Young Gamechangers Get To Work In Dalton
Thursday, April 28th, 2022
A group of Georgia's brightest young leaders has come to Dalton to help the community chart a course for its future growth. The 2022 Young Gamechangers group is holding their first meetings this week in the city.
The Young Gamechangers program brings together a group of professionals ages 24-40 each year to help solve the persistent challenges of one community in Georgia. Each class does extensive research and works to generate big idea recommendations based on their host community’s specific needs. They present their recommendations, along with a comprehensive report, at the end of their project. This year, the program is being hosted in and focusing on Dalton and the surrounding area. The Dalton host committee has determined which issues the panel will study and on Thursday afternoon will present the group with a set of four “challenge questions” to develop answers for.
At right: Dalton city administrator Andrew Parker speaks to the Young Gamechangers at Dalton State College on Thursday morning
A third of the group is from the Dalton/Whitfield County area. Another third is made up of leaders from the Atlanta metro region with the other third coming from the rest of the state. To learn more about the 2022 group, click here.
The group got together for the first time on Wednesday, getting to know each other and also the community. On Thursday morning, the group was given a presentation about the City of Dalton by City Administrator Andrew Parker. Parker's presentation included an overview of the community's history, going back to the community's founding as Cross Plains and later becoming known as Dalton and Whitfield County. Parker traced the growth of Dalton's floorcovering industry from its infancy in the tufted bedspreads of Catherine Evans Whitener all the way to the emergence of the carpet and floorcovering companies that have made our community known as the Carpet Capital of the World. Parker also gave an overview of the city and county governments and details about the region's population and demographics. Parker noted that most of the city's work force in jobs earning more than $40,000 annually live outside of Dalton and commute, and he pointed out that one of the city's goals is to find ways to bring more of those individuals to live in Dalton.
The group was given a bus tour of the city after Thursday morning's meeting. After being assigned to their challenge question groups on Thursday, the group will work together periodically until presenting their findings and recommendations in September.
Below: Andrew Parker speaks to the members of the 2022 Young Gamechangers program
