Chapter focus: Atlanta.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.

Area Covered: The state of Georgia, but we welcome qualified applicants that are not members of another FEI chapter

Year Founded: 1944 No. Members: 300

Representative Member Companies: BellSouth Corp., The Coca-Cola Co., Cox Communications Inc., Porsche North America, Rollins Inc. and The Southern Co.

Annual Dues: $325

Meeting Schedule: Typically, the fourth Tuesday, September through April, with a holiday party in December and golf tournament in May

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Regional Challenges: Distance to Atlanta from outlying cities

Recent Highlights:

* Having CEO- or CFO-level speakers talking about their business models--from companies including Global Crossing, Cox Communications Inc., The Home Depot Inc. and UPS, as well as Rep. John Linder endorsing the fair tax concept. Also, a future speaker is the CFO of Atlantic Station LLC, a multi-use project under construction in Atlanta (on the site of an old steel mill) that includes residential, retail and entertainment space, etc.

* Counting meetings as one-hour continuing professional education (CPE) credits

* Creating an Online Directory that includes member pictures and is continually updated

* Involving sponsors as partners to enhance membership and speaker acquisition

Unique Qualities: In addition to the larger companies, FEI Atlanta has extensive membership representing mid-sized to large companies that...