SELECTGEORGIA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Business Recruitment Director
- Member of the Georgia Economic Developers Association
"Marketing the state of Georgia affords me the opportunity to support growth and bring jobs to my home state. We are helping to make a difference in the lives of Georgians."
Ashley Varnum has joined the Business Recruitment team for Georgia Power Community and Economic Development.
Prior to joining us, Ashley was the Division Director for the Global Commerce Division with the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD). Her primary focuses supporting all industry specific recruitment teams and the existing industry and regional recruitment team while assisting the Deputy Commissioner in leading the division. Previously she served as the ADAM (Automotive, Defense Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing) Team Director and a Senior Project Manager on the ADAM team and Life Sciences and Corporate Solutions team.
During her time at GDEcD, Varnum has supported many companies including GE Digital, Honeywell International, ThyssenKrupp, Purple Mattress, Boston Consulting Group, Switch, Flexport, and MasterBrand Cabinets to help support the creation of thousands of new jobs in Georgia and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment.
Ashley also served as the Executive Director of Fitzgerald - Ben Hill County Development Authority and a Project Manager for the Liberty County Development Authority. Throughout her career, she has assisted domestic and international businesses in both industrial and office investments.
Varnum is an active member of the Georgia Economic Developers Association and previously served on the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) Alumni Board.
Ashley earned a Bachelor's of Science in Rural Studies focused in Business and Economic Development from ABAC (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College) in Tifton, Georgia. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, husband, Ben, and their dog, Charlie.
Ashley has supported many companies locating to Georgia, including GE Digital, Honeywell International, ThyssenKrupp, Hyundai Motor Group, Purple Mattress, Boston Consulting Group, Switch, Flexport, and MasterBrand Cabinets to help support the creation of thousands of new jobs in Georgia and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment.
Job Titles:
- Manager of Business Recruitment for the Economic Development
- Manager of Statewide Economic Development
- Statewide Economic Development Manager
"I'm excited and humbled for the opportunity to lead Georgia Power's best in class statewide economic development team and to continue the great work we do with all of our internal and external partners to help grow jobs and investment in Georgia."
"I'm excited to be part of such an innovative team that's working to grow Georgia's communities."
Charlie Moseley is the Manager of Business Recruitment for the Economic Development team. Charlie joined the Georgia Power Economic Development team in 2018 as business recruitment director, bringing his talent and expertise to companies looking for locations throughout Georgia. He oversees the research and site selection process for businesses investing or expanding in Georgia. With market evaluation, engineering services, facilitating company visits, and serving as a liaison between companies and government agencies, Charlie walks prospects through every step of the journey.
Before Georgia Power, Charlie was the director of project management and regional partnerships for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, working to attract jobs and investment to the Atlanta region. Prior to that, he was the executive director of the Henry County Development Authority where he led all economic efforts, and before that he worked in various roles for the Georgia Department of Economic Development's Global Commerce team. He's also worked with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia and as a speechwriter for a former governor.
Charlie earned graduate degrees in public policy and city and regional planning from Georgia Tech. He got his undergraduate degree in political science from the Honors Program at the University of Georgia.
A fan of the Atlanta music scene (especially at Variety Playhouse), Charlie loves to go to shows when he can find the time. He's also a big reader (currently reading The Goldfinch). He and his family- wife Jess, daughter Nora, and son Reid, love spending time outdoors along the Chattahoochee or in the North Georgia mountains. The Moseleys call Atlanta's Druid Hills neighborhood home.
Charlie Moseley is the Manager of Statewide Economic Development. Charlie joined the Georgia Power Economic Development team in 2018 as business recruitment director, bringing his talent and expertise to companies looking for locations throughout Georgia. He oversees the research and site selection process for businesses investing or expanding in Georgia. With market evaluation, engineering services, facilitating company visits, and serving as a liaison between companies and government agencies, Charlie walks prospects through every step of the journey.
Job Titles:
- Business Recruitment Associate
"I look forward to partnering with communities across the state and helping to sustain Georgia's robust economic growth."
Daniel Buitrago has joined the Economic Development team as the new Business Recruitment Associate.
Daniel began his career with Southern Company Services in October 2017 as an intern for the Economic Services team in the Planning and Regulatory Support group. He later transitioned into an Economic Analyst role where he spent nearly four years supporting Southern Company's Economic Services function. In this role, Daniel was responsible for creating economic reports and presentations on macro and regional economic developments and policies impacting Southern Company's service territory to facilitate diffusion of insight to management and the operating companies.
He serves on the board of Amigos, a Georgia Power Employee Resource Group, and the Atlanta Economics Club. Daniel received his bachelor's degree in Business Economics from the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. He resides in Atlanta and enjoys traveling and playing golf. His favorite travel destination (so far) is Villa de Leyva, a small town north of Bogota, Colombia.
Job Titles:
- Customer Relationship Management Administrator
Job Titles:
- Business Recruitment Director
"Every prospect and project we work is different, and we enjoy the diversity of industries we serve."
Doug makes his mark on the state through his work as a business recruitment director, assisting companies in the aerospace, logistics, manufacturing, and data center industries as they find their new home in Georgia. He also works on projects involving cyber security companies. Doug facilitates the site selection process, helping companies identify potential buildings and sites and providing expert market research and engineering products. He also coordinates with state partners during the process, connecting prospects to all the right people during the site selection journey.
A long-time member of the team, Doug has 34 years of experience with Georgia Power, the last seven focusing in Economic Development.
Doug is a member of the Georgia Economic Developers Association and is on the Georgia/China Alliance Board of Directors. Doug recruits international business from China, Israel, Brazil, and he attends international aerospace conferences in Europe to represent Georgia's aerospace industry.
He graduated from Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville with a Bachelor of Business Administration.
Originally from Chicago, Doug now resides in Atlanta with his wife Linda. After many years living in a suburb of Atlanta, the two relocated to a Midtown condo in 2011 and are loving the city life. Their daughters, Kate and Alex also live in Atlanta. Doug is an avid golfer and runner- he's run four full marathons and 13 half marathons. His 5th marathon is coming up - the Publix Atlanta Marathon in March of 2019.
"There's a real, positive impact when you can help bring opportunities to areas, especially where they're needed most. It's a great feeling."
Georgia native Earnest Johnson has a big heart for his home state. As an engineer on the Georgia Power Community and Economic Development team, Earnest helps businesses and communities visualize their ultimate potential. Civil engineering services and environmental data are crucial throughout any project, and the 2D and 3D designs by Earnest and his team are often the deciding factors when it comes to business locations. Local communities also benefit from his talents through his work on redevelopment initiatives that shine a light on areas that once seemed forgotten. From manufacturing facilities to office headquarters to parks and baseball fields, Earnest brings life to a project with visual and statistical data.
Earnest received his bachelor's and master's degrees in Civil Engineering from Clemson University in 2010 and 2012, respectively. During college, he gained experience working with his future Georgia Power colleagues through a co-op program. His master's thesis focused on coastal engineering for levee scour during storm surges and explored possible preventable measures. The thesis research was published in Ocean Engineering, an international journal of research and development. After graduating, Earnest worked as a structural engineer in Raleigh, NC, before returning home for a full-time position with Georgia Power Community & Economic Development in 2015. He has been a registered professional engineer with the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors in the state of Georgia since 2018.
Earnest was born and raised in Riverdale, Georgia. He recently became a homeowner in Vinings, where he says he loves that the community is quiet and quaint. Once a week, Earnest mentors local kids that are in challenging situations. He's also very close with his two young nephews. He enjoys Christian ministry, swing dancing, Muat Thai fighting, softball, and writing.
Job Titles:
- Regional Economic Development Manager
"Finding the right site options is a critical part of the process, and we're here to make that more manageable for businesses."
What's site selection without a great search tool? Jeff DeWitt, Georgia Power Community and Economic Development's GIS Administrator, is responsible for developing and managing the geographic information system (GIS) for SelectGeorgia.com. The department's main search tool helps business recruitment managers, prospects, and communities identify available buildings and sites all over the state. He also is responsible for the department's GIS database and providing project support.
After several years in the GIS consulting world, Jeff started his career with Southern Company, Georgia Power's parent, in 2002, working for the Southern GIS group. He later transferred to Georgia Power's Distribution Management Systems organization, where his GIS work included analyzing distribution databases and assisting in the conversion of the distribution mapping system to an enterprise GIS solution. He joined the economic development team in 2008.
Jeff graduated from Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a Bachelor of Business Management and Communications degree. He later received a Master of Forestry degree from Auburn University. Jeff is a member of the Geospatial Information and Technology Association and has completed Georgia Tech's economic development course.
Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jeff resides in the City of Roswell with his wife and two children. His interests include golf, history, and travel.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Strategic Solutions Manager
Working across several economic development teams in Georgia, Lonnie has been directly involved in project locations for companies such as Beretta, GE, Georgia Pacific, Owens Corning, UPS, and Wayfair.
"Story maps align with our strategy and let us really show off. We take something that's very static and academic and turn it into something aesthetic and digestible."
As a research analyst in Georgia Power's Community & Economic Development organization, Marion Phillips provides a wide variety of data used by everyone from business recruitment directors to communities. Her work includes responding to RFIs (requests for information), developing marketing publications that feature detailed industry reports and demographic information, and helping maintain the department's database at SelectGeorgia.com. Marion's research focuses heavily on industry statistics, demographics, and workforce, and supports projects as they move through their journey to choosing Georgia for their business. Her specialty, and one of her most important contributions to the work comes in the form of story maps, which are a more innovative way to share and view data.
Marion started her career at Georgia Power in 2014, previously working in software sales in Washington, DC. She also completed internships with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and Partnership Gwinnett while in graduate school. Marion holds a bachelor's in Sociology from the University of Richmond and a master's in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Tech. At Tech, she was vice president of the Student Planning Association. Currently, she's a member of Georgia Economic Developer's Association (GEDA) and the Atlanta Economics Club.
Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Marion lives in Midtown Atlanta. She loves the city and exploring the vibrant live music, theater, and restaurant scene Atlanta has to offer. Marion is halfway toward one of her big dreams- seeing all four of the Tennis Masters. So far, she's attended the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, and has her sights set on the Australian and French Opens for the near future.
"Using drone footage allows us to visualize sites in a unique way and we can engineer sites using survey information collected from the drone. There's something to be said about a perspective that we don't normally get to see."
Paul Schneider joined the Georgia Power Community & Economic Development engineering team in 2016. A certified drone pilot, Paul has been instrumental in upgrading the team's drone technology initiatives, improving visualization of sites and topography throughout the state. Paul's work also includes locating potential building sites, helping prospects envision how a building would fit there, coordinating with partners to check water, power, and sewer information, and building 3D models to translate data into the customer's vision..
Before moving to the C&ED team, Paul worked for Georgia Power as a senior transmission specialist. His focus there was GIS and application support, working on Southern Company projects to support transmission, electric systems, and aerial patrol. He also worked in GIS in North Carolina, and won an award for his work in international crime mapping. Paul also served in the U.S. Army infantry for eight years.
Paul and his wife Desiree live in Newnan, Georgia. They met in high school, and began dating after the Army. Their kids are Zoe, 10, and Spencer, 6- and a Boxer named Rio. Paul's favorite hobbies are woodworking, making homemade wine, and hanging out with his family. One day, he hopes to climb Mt. Ranier.
Job Titles:
- Engineering Manager
- Manager of the Engineering Team for Georgia Power Community
"Engineering is moving into a 3D virtual world, and we are staying in front of that as much as possible."
Ricardo Palacios is the manager of the engineering team for Georgia Power Community and Economic Development. Ricardo guides the team as they collaborate with business and community developers to assist them through the decision-making process. Ricardo provides preliminary civil engineering, planning and environmental information for projects in manufacturing, distribution, office/headquarters and data centers, as well as assistance with mega sites. Ricardo also works with local communities in the preparation and presentation of site evaluations, land use studies, aerial imagery, preliminary environmental analysis, cost estimates, business park master plans and conceptual site plans.
Ricardo has many years of engineering experience in both the public and private sectors with organizations such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the City of Newark, New Jersey; AT&T; and Planning Design Group. In 2001, he began working as an engineer in Georgia Power's economic development department, before leaving in 2006 to run his own consulting firm, providing civil engineering and right-of-way consulting services to the Georgia Department of Transportation. He returned to the Community & Economic Development team in 2014.
Ricardo holds his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and has been a registered professional engineer with the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors in the states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia since 2003. He also holds numerous other training and professional certifications, including the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Level II Design Professional certificate. Ricardo is a member of the Georgia Brownfields Association and the Georgia Economic Developers Association.
A native of Cuba, Ricardo is fluent in both Spanish and English. He lives in the Grayson area of Gwinnett County with his wife, Jenny, and their three children. Outside of work, he loves to travel and enjoy his favorite hobbies - tennis and tennis.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to Vice President
Job Titles:
- Business Recruitment Director for Georgia Power 's Economic Development
"I am proud to be part of the economic development team in Georgia. It is an exciting time to be involved in such important work that has a significant impact on people's lives and the state's economy."
Taylor Kielty is a Business Recruitment Director for Georgia Power's Economic Development team. Taylor brings a combination of local, regional, and statewide experience to her role, along with a strong background in industrial recruitment and a well-established network of site selection consultants.
Previously serving as the Senior Manager for Business Recruitment at the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), Taylor's team worked to generate new project leads, identify new land sites, and manage new projects to a successful location outcome for North Carolina. Prior to joining EDPNC, Taylor was the Assistant Director of Industrial Projects with the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD). In this role, she was responsible for co-leading the state's industrial recruitment team and managing automotive mega projects. She also has experience on GDEcD's Corporate Solutions and Cyber Security team as well as the Existing Industry and Regional Recruitment team.
Throughout her career, Taylor's work has resulted in the creation of more than 10,000 new jobs and $5B in new investment across the Southeast. She was recognized as a Top 50 Economic Developer in North America in 2021.
Taylor is a graduate of Tennessee Tech where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. She has been a member of various community organizations, including the Georgia Economic Developers Association, Industrial Asset Management Council, and NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Vice President, Community & Economic Development