Spring 2003 Issue
A Conversation with Phil Jacobs, CDC Foundation Board Member
"As we look forward to the economic recovery of Atlanta and this region, medicine, biotechnology and health care will play an increasingly important role. Clearly, the leading resources we have in Atlanta - including CDC, our nation’s premier public health agency - give us a core set of competencies that can redefine Georgia as a major center for health research and prevention.”
- Phil Jacobs, CDC Foundation Board member
Phil Jacobs, president of Georgia Operations for BellSouth, is a member of the CDC Foundation’s board of directors, and is chair of its development committee. Jacobs serves on a wide range of boards including the Georgia Chamber of Commerce (chair-elect for 2004) and The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta (chair-elect for 2003-2004). He also serves on the Foundation’s board of visitors and co-chairs the Friends of CDC, a group of corporate leaders who are successfully lobbying Congress to improve CDC facilities.
Why did you become an advocate for CDC?
About three years ago, I attended a CDC Foundation Board of Visitors meeting. I expected to hear a reasonable story about CDC facilities and future plans for improvements. The more I listened to Jeff Koplan (then director of CDC), the more unbelievable and outrageous the conditions at CDC seemed. The good news was CDC had a 10-year master building plan - with a price tag of approximately $1.5 billion. But the bad news was that the appropriation for CDC buildings and facilities was averaging less than $50 million per year.
What was your role in forming the Friends of CDC?
In 1999, Oz Nelson (retired chair and CEO of United Parcel Service) and I decided that we would create a group to lobby on behalf of CDC for facilities. We called it the “Friends of CDC.” Bernie Marcus (co-founder and director emeritus of The Home Depot) joined us, and we began lobbying in Washington for an increase in CDC’s budget. This had nothing to do with programs - it was all about improving buildings and facilities.
What has this group accomplished?
Three years ago, we were told that there wasn’t a chance of seeing additional money in that year’s budget, yet we were successful in getting $175 million for the 2001 federal fiscal year. More importantly, we set the stage for increases in subsequent budgets. Overall, we have helped secure almost $700 million in additional funding for CDC’s buildings and facilities, but that’s less than half of the $1.5 billion needed. In addition to BellSouth, UPS and The Home Depot, the Friends of CDC has successfully recruited other businesses, which include Delta, GE Power Systems, HCA, Merck, Cox Enterprises, Southern Company, and Theragenics. We always welcome new friends, both to help fund our lobbying efforts and to help us with contacts in Washington.
Why should Atlanta business leaders be interested in the work of CDC?
Every business should have an interest in the success of CDC, not only from a global public health standpoint, but also because of its prevention research. CDC’s work on a wide range of health and workplace issues, like obesity and safety, has a tremendous impact on health care costs for all businesses. Additionally, through the CDC Foundation, Atlanta businesses have a unique way to partner with CDC to address public health issues that are relevant and important to them.
How does the Atlanta community benefit from CDC’s presence?
There are a lot of jobs at CDC - 6,500 in Georgia - so certainly there’s an economic benefit. But CDC is also an important player in creating critical mass and intellectual capital that we can leverage as we redefine our state as a leading center for health and public health. The Atlanta community views CDC as a major component of its biosciences initiative. The initiative aims to create 18,000 new biotechnology jobs by 2010 that are expected to bring in between $1 to $3 billion in annual revenue.
How does CDC benefit from Atlanta’s growing business community?
In a real sense, the Friends of CDC is demonstrating that the business community in Atlanta - and this region - is ready to step up to support CDC. The Friends group was able to get Congress’ attention in a way that CDC can’t. The end result is that CDC has just opened a new environmental health lab and is in the midst of constructing a new emerging infectious diseases lab. In addition, they now have funding for a global communications and visitor’s center, a new headquarters building and an emergency operations center.
- Lisa Splitlog