Landscape Designs Created for Local Greenways, Parks , Trails and Farmers Markets

           The Archway Partnership placed landscape architecture student interns in the community this summer to work on designs for several community projects.  Two interns are working with the City of Dalton to design hiking and biking trails and another intern is working with Whitfield County to create rural and urban farmers market design concepts.

Jason Dazzo and Kristen Carroll are focusing on ways to link the Dalton "greenway" to a planned park that will be built on an abandoned railroad spur in the Crown Mill area.  The greenway will eventually connect downtown Dalton to Mount Rachel all the way over to Heritage Point Park. Plans for the park as well as other changes to the Crown Mill area to make it into an arts and cultural center were developed by previous UGA landscape architecture interns last summer.  

Chris Kelly created two concepts for parcels that could be used as farmers markets:  one suggests amenities that capitalize on an urban setting and another on a rural setting.  His designs will be shared with the City Council and County Commission during the first couple weeks of August. 

Higher Education Issue Work Group Promotes Technical Education

The Higher Education Work Group organized and sponsored a week-long summer camp for middle school students on June 13-17.  The Design, Technology and Manufacturing Camp reached almost 30 students with hands-on learning and career exploration.  Additionally, members of the Work Group and others from our community traveled to Newnan, GA, for a tour of the Central Education Center on May 4.  The Central Education Center is well-known for its strong partnership with local industry and for its exceptional technical/career readiness programs. 

Jeff Fletcher, a recent University of Georgia graduate with a Masters in Business Administration, is working with the Higher Education Work Group this summer to develop a plan for bolstering the image of technical jobs as an avenue for recruiting more students into technical education.

Diverse, Forward-Thinking Economy Work Group Identifies Innovators

“We could be called the cutting edge manufacturing capital… or the innovation and applied technology capital of the world.”  This statement echoes the sentiment from the Diverse Forward-Thinking Economy and Hub for Research-Based Innovation Work Group after hearing about the findings from an inventory of local business innovations. Examples from the innovations list include protective coating for wind turbines, industrial robotic equipment, advanced adhesives, lubricants for diesel engines, advanced testing laboratory, fiber optics network, green technologies, solar power, food industry additives and chemical processing components, and advanced medical technologies. 

The Work Group continues to explore possibilities for establishing a business incubator program, identifying existing resources that support business creation.

Archway Partnership Brings Students to the Community

During the summer months, several college students from the University of Georgia (UGA) and Dalton State College (DSC) have been working with the Archway Partnership to accomplish community-identified projects that support the Communit-E³ vision and goals.  

·         *Samuel Kelleher, a graduate student in the UGA College of Environment and Design, created concept designs for enhancing the Market Street area as well as making the interstate exchanges more inviting to visitors.

·         *Leah Graham Stewart, a recent graduate of the UGA College of Environment and Design, has designed a logo and prepared conceptual landscape designs for the City of Varnell.

·         * Jason Dazzo and Kristen Carroll, also from the UGA College of Environment and Design, added detail to planned public amenities that will serve and enhance the Dalton Greenway Project, connecting potential parks with Mt. Rachel.  And, Chris Kelly worked on concepts for parcels that could be used for farmers markets.

·         *Jennifer Taylor, graphic design student in the UGA Lamar Dodd School of Art, provided graphical assistance to the Prenatal to Pre-K Work Group’s initiative on healthy lifestyles for children. 

·         Four DSC students, Dawn Duncan, Olivia Cobb, Diego Espinoza and Sarah Crow, led educational sessions at the “We Can!” Summer Camp for youth, also to promote healthy lifestyles. 

·         *James (Jimbo) Graves, a graduate student in the UGA Institute for Non-Profit Organizations, has assisted with research and design of an online small business resource center.

·         *Patrick Lines, a graduate student in the UGA Department of Geography, assisted the county with updating its GIS for use by 911 professionals in fire response.

·         *Charles Simpson, graduate student in the Masters of Business Administration program through the UGA Terry College of Business, is assigned to the Archway Successful Sustainable Industries Work Group.  Charles is addressing efforts to rebrand the image of the flooring industry to attract a highly qualified workforce.

·         *Jeff Fletcher, recent graduate of the Terry College, is assigned to the Archway Higher Education Work Group.  His efforts focus on meeting the industrial and technical needs of the community by increasing the interest of related career paths to the next generation of workers.

·         *Maury Gortemiller, graduate of the UGA Lamar Dodd School of Art, has visited the community to capture images that will support the highly innovative nature of business and industry as well as technical education.

·         *Edward Joaquin, doctoral student in the UGA College of Education, has participated in K-12 Work Group meetings.  His role is to identify potential resources available through the College of Education to support local education efforts.