BBA luncheon to feature new AT&T S.E. president

Harry MK. Lightsey, III, the new president of AT&T’s Southeast region, will be making his first metro Atlanta address at the quarterly luncheon meeting of the Buckhead Business Association on Thursday, April 17.

Among the items he will be addressing is that Atlanta has earned the title “most wired city” in the U.S. because of the technologies that are available to connect everyone here.

Lightsey is the former senior vice president for southern region legislative and regulatory affairs. He began his telecommunications career in 1982 when he joined the Southwestern Bell legal department in St. Louis, Missouri. Four years later, he transferred to BellSouth Corporation. Lightsey’s career at BellSouth has included assignments in Atlanta and Miami, as well as in South Carolina as the state president. He assumed his new post on March 1.

He is married to Mercy (Weatherbee) Lightsey and they have two children, Ellen and Ree.

The luncheon meeting will be at 103 West restaurant, 103 West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead. Registration begins at 11:15 a.m. and the luncheon runs from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Reservations are required and must be made by April 15. The cost for BBA members is $50 and for non-members $70. Corporate tables for eight cost $400 for BBA members and $560 for non-members.

Buckhead Community Bank names Kinard CFO

Dawn Kinard has been promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer of The Buckhead Community Bank.

“Dawn has an impressive nine year career in banking,” says Marvin Cosgray, president and CEO. “She will maintain our high level of customer service and ensure that the bank remains well-capitalized.”

In addition to her work with The Buckhead Community Bank, Kinard is an active supporter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society and participates regularly in their walks and 150 mile bike rides.

Kinard lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children.

Buckhead’s Raving Brands to sell PJ’s Coffee

Buckhead-based Raving Brands, Inc. recently announced it is selling PJ’s USA Inc. and PJ’s Wholesale Inc. to New Orleans Roast LLC and New Orleans Brew LLC, making PJ’s Coffee the third brand Raving Brands has sold in the past year.

Last spring, Raving, which is headquartered at 1935 Peachtree Road, sold Moe’s Southwest Grill to Focus Brands, which is based in Sandy Springs at 200 Glenridge Point Parkway. In March, it announced plans to sell Mama Fu’s Noodle House to Texas-based Murphy Adams Restaurant Group.

The two sister companies purchasing the PJ’s Coffee operations are affiliates of the Ballard family, who plan to bring PJ’s back to New Orleans. They already own and operate five PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans locations.

PJ’s Coffee has 48 locations, mostly in the Southeast, with Atlanta market locations in Atlantic Station, Cobb County and Woodstock.

Children’s Healthcare Foundation adds to board

The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) Foundation has added nine new members to its board of trustees from Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Brookhaven.

New trustees include Buckhead residents Elizabeth Blake, senior vice president of government affairs, advocacy and general counsel for Habitat for Humanity International; Dean Eisner, president & CEO of Manheim; Monica Hagedorn, a community volunteer; Keith Mason, a partner with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP; Michael Walsh, managing director of JPMorgan Private Bank, and Nancy Williams, community volunteer.

Sandy Springs resident Naghma S. Khan, M.D., director of Emergency medicine at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston also joins the board along with Brookhaven residents Charles Ogburn, executive director of Arcapita Inc., and community volunteer Christy Roberts.

The CHOA Foundation is dedicated to bringing health, hope and happiness to children through philanthropic and volunteer support for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Two Atlanta chefs get Beard Award nominations

Arnaud Berthelier, chef at the Dining Room of the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, and Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene, are two Buckhead chefs who have been nominated for the 2008 James Beard Award.

It is the first nomination for Hopkins, but Berthelier is repeating his nomination in the Southern food movement category from last year. The awards will be announced at a ceremony in New York on June 8.