Braves Vice President to speak to GABB on Feb. 24
The Atlanta Braves’ Executive Vice President of Business Operations Mike Plant
ATLANTA, GA. – Mike Plant, the Atlanta Braves’ Executive Vice President of Business Operations, will speak to the Georgia Association of Business Brokers on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The GABB is the state’s largest professional organization dedicated to buying and selling businesses and franchises.
Plant’s responsibilities include overseeing stadium operations, security, finance, personnel, special events and the operations of the minor league clubs. He is currently the Braves Project Leader of the new $672 million stadium and mixed use development in Cobb County.
Since joining the Braves, Plant has implemented more than $50 million of improvements at Turner Field including the installation of the largest high-definition display in the world, and the upscale SunTrust Club. He also oversaw enhancements to Turner Field concessions, parking and traffic patterns. Plant also led the successful relocation of two Braves minor league teams to new stadiums in Pearl, Mississippi and Gwinnett County, Georgia.
GABB members represent owners of Georgia businesses and help them establish the sales price of their business, create marketing plans and strategies for the sale of their business, identify and qualify potential buyers, and work to protect the confidentiality of the entire process. Many of today’s business buyers are individuals who have decided not to re-enter corporate America, but are ready to control their own destiny by purchasing and operating a Georgia business.
The GABB’s monthly meeting starts at 10:30 a.m. at the South Terraces Conference Center following a free light breakfast and networking session at 9:45 a.m. The South Terraces Conference Center is at 115 Perimeter Center Place, Atlanta. For more information about the GABB, contact GABB President Greg DeFoor at 678-644-5983 or president@gabb.org.
Plant joined the Braves after having served as Executive Vice President of Turner Sports since February of 2002. In that position, he was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the division, a $500-million acquisition, promotion and production company that broadcast approximately 1,200 hours of sports programming on various Turner networks.
Before becoming Executive Vice President of Turner Sports, Plant was President of The Goodwill Games and Vice President of Events for Turner Sports. He was responsible for the overall direction and management of The Goodwill Games, Ted Turner’s multi-sport international Olympic style event.
Prior to joining Turner Sports, Plant was President of Medalist Sports, a full-service sports marketing company he founded in 1988. Medalist Sports created and operated premier professional cycling events in the U.S. and China. In addition, Plant was the Associate Executive Director of the U.S. Cycling Federation in Colorado Springs, CO, from 1986-1988 and the Executive Director of the Canoe and Kayak Team from 1985-1986.
Plant was a member of the 1980 U.S Olympic Speedskating team in Lake Placid, NY, and a six-time member of the U.S. World Championship Speedskating teams. Since 1980, he has served on many committees for the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), the U.S. International Speedskating Association, and USA Cycling. In January 1989, after having served two, four-year terms as the U.S. Speedskating Athlete Representative on the USOC’s Athlete’s Advisory Council, he was elected to a four-year term as Chairman. Plant served on the Atlanta Committee for the 1996 Olympic Games (ACOG) Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees for the Salt Lake City Olympic Bid Committee for the 2002 Winter Games.
Plant served an eight-year term on the USOC’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee (1984-1992) and as Chairman of the Athlete Performance Group (1992-1996), and worked on a number of other USOC Committees. During this period, Plant was elected to an 8-year term (2004-2012) on the Board of Directors of the restructured U.S. Olympic Committee – he was one of only 11 Americans to hold this seat. In 2009, Plant was elected the U.S. Olympic team’s Head of Delegation for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
Internationally, Plant is currently serving his second term on the International Cycling Federation’s (UCI) Executive Committee. He first served on this committee from 1997-2004, and is current President of the CycloCross Commission and member of the Professional Cycling Commission. Plant and his wife, Mary, have two daughters, Erika and Maddie, and a son, Drew.