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For the Love of Here is a podcast about Dalton, Georgia and life across Northwest Georgia—from local businesses and entrepreneurship to community leadership and hometown pride.
Hosts Erika Mosteller and Lauren Sneary sit down with founders, civic leaders, creatives, and neighbors from Dalton, Chatsworth, Ringgold, and Calhoun to talk about the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping our region.
If you care about small-town business, local culture, economic growth, and building a life where you live, this podcast is for you.
Because you don’t need a bigger city. You just need a better lens.
Produced by Here Local Media.
Ep12
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Intro
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[00:00:00]
Lauren Sneary: All right. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the podcast.
~Uh,~ it is very hot outside. I'm thinking-
Erika Mosteller: Sweltering ...
Lauren Sneary: about 100 degrees is what my car was telling me, ~um,~ right as the AC stopped working. So I hope that wherever you are listening to this, that it is nicely air-conditioning. ~Um,~ if you are running, Seoul Running Club, shout-out, ~um,~ I hope that you are drinking lots of water.
So Erika, how are you doing today?
Erika Mosteller: I'm good. I have not been on any runs, but I did walk this morning, and it was pretty hot even at 7:00 AM. Yeah. So. Hey,
Lauren Sneary: proud of you. Yeah. That's, that's
Erika Mosteller: commitment. Yeah. My daughter twisted my arm, but it was [00:01:00] good.
Lauren Sneary: Okay. So as we start off this episode, we have an incredible guest, as always.
But we wanted to do, ~um,~ a little bit of business info up top-
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm ...
Lauren Sneary: about our magazine. So Erika, can you share with our listeners where they can make sure to stay connected and how to get Hear magazine in their mailbox?
Erika Mosteller: Yes. So we are coming up on one year of Hear Dalton, um, September, and many of you have received it just because the first year we wanted to introduce it to as many people as possible.
But if you are enjoying it, we do ask that you please subscribe to keep the good stories coming straight to your mailbox. Of course, you can always pick it up around town as well. ~Um,~ but yeah, we would love for you to go to hearlocalmedia.com/dalton, and you can subscribe there, and it's just $39 a year for six issues delivered straight to your mailbox.
So I mean, I think that's pretty value. I'm
Lauren Sneary: biased, but I think it's a great price point. And it is a beautiful magazine. It's a coffee table piece. Yeah. So.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.~ And we get s-~ thank you guys so much for all your kind comments, for real. We get so much- Yeah ... feedback about the people who are reading it and the stories and how you [00:02:00] plan your family events around the magazine.
Like, we just love hearing that. So.
Lauren Sneary: Yes. Yeah. So thank you, and please do subscribe.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Okay. So thank you. Business adjourned. Okay, perfect.
Meet Anna Adamson
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Erika Mosteller: And now we get to launch into a conversation with our- One of our favorite local community leaders. ~Um,~ you all have probably seen her around town in multiple roles, but, ~um,~ right now, her existing role is with Believe Greater Dalton and the Florin Capital Development Corporation, and she has been involved in various aspects of developing opportunities for our community, ~um,~ for the last at least five years, probably before that, just in unofficial capacities.
~Um, and she's been...~ You know, she was in Dalton during her, while growing up, and then moved away for a bit, and then like many of us, she found her way back, ~um,~ and has just made it part of her life's mission to help other people love this place and help it reach its potential. And we're so thrilled to have Anna Adamson on the podcast with us today.
Lauren Sneary: Yes. Hi, Anna. Welcome.
Anna Adamson: Hello. Thank y'all for having me.
Lauren Sneary: So we always like to kind of start out asking our guests their Dalton [00:03:00] story. You know, how did you get to Dalton? And then, you know, why do you stay in Dalton? And so we're gonna cover a lot of ground on that. Do you wanna start just by telling us what's your Dalton origin story?
Anna Adamson: Yeah, I'll jump in. Erika, you asked, ~um,~ a moment ago, was I born in Dalton? I was not, but nobody consulted me, so I didn't necessarily- ... move here willing or unwillingly. ~Um,~ we, ~uh,~ moved from Atlanta, where I was born, ~um,~ just before my fourth birthday. My brothers, I've got identical twin brothers, and I think the thought was it was time to get closer to family, and so we made the move back to my mom's hometown of Dalton with, ~um,~ her transplant, which is, ~uh,~ my dad, who was from Baltimore, Maryland.
So made home in Dalton in 1988. Okay.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. So- The OG. The OG Dalton.
Anna Adamson: Yes. That's right. So
Lauren Sneary: you spent your childhood in Dalton, and then you spent some time away. Can you tell us about that time period?
Anna Adamson: Yeah. ~Um,~ again, you know, Erika and I will talk about some of the best, ~uh,~ cheerleaders some days for a community are the ones who've not been here- Mm-hmm
the whole [00:04:00] time. And so I certainly, ~um,~ had the chance to, ~to, um,~ have some perspective about what I left, but also what I was coming home to when we moved here in, ~um,~ 2012. So, ~um,~ we were... My dad, ~um, uh,~ switched careers. He was with Arthur Andersen when we were in the Atlanta area, and then actually came and was the first, ~um, uh,~ to start The Farm Golf Club, ~um,~ their first, ~uh,~ director there, and then he became a contractor.
~Um,~ so he totally switched careers, and, you know, we'll fast-forward. I'm sure we can talk about how probably some of those days on the job site got me to where I am today. But, ~um,~ that meant he began building in the Dalton area, and then eventually some of his work took him more to the North Carolina area.
So we made a move to Chattanooga, ~um,~ before, ~um,~ my high school days. Um, finished out, ~um,~ high school there. Found my way to Texas and Fort Worth, and as God often does, has a funny sense of humor, started dating a boy from Dalton, Georgia- ... and slowly been making my way back ever since.
Lauren Sneary: That's awesome.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, and it's interesting.
Big Picture Vision
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Erika Mosteller: So if y'all have never met Anna, [00:05:00] she is a force of just energy and vision and excitement, and like just spend one conversation with her and you will be excited about whatever the topic is, and I love that about you because you really see the good in things. ~Um,~ so I'd love for you to just talk about like that mission of, hey, this place is great, but like we see all of these opportunities for people to love it even more
Anna Adamson: I'm a big picture person, so I think sometimes when you see things as if they're great or that they can be great, it's because you don't really get bogged down in some of the, the details.
~Um,~ but you know, I think for me, it was, ~um,~ really an opportunity I had in a past role, and I spent about six years with Junior Achievement, and spending time understanding our local business community and really figuring out how to put all the pieces together of what creates a vibrant community, and the role I got to play in that.
So I think just living in that big picture moment of trying to figure out what it's going to take to get us to that next [00:06:00] milestone for our community is something I really enjoy doing. And, ~um,~ certainly, ~uh,~ staying big picture is, uh, the only way of going about doing that day in, day out.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, Barry Gentry was here recently talking about community development and how sometimes he just has to cry in his office, and then he picks himself back up and moves on.
Because it, it can be hard work, and it's long work. Mm-hmm. ~Um,~ so I didn't realize you were with JA for six years. Okay. So yeah, so it's been... You've been involved in community and economic development for a while now. ~Um, ~
Junior Achievement Journey
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Erika Mosteller: so tell me about your role with JA and then also how you have transitioned into a role working, ~um,~ with the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce and with the Florin Capital Development Corporation.
Anna Adamson: Yeah. So my background's in education. ~Um,~ birth through third grade, special education, ~um,~ was my degree, and I did not spend a day in the classroom after I graduated. ~Um,~ and so, ~um,~ it really was a long way back to an opportunity in education and, ~um,~ spent some time learning from a fantastic business owner in the Chattanooga area that I [00:07:00] worked for for years, Terry Holley, and then I spent time, ~um,~ working, ~ uh,~ home with the kids, ~um,~ after I quit working for her.
And you know, it was really, ~um,~ the best blend of the two things I loved the most, which was event planning. I was doing that on the side, not getting paid for it, so it was really great once somebody was like, "You know, we'll pay you." Yeah. To actually put food on the table. It's always nice when that happens.
Yeah. So that, that really resonated with me. But then also dipping my toe back in education because my love and passion for education never waned. It was just not the fit for me to be in a classroom day in, day out. So looking at it through the lens of the middle school age, especially with the opening of, ~um,~ the JA Discovery Center, ~um,~ for Northwest Georgia and blending in that economic development piece, the business community, ~um,~ aspect of, of what we were working on was really fun.
And
Discovery Center Impact
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Lauren Sneary: that, the Discovery Center is such a huge achievement, not just for Dalton, but for the entire region. I mean, there's not many of that scale and scope, right, ~uh,~ throughout the, the country even, and you guys were able to bring that to [00:08:00] Dalton and create that opportunity for so many local schoolchildren.
Anna Adamson: Yeah, it really resonated. ~Um,~ we were the smallest community across the country to open up a JA Discovery Center. You'll see some, ~um,~ that certainly for JA of Georgia, we call them JA Discovery Centers. Many other, ~um,~ states call them JA BizTown or JA Finance Park, but ours is a blend of the two models. And a lot of that is certainly around just, you know, having...
We run every day of the school year, and so the student population that it would take coming from about an hour's of, as far away as most of our students come from, ~um,~ to get to that kind of peak of, like, 15,000 students, that's kind of the sweet spot to keep you running, ~um,~ for a full school year. But it's also has to work for the business community.
And so I think for us, just, ~um,~ having such a, ~um,~ strong business community that wanted their students to see themselves in the companies that were in our community was very important to them. So it wasn't enough for them to just go and be a part [00:09:00] of the Delta storefront or any of the other ones in the Atlanta area that they, ~um,~ had learned about.
They wanted them to actually be and experience, ~um,~ businesses right here in their own backyard.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, and it is a phenomenal asset. I've been able to volunteer there with my daughter's school and, you know, you're talking with these sixth graders about investing, and they have a budget and, you know, how much can they invest if they're making this much, and their car payment's this much, and their groceries are this much.
And you can just see their eyes pop and say, like, "Well, I, I can't afford to do this now." And it's like, yeah. That's life. It's cool. It's really-
Anna Adamson: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. It's very, ~um,~ it's very real for them.
Anna Adamson: So- The realization about how expensive kids are. Right. And they're like, "Wait, I don't want the kid." I'm like, "That was your life
Erika Mosteller: experience."
You were assigned a kid. Sorry. Yeah, that's right. That's great. ~Um,~
Shift to Housing Work
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Erika Mosteller: okay, so you transitioned from JA to, tell us about your existing roles.
Anna Adamson: Yeah. So, ~um,~ in 2023 I made the decision to retire, ~um,~ I'll put that in quotes, from Junior [00:10:00] Achievement. And really, you know, my, my love is building things. And ~we, um,~ from the day I walked into the JA Discovery Center in, ~um,~ Atlanta, I knew I wanted one to be in our community.
And the doors opened and we spent a couple of years, ~um,~ growing the footprint of the student population we served, and I felt like I'd done my job, ~um,~ and I was ready for~ um,~ something new, and I did not know what that looked like. I had, ~um,~ spent, ~um,~ a couple of years as a volunteer with Believe, part of, ~um,~ their education initiative in the first five years of Believe's work.
And then actually as one of the co-chairs for Believe's second iteration, ~um,~ that started in 2023. And so I was very, very familiar with Believe's work. But one, ~um,~ strategy out of the, the second five years that I felt incredibly passionate about was housing. And so we had done the work as, ~um,~ a, the housing strategy to bring a nonprofit and housing to the community, and it came about [00:11:00] right when COVID hit, and so nothing was done with the Florin Capital Development Corporation, um, as it was created.
And so I went straight to determine what it would take to get that up and running, and really just begin learning about what challenges we were experiencing with housing in our community, and how we even begin to work towards solving those.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Why Believe Greater Dalton Matters
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Erika Mosteller: And just for our listeners, so Believe Greater Dalton is the strategic, ~um,~ community development arm of the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce.
And they connect research and vision with resources and partners, which is a kind of fancy way to say that they look at what does the research say about how we can make our community a place of choice for live, work, and play, and education, learning. ~Um,~ so yeah, so I would love for you to, to tell us, what does that mean for the average person in Dalton?
Why should they care about what Believe Greater Dalton does?
Anna Adamson: Yeah, I think for me, community development is, ~um,~ really putting you in a spot where you have to bring [00:12:00] partners to the table and understand how one aspect of a community impacts the other. Mm-hmm. And so I use education because that was my background and, ~um,~ I learned that when we started looking at the preparedness of a workforce, that was happening or beginning or needed to begin in the classroom.
And so if we were making decisions as educators, despite best efforts, that was not supporting our students and the future of our workforce, then it was impacting another aspect of our community. And so I think it was that first connection where I started realizing how one aspect of a community's health and wellbeing really impacts another, and how we start looking from a big picture through the lens of how partners at a table can come together as educators, as those in economic development or industry or higher ed, whatever it is, and how we can help one another for the outcomes [00:13:00] we're looking at that- Are 15, 20 years down the road, but are beginning today when they are sitting in that classroom for the first time as a
five-year-old.
Lauren Sneary: So what are some of the projects or efforts around that housing piece? Which again, is one of those interconnected components of whether workforce thrives or education thrives, right, is that housing piece.
So what have, what are you guys kind of looking at there in terms of development?
Housing Challenges Data
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Lauren Sneary: Yeah,
Anna Adamson: so when we did the original housing study, ~um, .~ we got a lot of feedback that we expected to hear. We had an aging housing stock locally. We had not seen any new multifamily come online since the early 2000s. We were really experiencing ~the,~ the challenges that were still coming from 2008 that just simply hit our community much harder than our, some of our peer communities because of the tie of so much of our industry to- Wow
housing. It just, we [00:14:00] were lagging ~in, um, in,~ a lot of, ~um, the,~ the impact of that, ~that ~period of time. And so, you know, w- we understood the aging housing stock. We understood that we didn't have the multifamily, ~um,~ housing that communities of our size were expected to have. But then when we think about, and you mentioned Erika, ~um,~ attraction, we all know that we're seeing a decline in population.
So it's no longer enough, right, for a community just to have great jobs. We need to be attracting not only that future workforce, but the residents of our community, and part of that is going to be in the housing that is available. ~Um,~ there are so many other aspects of that attraction, but housing certainly plays a role in that.
And one of the most fascinating, ~um-~ pieces of, of that attraction, I guess, if having the right housing stock to me was thinking about how households are changing, and thus the housing that they would like to buy or to [00:15:00] rent is also changing with that. So if you have a smaller household size, you do not need the house, you know, of 20 years ago for a family of four.
Or all of the sudden you have a dual income family, no matter what the size is, and I don't know about what y'all do on the weekends, but we're at a ball field or in watching basketball or whatever it is. We don't wanna be home and caring for a large yard. Mm-hmm. And so you're looking at these little changes, demographic shifts that impact what type of housing people are being attracted to.
And if your neighboring communities have that, they're gonna win just based- Right ... on rooftops. Right.
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm.
Why Housing Affects You
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Erika Mosteller: And, uh, talk to us about the connection because, you know, big picture. You know, when, ~when,~ when we mention housing st- housing studies, I'm sure some people are like, "Okay, great," you know. But what does that actually mean for me as a taxpayer or as somebody who sends my kids to public school or as somebody who wants to have great [00:16:00] opportunities for retail shopping or eating out?
Like, why does the housing question and attracting people to live here, why does that matter to me?
Anna Adamson: Sure. So there are ramifications of population decline or even a stagnant population, ~um,~ and certainly housing is playing a role when you see a community, ~um,~ have a decline or even a stag- stagnant population.
So, you know, you are going to see it with children in a ~um,~ public ~ uh,~ school system ~when you have, um, uh,~ when you're losing student body, when you're just losing population numbers. ~Um,~ the State of Georgia and many others are tied, the funding that they receive is tied to ~those-~ Those numbers
student numbers. Mm-hmm. And so, you know, that is, that is a huge challenge for us. But then also, you know, it comes down to things like retail follows rooftops. How many times do you hear what restaurant, ~um,~ our neighbors wanna see or what, ~um,~ what retail options they wanna see, and it really is as simple as the demographics of the rooftops in an area and how those decisions are [00:17:00] made.
And so, um, that, that's a huge role, important role in the process.
Erika Mosteller: You're talking about Target, right?
Anna Adamson: You know I wasn't gonna mention Target. I
Erika Mosteller: mean,
Anna Adamson: I'm- We're public, but.
Erika Mosteller: So this is, when I f- Right ... when I first moved here, I wanna say it was like one or two years after I moved here, somebody actually said to me like, "I've seen the plans for a Target to be built over in that big green space by the mall."
And I thought for years, "Oh, it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen." It's coming. But then I realized, oh, that's Dalton. They always talk about. Oh, yes. It was so funny. But, but to your point, we do have, we hear about things or we see things go up in neighboring communities, and we think to ourselves, "Huh, why not us?"
And it sounds like some of this information is part of that equation.
Anna Adamson: It was, and you know, you balked a little bit at housing studies. I'm a nerd. I love the data. ~Um, ~but that's how you get prepared for opportunities too. It also helped us to understand some of the things that were more unique just to Dalton, ~um,~ and that was just where we're [00:18:00] located.
Between two larger metro areas, Atlanta and Chattanooga, you siphon off some of that demand for housing, just as you see those larger metro areas begin to grow, and it takes some time, right, to kind of meet in the middle, so to speak. ~Um,~ and so a lot of that was just very natural based on where we're geographically located, but then when you look at losing out migration just to your, ~um,~ neighboring counties, that is more concerning because you're looking at why those moves happen, and again, a lot of it is the rooftops that people, ~um,~ were looking for even if they're still working in our community.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, that is something that's really neat about Dalton is that we, we have great job opportunities. We have wonderful career opportunities. ~Um,~ so it sounds like we're looking at how we can, you know, maybe attract the people who work here take a look at living here too- Yeah ... 'cause we have lots to offer.
Lauren Sneary: It's interesting. It seems like ~a,~ a little bit of a chicken and egg scenario, right? You wanna attract- 100%. ... the [00:19:00] right type of businesses, but they wanna see that the right type of housing and workforce exists here, and so which do you work on first, or which do you tackle first? And have you guys wrestled with that question?
Anna Adamson: Yeah, absolutely, and then also, you know, all of the cases for what makes our community great that, ~um,~ we don't want to necessarily be a neighboring community that has, you know, traffic challenges- Yeah, yeah ... and safety issues and whatever it is. So yeah, ~that,~ that's the balancing act, and I guess going back to the question of what in the heck is community development- Mm
it is that balance of all of those trade-offs-
Lauren Sneary: Yeah ...
Anna Adamson: that we make, and making sure you have the expertise around the table to understand it from an economic development perspective, to have someone like the joint development authority at the table- Yeah ... or to make sure that we understand, ~um,~ the recruitment of students at Dalton State College and how that plays into the [00:20:00] regional focus that they are, ~um,~ embracing now.
So yeah, it's, it's certainly chicken and egg- Right ... but it's also this fun balancing act- 'Cause you wanna- ... at the same time ... you wanna create the right momentum without creating disruption-
Lauren Sneary: Mm ... I guess. Yeah.
Projects Going Vertical
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Lauren Sneary: I just, I, I see some things that you're sharing on social media about kind of the tangible aspects of that work, some really cool, ~um,~ housing that you guys have already been part of bringing to Dalton or even some, you know- Not, what's the right word?
It's not experimental, but- Innovation ... almost like a- Yeah, innovative. Yeah ... an innovation or a pilot, a project. Could you speak to some of those to kinda make it tangible for our audience some of the cool things that are happening?
Anna Adamson: Yeah. So I'll back up just to give credit to a lot of the early days of Believe's work and how, ~um,~ the housing study even led to some of the now homes you're seeing- Yeah
actually go vertical, which is so exciting. But Hamilton Village is a great example of that. And I think as you know, there, ~um,~ that was a property donated by [00:21:00] Mohawk, and it was, ~um,~ meant to be a green space. And as we began realizing some of the challenges we had specifically for workforce housing, the question was raised, like, "Hey, do we take a look at this?
Is this, ~um,~ a good, ~um,~ opportunity for a innovative type of development that we don't already have here?" Some of that, ~um,~ the unit mismatch that I was mentioning- Yeah ... um, before, and for some of that, it's price point. And so that housing study was what we needed, we didn't know at the time, but what we needed to go after the governor's Workforce Infrastructure Grant that was years down the road.
And so that's why I always tout the fact that planning is a huge part to being prepared for when opportunity comes our way. And so many communities of our size frankly don't have those studies and that work- Yeah ... already completed to be able to, ~um,~ to take on those opportunities. So that was [00:22:00] certainly one of our, ~um,~ first big wins.
~Um,~ and then also the relationship that was built with, ~um,~ Wellhouse Dalton, um, our old, ~um,~ housing authority, and the JDA, and Believe Greater Dalton, when they began talking about the future of what Wellhouse Dalton was gonna be, and understanding that we were going to need to look at some of these, ~um,~ like, a light tech development type, ~um,~ concept in order to be able to meet some of the price points that their residents, ~um,~ needed to have available in our community.
And so to see something like that that began with a tour in Gainesville that, ~um,~ Allison Coker and, and Carl Campbell were a part of, bringing that back to our community, vetting that with their partners at Wellhouse Dalton, and now to see the low-income housing tax credit development coming, ~um,~ online, here, ~uh,~ gosh, in less than a year, ~um,~ and seeing this come out of the ground on Underwood is just so amazing.
Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: And they're beautiful. If y'all haven't driven by to look at them. Oh, it's so cool. They're really cool. Yeah.
Anna Adamson: Yeah. We got to tour [00:23:00] last week, and it was also really special. You mentioned, ~um,~ some of the, ~uh,~ the pilot program, the first one the FCDC did, and we were just trying out a construction technology.
You know, the goal for everyone right now is how do we get the cost of housing down? You know, is it just some of these changes in the unit type and density, and, ~um,~ you know, or is it construction technologies? We've been building the same way for a very long time. That's right. And so we're looking at, ~um,~ building with a structurally insulated panel company that we'd been introduced to, and we really liked their product.
And what it allowed us to do was- frame a house much more quickly, matter of fact, have it in the dry in a day. But weighing out the cost of those panels as opposed to the additional days of, ~um,~ of the labor of the framing process, and then also cutting out, ~um,~ some of the, ~um, uh, ~work, you know, just to then begin, ~um,~ sheetrock and everything [00:24:00] else.
So it was really cool to do that side-by-side comparison and, you know, that was only possible because of a grant we received and some partners along the way that, ~that, uh,~ provided us a low interest loan to, to get that project off the ground. We sold both of those houses and put, you know, over a half a million dollars, ~um,~ on the tax rolls that was otherwise just a, ~um,~ vacant lot with no plans, ~um,~ in the near future to do anything with.
Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah. It's so neat to hear you pull back the curtain on really the complexity of both the project and the planning itself, and then the long-term thinking and how collaborative- Mm-hmm ... it ultimately has to be, and how well this community has showed up to do that collaborative work. It's really impressive.
Gotta play the long game. It is such a long game.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Dalton Secret Sauce
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Erika Mosteller: And one thing I ~appreciate about, ~appreciate about your view of the community, Anna, is I feel like you're one of the first people who really helped me understand all of the, ~the ~key players in our region who are here in Dalton, beyond just industry.
Obviously, I feel like [00:25:00] that's the story that's often told. Mm-hmm. But even just looking at like, oh, we have two higher education institutions here in our community. We have an incredible healthcare system here in our community. We have this entire outdoor green space here in our community. We have one of the oldest interdisciplinary arts centers here in our community.
Like- Mm-hmm ... you were the first person who kinda looked at all of that on... I remember you drew a map
Anna Adamson: visual learner.
Erika Mosteller: Yes. But you drew this whole map of it, and I was like, oh.
For a c- for a community that only has about 100,000-ish people- Mm ... that's not normal.
Mm. So talk to me about just like almost like our secret sauce. Like, what do you think it is about Dalton that is so compelling for you to continue in this work ~and,~ and help other people catch the vision of like, "Hey, we have like a really cool cake here. We just gotta put the ingredients together."
That's well said. Yeah. Catch the vision. I like that.
Anna Adamson: Yeah. Erika spends enough time with me. I know the direction- ... she's going as you- You're ready. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. . ~Um,~ so I think one thing that I find [00:26:00] particularly unique and I... and ~that-~ that's why I say sometimes our biggest cheerleaders for our community tend to be the ones who've been out of it for some time to see what makes us so special.
But, you know, ~I,~ I look at the innovation that our industry had in its very beginning days and how- The creativity and the arts began to play and did play a role, right, in that innovation ~to bring in,~ to birth an industry. And then you see as it evolves, those same talents that got us to that point way back when are still the talents that tend to exist today that just become a part of the fabric of a community and take us into the future.
And so I think, you know, ~that,~ that to me is what makes us special, those, those ingredients. ~Um,~ but I also, I remember a conversation with Dr. Venable, and it was about the time she was retiring from [00:27:00] Dalton State, and she used the visual of , the jewels in a crown of our community.
And we were talking about what some of those jewels were. And at that time we were talking about the opening of the Jay Discovery Center. But you're right, a privately held hospital system That is also regionally connected to have Dalton State College in addition to Georgia Northwestern Technical College, to have creative art skilled and some of the performing arts, ~um,~ organizations that we have here.
It is so incredibly special, and that's really what makes up a vibrant community. Mm-hmm. The trick is how you start connecting all of those.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. So I... Anna drew a map one time of everything connecting. Do you remember? You drew it out on the table and I was like, "Oh, can we have like a bike path?" So anybody out there who loves rails to trails and wants to, uh, invest
That's not an official Believe project. That's just like a me thinking this [00:28:00] would be really cool, but- Yeah ... ~um,~ I'm sure I'm not the first one, but I just am so excited. You have several really cool projects in the works with Believe Greater Dalton, and so tell us about some of the things you're, you really want people to know about the work that Believe is doing ~and,~ and what it means for our community.
Anna Adamson: Yeah.
Vision Dalton Master Plan
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Anna Adamson: So before we totally get off the, ~um,~ crazy map I drew in trying to connect all the jewels of our community, ~uh,~ that day, ~um,~ connectivity was a huge aspect of our revitalization goals for the master plan that we're in final stages of completing. The plan was called Vision Dalton, ~um,~ and it is an urban core master plan.
Basically what that means is we were taking the Whitfield County, ~um,~ comprehensive plan to a next level of, ~um,~ detail to take some of the implementation recommendations out of that and take it to the level of actually planning for, ~um,~ specific projects. And the most important thing that i- my mind, ~um,~ jumped out from that comp plan was connectivity.
We have all these [00:29:00] jewels, and I always say if you could blindfold somebody and take them to all the jewels of our community, they'd be like, "Man, this is fabulous." And it is. But connectivity is a huge piece to that, and it's not just the revitalization of making those corridors more attractive, ~um,~ and beautification.
It's also how we get there. Being able to hop on a bike and go from, ~uh,~ Burr Park to Haig Mill Lake, ~that's,~ that's what people... You know, they, they really get to enjoy all aspects of the community. Getting in a car and driving to and from is not as enjoyable. But, ~um,~ yeah, so I would say Vision Dalton Master Plan has been, ~um,~ a labor of love since we began- Gosh, in November of last year.
~Um,~ we have, ~uh,~ conducted over 40 stakeholder interviews. We've had two public meetings. We, ~um, uh,~ did a, ~um,~ public survey, and we have been a part of the, ~um,~ architecture and, ~um,~ engineering process [00:30:00] to vet the viability of some of the sites that came out of the feedback ~um,~ from our community. So it's cool to be in the final stages and, ~um,~ cannot wait to roll that out this fall.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, that's, that's very exciting. For sure.
Planning Fears Answered
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Erika Mosteller: So sometimes when we talk about change, and then we'll move on to the other exciting projects, but some people get really nervous. So I would say, what do you say to people who are, you know, they hear some talk about planning or master plans and they, they're like, "Whoa, wait a second.
What's changing? This makes me nervous. Who's paying for it?" Like, how do, how do you answer those questions?
Anna Adamson: Yeah, I mean, I think specifically for this master plan, it is, ~um,~ within city limits, and we know this. I mean, within... Dalton is an old city, so a lot of the opportunities we have are for redevelopment.
~Um,~ and then also topography. It's challenging. ~Um,~ and then land availability in general, ~um,~ just the areas that are actually, ~um,~ available ~for,~ for development. And so, you know, the focus planning there in my mind [00:31:00] is, ~is ~Growth will happen, right? What it looks like, the quality of it is really what we're trying to control.
And so, you know, I am a huge advocate of planning, but then also thinking through, ~um, uh,~ you know, the urban design aspects of that, that make a community where you aren't as concerned about traffic because ~they have imp- y-~ you've improved things along the way.
Lauren Sneary: Mm-hmm.
Anna Adamson: So I think growth is happening in hand-in-hand with ensuring that we are, ~um, ~- Creating an environment that allows the community to grow, but also to do things better.
Mm-hmm. ~Um,~ and so for, you know, if that's widening sidewalks, if that is, you know, ~um, uh,~ creating changes, ~um, to,~ to roadways to cut down on traffic, that kind of thing. So it's really multifaceted. It's not just about building more. Mm-hmm. It's about redeveloping what already exists.
Lauren Sneary: And I think it's important to remember that the people doing this work also live in this [00:32:00] community.
Mm-hmm. And they want the same things, and they're thinking about the same things, and they're driving the same roads. And so the people doing that work and, ~and ~really with their hands in the plan, with the input from a lot of the community of you, as you've mentioned, through surveys and open meetings, ~are...~
have ~ those,~ those interests- Mm-hmm ... in mind, right? ~Th- th-~ that work is to support everyone in the right ways.
Anna Adamson: Mm-hmm. It is, and you know, I, ~uh,~ obviously being newer in the role with Believe Greater Dalton, ~um,~ I spent a lot of time looking at the investors who bought into this plan five years ago, and this is what our community said they wanted.
So it's getting to act on the feedback that we got from our community surveying that we did from what our investors, what spoke to them, and why they invested in the first place, and then also, ~um,~ making sure that, right, we're doing that balancing of meeting the needs of everybody in the community and serving everybody that calls Greater Dalton home.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Yeah. And it's... You know, I was able to be a part of some of those [00:33:00] meetings. I think you were too, Lauren. And even the thought process down to, you know, "Oh, well, we really need to make sure that this intersection is more walkable and safe because we have different business districts that are connecting.
But hey, it's also the south, and it's hot, so let's make sure that there are trees." Mm-hmm. "And the trees also protect pedestrians in the case of traffic pattern." You know, like, it's just very thoughtful. It's thoughtful. Yeah. It's It's really neat to see these experts who this is their life, this is what they've studied, and it's like they know how to do all of these things well.
So...
Anna Adamson: Yeah, even looking at things when they're like, "Well, and the sun sets," and then you're looking at it for, you know- Yeah ... those are the things that, you know, you just realize the level of detail- Mm-hmm ... that goes into the planning is really incredible.
Erika Mosteller: It really is. And we learn a lot. And, and, and like you said, it's, a lot of this stuff might happen anyway, so let's make sure that we're doing it thoughtfully.
That's gonna be, create the most attractive- Mm-hmm ... community that we can. Yeah. So do you have more questions about projects? 'Cause I have some, you know- Dalton ones ... questions about
Lauren Sneary: Dalton. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Do it. Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: So [00:34:00] we always ask our guests, and this is a hard question, but it's not a trick question. ~Um,~ what is, you know, your favorite thing about Dalton?
And, you know, ~you,~ you can answer profoundly if you'd like. I- you're a pretty profound person. Hmm. But, you know, we're also looking for your favorite taco or, you know, your favorite activity on a weekend. So just if you had to name kind of your favorite Dalton thing, what would it be?
Anna Adamson: I knew this question was coming, so, um, thank you w- I was living it Friday night. We go, my husband and I go down to Burr Park pretty much every Friday night for the summer. Sometimes he
Lauren Sneary: has to speak from the stage.
Anna Adamson: Yeah. And sometimes you do. Y'all both do a beautiful job. That's right. Mm-hmm. ~Um,~ and, and so we go down and rarely even look to see who's playing that night.
It really doesn't matter, uh, to us. Music is one of our favorite things in the world. But on the nights that it happens to be a night that our friends are also really excited about being there makes it so much fun, and Friday night was one of those nights. But it's not just having our friends to have a place [00:35:00] where we gather and get to enjoy music we love and that kind of thing, it's also all the different generations that are there.
And, ~um,~ my favorite things are music and dancing, and, nothing's better than when you've got your kids', you know, like, six and seven-year-old friends, they will dance with you before it's dark and before anybody else is really out there dancing. So yeah, I would say Friday nights, Burr Park, are some of our favorite memories.
Lauren Sneary: So really the theme of this episode then is connection. Yeah. 'Cause that seems to be not just your favorite thing, as you've just mentioned, but also what drives your work. Yeah. It's really nice.
Erika Mosteller: So profound.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: And so true.
Lauren Sneary: So we went profound. We usually do. Yeah. And an IPA from Dalton Brew. There we go.
There it is. There we go. Yeah. Mango IPA.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. There it is. ~Um~
Food Scene Favorites
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Erika Mosteller: so if you were going to choose a lunch spot in Greater Dalton, where, what, where do you love to go for lunch?
Anna Adamson: I mean, can you get away with not saying the Oakwood? I think that's such a [00:36:00] staple- Yeah ... um, in our community. And, ~um,~ breakfast, I, I think, you know, if bacon and eggs starts any day, uh, well.
So we spend a lot of, a lot of breakfasts at the Oakwood. ~Um,~ but I remember when Native opened. Mm-hmm. And I was like, "Man, Dalton, you are really branching out." You're doing it, yeah. Mm-hmm. You're doing it. And so that's always one that I enjoy, and, ~um,~ I can't say enough about, ~um,~ my friends at Cyra's and, ~um,~ there's very little that an old fashion and a dozen oysters can't fix.
That's right. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: I'm more avocado fries myself, but yeah.
Anna Adamson: We always
Lauren Sneary: end up talking about the food scene in Dalton. It's true. We just can't stay away from it. And again, it's one of those things that it develops along with the rest of the community. Mm-hmm. And the opportunity to have that much entrepreneurship- Mm
and these many, you know, locally owned and locally managed restaurants, ~um,~ is a marker of the progress that Dalton is making in that space.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Anna Adamson: In its art at its, in its best format [00:37:00] too. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: That's true. Yeah, that is true.
Why She Came Back
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Erika Mosteller: So, ~um,~ Lauren likes to ask this question, but you haven't today, so I'm gonna ask it.
Oh, ~Um,~ have you ever thought about moving away?
Anna Adamson: Oh, I cannot believe I forgot my
Erika Mosteller: favorite. I know, 'cause I always love to know what people say.
Anna Adamson: Oh, moving away. ~Um,~ I've never thought about moving back.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Anna Adamson: ~Um, you know,~ I'm very transparent with, ~um, to,~ coming back kicking and screaming would probably have been fairly accurate.
My husband took a job that, ~um,~ required him to come back to Dalton, and for all intents and purposes, I thought our life, ~um,~ that we began in Chattanooga was nothing short of perfect. Mm. And it was, and so many, I mean, I, I think, you know, any community you can, ~um,~ find the great things- Mm-hmm ... about, about one community versus another, but I did not understand the opportunities and the doors that would open to do what I love doing.
And frankly, in a town even the size of Chattanooga- That would've been a difficult path [00:38:00] for me. And so yeah, I'm not going anywhere, ~um- Nice ...~ now that I'm, I'm back.
Erika Mosteller: Good.
Anna Adamson: I want time to travel a little bit more, but I'm coming back.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, we hear that. But then it's always fun to come back to Dalton, right?
Anna Adamson: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: I mean, it's like any, ~it's like~ any relationship that you have, you know, the community that you choose to live in. You have to kind of recommit to that relationship regularly-
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm ...
Lauren Sneary: um, and commit to the work that it takes to, to make it the right place.
Anna Adamson: And sometimes the community chooses you- Yeah
even, even if it wasn't in your plan to come back.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. And it's funny that you say that the opportunities here, ~um,~ we've talked about that with several guests, that it, you know, back to kind of this unique blend that we have in Dalton, ~um,~ it is a s- smaller town with a lot of market opportunity, so entrepreneurs, if you're listening, come check us out.
But yeah, because we have so much industry and we have this huge logistical opportunity here with the I-75 corridor and, you know, tri-state area, ~um,~ there's just this huge market opportunity that you might not have, you know, it, you have access to start more things here- [00:39:00] Mm-hmm ... than you might somewhere else, which, ~um,~ I think is just a really cool story that we keep hearing over and over again.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: So yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Well, is there anything else that you want our listeners to know about Believe Greater Dalton or about your love of Dalton, or about life in general? Life le- Anything
Anna Adamson: you wish we would've asked you
Erika Mosteller: that- Yeah ... we did not? Life lessons from Anna.
Anna Adamson: , It's, you know, it, it's a remarkable place, and it's something that, you know, ~has,~ has just afforded, I think, so many of us opportunities professionally, but also a wonderful place to raise our children.
And the people, ~um,~ you know, that, that's really what makes, ~um,~ makes this community. And I think about all the people who've lifted me up, and I know, you know, as, as women, some of the mentors that we, the three of us, have shared, ~um,~ there's just, there's nothing like it. So love our community.
Lauren Sneary: So. And thank you so much for joining us today and taking the time to kind of let us in on what's happening in, in development in our community. This has been great. Well, thank
Anna Adamson: y'all for having me.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. And one thing [00:40:00] I do, I'll just give a plug for Believe. ~Um,~ I feel like you and Bailey Gable, who, ~um,~ is also working with Believe, you guys are always open to conversations if there are people who are interested in your work or just, like, wanna understand more about it.
~Um,~ where can they find out more, and also where can they get in contact with y'all if needed?
Anna Adamson: Yeah. So always, ~um,~ if you wanna just follow our work, we highly suggest just coming to our website, believegreaterdalton.org, and signing up for our newsletters. We're very intentional about being as transparent as we can be about the work we're doing, progress reports along the way, really bringing people along for the ride.
we also spend a lot of, ~um,~ effort in our socials, and, ~um,~ you know, Erika can speak to my- ... ~um,~ attempt to get better about LinkedIn. But we really do try and tell those stories along the way, because bringing people along for the ride, ~um,~ is really what makes it something that we all get to celebrate in the end.
So- Yeah ... always contact us through, ~um,~ the website. We're always happy to sit down and talk about anyone's particular area of interest.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. That's great.
Lauren Sneary: Perfect. Great call-out, and sorry [00:41:00] that I tried to end it a little too soon.
Anna Adamson: ~Um,~ but now I will say again, thank you so much for joining us.
~S- uh, ~