and transportation are in multiple agency jurisdictions, and no coordinated transit service exists that takes advantage of the potential jobs-housing connections that the corridor offers.

The CIDs are engaging partner agencies and stakeholders to establish a service as soon as possible with the cost of commutes continuing to rise. This brief document provides a summary of key opportunities that the corridor includes.

Recently, the Gwinnett Daily Post featured our CID and our Executive Director Emory Morsberger in the Community Profile that appeared on Sunday, March 13!

Gateway85 CID continually works to keep its members informed of positive progress as well as crisis situations that may negatively impact our members' businesses, commutes and more. When we learned of the Greyhound passenger bus incident that snarled traffic for hours, we immediately distributed an e-blast that was actually picked up by the Gwinnett Daily Post. We were proud we could so quickly provide critical information to our members and are grateful to the Gwinnett County Police for successfully resolving this situation.

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