Deal appoints nine to boards

Pannell is a partner with the law firm of Gray Pannell & Woodward LLP in Savannah. He is president of the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia and also serves on the executive committee for the State Bar. He is a member of the Chatham County Board of Registrars and a member of the board of directors for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Pannell is a 2012 graduate of Leadership Georgia, a 2009 graduate of Leadership Savannah, and currently serves as the 2013 Alumni Chair for Leadership Georgia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia and a law degree from Georgia State University. He and his wife, Kimberly, have two sons, James and Paul.

 

Hawthorne is president and founder of AlphaSkills, Inc. She is a former elementary and secondary classroom teacher. She has been named Georgia Teacher of the Year, Georgia Teacher of the Year Runner-Up, and Georgia Reading Teacher of the Year. She has served as past president of the Georgia Teacher of the Year Association, and she currently serves on the Central Georgia Technical College Board of Directors, the Central Georgia Community in Schools of Central Georgia Board of Directors, the executive committee of the Twiggs County Family Connection, the education committee of the Twiggs County Chamber of Commerce, and is chair of the City of Jeffersonville Downtown Development Authority. Hawthorne earned a bachelor’s degree from Mercer University and both a master’s and doctorate degree in Reading Education and Educational Administration from the University of Georgia. She and her husband, Flemming, have one daughter. They reside in Jeffersonville.  

 

Phillips is a former area supervisor of the Georgia Department of Veterans Services in Dalton. He also previously served as a claims counselor for the department in Atlanta. Phillips served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, including three tours in Vietnam. He is a member of the National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission, is active in the American Legion and a life member of Post 112, Dalton. Phillips serves as chairman of the Rehabilitation Committee and is a past state commander and 7th District commander of the American Legion. He is also a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Phillips and his wife of more than 50 years, Susie, have four children, 12 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. They reside in Blairsville.

 

Youngblood is a retired senior noncommissioned officer with the U.S. Army and also a retired South Georgia Regional Manager for the Georgia Department of Veterans Services. He is the past state commander for the American Legion Department of Georgia and a member of the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission. He and his wife, Yvonne, have two children and three grandchildren. They reside in Quitman.

 

Weekley is a principal at Leppard Johnson & Associates, a consulting engineering firm, where he is the director of the electrical and technology system departments. He is a Georgia licensed professional engineer and holds licensure in 15 other states. He is a past board member, building committee chairman and construction supervisor for the Gwinnett County Habitat for Humanity. He presently volunteers with the Atlanta Chapter of Independent Electrical Contractors developing course materials and provides advanced technology instruction. Weekley earned a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University. He and his wife, Lynn, have two children. They reside in Lilburn.

 

Hayes is the founder and president of United Electric Co. He has managed projects in the Atlanta area such as the Mall of Georgia, Stonecrest Mall, WSB TV-radio station, and many others. Jerry has served as the president for the Atlanta Electrical Contractors Association, on the board of governors for the National Electrical Contractors Associations, as trustee to the Atlanta Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee, and as a member of the Academy of Electrical Contracting. He attended Kennesaw State University. Jerry and his wife, Judy, have two children and currently reside in Marietta.

 

Mitcham is a licensed private detective and is president and owner of the Active Detective Agency. He is a retired naval intelligence and designated flight officer, having served from 1968 to 1994. He is also a licensed state instructor for private investigators and for firearms. Mitcham earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Oklahoma and was an honor graduate from his class at the Naval Intelligence School. Mitcham resides in Cartersville with his wife, Mary Diane.

 

Shannon has been a full-time farmer for more than 33 years. He has been president of the Georgia Young Farmer Association and the Georgia Peanut Producers Association. He was also the Georgia representative and chairman of the National Peanut Board, as well as a 1994 graduate of the Georgia Agri-Leaders Forum. He served on the Agricultural Advisory Committee for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss when he was a congressman. He currently serves on the advisory board for the Georgia Peanut Commission, the board of directors for the South Central Georgia Gin, as the director of the Tift County Farm Bureau, as the chairman of the Georgia Farm Bureau Peanut Commodity Committee, and as the chairman of Protein Plus LLC. Shannon is a deacon at Eastside Baptist Church. He and his wife, Rhonda, have two children, Marc and Maggie, and reside on their farm in Tifton.

 

Morrow is currently president and general manager of Sod Atlanta in Cartersville in addition to being president of Athletic Fields, a specialized construction company building sports fields. He also helped found the Turfgrass Group in Fort Valley, which focuses on bringing advanced generation turfgrasses to market in both domestic and international markets. He graduated from Auburn in 1975 and returned two years later to earn a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics. Morrow has served as vice chairman of the Georgia Agribusiness Council, vice president of the Georgia Urban Ag Council, president of the Georgia Turfgrass Association, treasurer of the Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association and president of the Georgia Crop Improvement Association. In 2006, Morrow received the Medallion of Honor from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He and his wife, Pam, have two sons and three grandsons. The family resides in Duluth.