20 under 40

MAGAZINE
www.daltonmagazine.com
20UNDER40
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Dalton’s most successful young
entrepreneurs and executives

We Accept All Major Insurance Plans
t CCoouunnttyy WWiiddee DDeelliivveerryy
PROFESSIONAL PHARMACY
• Flu Shots
• Full Service Gift Shop
Specializing in Newborn
Gift Baskets
• We Accept Flexible
Spending Account
(FSA) and Benny Cards
• We Offer Professional
Counseling on all Medications
• We Offer Diabetic Education
Full Service Compounding
Center Offering
Specialty Drug Compounding
and Veterinary Drug
Compounding
Diabetic Footwear.
Offering Free
Custom Fittings
and Foot Exams
Our Pharmacists: Dr. Jason P. Sneed, Pharmacy Manager
• Cookie Cook, RPh. • Mark Smith, RPh. • Dr. Tammy Houston
171439
www.professionalpharmacydalton.com
Come by and see us for all your
prescription needs and let us become
your Hometown Independent Pharmacy!
Dalton’s Preferred Pharmacy for Over 50 Years!
Se Habla Español
(Speak Spanish)
Open when you need us 365 days a year!
Monday thru Friday 8 am - 8 pm, Saturday 9 am - 8 pm - Sunday 11 am - 7 pm
1100 Burleyson Road • Dalton, GA
(706) 278-2490

4 Dalton Magazine / 20 UNDER 40 N JUNE 2014
JUNE 2014, Volume 10, Number 1
PUBLISHER
William H. Bronson III
MAGAZINE EDITOR
Jamie Jones
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Rachel Brown, Victor Miller,
Christopher Smith, Misty Watson
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Matt Hamilton, Misty Watson
SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR
Gary Jones
MAGAZINE DESIGNER
Christopher Stephens
TO REACH DALTON MAGAZINE:
Office: (706) 217-6397
Fax: (706) 275-6641
Advertising: (706) 272-7731
Email: jamiejones@daltoncitizen.com
Or for advertising sales: garyjones@daltoncitizen.com
Website: www.daltonmagazine.com
Letters and editorial contributions, including photographs, should be
sent to: Dalton Magazine, P.O. Box 1167, Dalton, GA 30722-1167
or by email to: jamiejones@daltoncitizen.com.
Dalton Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited submissions.
Reproduction or use of any editorial, photo or graphic content in
any manner, without permission, is prohibited.
Advertising rates and specifications available by contacting:
Gary Jones at (706) 272-7731 or by email to
garyjones@daltoncitizen.com.
Subscription: $12.36 for six editions (one year).
Postmaster: Send address changes to Dalton Magazine,
P.O. Box 1167, Dalton, GA 30722-1167.
Dalton Magazine is a bi-monthly publication of the North Georgia
Newspaper Group at 308 S. Thornton Ave., Dalton, GA 30720, a
locally operated part of Community Newspapers Holdings Inc.
Group Publisher
William H. Bronson III
Advertising Director
Gary Jones
Managing Editor
Jamie Jones
IT Director
Chris McConkey
Table of contents
Zack Adamson ..................6
Craig Bock........................8
Curtis Callaway...............10
Andrew Carnes ...............12
J.T. Finley ........................14
Katie O’Gwin..................16
Tate O’Gwin....................18
James Harris....................20
Sven Jaekel .....................22
Jackie Killings ..................24
Ashley Kinnamon .............26
Amy Kleem......................28
Andrea Mansfield ............30
Zab Mendez ...................32
Dan Peeples ....................34
Marina Smitherman..........36
Kris Kelly Stanfield ...........38
John Thomas....................40
Gabriela Torres-Tapia .......42
Ali Whittier .....................44

JUNE 2014 N Dalton Magazine / 20 UNDER 40 5
When thinking of a leader, what
image forms in your head?
Maybe it’s the mindful mother keep-
ing tabs on the family by taking her son
to band
practice,
picking up
the dry
cleaning on
the way then
preparing
dinner when
she finally
makes it
home.
Perhaps
you see a
steady, confi-
dent quarterback leading his team to
victory in the final moments of the
game.
It could be the leader of a construc-
tion crew who leads by example, quietly
going about his work and inspiring his
team members without saying much.
Whichever image you see, you can
clearly see that leadership comes in vari-
ety of forms.
In this special issue of Dalton
Magazine, we present our second“20
Under 40”list — 20 men and women are
current community leaders who are all
under the age of 40.
In these pages you will find stories on
the current and future leaders of Dalton-
Whitfield.Their ultimate goal is united:
make Dalton the best city it can be.
As you will read, this crop of commu-
nity torchbearers comes from a diverse
background.
There’s a husband/wife duo, several
executives in the floorcovering industry
and others who work for nonprofit
agencies.
We published our first“20 Under 40”
in the September/October 2008 issue of
Dalton Magazine. Now almost six years
later, we decided it was time to intro-
duce the community to another batch
of leaders.We asked several local organi-
zations to submit nominees.We then
selected the newest members of the
group.
There were a few selection guide-
lines.
Our goal was to profile 20 more
young leaders, so anyone on the first list
wasn’t considered.
We wanted people who had leader-
ship positions with their workplace and
also sought volunteer opportunities
outside of work.
Those we selected had to be 39 or
younger.
Rules are rules.
Most of the selections to the inaugu-
ral“20 Under 40”roster are continuing
to lead the way in Dalton, while others
have moved away. Since that first list, a
number of the honorees have excelled
in giving back.
Let’s take a look at a few of our first
class.
• Amanda Burt is still the president of
the United Way of Northwest Georgia, a
position she has held since 2003.
• In 2008, Charlie Bethel was a Dalton
City Councilman. Now, he’s a member of
the state Senate.
• Ty Ross was an attorney at Minor,
Bell and Neal in Dalton when we pro-
filed him six years ago.Today, he is the
city administrator for Dalton.
Through the coming years, be sure to
keep an eye on the 20 men and women
in this magazine as they become even
more involved and entrenched in the
community.
And in the future, be on the lookout
for the third edition of Dalton
Magazine’s“20 Under 40.”
Jamie Jones is editor of Dalton
Magazine.
F R O M T H E e d i t o r
Jamie Jones
What’s your definition
of a community leader?

20 UNDER 40
W
hen Zack Adamson grew up in Dalton it
wasn’t uncommon to see him“running
around the neighborhood streets”on
summer evenings, he said.
“We lived in a neighborhood in Dalton with nice
people and children my age,”he recalled.“My
brother and sister, we spent a lot of time in other
people’s yards.Whether we were playing baseball
or football games, it was always out in everyone’s
front yard.Thinking about that takes me back.”
So coming back to Dalton after moving away to
attend the University of Georgia, then later for a job
in Chattanooga, brings a strong sense of“nostal-
gia.”Adamson still drives by his parents’old house
every now and then and he still drives by Edwards
Park where he played baseball.
What brought him back to these memories? A
“phenomenal”job as human resources director for
Engineered Floors in Dalton.
“Me and my wife Anna spent the majority of our
formative years in Dalton,”he said.“Our families are
still here.We attend the church that Anna grew up
in and her parents were married in.That’s now
ChristChurch Presbyterian (formerly First
Presbyterian Church).There’s a comfort in what’s
old and what we are used to.We see Dalton as a
community that’s on the rise, too. A place to raise a
family, to meet new people and reconnect with old
friends.”
Adamson says Dalton has changed a lot since his
boyhood days. Some of his childhood neighbor-
hoods have been marred with poverty, filled with
shell-shocked faces of those who were hurt the
most when Dalton’s flooring industry stalled during
the recession. And while those struggling faces are
something Adamson says he knows well through
working in HR — with several locals on a seemingly
endless, yearless job hunt — he’s been happier
lately.
He says that’s mostly because of Engineered
Floors’growth, which is adding roughly 2,000
much-needed jobs to the area and is set to open a
major plant. Adamson will be on the frontlines of a
lot of hiring.
“In HR, you can wear many different hats,”he
said.“Thankfully, the hat I get to wear is interview-
ing a lot of promising candidates who are excited
to come back to work, or step up from one oppor-
tunity to another. And we are going to be able to
say yes to people.We get to say,‘Yes, you’re hired.’I
think that means a lot to everyone.”
Adamson credits Robert E.“Bob”Shaw, chairman
and CEO of Engineered Floors, with giving the com-
munity much-needed hope that the flooring indus-
try is making a comeback.The opening of the new
plant is a turning point in Dalton’s economic histo-
ry, Adamson said.
“The announcement for the new jobs is a won-
derful thing that Mr. Shaw has put together,”he
said.“He is the central reason for all of this. He has
found an innovative way to take the top level cut-
ting edge technology and parlay it into high-styled
ideas for carpet.”
When he’s not helping to hire people, Adamson
says he spends time with family and friends, while
his 5-year-old daughter Haddie“leads the charge”
Zack Adamson
Adamson sees rise, fall
and resurgence of Dalton
ZACK ADAMSON
Age: 30
Hometown: Dalton
Current city: Rocky Face
Work: Human resources director at Engineered Floors
Community activities: Volunteers for the Northwest
Georgia Healthcare Partnership, the United Way of
Northwest Georgia and the Whitfield Healthcare
Foundation.
Family: Anna, 29, Haddie, 5, Liam, 2

20 UNDER 40
on weekend activities, many Saturdays
often involving dance competitions.
“You know, there’s a real opportunity
as young people in this community to
grow,”he said, adding that he hopes that
young professionals continue to push for
and support growth in downtown.
He believes, as Dalton comes out of
tougher times, downtown will see more
entertainment and young adult hang-
outs.But even as it grows, he says he’ll
still be taking those trips to the past, in
neighborhoods where he played as a kid.
— Christopher Smith

W
hen finished, Engineered Floors’new
plant on South Dug Gap Road, just south
of Connector 3, will be some 2.5 million
square feet.
And Craig Bock, 28, is the man charged with mak-
ing sure that the plant opens on time and with
everything working. As the plant’s project manager,
he has to stay on top of every aspect of the con-
struction of the building.
“I keep up with all the subcontractors and make
sure they are staying on schedule. If they have
questions or concerns, they talk to me and we fig-
ure out the answer,”Bock said.“One of the unique
aspects of this plant is that we are doing every-
thing under one roof, which I understand is differ-
ent from how things have been done in the past.
We are marrying all the technologies that it takes
to go from raw materials to finished goods going
out the door under one roof. Marrying all those
technologies and getting the flow of that process
to move as efficiently as possible is a key part of
this project and a key part of my job.”
Bock says he relishes the challenge, but he
admits it isn’t exactly what he saw himself doing 10
years ago when he graduated from Southeast
Whitfield High School.
“When I was in high school, I had a strong inter-
est in architecture. But through discussions with a
family friend I expected a great deal I learned that
engineering might open up a wider array of oppor-
tunities,”he said.“Through engineering, you devel-
op principles of problem solving, and that attracts
industry to hire engineers for many different types
of jobs.”
Bock chose to attend bachelor Southern
Polytechnic State University in Marietta, where he
earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineer-
ing. He would later earn an MBA from Kennesaw
State University.
After graduating from Southern Polytechnic, he
was hired by North Georgia EMC as a planning
engineer.
“I had no idea that I would be moving back. In
2008, the job market was pretty bearish. I had my
résumé out to many different companies.When
North Georgia EMC offered me a job, I knew it was
a good opportunity, and the fact that I would be
able to move back home was a major plus. It
turned out to be a better decision than I ever antic-
ipated. I love living in Dalton.This community has a
lot to offer,”he said.
After working for a couple of years at North
Georgia EMC, he went to work for Dalton Utilities
as manager of electric and gas engineering and
regulatory.That’s where he got involved with Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Georgia
Mountains.
“Kelly Jones (Dalton Utilities human resources
director) approached me and said there were two
or three agencies looking for some young leader-
ship on their boards,”he said.“She asked me to
look at them and see if there was one I’d be inter-
ested in joining. I picked Big Brothers Big sisters
because it is a great organization that does a great
job for this community, both Whitfield and Murray
counties.”
— Charles Oliver
Craig Bock
Bock stays on top of details
for Engineered Floors
CRAIG BOCK
Age: 28
Currenty city: Dalton
Work: Engineered Floors, project manager
Community: Board member of Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Northwest Georgia Mountains
Family: Wife, Kristen
20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40
W
hen Curtis Callaway graduated from the
University of South Carolina with a masters
degree in American history, he wasn’t sure
what he wanted to do next.
He landed a job in the communications department
at Virginia Tech, which was the beginning of the
Birmingham native’s path to Dalton.
“I had been doing that for a couple of years, and I
was ready to do something new,”Callaway said.“I
went to college with someone from Dalton... Dalton
was already on my radar. He knew I was looking for a
job, and he said check out Shaw.They had a communi-
cations job open up. I went through an interview
process (in October 2006), and I’m here.”
Callaway, his wife Kristina and two sons, Jackson, 5,
and Grant, 3, have made Dalton their home.
“There are great people here,”he said.“We’ve estab-
lished great friendships that I wouldn’t want to let go
of. I love Shaw Industries.This is a fantastic company. It
offers its people a lot of opportunities to grow. I’m on
my second or third position since I’ve been here. It’s a
challenging job, and I love the people.”
Callaway is currently the manager of internal com-
munications and community relations, a job that pro-
vides him with variety.
“It varies from day to day,”he said.“That really inter-
ests me because I like the variety. Here at Shaw, we’re
a global $4 billion company based in a small town.We
have so much going on, and it’s here in town and it’s
all over the country.”
Callaway’s job allows him to see different aspects of
the company and get to know people and jobs in dif-
ferent departments. He’s also responsible for writing
stories, recording videos, strategic planning and social
media.
Being in Dalton gives him a lot of opportunities to
hike and run.
“I like to do half marathons, so Dalton has a lot of
opportunities to pursue that hobby,”Callaway said.
Callaway was asked to serve on the Whitfield
County-Dalton Daycare board of trustees, which
began his involvement in community service in
Dalton. He was on that board until 2012.
“It opened doors to networking and seeing how
things in Dalton work,”he said.“I began learning more
about their relationship with United Way and how
that works. Another great thing about Dalton is if you
want to get involved, there are plenty of opportunities
in a lot of different areas.”
Callaway now serves as the co-chairman of the
United Way’s Young Leaders — a group of profession-
als in their 20s, 30s and 40s who volunteer, help raise
funds and socialize.
“It’s people who are in the same stage of life,”he
said.“There are people in this town that are interested
in growing their careers.They went to college and
want to be in a small town.That’s the reason they live
here.Young Leaders is a great network of peers. And
United Way is a great organization that really gives
back to agencies here.”
Callaway and his family are involved in the First
Baptist Church of Dalton. He works with the youth
group, teaches Sunday school, serves as a deacon and
helps with mission trips.
— Misty Watson
Curtis Callaway
Dalton has offered Callaway
personal, professional growth
CURTIS CALLAWAY
Age: 36
Hometown: Birmingham, Ala.
Work: Shaw Industries, manager of internal communi-
cations and community relations
Community activities: Co-chairman of the United Way’s
Young Leaders and active at the
First Baptist Church of Dalton
Family: wife, Kristina; sons Jackson, 5, and Grant, 3

20 UNDER 40

A
fter graduating from college with a degree in
economics, Andrew Carnes decided he want-
ed to pursue a career in economic develop-
ment.
The Cartersville native had internships in
Cartersville and Dalton, and when a position came
open with the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce,
Carnes accepted it, as full-time project manager.
After serving as vice president of economic devel-
opment for the chamber, he was recently promoted to
executive director of economic development.
“I work with companies and expansions and reloca-
tions into Whitfield County,”Carnes said.“The purpose
for doing economic development in Whitfield County
is to lower the unemployment rate and increase the
tax base in Dalton and Whitfield County.”
Carnes said the chamber is“the economic market-
ing arm for the city and the county and so we work
with a lot of international companies as well as our
existing industry, helping them expand.”
Following graduation from Cartersville High School,
Carnes attended Chattanooga State Community
College where he played baseball. He received his
degree in economics from Armstrong Atlantic State
University in Savannah, where he also played baseball
on scholarship. According to information on the
Armstrong Atlantic athletic website, Carnes hit .330 for
the Pirates in 2009 with a team-leading seven home
runs and 32 runs batted in“in just 97 at bats.”He listed
Ivan“Pudge”Rodriguez as a favorite sports personali-
ty.
During his career in baseball, Carnes represented
the United States in the Dominican Republic, accord-
ing to information he provided for the“20 Under 40”
recognition.
Carnes has completed the Georgia Tech Basic
Economic Development course and the Georgia
Academy for Economic Development program. Last
year he attended his first year of the Economic
Development Institute in Indianapolis, Ind., and
expects to graduate next year.
He was part of the economic development team
that was selected by the Georgia Economic
Developers Association for recognition as the
Regional Deal of the Year in 2013 (Engineered Floors),
and was selected for a“Community Impact”award by
Trade & Industry Development magazine for projects
in Whitfield County last year.
He is a member of several professional organiza-
tions.
Away from work, he is on the Roman Open board
and the board of the Young Professionals of
Northwest Georgia, volunteers with United Way and
helps with Readers to Leaders.
As for being selected for the“20 Under 40,”Carnes
said,“I think it’s a fantastic honor and I’m very grateful
that I have been selected for this.”
Oh, and another thing from that information he
provided for“20 Under 40.”If you are ever in a room
with him, check Carnes’socks. He says you can always
depend on him to have the“brightest, craziest socks
out of anyone in any given room!”
— Victor Miller
Andrew Carnes
Relocation expert enjoys
location to North Georgia
ANDREW CARNES
Age: 26
Hometown: Cartersville
Work: Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce,
executive director of economic development
Community activities: Roman Open board and the board
of the Young Professionals of Northwest Georgia;
volunteers with United Way and helps with
Readers to Leaders
Family: Parents, Thomas and Landis Carnes,
Cartersville; brother, Trey, Atlanta
20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40

F
or J.T. Finley, Dalton is home, and he can’t see
himself living anywhere else.
Finley grew up in Dalton, went to Dalton High
School, where he played football and basketball and
ran track, and now he sees his 4-year-old son Miles
“about to come through the exact same fields that I
played on.”
“For that I cannot wait,”Finley said.“I can’t wait to
watch him play baseball on Clayton Causby Field. He’s
going to be doing some of the same things I went
through, whether it’s football at the rec department,
which I think he will, or playing basketball at the com-
munity recreation center just like I did. I’m looking for-
ward to all of that. My wife (Ali) and I, we consider our-
selves very lucky to work in this community, to live in
this community, and now to raise a child in this com-
munity.”
After graduation from DHS, Finley went to
Pellissippi State, a two-year community college in
Knoxville,Tenn., but the lure of Dalton was too much.
He came back to work at his family’s business,
Maryville Jewelers, in early 1998 and has been here
ever since. He is now the co-owner, along with Pat
(SEE FINLEY, PAGE 46)
J.T. Finley
Finley expects ‘a lot more great
things to come’ for community
108 N.H AM ILTON ST.•DALTON,G A •706.278.1030
W W W .M ARYVILLEJEW ELERS.NET
“Compare Quality First Then Compare Price”
108N.HAMILTONST.DALTON,GA30720706.278.1030
perfection
Catherine Ryder
170849
20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40

K
atie O’Gwin found escape in the mountains of
northwest Georgia during her college days. So
when it was time to find a place to practice law,
she knew she wanted to settle in the area.
O’Gwin, who received her law degree from Georgia
State University in 2006, didn’t want to stay in the metro
Atlanta area.
She interviewed with Rob Cowan for a position in his
firm, and settled into a local restaurant with the newspa-
per following her interview.
“There was a picture of a boy with a puppy, and the
headline said,‘Puppy lost, finds home.’I still have that
newspaper,”she said.“And there was a photo of a bear
that had climbed up in a tree. It was warm and fuzzy, not
double homicide.”
O’Gwin knew she was home. It’s the kind of communi-
ty she wanted to settle in and raise a family in.
She took the job with Cowan and started practicing
family law, which includes adoptions, visitation and
guardianship cases. Family law gives her the chance to
work with people.
“What is greater than your kids and your family,”
O’Gwin said.“It’s a great chance to make a huge impact.”
Her now husband,Tate O’Gwin, a financial advisor and
Dalton City Council member, soon joined her in Dalton.
“We put down roots here,”she said.“We plan to be
here.The town embraced us.We became part of the
community from the start.”
The O’Gwins had heard that those moving into Dalton
from other areas are sometimes treated as outsiders, but
they never experienced that. And maybe it’s because the
couple became actively involved in so many areas of the
community so quickly.
O’Gwin served on the Whitfield County-Dalton Daycare
board of directors for several years. It was her first volun-
teer position after moving to Dalton.The daycare is a
nonprofit agency providing childcare so families can
work and further their education.
“Childcare is so expensive,”said O’Gwin, who now has
two children: almost 2-year-old Luke and Lucy who was
born in March.“I can’t think of a better way to improve
the quality of life in an area than to keep children for
people to go to work or school.”
It didn’t take long for O’Gwin to realize that one per-
son can make a huge impact serving her community.
“In a small town,you can feel the impact in your commu-
nity,”she said.“The great thing about a town Dalton’s size is
we can help shape it.Everyone needs to get involved.”
The experience has been so rewarding, that O’Gwin
has continued to serve in multiple areas. She was on the
United Way Young Leaders Steering Committee, was past
president of the Conasauga Bar Association and was co-
chair with her husband of the 2011 Creative Arts Guild
Festival.
Now, even as a mother of two and an owner of a law
practice of her own, she hasn’t slowed down much with
her community involvement.
O’Gwin serves on the Creative Arts Guild’s board of
directors and is on the Downtown Dalton Development
Authority, where she is serving her second term as a
business owner. She has begun to find where her talents
and her passions fit into her community.
“We live in Dalton,”she said.“We love living in the city,
and that’s where we’ll stay.”
— Misty Watson
Katie O’Gwin
O’Gwin found escape amongst
north Georgia mountains
KATIE O’GWIN
Age: 32
Hometown: Kennesaw
Current city: Dalton
Work: Katherine O’Gwin, PC, family law attorney
Current community activities: Creative Arts Guild board of
directors, member of the Downtown Dalton
Development Authority
Family: Husband, Tate; son, Luke, almost 2; daughter,
Lucy, who was born in March of this year
20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40

T
he longer Tate O’Gwin lives in Dalton, the more
he loves the community.
He moved to the Dalton area after he married
his wife, Katie, in 2007. He and Katie had been living in
Atlanta.
“I like a smaller town,”he said.“I didn’t like the traffic in
Atlanta.I felt like this was a really great place to raise kids.”
The O’Gwins didn’t waste any time getting involved in
the community. Both began volunteering with organiza-
tions and serving in different capacities almost immedi-
ately. Katie O’Gwin, a family law attorney, worked for Rob
Cowan when they first moved to Dalton.Tate O’Gwin,
owner of O’Gwin Investment Planning, is a financial advi-
sor and a member of the Dalton City Council.
“We were warned it was a tight community, and it was
hard to get to know people here,”he said.“Rob gave us
the advice to put ourselves back into the community.”
And they listened.
“We moved to Dalton for the quality of life,”O’Gwin
said.“One of the things that attracted us is the ability to
shape the community here.We’re committed to staying
here. Part of having a whole life is being part of the com-
munity. It’s like anything else you do, you get what you
put into it.”
O’Gwin has been a member of the city council since
January. He ran for the position for two reasons: so his
generation would be represented while making deci-
sions for the city’s future and so a downtown business
owner would have a voice.
As a member of the council, he also serves as the liai-
son for the parks and recreation department, the pension
board, the tree board and he serves on the city’s public
works and finance committees.
“Through each of those I have different responsibili-
ties,”O’Gwin said.“Finance is probably the biggest. I love
being on the council. It’s very rewarding. I feel like I have
an equal seat on the council.
“I’m too invested in the community to leave,”he said.
“We see ourselves here in 30 years.”
Living in the city has given O’Gwin more time with his
family and shortened his commute to work. He says he
and his family, which includes an almost 2-year-old son
Luke and daughter Lucy who was born in March, are here
to stay.
O’Gwin is the president elect of Kiwanis. He was also
the“czar”of the annual pancake day fundraiser for the
organization.
He has served on the Big Brothers Big Sisters board of
directors, was a co-chair of the annual Creative Arts Guild
Festival and is a trustee for the Whitfield Healthcare
Foundation.
Owning a financial advising business gives O’Gwin the
freedom to be involved. It also gives him a chance to
develop long-term relationships with clients. He enjoys
helping people plan for their futures.
“I like to help people achieve their financial goals,”
O’Gwin said.“It’s exciting when people have goals and
work hard to meet them.”
— Misty Watson
Tate O’Gwin
O’Gwin deeply
rooted in Dalton
TATE O’GWIN
Age: 35
Hometown: Marietta
Work: Owner and financial advisor at O’Gwin
Investment Planning
Current community activities: Dalton City Council member,
president elect of Kiwanis
Family: Wife, Katie; son, Luke, almost 2; daughter,
Lucy, who was born in March of this year
20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40

Y
ou might call James Harris a numbers cruncher.
A certified public accountant at Decosimo in
Dalton for about the past five years, the Dalton resi-
dent is known wherever he goes for his work. Even as a vol-
unteer in several local civic organizations, Harris often gets
asked to handle the money side of things.
His volunteer work over the years includes working with
the Kiwanis Club of Dalton as a treasurer and membership
committee chairman,participating in Leadership Dalton in
2012,serving on the Legislative Action Committee of the
Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce this year,serving as
past chairman and past treasurer of the Whitfield County-
Dalton Day Care Center,and serving as vice chairman and
treasurer for Young Professionals of Northwest Georgia
(YPONG).
“I guess there must be a shortage of volunteers in Dalton
because I have to turn down volunteer opportunities all the
time,”he said.
Yet Harris said he’s found many of those opportunities very
rewarding.As a YPONG member,Harris said he’s been able to
connect with a group of people who have similar interests
and are in similar situations in life.The group regularly meets
to do volunteer work and socialize.He said getting to learn
more about local organizations,such as the Whitfield County-
Dalton Day Care Center,has also been rewarding.
“I didn’t realize the demand for volunteers,”he said.“Low
income families need a place to go to have income-based
daycare services that are quality rated.It really seems like
they serve a need there.”
Except for five years he spent at the University of West
Georgia,the 29-year-old has lived in Dalton his entire life,
graduating from Northwest Whitfield High School in 2003.
Harris said he knew when he entered college he wanted to
have some kind of career in business.The fact his father
worked in the field probably led him in that direction,he said,
but when he actually did well in some tough college classes,
that was also a clue he was in the right place.
“Everyone else was failing,”he recalled.“I was the only one
making an A,and I figure it must be genetics or something.”
Starting a career in 2008 during a time of economic reces-
sion was a challenge,Harris said.He sees“attracting and
recruiting young leaders as our local economic salvation.”
Born at Hamilton Medical Center,Harris said he grew up in
the town his whole life and decided to return after school.His
family,and wife Lupe’s family,both live in the area.While the
couple currently don’t have children,Harris said the family-
friendly nature of Dalton is one thing that keeps him here.
“It’s a great area to raise kids,”he added.“It is a very family-
friendly atmosphere,a very safe community,and I think it’s a
wonderful area to start a family.”
Harris said he’s considered several long-term goals,includ-
ing possibly running for a local elected office.He hopes to
one day become a partner in a regional accounting firm or a
chief financial officer of a large company in Dalton.
Over the years,he has been recognized for several achieve-
ments including becoming an Eagle Scout,getting the
Kiwanis Leadership Award in 2012,earning a black belt in Tae
Kwon Do and achieving fourth in state in high school class
5A wrestling for the 119-pound weight class.
In his spare time,Harris enjoys hiking,kayaking,caving and
“exploring God’s creation.”He also manages some residential
real estate.He holds a master of professional accounting from
the University of West Georgia and a a bachelor of business
administration in accounting from the same university,where
he graduated cum laude in 2007.
— Rachel Brown
James Harris
Harris sees young recruits
as key to Dalton’s future
JAMES HARRIS
Age: 29
Hometown: Dalton
Work: Decosimo, certified public accountant
Community activities: Kiwanis Club of Dalton; Leadership
Dalton; past treasurer of the Whitfield County-Dalton
Day Care Center; serving as vice chairman and treas-
urer for Young Professionals of Northwest Georgia
Wife: Wife, Lupe Harris
20 UNDER 40

S
ven Jaekel joined Dalton Utilities eight
years ago at just the right time for him and
for the company.
Optilink, the company’s broadband service, was
“just kicking”off, says Jaekel, and he had grown up
with an interest in technology.
He was also a native of Whitfield County.
“I was born and raised in Dalton. I was friends
with the corporate guys. I grew up with their chil-
dren, and I thought it would be a great opportunity
to get out in the community and work with some
of those guys,”he said.
Today, Jaekel is a business sales account manager
at Dalton Utilities.
“I do all the corporate installations for network-
ing, phone systems and data,”he said.
Jaekel says selling Optilink comes easy for him
because it’s a service he really believes in.
“I’d say 90 percent of the business owners have
(SEE JAEKEL, PAGE 47)
Sven Jaekel
Jaekel helps keep
business wired
20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40

S
he knew no one. And it seemed no one
knew her.
In a town as small as Dalton, that’s probably
unheard of, but being“very alone”was the case for
Jackie Killings when she moved here in 2008 from
Alabama where most of her family still lives.
“It was really hard when I was moving here,”she
said.“I didn’t know anyone. I was homesick.”
Then she ran into Anthony Walker, a“big brother”
figure and someone she knew from her college
days at Auburn University.Walker works at Mohawk
Industries as an operations supervisor.
“It was just by coincidence that we found each
other,”she said.“We went to college together, but I
didn’t know he lived here in Dalton.We just hap-
pen to both wind up here. He’d been here longer
than me.”
And finding someone she used to know was the
key to finding the community she needed.
“Anthony, he’s very outgoing,”she said.“He knew
a lot of people, so he introduced me to other peo-
ple.That helped me get settled.”
And now, she’s found something just short of
home.
“I still have my deep Auburn-Alabama roots,”she
said.“Dalton is a little bit like home or somewhere
in between. I still say Alabama is my home. But I do
feel the community here. I do feel part of it.”
Killings came to the community for a job, also at
Mohawk, where she now works as the senior man-
ager of research and development-extrusion.
“In that department, it’s really that we are always
looking at trying to develop new fibers, different
polymers, different carpet fibers for new products,”
she said.“For me, coming here, this was my first
time working in carpet manufacturing. One of the
coolest things about it is that all the carpet is differ-
ent. Even if it looks the same, it’s all different. It
might be the same or similar color, but deep down
there’s different fibers or polymers. Different prop-
erties.”
Killings said the research team is constantly try-
ing to keep ahead of the competition, coming up
with“new and unique ideas that our competition
can’t knock off easily.”
That’s not always an easy task, she said.
“We really try to come up with new and fresh
ideas,”she said.“I’m always looking at other indus-
tries in textile, looking at what kind of things they
are doing that we can do. I even look at the auto-
motive industry. I read trade magazines, attend
conferences, talk to chemical vendors ... A lot of it is
about building partnerships.That’s what brings a
lot of inspiration.”
Killings is also a“huge”Auburn college football
fan.
“And I really enjoy spending time with family and
friends,”she said.“Just hanging out with them. Or
volunteering.”
Killings serves on several boards including the
Carpet City Rotary Club, Friendship House, Roman
Open Charities and the Young Professional of
Jackie Killings
With Alabama on her mind,
Killings calls Dalton home
JACKIE KILLINGS
Age: 37
Hometown: Coatopa, Ala., two hours
west of Montgomery, Ala.
Work: Senior manager of research and development-
extrusion at Mohawk Industries.
Current community activities: Serves on several boards
including the Carpet City Rotary Club, Friendship
House, Roman Open Charities and the Young
Professionals of Northwest Georgia. A chamber
diplomat through the Greater Dalton Chamber of
Commerce.
20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40
Northwest Georgia. Being in a small
town, and now knowing those around
her, makes her feel like she can“make an
impact,”she said.
“Dalton isn’t a huge city where you’d
get swallowed up and lost in the crowd,”
she said.“I’m not just another person
that’s part of the population. It’s closely
knit here.When I moved and it was just
me and I didn’t know anyone, I remem-
ber that I was never afraid to live by
myself. I do feel settled now.”

20 UNDER 40
A
fter moving back to Dalton from Atlanta
where she had been a freelance artist and
instructor, Ashley Kinnamon volunteered
at Cross Plains Community Partner through the
United Way. She soon fell in love with the place.
Kinnamon started volunteering“more and more,”
and created some art classes for Cross Plains, which
works with individuals with an intellectual or devel-
opmental disability.
“And I thought, hey, why don’t I just propose to
create an art program,”she said.“I wrote a proposal
and it got passed through the board and then I
came here full time two years ago.”
Kinnamon is still in love with Cross Plains and the
work that is done there, and you can hear that in
her voice.
“Our whole mission statement is geared toward
getting people out in the community,”she said.
“We really love for people to feel engaged in the
community and to be able to feel like a working
artist, that’s what they want. So now my job is more
about finding artistic opportunities for people in
the community, as well as teaching art, but really
teaching people how to embrace their own artistic
style, because these are adults, they’re not chil-
dren.”
You can see Kinnamon is careful about how she
talks about the individuals she works with. She
wants you to understand that“the people that
come here are no different than you and I, they just
might need a little more support in finding out
how to communicate or how to express them-
selves or figure out what it is that they enjoy about
life.”
“Everyone that comes to Cross Plains has an
intellectual or developmental disability, but that’s
not how I like to talk about them,”she said.“I feel
everyone is unique and has gifts and talents.”
The arts program at Cross Plains has evolved sev-
eral times under Kinnamon, and there are more
plans.
One way Cross Plains participants get out into
the community is by taking an arts class at the
Creative Arts Guild and having a show there once a
year, Kinnamon said.
“One of the bigger projects that we’re working
on right now is through a products company
where we have submitted designs that (partici-
pants) have done to be used as rugs,”she said.
“They’ll be printed on rugs, and that is a huge
opportunity for employment because they would
make money from all of the sales. It would be more
like a national project where their designs could be
sold in places like Home Depot and Target.That’s in
the works right now and it’s super exciting for
everybody.”
Kinnamon hopes to see the art program move
into its own facility.
“It will still be a segment of Cross Plains but it will
be its own entity out in the community, and it will
be available to anyone, not just people with disabil-
ities, because you don’t want to segregate any pop-
ulation of people that are marginalized,”she said.
“So having everybody that could come together
and create art, and all different types of disciplines
Ashley Kinnamon
For Kinnamon, art
has the power to unite
ASHLEY KINNAMON
Age: 32
Hometown: Dalton
Work: Cross Plains Community Partner,
community arts coordinator
Community activities: Colunteer with the United Way and
serves as chair of regional event planning for the
Georgia Learning Community
Family: Parents, Terry and Shelda Kinnamon; brothers,
Neil, Chattanooga, and Colton, Atlanta

20 UNDER 40
of art.”
Away from her important work at
Cross Plains, Kinnamon is a volunteer
with the United Way and serves as chair
of regional event planning for the
Georgia Learning Community, which
focuses on events that provide commu-
nity interaction for people with develop-
mental disabilities.
Of her work at Cross Plains, she said,
“This job has touched me very personal-
ly in thinking about personal practices
and compassion. Everything you do
should involve compassion, and that
makes your work more wholehearted
and beneficial.
“If anything, this job has taught me a
lot about how to work with people, com-
ing from being self-employed and work-
ing alone to really enjoying working
with people.”
Of being selected for“20 Under 40,”
Kinnamon said,“I think it’s a huge honor.
I’m humbled. I don’t know who nominat-
ed me but I’m really appreciative of it.”
— Victor Miller

20 UNDER 40
D
alton is like no other community Amy
Kleem has worked in.
That’s because people of Dalton put other peo-
ple’s needs ahead of everything else.
As director of Family Promise of Whitfield
County — a homeless shelter for those with chil-
dren — Kleem sees how the social service agencies
work together, and it’s something she’s proud to be
part of.
“Dalton has been the best in putting the needs
of others ahead of the organization they work with,
which is amazing,”said Kleem, who has lived here
since 2006 when she married her husband, Curtis
Kleem.“Everyone is here to help each other. It’s a
great thing here, a great positive about this com-
munity. All the agencies work together, and there’s
not a lot of competition, like for grants.The other
homeless shelters in town work really closely
together. I work with Providence (Ministries) and
City of Refuge.We share a van.We’re all here to
serve. It’s good because we don’t duplicate servic-
es.We fill a need when it’s there.When we can’t
help them we call someone else.”
Working at Family Promise gives her a way to
help the community while sharing her faith as a
Christian.The nonprofit organization is a national
agency, but local chapters are independently oper-
ated. Kleem has been the director since it opened
in Dalton in 2009.
The homeless shelter serves families with chil-
dren, including single moms, single dads, couples
and even grandparents raising their grandchildren.
The organization is made up of 15 churches in
Whitfield County that shelter the families in need.
“We take a Sunday school room and turn it into a
bedroom,”Kleem said.“The church visits with them
and shows them hospitality.They come...to the day
center where I do case plans with them and help
them with what they need to get on their feet.”
Kleem helps others with interview skills, finan-
cial advising, parenting classes, finding a job, fur-
thering education or even finding affordable child
care.There are times she helps families with those
areas even if the agency is not housing them.
Kleem grew up in Vidalia and received a bache-
lor’s in history and political science from the
University of Georgia before pursuing a career in
social work. Her husband, now a lawyer, also has a
background in social work.
Because of that background, they were
approached within the first few months of their
married, about caring for and potentially adopting
two teens in foster care.The Kleems had worked
with the Department of Family and Children
Services (DFCS) previously.
Adopting their daughters — biological cousins
who are now 25 and 24 — wasn’t part of the cou-
ple’s plans. But Amy Kleem said it was part of God’s
plan.
“DeAshia (now 25) was 17 at the time,”Kleem
Amy Kleem
‘Everyone is here
to help each other’
AMY KLEEM
Age: 39
Hometown: Vidalia
Work: Director of Family Promise
of Whitfield County
Community activities: Involved in ministries at
First Baptist Church of Dalton
Family: Husband, Curtis; adopted daughters,
DeAshia, 25, and Amber, 24; sons,
Andrew, 13 and Owen, 10

20 UNDER 40
said.“We stepped up and said she was a
high school senior and we wanted to
make sure she graduated.We prayed
about it and felt the Lord was calling us
to do this. Amber (now 24) came to us as
well.We actually adopted them in their
20s.We offered before, but the time was-
n’t right. It doesn’t matter how old you
are, you need that security, that family
you can go to no matter where you are.”
DeAshia is now in the Army in
Afghanistan, and Amber graduated from
Clayton State University and is now
working with DFCS with foster parents.
“I think God put them in our path,”
Kleem said.
— Misty Watson

20 UNDER 40
A
ndrea Mansfield was going to college,
planning to become a professional
sculptor.
But then she realized, sculpting was more of a
hobby than a career. So she switched gears and
earned a degree in marketing systems from Dalton
State College.
Mansfield was hired in 2005 for a temporary
position by the United Way of Northwest Georgia
to help fund raise for the nonprofit agency.
Since then, she has held several positions at the
agency and is currently the director of community
engagement.
For Mansfield, her job is the perfect way to help
others, do something she’s passionate about and
live in a community she loves.
“I feel like my time is my most limited resource, in
life,”she said.“I chose my career to be something
I’m passionate about and to help other people.
“Everyone wants to live and work and play in a
healthy, educated community. It takes everyone
working together to make that happen.”
There are 21 agencies in Whitfield and Murray
counties that partner with the United Way.There
are also numerous corporations, businesses and
individuals who support and volunteer with the
agency.
Mansfield helps coordinate volunteers, handles
internal and external marketing, writes stories and
is responsible for many other areas of the agency.
“It’s a small staff,”said Mansfield, who also has a
masters in business administration from Kennesaw
State University.“One person does different jobs. ...
Some days I wear my paint blue jeans and some
days I’m in a suit.”
She has launched several programs including
Young Leaders Society, the Women’s Leadership
Council and a training program for people who are
on nonprofit agencies’board of directors.
There are more than 200 members of the Young
Leaders Society.
“I started it to retain young professionals in the
area,”Mansfield said.“It’s an entry point for philan-
thropy, volunteerism and professional develop-
ment.”
But Mansfield’s community involvement doesn’t
stop with her career at the United Way.
She’s also leads a Girl Scout troop, which her
daughter Zaelyn is in. She has led that troop for
eight years, and it has 18 members. She wants the
girls to learn about careers for women outside of
traditional jobs, so she has focused on that this
year.
She is involved in her church, the Dalton First
United Methodist Church, where she teaches a
Sunday school class. She’s treasurer of the
Lakeshore Community Garden and helped the
organization reach nonprofit status this year.
Mansfield loves to see others volunteer, especial-
ly those who have been helped by an organization.
“It’s touching to see people give back,”she said.
“I’ve had people in my life who have always helped
me.”
Mansfield doesn’t just think about her child, but
Andrea Mansfield
Mansfield finds ways to
keep community united
ANDREA MANSFIELD
Age: 32
Hometown: Rocky Face
Currenty city: Rocky Face
Work: director of community engagement at United
Way
Current community activities: Girl Scout troop leader, treas-
urer of the Lakeshore Community Garden and an
active member at Dalton United Methodist Church
Family: Husband, Aaron; daughter, Zaelyn, 12

20 UNDER 40
every child in her daughter’s class-
room.
“United Way programs make sure kids
have their needs met,”she said.“It’s so
important what we do.”
Mansfield grew up in the Rocky Face
area and lives there now. She said being
in the area keeps her close to her family
and allows her to work and live in the
same community.
There was a woman Mansfield knew in
Kroger one day when Zaelyn was a baby.
It was pouring down rain and the
woman offered to hold Zaelyn while
Mansfield went to get her car and load
her groceries.
“In Dalton, there will always be some-
one to hold your baby while you load
groceries,”she said.
— Misty Watson

20 UNDER 40
Z
ab Mendez thought he was just opening a
bank account. Instead, the Dalton High
School student working under a mentor
program entered Fidelity Federal Savings Bank
about 20 years ago and found he was taking his
first step toward a career that would eventually
push him up to an executive office.
Mendez said he was 17 or 18 when the customer
service representative who helped him open an
account asked him if he was interested in a job as a
courier.
“I didn’t go into the bank to apply for a job,”
Mendez said.“I went into the bank to apply for an
account and walked out with a job.”
Now the Dalton branch manager at Community
and Southern Bank, Mendez has made a career in
the business, working his way through the ranks
(SEE MENDEZ, PAGE 47)
Zabdiel “Zab” Mendez
From bank customer
to bank executive

20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40
B
eing in the funeral business, Dan Peeples
says he knows what it’s like to walk into a
room filled with sadness. Sometimes
death is expected — a long-fought illness or age
— and a family copes well, he said.
Other times?
“You walk in and the family just sits there, staring
at a wall,”he said.“It’s one of those situations where
dad left for work, kissed us good-bye and we never
thought we would never see him again. And he’s
gone. Or it’s a parent with a child who went outside
to play and had an accident and died. Sometimes,
it’s just really sad.”
That’s why Peeples says he tries to make death
more about a“celebration of life.”When a gardener
passed away, Peeples handed out seeds to family
and friends to plant flowers.When an avid golf fan
passed away, Peeples went out to get golf balls
with the man’s name printed on them to hand out
to visitors at the funeral home.
“We try to reflect on a celebration of life, instead
(SEE PEEPLES, PAGE 48)
Dan Peeples
Celebrating life,
nurturing marriages
Proud of your Service to your Family
and our Community
Pleasant Grove Chapel
2801 Cleveland Road • Dalton, GA 30721
706-259-7455 • Fax 706-259-7457
www.julianpeeples.com
Westside Chapel
2627 Old Chattanooga Road • Rocky Face, GA 30740
706-272-9777 • Fax 706-272-0775
171440

20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40
M
arina Smitherman says it’s important to
her that her students grasp not only the
principles of biology but acquire the
research skills they need to become working scien-
tists.
“It’s a real privilege to see these students come,
often from difficult backgrounds, seeking to better
their lives and to see them grow and know that
you played a small part in that,”she said.
Smitherman 36, has been teaching at Dalton
State College for seven years.
She grew up in Oxford, England, home of Oxford
University, the oldest university in the English-
speaking world.
“It was a very unusual environment.The school
that I went to was all children of professors. It was a
very competitive environment. It was an environ-
ment heavily focused on education,”she said.
Smitherman said English schools differ from
American schools in some important ways.
“We specialize early.The last two years of high
school are sort of like the first two years of a
degree here. It’s very rigorous.We take fewer sub-
jects,”she said.
All of her subjects her final two years in high
school, for instance, were science courses because
she planned to go on to study science in college.
Smitherman earned a bachelor’s degree in cell
and molecular biology from the University of
Nottingham, a master’s in public health from the
University of Manchester and a doctorate in clinical
medicine from Oxford.
It was on her return to Oxford that she met her
husband Charles William Smitherman III, a native of
Dalton who was pursuing his own doctorate.
The couple moved to Dalton, where DSC had just
started its bachelor’s program in biology, and
Smitherman says she has enjoyed watching the
program grow. In particular, she said, she has been
pleased to see research classes grow, giving stu-
dents the chance to do original research. Many
schools DSC’s size don’t offer such opportunities to
undergraduate students she says. And some of her
students have won state and even national recog-
nition for the work they have done.
The biology department has just moved into the
recently opened Shelby and Wilena Peeples Hall,
which she says should encourage even more
growth.
When not teaching, Smitherman enjoys running,
playing tennis and spending time with her family.
She and her husband have two sons: Liam, 4, and
Owen, 1.They try to get back to England each year
to visit her family. But she says that Dalton is now
her home.
“I really feel like if you want to make a difference
it’s easier to do it in a small city.You can see the
results,”she said.
— Charles Oliver
Marina Golding Smitherman
English transplant enjoys
teaching across the pond
Marina Golding Smitherman
Hometown: Oxford, England
Work: Associate professor of biology
at Dalton State College
Family: Charles William Smitherman III, husband; sons
Liam, 4, and Owen, 1

20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40
A
s the mother of a 5-year-old and a market-
ing communications manager for Shaw
Industries, Kris Kelly Stanfield stays more
than busy.
The Dalton resident works commutes to
Cartersville for her job and also manages to find
time to volunteer in the community.While she
recently stepped down as a Creative Arts Guild
board member, Stanfield said she’ll likely replace
that volunteer time by lending an occasional hand
at Westwood School where her son, Connor,
attends school. She said she also does volunteer
work through Shaw, which is an ardent United Way
of Northwest Georgia supporter known for giving
its employees time on the job to help out with
community projects.
Stanfield said balancing work, family and other
interests can be challenging, but she’s learned tak-
ing time for oneself is important to being able to
(SEE STANFIELD, PAGE 49)
Kris Kelly Stanfield
Stanfield balances
family, work, play
Carpet | Tile & Stone | Hardwood | Laminate | Resilient | shawfloors.com
170485

20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40
M
ost everyone around them was celebrating.
But John Thomas noticed that his wife Julie
was unusually quiet.
The two had driven up with their young sons —
Jackson and Carson — to a town just outside Knoxville
for a family member’s wedding rehearsal dinner in
February 2012.When Julie began to complain about a
headache they left the dinner early. By the time they got
back to their hotel,Thomas said, Julie couldn’t see.
“She knew then it was something more than just a
headache,”he said.
So they rushed to the University of Tennessee Medical
Center in Knoxville. Doctors told Thomas that his wife
had had a brain bleed —“something similar to an
aneurysm”— and would have to be in the hospital for
two weeks for monitoring, he recalled.
“You’re in your mid-30s and you never think of some-
thing like that happening,”he said.“You don’t expect that
no matter what your age. It was kind of a catastrophic
injury and we were out of town. So we had to rely heavily
on friends and the community of Dalton through church
and work and other places to help us take care of the
kids, take care of things that we needed taken care of.”
Thomas said he doesn’t remember being afraid at the
time.
“Everything is OK now,”he said.“The doctors just kind
of monitor Julie closely. It was a bit surreal, but there
wasn’t a lot of panic at the time. I remember we just
talked with the doctors and it was a lot of,‘OK, how do
we take care of the kids and work?’But the folks I work
with at Dalton Utilities helped us a lot.The friends I have
really did what friends do.They took care of us.
“The best thing was that, during all that, work was
absolutely not an issue. My boss (Don Cope) said,‘Take
care of your family first, work will be here when you get
back.’And our friends — oh, man — we had friends
come to take the boys back to their house.They drove up
from Dalton that night to Knoxville to get the boys and
keep them for a few days till we made other arrange-
ments.”
To list all the friends who helped them through that
time would be unfair,Thomas said, because there were
so many helpers he couldn’t name them all.
“It’s just different from other places,”he said of Dalton.
“There’s a lot of altruism here.”
And that’s reason to stick around the area for the fore-
seeable future, he said.Thomas, who is originally from
Stockbridge, moved around a lot during his U.S. Navy
career from December 2003 to July 2008.When he
retired and married, he knew he wanted to“find home
again.”
“We wanted to move back to Georgia to be close to
family,”he said.“We grew up in the same town. I was in
Chesapeake (Virginia) at the time.”
When he moved to Dalton chasing a“job opportunity”
he said he found the home he was looking for.
“We liked the fact that Dalton is big enough to have
resources that it has — the parks and trade center and
the Creative Arts Guild and things like that — but at the
same time we knew we were not moving into down-
town Atlanta where we’d have to deal with traffic and
crime and things like that. It’s just an overall great
place.”
John Thomas
Community rallied
during family’s hardship
JOHN THOMAS
Age: 33
Hometown: Stockbridge
Currenty city: Rocky Face
Work: Chief energy services officer at Dalton Utilities.
Current community activities: Active at Rock Bridge
Community Church. A member of the
Kiwanis Club of Dalton. Previously served on the
board for Family Frameworks.
Family: Julie, wife, Jackson, 8, Carson, 6, and
Annabelle, 1.

20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40
G
abriela Torres-Tapia was taking classes at
Dalton State College when an elective in
computer programming changed her
focus.
“I really loved it, and so that’s how I got into com-
puter programming,”she said.“I changed my major
to information systems, which is basically program-
ming for business and management.”
While still at DSC,Torres-Tapia interned at J+J
Flooring Group. After she graduated in 2006, com-
pany officials made her a job offer. She’s been there
since.
“I work in the information systems department,”
she said.“I am a systems analyst, which means I
work with developing new software and enhanc-
ing and maintaining existing software. I mainly
work in the area of marketing and sales, so I’m
involved with our web design and the develop-
ment of any kind of tools that we need for sales
reps, like customer relationship management sys-
tems and reporting and developments for their
iPads.”
What doe she like most about her job?
(SEE TORRES-TAPIA, PAGE 49)
Gabriela Torres-Tapia
Dalton’s small-town charm
appeals to Torres-Tapia

20 UNDER 40

20 UNDER 40
A
s director for Dalton’s largest road race for the
past seven years, Ali Whittier is a familiar face
to many.
Whittier, 29, has directed the Bill Gregory
Healthcare Classic to raise money for the Northwest
Georgia Healthcare Partnership where she works in
marketing and health promotions ever since she
came to Dalton back in 2007.
Whittier, a dance instructor at the Creative Arts
Guild and a competitive cyclist for Hub Endurance in
Chattanooga, said she was actually applying for a dif-
ferent position when she was offered her current job.
It started when the University of Iowa health sciences
graduate was looking for somewhere to work and her
mother saw a position with the Healthcare
Partnership advertised online.The position required
applicants to be fluent in Spanish and English.
Whittier said she studied Spanish in college but
didn’t attain fluency.
“But when your mother tells you to apply for some-
thing, you do it,”she said, laughing.
Whittier submitted her résumé and was contacted
by then director Nancy Kennedy who liked the young
woman’s qualifications. She had experience working
in journalism in high school and college, she’d direct-
ed fundraiser races recently and she had a back-
ground in biology.
In early October,Whittier came in for an interview.
Three days later, she was in her new job.
Since then, she’s been involved in writing numer-
ous grants and helping oversee the projects they
fund.The Partnership has participated in several well-
known community initiatives over the years including
helping bring the Boys & Girls Club to Dalton, building
a program to help seniors pay for prescription drugs
and helping reinstate a nurses in schools program.
Whittier said being a part of the effort to impact
people’s lives is rewarding.
“When you’re someone who does a lot of the
behind the scenes work and you’re not always in the
spotlight, it’s neat to see (the efforts working),”she
said.“If you didn’t have someone doing the fundrais-
ing, doing the grant writing, those positions wouldn’t
be possible ... It’s nice to know that behind the scenes
work can make something really impactful happen.”
When Whittier isn’t at work, she enjoys spending
time with husband, Spencer, and their two cats,
Moody and Bijou. Both Whittiers are competitive
cyclists for Hub Endurance in Chattanooga and often
find themselves spending their weekends and time
before and after work training for or attending races.
The common interest makes for a lot of shared time.
“Pretty much the only time we’re apart is when
we’re at work,”Whittier said of her husband.
Whittier also teaches dance classes at the Creative
Arts Guild one night a week. She said she’s been
involved in dancing and sports nearly since she could
walk.
When she was 8, she was among a group of 12 girls
from Des Moines, Iowa, who went on a tour of France
and England performing.
“I was the youngest person selected, so you really
got a look at what leadership was about at a young
age and what fundraising (for the trip) was all about
and being prepared,”Whittier said.
That experience served her well as she grew older,
eventually participating in a student-organized road
race in Iowa City, Iowa, to raise money for individuals
with disabilities.That 5K and 10K usually drew 2,500 to
3,000 people,Whittier said.The Bill Gregory race has
drawn similar numbers in years past, although partici-
pation has been as high as 6,000.
“My job is really unique and all over the place. It’s a
lot of fun,”Whittier said.
— Rachel Brown
Ali Whittier
‘Riding’ through life
ALI WHITTIER
Age: 29
Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa
Current city: Cohutta
Work: Northwest Georgia Healthcare Partnership,
health promotion and marketing director
Family: Husband, Spencer

20 UNDER 40

(Continued from Page 14)
Tanksley. His father, David, the store’s
past owner and former president, is
retired.
“This is home for me, man,”Finley said.
“I’m not a ‘big city’guy. I’m very proud of
this community. I’m proud to say that I
was born and raised here, I think we’ve
done a lot of great things, I think there’s
a lot more great things to come.”
His return to Dalton and Maryville
Jewelers was“kind of a pride thing,”he
said.“It’s a family business. My mom and
dad have been here since ‘74, of course
my dad retired a year ago.
“For me, when I first started working
here it wasn’t going to be what I was
going to do for a living, but it came
down to two things: pride, look at what
my parents have done and I want to
keep this going, I was proud of what
they had done; and the actual love for
the business set in. After about three or
four years it hit me that
I can see myself doing
this for a long time.”
Finley said he is
“humbled”to be recog-
nized as one of the“20
Under 40.”
“I told my parents a
long time ago that I’ve
always felt like just
coming to work and
doing your job is not
enough, you’ve got to
give back,”he said.“If
you have the ability to
get out and help, then
get out and help, and I
don’t care what capaci-
ty that is, whether it’s
finances or it’s your time,
whether it’s with your love, just get out
and help. And that’s just kind of the way
I feel.”
Finley has put that giving spirit into
action in many ways in the community.
On the business side he has served on
the board of the Downtown Dalton
Development Authority. He has also
served on the Red Cross board and with
the Whitfield Healthcare Foundation,
and is active on committees at his
church, Dalton First United Methodist.
But he really glows when he talks
about his work with Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Northwest Georgia Mountains.
He has been on the board since 2001
and is currently board president.
Finley became involved with the
organization after some of its staff who
came into the jewelry store —“their
office was right above me in the
Landmark building”— approached him
about being a Big Buddy, a mentor to a
youth in the community.
“They matched me to Logan and with-
in a year, boom, we went from the Buddy
program to the actual Big Brother pro-
gram where I could go and pick him up
and take him places and the relationship
starts,”he said.
“You end up forming a relationship
and there’s a bond,”Finley said.“There’s
love there that happens. He’s my Little
Brother but I also look at him as family.”
Logan was 5 when the two were
matched. He will graduate this year from
Southeast Whitfield High School, and will
be the first person in his family to gradu-
ate from high school, Finley said.
“I’m so excited about that,”he said.
Of his time with Big Brothers Big
Sisters and with Logan, Finley simply
says,“I don’t know who’s helping who,
whether I’m helping them or they’re
helping me.”
But it is that kind of giving back to the
community that he feels so strongly
about.
“That’s just kind of how I look at it,”he
said.“If you have the means to help, then
get out and help.”
— Victor Miller
J.T. FINLEY
Age: 37
Hometown: Dalton
Work: Maryville Jewelers, co-owner
Community activities: Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Northwest Georgia Mountains board of directors
chairman; served on the boards of Downtown Dalton
Development Authority, the Red Cross board and with
the Whitfield Healthcare Foundation; active on com-
mittees at his church, Dalton First United Methodist.
Family: Wife, Ali; son, Miles, 4
Finley
20 UNDER 40

and gaining experience at several differ-
ent banks including Community and
Southern, Alliance National and Regions.
At Regions Bank,Mendez went through
a management training program.He’d
already had experience as a teller,and
working in collections and as a courier
traveling to different bank branches
around the region.He said the training
program bolstered his career growth.
Despite his success in banking,
Mendez said he never finished his
degree in business management.That’s
on his bucket list to do soon.
Mendez has lived in Dalton since his
family moved to the city in 1991. Both
his parents attended Baptist Theological
Seminary in Mexico City and have done
mission work in a number of locations.
Because of that, the family lived“all over
Mexico.”In the early 1980s, they came to
Augusta where Mendez’s father was a
chaplain at Fort Gordon.The family
moved to Texas for a time then came
back to Georgia in 1991.
“Being (from) a missionary type family,
that’s all I’ve ever known is just to serve,”
Mendez said.“I was brought up with a
servant type mentality, and when I went
through the management training pro-
gram at Regions Bank one of the things
that was encouraged was to get
involved in the community and just give
back. It brings me joy.”
That attitude has
brought Mendez into
contact with a variety
of civic and community
organizations. His
involvement includes
working with the
Northwest Georgia
Healthcare Partnership,
Dalton Civitan Club,
United Way of
Northwest Georgia,
First Baptist Church
Hispanic Outreach
Ministry, Greater Dalton
Chamber of Commerce,
Whitfield-Murray
Hispanic Business
Advisory Council and
the Georgia Association
of Latino Elected
Officials.
“I am very fortunate
to work at a place
where ... we’re given time during work
hours to work on some of these things
we’re involved with in the community,”
Mendez said.“And my family is very
understanding.”
Not only do they understand,they often
work right alongside him,Mendez said.
Despite his childhood experiences of
moving around from one place to anoth-
er, leaving Dalton has never been some-
thing he’s seriously considered, Mendez
said.
“I feel like Dalton has given me and my
family a lot and I haven’t really looked
elsewhere,”he said.“I think opportunities
have presented themselves in the
Atlanta area and the Chattanooga area,
but I’m a Daltonian.”
In his spare time, Mendez enjoys music
and reading.
— Rachel Brown
ZABDIEL “ZAB” MENDEZ
Age: 38
Hometown: Mexico City
Work: Community and Southern Bank
Dalton branch manager
Community activities: Working with the Northwest
Georgia Healthcare Partnership, Dalton Civitan Club,
United Way of Northwest Georgia, First Baptist
Church Hispanic Outreach Ministry, Greater Dalton
Chamber of Commerce, Whitfield-Murray Hispanic
Business Advisory Council and the Georgia
Association of Latino Elected Officials.
Family: Wife, Claudia Mendez; daughters, Nahomie,
13, and Keila, 10; son, Ernesto A.B., 8
Mendez
Optilink service at their house, and if
they don’t they know someone who
does. So they understand what it’s capa-
ble of, and the local service is a big sell-
ing point, too.They don’t have to deal
with the big mega corporations that
transfer you from person to person,”he
said.“We offer them superior technology
and local homegrown customer service.
If you don’t get an answer that satisfies
you, you can drive over here and see us.
That’s a big selling point.”
Jaekel says that“homegrown cus-
tomer service”means he’s never too
busy to talk to a customer.
“I do a lot of phone calls with cus-
tomers and potential customers. If they
want me to do a walk-through of their
business, I’m always happy to do that. I
put them in touch with our networking
guys and our technical people and just
make sure that any questions they have
we answer,”he said.
With the economy bounc-
ing back, Jaekel says he sees
growth ahead for Optilink,
but he says the service did
well even during the down-
turn.
“People were looking to
cut their costs, and they
would come to us, and we
could find them ways to save
them money, sometimes
tons of money,”he said.
Balancing a job in a grow-
ing market along with a fam-
ily that includes two young
daughters takes quite a bit of
time. But Jaekel says he tries to find time
for an occasional game of golf, and he
says he’s looking to get more involved in
the community. He has just completed
Leadership Dalton-Whitfield, the Greater
Dalton Chamber of Commerce’s training
program for young leaders. And he says
he’s looking at joining the boards of
some local nonprofit agencies.
But he says his job still gives him plen-
ty of challenges.
“To me, the most rewarding part is
when everything has been put in and the
customer says how well things are work-
ing and how happy there are,”he said.
— Charles Oliver
SVEN JAEKEL
Age: 35
Work: Dalton Utilities, business sales
account manager for
Family: Wife, Amy; daughters, Lexi, 10
and Luci, 5
Education: Graduated from Southeast Whitfield
High School; studied business management
at Dalton State College
Jaekel

20 UNDER 40
of it being a grieving funeral service,”he
said.“We focus on good things these
people achieved.We like to focus on the
funny moments.We encourage family
and friends to write those moments
downs and we tack them onto a bulletin
board. So it’s more of a celebration.”
But not all of Peeples’time is focused
on dealing with death. Much of it, he
said, is about life, especially young love,
something he is“very passionate about.”
Peeples and his wife of seven years Katie
— who he calls“the CEO of the Peeples
household”— started a young married
couples’program at Salem Baptist
Church in Dalton.
He says society puts so much stock
into weddings and doesn’t prepare cou-
ples for everything that comes after,
which means divorces are becoming too
commonplace.
“We have seen a lot of younger peo-
ple getting married, the honeymoon is
over and they don’t know how to live
in a marriage,” he said.
“(The idea for the pro-
gram) sort of started
from just the feeling of
going to so many wed-
dings of her friends
and my friends, travel-
ing to other towns,
getting hotel rooms. I
mean, there’s a lot of
work in going to a
wedding.Then you
hear six months later
that they got divorced.
And you go,‘Man, what
happened? They
seemed to be so
happy.’Well, they have
a dream wedding, but
not a vision of the marriage.”
“Falling in love in easy,”Peeples added.
“Staying in love takes work.”
Peeples says he knows that firsthand
with two kids to raise — Nate, 4, and
Ansley, 2.
“Having children was tough,”he said.
“We were married about a year-and-half
then we had our first child.Then another
child. It’s just hard, trying to focus the
needs of your spouse while trying to
take care of two little humans who are
constantly in need. And when you finally
get to bed, you are so exhausted you
almost don’t have time for each other.”
Peeples says he’s learned to always put
money aside for things such as babysit-
ters and weekend trips to make sure he
has time with his wife. It’s something he
says he tries to teach couples at his
church program, among other biblical
principles.
“There are rules out there on how to
fight fairly,”he said.“You know, there are
things to say and not say.There’s a time
to speak and time to listen, a time to
laugh and a time to cry.”
Peeples, who has lived in Varnell most
of his life, said it’s rewarding to be in his
30s and to gain “perspective” on the
community. Peeples served as mayor of
Varnell after winning a special election
in 2008 to fill the unexpired term of
Lindsey Metcalf, who had stepped
down. He won a full four-year term in
2009 and did not run for another term
this year so he could spend more time
with his family.
“It’s a neat thing to sit and watch your
community grow and hop into the mix
as an adult,”he said.“I really care a lot of
about this community and the people,
especially through the funeral business.
We serve families that are in need, so I
have a sensitive spot for people in this
community. Me and my family, we are
there for them on the hardest days of
their lives.”
DAN PEEPLES
Age: 36
Hometown: Varnell
Currenty city: Varnell
Work: Vice president of Peeples Funeral Homes, presi-
dent of Peeples Monument.
Community activities: Former mayor of Varnell. Current
president of the Coahulla Creek High School Softball
Parent Teacher Organization. Co-director for a young
couples program at Salem Baptist Church.
Family: Katie, 29, Nate, 4, Ansley, 2.
Peeples

give back to everyone else. She also
takes advice from her father to heart in
her overall perspective on life.
“My dad taught me to listen more
than you talk and absorb as much as
you can,” she said.“Throughout your
career if you make a habit of listening ...
it’s a good way to learn.When you’re
not talking, you’re learning.”
Stanfield graduated from Dalton High
School and Auburn University. She has
worked in a variety of jobs including
several nonprofit organizations, includ-
ing Blood Assurance in Chattanooga
where she was a media coordinator. She
has also worked as a lifestyles editor at
The Daily Citizen, and she worked for
what is now the Greater Dalton
Chamber of Commerce for several years.
She then worked in Atlanta to be
near her fiance, getting a job at what
was known then as the Sandy Springs
Business Association. She moved to
Raleigh and worked in real estate and
traveled some as her husband’s job
took the family various places. After a
two-year hiatus from the workplace to
care for her son,
Stanfield returned to
work.
A two-year employee
of Shaw, Stanfield said
she feels she still has a
lot to learn.
“It will be interesting
to see where my path
takes me,” she said. I’ve
always said I'd like to
use my writing and
photography strengths
in whatever I do, so it
would be ideal if I could apply both in
some manner in a more recognized and
usable capacity.The leadership of the
company has a tremendous knack for
recognizing the potential of their asso-
ciates — even if it’s out of the personal
safety zone, so there’s really no telling
what stepping stones lie ahead. In the
meantime, I’ll remain focused on learn-
ing all I can from everyone I can.”
Stanfield said moving around so
much as an adult gives her a broader
perspective on what Dalton is like com-
pared to other towns.
“Dalton is just a unique community,”
she said.“I have friends that are from
larger cities, and they don’t seem to
have the connections that people in a
smaller community have ...There’s so
much of a giving spirit in this town that
I think it just really sets Dalton apart
from other communities.”
While the city is growing, Stanfield
said she’s still able to keep in touch
with many of her high school friends,
people she describes as some of the
best friends she still has today.
“No matter where I live, Dalton will
always be home to me,” she said.
In her spare time, Stanfield enjoys
cooking, doing just about any kind of
outdoors activities and collecting rocks
and artifacts. Her specialties include
Thai and Indian food.
“Aside from ethnic cuisine, I can make
a pretty mean omelet,” she added.
— Rachel Brown
“I really love this job,”Torres-Tapia said.
“I love my job because it’s changing,
technology is so fast-paced that it’s
never boring.There’s always new tech-
nology coming out so it’s very challeng-
ing, but it’s very fast-paced and I enjoy
that.
“I like it that I get to meet with users
and find out what it is they need that
we’re able to create systems and make
their jobs better, so that’s why I love my
job.”
Torres-Tapia is currently finishing up a
master’s program in computer informa-
tion systems through the Florida
Institute of Technology.
Outside of work,“This company is very
involved with United Way, so I’ve been
involved with United Way,”she said.
She is a member of Rock Bridge
Community Church and manages the
church’s translation team.
“We started translating the message
so that we can get people who are not
bilingual and whose
native tongue is Spanish
to come and enjoy the
message and be part of
the congregation and
that has been really
fun,”she said.
Torres-Tapia partici-
pated in the Leadership
Dalton-Whitfield pro-
gram, and with her husband Marco (they
were engaged at the time) participated
in the year-long Leadership Georgia pro-
gram.That was“pretty cool,”she said.
Torres-Tapia came here from Mexico as
an exchange student in 2000 at the age
of 16. She spent two summers studying
abroad through the University System of
Georgia, in Paris and London, and loves
to travel.To celebrate her graduation
from college, she and her mother back-
packed through Europe.“Yes, I have a
very cool mother,”she noted.
Of the“20 Under 40”recognition,
Torres-Tapia said,“I feel very honored,
especially because I didn’t grow up in
this country. So when I first moved here I
didn’t know any English and I was in
high school. For me to be considered
part of something like this is a huge
honor.”
Torres-Tapia said she“really loves
being part of this community. A lot of
people are ready to leave here and go
somewhere else but I really love Dalton. I
love the small town atmosphere and I
love the company I work for. It’s been
terrific. I feel blessed.”
— Victor Miller
GABRIELA TORRES-TAPIA
Age: 30
Hometown: Chihuahua, Mexico
Work: J+J Flooring Group, business systems analyst
Community activities: Leadership Dalton-Whitfield pro-
gram and Leadership Georgia program
Family: Husband, Marco
Stanfield
KRIS KELLY STANFIELD
Age: 36
Hometown: Dalton
Work: Shaw Contract Group, marketing communica-
tions manager
Community activities: Past board member of the Creative
Arts Guild; volunteer work.
Family: Son, Connor
Torres-Tapia

TO PLAN YOUR VISIT to Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, visit rtjresorts.com or call 1.800.949.4444 today.
facebook.com/rtjgolf twitter.com/rtjgolf
HI, I’M JOE TAYLOR. Overton, Texas. What keeps me coming back to the Trail? It’s just absolutely sensational.
I have people tell me what they’ve spent playing one round at Pebble Beach and a night at the hotel, or going to
Pinehurst for a couple rounds. We do the entire week, travel, hotel, green fees, good meals and everything for
the price of one day at these places. And it’s absolutely a sensational place to come.

Subscribe Today
706-272-7721706-272-7721
They’re all about you North Georgia!
Don’t Miss
The Next Issue of
Have the next 6 issues delivered to your home or business for only
$
1800
per magazine
(To cover postage & handling)

We’d like to
congratulate
Zack and Craig
on being
selected for
20 under 40
recognition, but
they’re busy
helping us grow
and build the
future of our
community.
Zack Adamson and Craig Bock

20 under 40

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (14)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to 20 under 40

Similar to 20 under 40 (20)

20 under 40