Hey.

Welcome to ATL Grind.

I’m Andrew (your host) who’ll be showing you the best events, news, jobs, and more in Atlanta’s business world. Let’s get started.

 

Atlanta AI Week // April 20-22 // Atlanta Tech Village, Buckhead Three days of enterprise AI programming for founders, C-suite leaders, and investors. Includes an AI Leadership Summit, Startup Showcase, Women in AI Breakfast, and a VIP Reception. If you care about applied AI (not theory), this is the Southeast's version of it. Read more here

Inman Park Festival // April 25-26 // Inman Park Atlanta's oldest neighborhood festival. Street market, live music, a Tour of Homes, and the famous parade. One of the best weekends of the year to walk the neighborhood and bump into half the city. Read more here

Georgia Technology Summit // April 30 // Cobb Convention Center Hosted by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). 1,000+ technologists and business leaders. Features the annual "Top 40 Innovative Companies" exhibition and programming focused on strengthening the local tech economy. If you're building, funding, or selling to tech companies in Georgia, this is the room to be in. Read more here

The PR veteran who built a media directory, a training program, and an entertainment alliance from one Atlanta firm.

Mitch Leff has been in public relations for nearly four decades. He started his career at Cohn & Wolfe, at the time the largest PR agency in the Southeast, where he rose to Media Relations Director for the Atlanta office. He went on to spend several years at Edelman and GCI Group before becoming director of public relations for Turner Learning, the educational division of Turner Broadcasting. Along the way, he's done PR for Coca-Cola, AOL Time Warner, the NFL, and UPS.

In 2003, he opened Leff & Associates. Twenty-three years later, the firm is still one of the most connected independent PR shops in the city. Their client roster spans higher education, nonprofits, construction, legal, entertainment, sports, and environmental organizations. They've placed stories in CNN, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the AJC, Bloomberg, and the AP.

What makes Mitch different from most PR people: he built the infrastructure. Leff's Atlanta Media is a directory of thousands of reporters, editors, and producers across metro Atlanta, covering TV, radio, newspapers, wire services, magazines, and online outlets. The site also includes PR guidelines, press release templates, and media advisory samples. If you're a company that wants to do PR but doesn't have a department yet, this is where you start.

He also founded the Georgia Entertainment Public Relations Alliance (GEPRA), a group of senior Georgia-based PR professionals who collaborate on entertainment industry clients in film, television, music, and gaming.

His crisis communications work is worth knowing about if you run a company and don't have a plan. Mitch's perspective: the whole point of crisis comms is to find the problems before they happen. "If you don't have a plan in place, you can lose brand reputation, which fully impacts your bottom line. It impacts sales, operations, and your ability to move forward." He differentiates between communication crisis plans and operational crisis plans, and says both matter regardless of company size.

Separately, Leff & Associates runs a Media Training Master Class for Municipalities, designed for cities and counties where the comms team is small and often wearing multiple hats. Fulton County's Director of External Affairs, Jessica Corbett, called the training immediately actionable: her team came away with concrete pitching strategies they could use the next day.

If you're an Atlanta exec or founder who's going to be talking about your business publicly, Mitch would tell you the same thing he tells every client: get media trained before you need it.

680 Hamilton Ave SE, Boulevard Heights (Southside Beltline)

If you haven't walked the Southside Beltline stretch near Grant Park lately, you're missing one of the best new spots in the city. Side Saddle is a natural wine bar from Kayla Bellman, the founder of Finca to Filter coffee (which operates right next door). It's small, it's chill, and the Infatuation called it one of their favorite new wine bars in Atlanta.

The wine list focuses on small-batch, sustainable producers. Glasses run $14-$18, and a flight of three is $15. House cocktails are $12. Chef Carla Fears runs a menu of Italian-forward small plates with Southern touches: smash burger (halved for sharing), grazing boards with local cheeses, caesar salad, rodeo fries. Nothing on the menu is over $20.

Sr. Principal EI Solutions Team Leader, Data Science at Chick-fil-A (Corporate HQ, Atlanta). Lead the Advanced Analytics & Automation team building AI and data science products across 2,600+ restaurants. One of the most senior data roles in Atlanta's corporate landscape. Apply here

Senior Full Stack Engineer, Calendar Platform at Calendly ($224K-$272K, Atlanta). Build and scale core calendar infrastructure for the $3B+ scheduling platform. Apply here

Sr. Counsel, Intellectual Property & Advertising at Chick-fil-A (Corporate HQ, Atlanta). Legal strategy for one of the most recognizable brands in the country. Apply here

Engineering Manager, Platform Services at Calendly ($233K-$282K, Atlanta). Hire and lead engineers building the infrastructure behind millions of weekly meetings. Apply here

Sr. Real Estate Representative at Chick-fil-A (Corporate HQ, Atlanta). Site selection and deal execution for new restaurant locations. If you know commercial real estate and want a seat at the table with one of the fastest-growing QSRs, this is it. Apply here

QA Engineer III at Calendly ($139K-$169K, Atlanta). Quality engineering on the product team. Posted this week. Apply here

The mobile detailer your Buckhead and East Cobb neighbors already use.

Most "mobile detailing" outfits are a guy with a pressure washer and a Spotify playlist. PeachLine Mobile Detailing is not that.

They show up in a fully outfitted van with electric, commercial-grade tools, an onboard deionized water supply, and professional products. No generators, no gas fumes, no noise. They detail every surface: clay bar paint decontamination, carpet shampooing with heated extraction, leather cleaning and conditioning, door jambs, cupholders, seat plastics.

Here's what stands out: PeachLine uses W-2 employees, not contractors. Every team member goes through a background check. They pay livable wages and invest in training. That's rare in this space, and it shows up in the consistency of the work. Their customers keep coming back because they know exactly what they're getting every time.

They currently serve Marietta, East Cobb, Kennesaw, Woodstock, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Brookhaven, Alpharetta, and Buckhead. And they're expanding: a second van is getting equipped right now, which means faster scheduling and more availability.

One more detail worth knowing: every qualifying service is automatically reported to your vehicle's CARFAX Vehicle History Report. That's not just about keeping your car clean. It's about protecting its resale value.

If you're a busy professional who wants shop-quality detailing done in your driveway while you take a call, this is what PeachLine was built for. Book online at peachlinemobiledetailing.com.

3594 Tuxedo Ct NW, Tuxedo Park // $5,895,000

The former home of the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown.

Six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, 13,664 square feet on 1+ private acre in the heart of Tuxedo Park. Two pools, a waterfall, hot tub, outdoor bar, and a hidden grotto in the backyard. Inside: a wine cellar, media theater with second kitchen, and a private elevator connecting all three levels. There's also a separate two-bedroom carriage house with its own entrance, living room, and kitchen.

Tuxedo Park is metro Atlanta's most prestigious address. Five of the top 10 home sales in 2025 were in this neighborhood. The Governor's Mansion is around the corner.

Active listing.

4 other headlines to snack on:

Yamaha is moving its entire US headquarters from California to Kennesaw. After 47 years in Cypress, CA, the Japanese manufacturer is consolidating 2,300+ Georgia employees under one roof. They're selling their 25-acre California campus. Relocation starts late 2026. Read more here

Norfolk Southern's brand is about to disappear. The $85B merger with Union Pacific was approved by 99% of shareholders. The combined company will be headquartered in Omaha, but the Midtown building stays. CEO says Atlanta remains a "core location" for tech and operations. Read more here

Busy Bee Cafe is opening a second location at Atlantic Station. The 80-year-old soul food institution (James Beard "America's Classics" winner, Michelin Bib Gourmand) will have a 4,000 sqft space with a bar and patio. Spring 2026. Read more here

Mastro's is reportedly coming to Downtown Atlanta ahead of the World Cup this summer, taking over the McCormick & Schmick's space. If you know Mastro's butter cake, you understand why this matters. Read more here

That’s it.

What’d you think? Reply and share some thoughts.

Andrew