Dalton | Whitfield County: Talent Hub

Dalton has also made some other significant economic announcements in the past few years, including GEDIA Automotive Group, a German company, which invested $85 million in a new manufacturing plant in the Carbondale Business Park. It opened in 2022, adding 200 jobs. In that same business park Essentia Protein Solutions has invested $80 million in a facility to create broth for food companies. It is expected to begin operations before the end of the year, adding 80 jobs. Carl Campbell, executive director of the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority, says his biggest challenge is figuring out how to make room for housing the growing workforce.

Campbell says Dalton’s location near the interstate makes it attractive to businesses, and the fact that it has so much to offer by way of technical skill development and career progression helps retain talent. “We are a big business community. We have multiple facilities [with] over 1 million square feet,” Campbell says. “We are rich in a lot of things.”

The Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy, for instance, offers high school students a curriculum that integrates core academics with career-technical education. Last year, the school added a First Responders and Fire Academy, which lets students earn their firefighter certification before they graduate from high school. Campbell says it was added to create a talent pipeline because there was a need in that area.

One challenge is that many educators and counselors outside of the greater Dalton area are not aware of the opportunities available to graduating seniors beyond the flooring industry. So Campbell and fellow chamber leader Stephani Womack have been conducting bus tours to expose nonresidents to career opportunities in the area. He advocates for the numerous career opportunities in Dalton-Whitfield from healthcare and advanced manufacturing to human resources and professional services. Campbell says this not only benefits businesses but also high school and college students looking for work after graduation. “Students deserve to know what the likelihood of landing a job is, and where that is,” he says.

Advocating Opportunities: Stephani Womack, chief talent officer at the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, and Carl Campbell, executive director of economic development, far left, stop by GEDIA as they lead a tour to show nonresidents businesses that are hiring in the area.

Housing Crunch

Earlier this year, Gov. Brian Kemp awarded a $1.5 million grant to Dalton from the Rural Workforce Housing Initiative. It will help add 39 homes to Dalton’s market by funding the setup of street and stormwater drainage for the 3-acre South Hamilton Residential Infill Project. The city has pledged $622,300 toward infrastructure design and construction. The Dalton City Council voted unanimously in September to approve the intergovernmental agreement.

The homes, to be built on land donated by the city of Dalton, will range from 850 to 1,400 square feet; have one, two or three bedrooms; and will be priced between $125,000-$290,000, per state mandate, Campbell says.

“[Does] that move the needle? No. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing,” Campbell says. “We are gravitating to what’s hard: the lower-end and upper-middle income market.”

Housing initiatives are also addressed in Believe Greater Dalton, the community’s strategic plan led by the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, which focuses on six strategic areas to help Dalton become a more attractive place to live and work. A board of community leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors is guiding the process.

Identifying Needs: Anna Adamson, co-chair of Believe Greater Dalton, at Burr Park. Photo credit: contributed

Co-chair Anna Adamson says the board uses its resources to identify and respond to the specific housing needs of today’s local workforce – whether that’s multigenerational families or single dwellers, or workers looking for more compact units that are easier to maintain. At a February meeting with community members, Believe Greater Dalton Director Allyson Coker said that the plan encompasses four main themes: expanding housing choice, neighborhood revitalization, increasing affordability and continuing downtown development.

Developing Strategies: Believe Greater Dalton Executive Director Allyson Coker at the chamber of commerce. Photo credit: contributed

The Believe Greater Dalton leaders have commissioned housing studies and applied for grants to support development in Whitfield County. Most recently, a $100,000 grant from the Truist Charitable Fund has helped Flooring Capital Development Corporation pilot sustainable homes furnished with structurally insulated panels, according to Adamson. Such panels reduce construction timelines and garner savings for the developer, while homeowners benefit from lower utility costs.

Sustainable spaces and proximity to downtown are in high demand, Adamson says.

Green Spaces and Sports Tourism

The downtown renaissance and revitalization of the city’s parks and recreational facilities have been attracting tourists and retaining residents.

Bruce Frazier, communications director for the city of Dalton, says the city is continuing its commitment to revive green spaces and support programs to sustain economic growth. The first of these is enhancing existing sites, such as improving drainage and switching to synthetic turf at Heritage Point Regional Park, which has faced wear over the years.

“We have a lot of sports tourism. We have a tournament coming in every weekend. We want to make sure we don’t lose those games and [can] have as much play as possible,” Frazier says. There are now four FIFA regulated soccer fields in Whitfield County – three in Dalton and one at Riverbend Park.

Making Improvements: All 10 fields at Heritage Point Regional Park will have new turf by February 2025. Photo credit: Kevin Garrett

Georgia is among the top 10 states with the most economic impact from sports tourism, according to the Sports Events and Tourism Association. Tourism in general brings in $162.7 million in spending in the Dalton-Whitfield area.

The city is enhancing recreational areas for residents as well, such as upgrading the John Davis Recreation Center, which will have community meeting spaces, available for public and civic groups. Additionally, Frazier says the city is expanding its inventory of pickleball courts and is planning to add 30 courts at the rec center. Tennis courts at Brookwood Park were already retrofitted for pickleball, and courts at Lakeshore Park can be used for both games.

Outdoor spaces are a particular draw; the Mill Line Trail has been swarming with visitors since it opened in March. The 1.2-mile paved path connects the former Eagle Walk Trailhead and Haig Mill Lake Park trail. The Mill Line mostly follows the footprint of the old Eagle Walk Trail, a footpath created by local Boy Scouts along Mill Creek.

Popular Path: The Mill Line Trail connects the former Eagle Walk trailhead and Haig Mill Lake Park. Photo credit: Kevin Garrett

“I have been pleasantly surprised with how many people are out using it. You can’t go out there and not see a who’s who of Dalton,” Frazier says.

Together, these improvements have made an impression on residents, particularly young people. Dalton measures the pride of residents through a Net Promoter Score survey, asking: “How likely are you to recommend Dalton-Whitfield to a friend or colleague as a great place to live?” More than 1,000 middle and high school students participated in the survey in 2021 and 2023, according to Believe Greater Dalton’s Coker, with the survey showing significant improvement in the youth score on the survey during that period.

“In addition, the average student in 2023 is more likely to consider living in Dalton-Whitfield when they are adults as compared to their 2021 counterparts,” Coker says.

High-Value Education

There are typically three main factors that contribute to a successful town-gown relationship, says Dalton State College President John Fuchko III, who officially took the reins of the college in October 2023.

“People are going to move to places where they can get their children a good quality education, where they can have their health taken care of, and then when those kids get out of high school, if they all go off to school, [they want] public, affordable, higher education right there in the community that is conversant with the needs of employers,” he says.

Focused on Success: Dalton State College President John Fuchko III. Photo credit: contributed

Dalton State College has fared well in terms of the value it delivers. The Wall Street Journal ranked it No. 1 in the country for student experience in 2024. And the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center ranked it No. 1 in Georgia and No. 52 nationally among public four-year institutions for net price. It’s also known for being the first Hispanic-Serving Institution in the state, as it was federally designated in 2018.

Offering bachelor’s degrees in everything from accounting and engineering to nursing and social work, the college prioritizes preparing students for the workforce. Fuchko says it’s likely the university will take a multidisciplinary approach to meet the emerging needs of industries that are leveraging AI.

“I don’t know that we’ll have, for example, a bachelor’s in AI. What I would expect to see over a period of time is that we integrate AI into all of our programs across the curriculum,” Fuchko says. “Then we’re really, truly producing an AI-literate graduate.”

Even before students reach graduation, however, the challenge is getting them to stay enrolled, engaged and successful, which is why Fuchko is focusing efforts on student success and the student experience. Roughly half of incoming students are first-generation college students. To increase their chances of success, Dalton State offers peer mentor programs and the Roadrunner Scholars Summer Bridge Program, providing intense English and math training to students the summer before their fall freshman semester. Eligible students can participate in the program and stay in dorms at no cost. The six-week program helps improve their chances of succeeding in the first year and beyond.

Fundraising is another critical factor for the college’s ability to provide access, with more than half of students receiving need-based aid and around nine in 10 receiving any sort of financial aid.

“We’re giving well over a quarter million dollars a year just in private scholarships to students. And the good news is when we’re as affordable as we are, those scholarship dollars go that much further to helping those students get through their education,” Fuchko says.

Even with financial aid, however, sometimes college isn’t even on the radar for some high school students.

Project Purpose

Seeing the Benefits: Stephanie Womack, chief talent officer for the chamber. Photo credit: contributed

Stephani Womack, chief talent officer for the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, says Project Purpose was piloted last year to connect students with employers and give them practical professional skills. The two-week program exposes high schoolers to industries and employment opportunities while giving them training in areas like communication, conflict management and financial literacy. In many cases, these are high school students who had no plans to attend college or start a career, Womack says.

“Employers across the program that are signed on are seeing the benefit. They have hired students out of it,” Womack says. All 18 students who participated this year were hired, after taking industrial maintenance classes at Georgia Northwestern Technical College, receiving professional clothes for interviews and taking industry tours to gain exposure to local employers.

Project Purpose has changed some opinions about the Dalton area. “People think we only have carpet,” Womack says.

Improving Health Status

Success Story: All 18 students who participated in Project Purpose were hired by employers in the Dalton area. Photo credit: contributed

One of the largest employers in the area is Vitruvian Health, formerly Hamilton Health Care System. “We’re a very diverse healthcare system,” says Jeff Myers, Vitruvian president and CEO. “We are completely woven into our community in all aspects.”

The July rebrand itself may be recent, but over the last five years, the healthcare system has been improving how it serves the Dalton-Whitfield community, starting with a shift to Epic electronic health records.

In addition, Vitruvian has forged stronger ties with colleges in the area to enable a larger pipeline of nurses. Myers says Vitruvian’s residency program for internal medicine and family practice has expanded to approximately 55 residents on campus. Its nationally recognized Anna Shaw Children’s Institute for autism and developmental delays, along with the Peeples Cancer Institute, and its heart program, soon to be housed at a new cardiovascular pavilion, are among the investments that Vitruvian is making to improve the health of the local population.

Uplifting the Community

Improving the status of the community is in the name for Goodwill, which opened its doors in Dalton in April. Most people think of the retail store when they think of Goodwill, but it’s much more, says Gena Weldon, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Chattanooga Area.

“Goodwill exists in our community to help people build skills, find jobs and grow their careers with our free services,” Weldon says.

Free services: Goodwill helps people build skills, find jobs and grow their careers at the Dalton location’s opportunites center. Photo credit: contributed

The Dalton location offers a store, donation center and opportunities center, providing residents free career assessments, digital skills training, financial education, resume and interview preparation and more. If they don’t already have a resume, they can access the computers in the opportunity center to create one.

Whitfield County, too, is taking steps to expand accessibility, particularly broadband internet access to the rural areas outside of Dalton. County Administrator Robert Sivick says his participation in a recent training qualifies Whitfield County to apply for $50,000 in federal funds. Sivick says the funding could help deliver reliable internet coverage, which would benefit school-aged children and businesses that use cashless payment systems.

Sivick has had ambitions for Whitfield County since he became county administrator in 2021 and was impressed by what he saw in Dalton: a lively downtown with a variety of eclectic restaurants and a clear interest in culture and patronage for the arts. The combination of all this, along with great jobs and schools makes Dalton and Whitfield County a vibrant and enjoyable place to live and do business.