of
EST FOOD, B ’S Y T N U O C E H T S AND MORE L A IV T S E F , S E IC S E RV
! Chosen by YOU
gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 1
. . . e m o c Wel
SUNDAY,
JUNE 1,
2014
SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2015
WINNERS THE COUNTY’S BEST FOOD, SERVICES, FESTIVALS AND MORE CHOSEN BY YOU
Previous Issues
For newcomers to Gwinnett, the Reader’s Choice awards are a nice way to get an idea of what the locals like, from their favorite place to get a hamburger to the place they most prefer golf. But the awards — voted on by the readers during a nearly twomonth period — are also informative for longtime residents of Gwinnett, bringing to light a Thai restaurant you might not be familiar with or an auto mechanic that gets good marks from its customers. Reader’s Choice includes seven categories — food and fun, cars, home, family fun, feel good, pets and Gwinnett life — and there are winners and runners-up mentioned in every category. Enjoy perusing the lists and seeing the winners — your winners — in each category.
Proud To Be The Promise of Gwinnett Thank you for voting us • Reader’s Choice Winner, Best Employer
• Best Public School, 487857-1
Ivy Creek Elementary
Apply Today at GCPSjobs.org
@GCPSHR
2 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
Arts Venue ITP FIRST Place Fox Theatre foxtheatre.org 660 West Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta 404-881-2100 Runner Up • Chastain Park Amphitheatre HONORABLE MENTIONS • Lakewood Amphitheatre
food
& fun
• The Tabernacle
Arts Venue OTP FIRST PLACE Infinite Energy Arena infiniteenergycenter.com 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth 770-813-7500
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Runner Up
• Little Barn
• Aurora Theatre
• Praise the Lard BBQ
HONORABLE MENTIONS • Red Clay Music Foundry • Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
Barbecue FIRST Place Dreamland BBQ dreamlandbbq.com 3540 W Lawrenceville Street, Duluth 770-366-7427 Runner Up
Beer Growler First Place Exhibit A(le) exhibitalegrowler.com 202 W Crogan Street, Lawrenceville 678-869-5499 Runner Up • The Lincoln Fill Station and Home Brew HONORABLE MENTIONS
• Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q
• Peachtree Growler Company • Downtown Drafts
Duluth Fall Festival 2017 Winner – Best Festival
Resurgens Orthopaedics 2017 Winner – Best Physical Therapy Photo Credit: Dustin Grau, SummerStage Concert, Duluth, GA gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 3
Breakfast/Brunch First Place Twisted Doughnuts & Café twisteddoughnuts.com 3153 Sugarloaf Parkway #114, Lawrenceville 470-545-0719 Runner Up • The Peachtree Cafe HONORABLE MENTIONs • Little Barn • J. Christopher’s
Burger
Coffee Shop
Runner Up • Marlow’s Tavern
Universal Joint ujlawrenceville.com 181 W Pike Street, Lawrenceville 770-299-1898
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Grayson Coffee House
• Friends American Grill
graysoncoffeehouse.com 502 Grayson Parkway, Grayson
• Local Republic
Runner Up
Chinese First Place
• Dunkin Donuts
Dessert/Bakery Blue Rooster Bake Shop and Eatery blueroosterbakeshop.com 169 W Pike Street, Lawrenceville 770-995-0065
• Emerald China Restaurant • P.F. Chang’s
35
487005-1
HONORABLE MENTIONS • Chick-Fil-A • Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament
Thank you
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FAVORITE FESTIVAL!
Runner Up • Little Barn
First Place
HONORABLE MENTIONS
• The Bill Rhodes Bakery
Friends American Grill friendsamericangrill.com 752 Dacula Road, Dacula 678-407-2700
• Little Barn
• Thai Diner and Sushi
• Crave Pie Studio
First Place
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Chow King Grill and Buffet chowkingnorcross.com 2055 Beaver Ruin Road Suite G, Norcross 470-395-3333
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Family Friendly
• Starbucks
2017
s for making us your
• Special Kneads and Treats, Inc
First Place
Runner Up
First Place
Runner Up
FOR VOTING FOR US FOR READER’S CHOICE!
Duluth Fall Festival September 30th and October 1st
Thank you for selecting Noble Village 5701 Spalding Drive Peachtree Corners, GA 30092
Senior Living
770-416-0502
Independent Living • Assisted Living • Memory Care
4 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
487007-1
2017
488304-1
noblevillageseniorliving.com
www.duluthga.net
Happy Hour
Mexican
Southern Cooking
Sushi
First Place
First Place
First Place
First Place
Frida’s Mexican Restaurant fridas-restaurant.com 706 Grayson Highway #206, Lawrenceville 770-513-3150
Little Barn
Runner Up
Runner Up
Pure Taqueria puretaqueria.com 3108 Main Street, Duluth 770-609-2630 Runner Up • Friends American Grill HONORABLE MENTIONS • Arena Tavern • Taco Mac
• La Cazuela Mexican Restaurant • La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant • Pure Taqueria
Pizza
Italian
First Place
First Place
Cosmo’s Original Little Italy cosmospizzaga.com 144 E Crogan Street, Lawrenceville 770-338-9274
Provino’s Italian Restaurant provinos.com 3420 Buford Drive NE, Buford 770-904-0242 Runner Up • Ippolito’s Family Style Italian Restaurant HONORABLE MENTIONS • Vinny’s NY Pizza & Grill • Dominick’s Italian
ITP Restaurant First Place Mary Mac’s Tea Room marymacs.com 224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta (404) 876-1800 Runner Up • Fox Brothers HONORABLE MENTIONS • Atlanta Fish Market • Maggiano’s Little Italy
Runner Up • Vinny’s NY Pizza and Grill HONORABLE MENTIONS • Mellow Mushroom • O4W Pizza
Seafood First Place Oyster Bay Seafood Café oysterbayseafoodcafe.com 125 W Crogan Street, Lawrenceville 770-910-7521 Runner Up • Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen HONORABLE MENTIONS • Kurt’s Euro Bistro • Bonefish Grill
littlebarnonline.com 60 E Pike Street, Lawrenceville 770-962-1367
• Cracker Barrel HONORABLE MENTIONS • Mary Mac’s Tea Room • Duluth Rexall Grill
Sports Bar First Place Taco Mac tacomac.com 3250 Woodward Crossing Boulevard, Buford 678-730-8226 Runner Up • Friends American Grill HONORABLE MENTIONS • Arena Tavern • Tannery Row Ale House
Steak First Place Kurt’s Euro Bistro kurtsrestaurant.com 3305 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard #100, Duluth 770-623-4128
Sushi Mito Japanese Izakaya Restaurant sushimito.com 6470 Spalding Drive, Norcross 770-734-0398 Runner Up • Mori House HONORABLE MENTIONS • Sushi Niko Niko • Samurai Blue Japanese Grill
Wine/Spirits First Place Beverage SuperStore of Suwanee beveragesuperstore.com 350 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Suwanee 678-714-9962 Runner Up • Duluth Fine Wine & Sprits Package Store HONORABLE MENTIONS • Beverage Superstore of Grayson • Dacula Cork and Bottle
Runner Up • Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill HONORABLE MENTIONS • Longhorn Steakhouse • Uncle Jack’s Meat House
gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 5
Honorable Mentions: • Express Lube, Buford Hwy, Duluth • Joey Watkins Tire and Automotive
Car Wash
for
cars
AUTO DEALERSHIP FIRST Place Mall of Georgia Chrysler Dodge Jeep mallofgacdj.com 4345 Buford Drive NE, Buford 770-945-0839
FIRST Place Mr. Clean Car Wash mrcleancarwash.com 988 Duluth Highway, Lawrenceville 770-995-5540 Runner Up: • Fairway Carwash Honorable Mentions: • Hamilton Mill Car Wash and Auto Spa Autobell Car Wash
• Stone Mountain Nissan
Auto Mechanic FIRST Place Christian Brothers Automotive Grayson cbac.com 2547 Loganville Highway, Grayson 678-825-3833 Runner Up: • Hayes Automotive Group
Honorable Mentions: • Five Forks Antique Mall • Ally’s Attic
Apartment Community FIRST Place Avonlea Station avonleastation.com 1035 Scales Road, Suwanee 678-482-0007 Runner Up: • The Reserve at Sugarloaf Honorable Mentions: • Highlands at Sugarloaf • The Preserve at Legacy Park
FIRST Place
• Hayes Automotive Group
• Atlanta Classic Cars
• American Redemption
Consignment Store
Runner(s) Up:
Honorable Mentions:
Runner Up:
for home Antique Store FIRST Place Queen of Hearts Antiques & Interiors queenofheartsandantiques-interiors.com 4125 GA-20, Buford 678-714-0643
6 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
Church Ladies Furniture Consignment churchladiesduluth.net 3570 Buford Highway #204, Duluth 770-476-4008 Runner Up: • Alexis Suitcase Consignment Shop Honorable Mentions: • Kid to Kid • Upscale Resale Consignment Boutique Lawrenceville
Flower Shop FIRST Place Huff’s Flowers huffsflowers.com 232 W Pike Street, Lawrenceville 770-963-2005 Runner Up: • Duluth Flower Shop Honorable Mentions: • Suwanee Towne Florist • Lawrenceville Florist
Home Services FIRST Place Proactive Pest Control proactivepestga.com 600 Springlake Road, Lawrenceville 770-800-7378 Runner Up: • Allgood Pest Solutions Honorable Mentions: • The Trusted Toolbox • Arrow Exterminators
Homebuilder FIRST Place DR Horton drhorton.com 678-725-4336 Runner Up: • Wayne Herman Honorable Mentions: • Peachtree Residential Properties • HillGrove Homes
Infinite Energy Arena
Green Day, Eric Church, Alan Jackson, Andrea Bocelli, Twenty One Pilots, Dolly Parton, Jimmy Buffett, Carrie Underwood and Mumford and Sons have all chosen to play in Duluth instead of downtown.
By Jon Gallo
But as big as those acts are, they may not be collectively bigger than those who will be gracing the stage in the coming months: James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Hall & Oates, New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Paula Abdul, Roger Waters, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Lionel Ritchie, Kendrick Lamar and perhaps a musician who trumps them all – Paul McCartney.
2017 WINNER – Arts Venue (OTP) Dan Markham, the Infinite Energy Arena’s executive director of sales, booking and event management, figured he was in trouble. It was about 1:30 in the morning on Feb. 28, 2010 and The Muse had just finished a concert at the venue when the band’s manager, Peter Mensch – one of the music industry’s most powerful executives – said he needed to speak with Markham backstage. “I knew I was going to get chewed out because nothing good happens when you get a call like that,” Markham said. “Something bad must have happened. I had no idea what we did - maybe we served the band bad food.” Markham braced for the worst. “I get it,” Markham remembers Mensch telling him, “you guys have to kiss our butts as performers for us to play here.” Fazed, Markham didn’t know what was coming next. “Peter then said he wanted to tell me in person because everything was so perfect. He said that he spoke with a lot of people, including our management staff, our patrons and our concession staff, and everyone was just so polite and so accommodating.” Markham enjoys telling the story seven years later to highlight the major reason why the Duluth venue has been able to continuously book many of music’s biggest names despite having about 5,000 fewer seats than its chief competitor – Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta. “We have to be better in everything we do – from the way we treat artists to the way we treat our fans,” he said. “Yes, we are in the Atlanta market, but we’re also seen as an out-of-town arena because we’re not Philips Arena.” In the past two years alone, mega-acts
He’s also in discussions to bring Eminem, Chris Stapleton, Imagine Dragons, Bruno Mars and Drake in the near future, in addition to having already booked some big names prohibited from announcing. “How many events do we have here on a given year,” Markham replied when asked. “It would be easier to count the days that we don’t have something going on here or at our 700-seat theater. I’d say that in an entire year, there’s maybe dozen days we don’t have something going on.” Markham, who has been in the industry for two decades, has been a driving force behind hundreds of acts from an array of musical genres choosing to perform at Infinite Energy Arena since joining the arena in 2006. “Being in Gwinnett County gives us the perfect scenario to bring acts here,” he said. “We have 900,000 people living here and generally the median income is higher. We’re also still considered the Atlanta market so the artists can put Atlanta on the t-shirts they sell.” Markham, whose venue seats 10,900 for a typical concert when the stage is near the end of the arena, said the county’s diversity has enabled it to attract Latino, Indian and Asian acts, which will see an uptick in dates in the coming months at the arena due to high demand. “We want to have something for everyone, whether it’s rock ‘n’ roll, country, Latino, Bollywood, you name it,” he said. “Our job is to seek out people want to see and bring them here.” Infinite Energy Arena, however, isn’t just a music venue. During the end of May, more than 15 high schools and colleges
held graduation ceremonies. It’s also home to minor league hockey’s Gwinnett Gladiators, indoor lacrosse’s Georgia Swarm and female football’s Atlanta Steam, in addition to the numerous high school and college events, international festivals and seminars. “We have to work harder than everybody else to get these events because we are not Philips Arena. We’re a smaller venue and we’re not downtown. But Gwinnett County gives us a great base of fans – and it’s really diverse – and when a performer’s management sees what we have to offer, they see playing here as a great opportunity,” he said. “One of the biggest compliments I’ve ever received is from Bob Dylan. He said after his concert here [in 2007] in that his is the best venue he’s ever played in his life.”
City of Lawrenceville 2017 WINNER – Downtown By Jon Gallo
Lawrenceville will invest about $100 million by the end of the year in city funds for projects as Atlanta’s secondoldest municipality continues to bolster infrastructure in the county’s seat while preserving its past. “Our history will always be very much a part of who we are,” Lisa Sherman, Lawrenceville’s Director of Communications & Community Development, said. “We want our new development to complement what we have because our history is very much what makes us unique.” The city, which has the second-largest municipal budget in metro Atlanta at $179 million, is focusing its efforts to improve gas infrastructure, building a corridor to connect Georgia Gwinnett College with downtown, relocating the Public Works Facility to West Pike Street, converting the Clayton Street/Perry Street from one way to two way to better serve downtown and improving roadway, sidewalk and drainage improvements along Park Place.
But those projects are just the beginning. During the next five years, $1 billion will be invested to expand the Gwinnett County Courthouse, the Division of Child and Family Services’ facility, the Gwinnett Medical Center and the Aurora Theatre, among other projects. By 2020, Lawrenceville officials plan to invest $22 million in building classrooms to support Georgia Gwinnett College’s fine arts program, which will include building a theatre that can seat more than 500 and a parking deck. “Students will be able to take classes there, give performances that residents can attend, and before the show, they’ll be plenty of options for dinner or to have a drink,” Sherman said. Local government is spending $2.2 million to improve an eight-acre “green space” in downtown Lawrenceville that will host event to drive foot traffic to local businesses, including the 13 downtown establishments that sell food and drinks. “By the time we’re done, we’ll have more restaurants than that,” Sherman said. In August, work will begin on the College Corridor project. The city will invest $23 million to create a road, which will also include bike trails, to connect Georgia Gwinnett College with downtown. “We’re not looking to be another college town,” Sherman said. “We don’t want to be Athens.” The county is also conducting a study to determine if it’s feasible to build a boutique hotel and a convention center near the courthouse, Sherman added. “If you think about, it, every resident in Gwinnett has to come to here at some point, whether it’s to get a license of some kind, go to court or for any other of our government services,” Sherman said of Lawrenceville, which was founded in 1821. “We see that as being fortunate. We have the county’s only historic county square and we have such an iconic courthouse.”
gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 7
Honorable Mentions:
Landscaping Firm
• Winfield Realty Group Inc
• Sugar Hill Golf Club
• Andy Yarbrough, Palmer House Properties
• Bear’s Best Atlanta Honorable Mentions:
FIRST Place
• The Chateau Elan Golf Club
Woody’s Nursery Inc woodysnursery.com 2886 Buford Highway, Duluth 770-476-1705 Runner Up: • Russell Landscape Group Honorable Mentions: • Imagescapes • Legendary Landscaping Inc
Maid Service FIRST Place Molly Maid mollymaid.com 4175 Silver Peak Parkway #C, Suwanee 678-765-6633 Runner Up: • Personal Touch House Cleaning Honorable Mentions: • Dirt Divas • Lupe’s Cleaning Service
Realtor
Karate
family fun Dance Lessons FIRST Place Miss Cindy’s Dance Studio cindysdancestudio.com 3300 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard #C, Duluth 770-476-1811 Runner Up: • Gwinnett Ballet Theatre Honorable Mentions: • ALL STARS Performing Arts Academy • Buford School of Ballet
FIRST Place Coldwell Banker RMR coldwellbankerrmr.com 790 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard #100, Suwanee 678-318-7900 Runner Up: • Linda Campbell
Runner(s) Up:
Golf Course FIRST Place TPC Sugarloaf tpc.com/sugarloaf 2595 Sugarloaf Club Drive, Duluth 770-418-1113
8 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
FIRST Place Charles Minter Karate minterkarate.com 1987 Scenic Highway N #207, Snellville 770-985-0050
Nearby Attractions/ Fun Field Trip FIRST Place Lake Lanier Islands Resort lanierislands.com 7000 Lanier Islands Parkway, Buford 770-945-8787 Runner Up: • Southeastern Railway Museum Honorable Mentions: • Georgia Aquarium • Atlanta Botanical Gardens
Runner Up: • The Dojo American Karate Center HONORABLE MENTION • USA Tae Kwon Do Academy Inc • Tonchu Martial Arts - Dacula
Vacation Destination FIRST Place Walt Disney World disneyworld.disney.go.com Runner Up:
Music Lessons FIRST Place Lawrenceville-Suwanee School of Music lawrencevillesuwaneeschoolofmusic.com 2001 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road #201, Suwanee 678-376-9800 Runner Up: • Eddie Owen Presents Red Clay Music Foundry School of Music Honorable Mentions: • Town Center Music • ALL STARS Performing Arts Academy • New School of Music Buford • Music and Arts Lawrenceville
• Charleston, South Carolina Honorable Mentions: • Asheville, North Carolina • Florida
Randolph S. Moore, DMD
Moore doesn’t have any secrets to his success – just a proven track record. It’s not uncommon for his days to be filled with patients he’s treated for years. He’s watched children become teenagers, teenagers become adults, adults become parents and parents become grandparents.
2017 WINNER – Adult Dentistry By Jon Gallo
Long before he earned this newspaper’s Reader’s Choice Award for the fifth straight year for outstanding dentistry, became a member of the Georgia Dental Association, the American Dental Association, the American General Dentistry and the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Randy Moore was pretty sure he wasn’t going to make a living working on mouths. “I was going to go to medical school,” he said. “I was thinking I’d become a cardiologist.” So how did go from aspiring to work on hearts to winning the hearts of the thousands of patients who have become walking billboards for his work every time they smile? Trust me, you’ll want to hear this story. It has all the makings of a Lifetime movie, except it’s true. “I was 22 and had just finished my undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama – Huntsville and was planning on going to medical school – I never paid wanting to be a dentist any attention,” Moore, now 51, said. “But a friend of mine said he was going to go to dental school and wanted me to come with him. I said ‘thanks but no thanks.’ I remember that was a Friday.” Moore, a deeply religious man, prayed so he’d make the right choice. On Sunday, Moore went to church and discussed the conversation with his pastor. “The pastor looked at me and said, ‘you’re a fool – go be a dentist,” Moore said. “You’ll get to live a great life and most importantly, you’ll be helping people.” Moore still wasn’t convinced – but he would be a few days later. His parents were selling the family’s Huntsville home when Moore started talking to the realtor.
“Dude, you won’t believe this, but I’m a dentist!” Moore remembers the realtor telling him. “He told me that he was retiring from dentistry to go into real estate and he was working with the University of Alabama – Birmingham to recruit the Huntsville area for students to go to their dental school.” The next week, Moore was in the dean’s office at UAB. The next day he was accepted. “I firmly believe it was meant to be,” he said. “I prayed a lot and I went from having going to dental school never cross my mind to graduating and being where I am right now.” And that’s in Buford, where he’s run his dental practice for the past 17 years, where he and his staff have treated about 10,000 patients, including four generations of families. But no story is complete without love – and Moore’s is no different. He met a girl who was studying dentistry during his final year at UAB. Her name was Cassy and they’ve been together ever since, the past 24 years as husband and wife and every day Moore shows up for work, Cassy, who has a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene, has been working by his side. “There’s no doubt it’s an amazing story,” Cassy said. “He wanted to go to medical school and God just never opened those doors for him because that wasn’t the plan he laid out for us. If he went to medical school, we would have never met. We would never have gotten to go on this
journey together. We’re definitely blessed.” After graduating from dental school in 1993, he spent the next year working at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Birmingham before relocating with Cassy to Buford, where he rented workspace. Six years later, Moore built his current office at 4470 Commerce Drive in Buford, which features six operatory rooms and seven full-time employees. “We’ve gone from renting to owning,” Moore said. “But my philosophy is I think you can’t go wrong if you treat people the way I want to be treated.” Cassy added: “We built this office with blood, sweat and tears.”
Family affair Randy and Cassy are at crossroad. Their Suwanee home will soon be empty, as daughter Elyssa recently graduated from Providence Christian Academy and is bound for Samford University, where she’ll study to become a veterinarian, or as her dad puts it “to do dentistry on dogs.” Randy and Cassy’s son, Jeremiah, has about two years left before he graduates with a degree in psychology from Liberty University in Virginia. But that doesn’t mean Randy and Cassy won’t still be surrounded by family. “They treat everyone here like family,” said Janice Iannarelli, the office’s scheduling coordinator who has worked for the Moores for six years. “It’s absolutely a blessing to work here. Dr. Moore is gentle, humble and ethical and that’s why he has a long-standing relationship with the community.”
“It’s like one day they are kids and the next day we’re asking them where they are going to college,” Cassy said. “We are honored and think it’s cool to have three or four generations of families keep coming back to us. It shows we treat them right. We won’t leave them in a situation where we can’t take care of them. It’s a privilege for us to say we’ve earned the trust of our patients and to have the reputation we have in this community.” Moore added: “There are three types of offices: You can have the best quality and service, you can have the best price, but you can’t have all three. There’s not an office that can do all three. We treat patients like they are our family and offer them the best service we possibly can. When you have as many patients as we have, it can’t be about me or any one person. From the time someone walks in, we want them to get the best experience possible because for a lot of people, going to the dentist causes a lot of anxiety.”
What the future holds Moore has no plan of retiring anytime soon. He’s reached out to UAB to mentor the school’s aspiring dentists, and constantly studies the profession. “Staying on top of the latest technology and how it helps people keeps me driven,” he said. But most of all, he’s happy. He works with the woman he loves and employees who adore him. He and Cassy spend much of their free time at CrossPointe Church in Duluth, where they mentor youth and participate in mission trips. They have taken up tennis. “He never gets bored with being a dentist,” Cassy said. “When we go on vacation, no matter where we go, it’s always the same with him. After four days, he looks at me and says the same thing.” You guessed it. “I’m ready to get back to work.”
gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 9
Dentist for Kids
Physical Therapist
Sports Medicine
FIRST Place
FIRST Place
FIRST Place
Great Suwanee Pediatric Dentists - Dr. Rhonda Hogan Pediatric drrhondahogan.com 1380 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard #150, Suwanee 770-614-8914
feel
good
Runner Up: • Kwon Pediatric Dentistry Honorable Mentions: • Apple Tree Pediatric Dentistry: Jeni Kong, DMD, Steve Moore DDS • Dr. Lail Family Dentistry
Chiropractor
Orthodontist
FIRST Place
FIRST Place Kenneth E. Starling Jr, DDS, PC drstarling.com 131 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville 770-963-8085
The VonDeylen Chiropractic Clinic vondeylenchiropractic.com 1630 Buford Highway NE, Buford 770-945-0561 Runner Up: • Optimum Health Hamilton Mill Honorable Mentions: • Gwinnett Chiropractic Associates • Duluth Chiropractic and Wellness Center
Dentist for Adults FIRST Place Randolph S. Moore, DMD smilemooredentistry.com 4470 Commerce Drive, Buford 770-945-5369 Runner Up: • JS Balkcom Family and Cosmetic Dentistry Honorable Mentions: • Barry E Malkiel DDS PC • Dr. Lail Family Dentistry
Runner Up: • Whitney Orthodontics Honorable Mentions: • Salyer Orthodontics • Dr. Charles A. Machemehl III, DMD
Pediatrician FIRST Place PAL Pediatric Associates of Lawrenceville, LLC palonline.net 738 Old Norcross Road Suite 100, Lawrenceville 770-277-6725 Runner Up: • Lawrenceville Pediatrics Honorable Mentions: • Gwinnett Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine • Mill Creek Pediatric Associates
10 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
Resurgens Orthopaedics resurgens.com/Lawrenceville 758 Old Norcross Road #100, Lawrenceville 770-962-4300 Runner Up: • Sports Medicine South LLC Honorable Mentions:
Sports Medicine South sportsmedsouth.com 1900 Riverside Parkway, Lawrenceville 770-237-3475 Runner Up: • Resurgens Orthopaedics Honorable Mentions:
• OrthoAtlanta
• OrthoAtlanta
• Benchmark Physical Therapy
• Emory Sports Medicine
Salon/Spa
Urgent Care
FIRST Place
FIRST Place
Salon Disegno-Lawrenceville salondisegno.com 875 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road #320, Lawrenceville 770-962-3060 Runner Up: • The Look Salon Honorable Mentions: • Advanced Coloration Salon • Genesis Salon
Senior Living FIRST Place Laurel Grove holidaytouch.com 2899 Five Forks Trickum Road SW, Lawrenceville 770-574-6255 Runner Up: • Parc at Duluth Honorable Mentions: • Delmar Gardens of Gwinnett • Noble Village at Spalding
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta choa.org 2108 Teron Trace #200, Dacula 404-785-5437 Runner Up: • Gwinnett Urgent Care - Dr. Perry, Emergency Medicine Honorable Mentions: • Northeast Georgia Physicians Group • Kids Time Pediatrics Lawrenceville
Workout FIRST Place LA Fitness lafitness.com 3420 Buford Drive NE, Buford 678-714-5075 Runner Up: • No Excuses CrossFit Honorable Mentions: • Buford Fit Body Boot Camp • Duluth Fit Body Boot Camp
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gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 11
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12 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
Urgent Care NOW OPEN at
Hamilton Creek
Thank you for voting!
Only the best for your princess. InfiniteEnergyCenter.com Thank you for naming us Best Urgent Care provider in Gwinnett. CHILDREN’S AT SATELLITE BOULEVARD 2660 SATELLITE BLVD, DULUTH
©2017 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. All rights reserved.
487584-1
CHILDREN’S AT HAMILTON CREEK 2240 HAMILTON CREEK PKWY, STE 600, DACULA Source: Gwinnett Daily Post
choa.org/urgentcare
gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 13
• Amazing Technology • Same Day Crowns • No Temporaries • No Impressions • No Second Appointments 2017
2017
487818-1
“I could go to a lot of other dentists who are much closer to my house, but Dr. Moore always takes such good care of me. The entire team is fantastic, friendly, and helpful, too!” - D Sheftel
4470 Commerce Drive, Suite B Buford, GA 30518 770-945-5369
www.smilemooredentistry.com
14 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
• Beautiful Restorations
Dental Implants Would you like to have permanent teeth instead of dentures?
Your #1 Choice Thank you for your loyalty Dr. Randy Moore has been voted as Gwinnett County’s favorite dental office. His dedication to helping others and serving the community is the driving force behind Dr. Moore’s success. It has been our pleasure to serve the North Gwinnett community since 1994. We want to encourage new patients to experience the excellent customer care and quality service for any dental need. We couldn’t have done it without you!
New Patient Offer
$100 off
any treatment
expires: June 30th
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gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 17
Honorable Mentions: • Lucky Dog Grooming • Petsmart
Veterinarian FIRST Place
pets
Doggie Daycare
Runner Up: • Sugarloaf Animal Hospital Honorable Mentions: • Tiger Tails Animal Hospital • Duluth Animal Hospital
FIRST Place Camp Bow Wow campbowwow.com 585 Old Norcross Road G, Lawrenceville 770-995-3500 Runner Up: • Apalachee River Animal Hospital Honorable Mentions: • ShamPooch Palace LLC • Tiger Tails Animal Hospital
Grooming FIRST Place ShamPooch Palace LLC shampoochpalace.org 930 New Hope Road, Lawrenceville 770-513-0103
2017 WINNER – Urgent Care By Jon Gallo
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta recently deepened its already strong roots in Gwinnett County by opening the Urgent Care Center in Hamilton Mill Town Center in Dacula.
minor injuries and illnesses, Sathian said. The facility also houses an onsite lab and X-ray department and will offer access to expertise and resources at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
“Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has been very embedded in Gwinnett County through our center on Satellite Boulevard in Duluth,” Dr. Usha Sathian, Children’s Healthcare chief of ambulatory services, said, referring to the facility that’s been open for more than a decade. “But Gwinnett County has grown so much and continues to grow, so we needed to open another location to serve residents in the northern part of Gwinnett and other nearby areas.”
“We’ve partnered with community pediatricians and that’s important,” Sathian said. “We planned the Hamilton Creek Center for more than two years because we needed to make sure we were wellpositioned in Gwinnett County. The county is growing and that means there are going to be more patients and we wanted to have one of our centers closer to their homes.”
Children’s at Hamilton Creek features nine exam rooms, two procedure rooms and two intake rooms that will allow Children’s pediatric specialists to treat
The center, which is open weekdays from 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. and from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. on weekends, enables personnel to treat up to 150 patients between the ages of 2 and 21 daily. Children’s at Hamilton See CHILDREN’S HEALTHCARE, Page 19
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Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
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Runner Up:
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18 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
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WINNER
• Pandora • Vera Bradley • Peach State Pride • Willow Tree Angels • Ronaldo • MantraBand
1500 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Suwanee parsons-suwanee-ga.com 770-271-7735
• From Page 18
Creek, which is located at 2240 Hamilton Creek Parkway, Suite 600, welcomes walk-in patients, and allows families to view wait times and save their spot in line before leaving home at choa.org/ waittimes.
open-air public plaza for the Parsons Alley complex that includes about 42,000 square feet of newly constructed restaurant and retail space. Dreamland BBQ, whose Peachtree Corners location was destroyed by fire in 2013, opened a 6,500 square foot restaurant in the center of Parsons Alley, close to Simply Done Donuts – a popular food truck – opened its first brick-andmortar eatery.
“We can treat almost everything – from common illnesses, if you need stitches and if someone breaks a bone,” Sathian said. “It’s an ideal place to go if you get injured. We also have a laboratory where we can do blood work, and the entire staff is trained in pediatrics.”
The Chocolaterie, transformed the 1904 Bank of Duluth building at the corner of Main Street and West Lawrenceville Street into a spectacular showcase for fine chocolate and ice cream, while O4W Pizza has replaced the old Steverino’s location across from Red Clay Music Foundry. Piatto Fresh Kitchen & Bar has replaced the Huthmaker Violin shop.
The center is among 23 neighborhood locations and seven urgent care centers in the Children’s system. Last year, 134,000 children from Gwinnett visited a Children’s facility. “Whatever the reason you find yourself at Children’s, you can be confident that your child is receiving world-class care from a hospital system with more than 100 years of experience caring for Georgia’s kids,” Donna Hyland, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta president and chief executive officer, said at the center’s opening. For more information, visit choa.org/ urgentcare or call 404-785-5437.
City of Duluth
2017 RUNNER UP – Downtown By Jon Gallo
Duluth Economic Development Manager
Chris McGahee calls it the “Grandchild Test.” “If the design of everything you build isn’t going to be attractive in three or four generations from now, then that generation will tear it down,” he said. “So if what you are going to build won’t last, then why build it?” It’s a question McGahee and Will Corbin – the city’s economic development specialist – answer before any project is green-lighted within the city’s 10 square-miles in the western Gwinnett County that’s home to a 28,000 population as diverse as the United Nations. Duluth is home to Infinite Energy Arena, the Hudgens Center for the Arts and the Gwinnett Medical Center, but like many cities nationwide, it had its development stunted by the housing market crash from 2008-14. “We made no new retail spaces during that time and now with the change in the
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way people shop, it’s caused businesses to close and we’ve had to take down about a third of our retail spaces. What we’re seeing now is people want to shop in outdoor centers like The Forum, McGahee said. “Now, we want our buildings to have unique flair but can withstand the test of time.” Duluth is focusing its development on 186,000 square feet of retail space, building 1,272 units of residential space and rejuvenating Parsons Alley, Sugarloaf Market, District at Duluth and Marketplace Village. Of the 1,272 residential units (767 will be outside downtown, 505 downtown), 702 of them will be multi-family units, 229 singlefamily attached units, 213 single-family detached units and 128 will be multifamily units for residents 55 years and older. The city is investing $300 million, which includes seven recent or ongoing residential projects and the building of 186,000 square feet of new residential space. “When we looked at downtown, we had 26 buildings that were built in the 1970s and we took a lot of them down,” McGahee said. “That goes back to the ‘Grandchild Test.’” But Duluth officials have no intention of turning their city’s downtown in downtown Atlanta, where parking is at a premium, so they are building a parking deck to raise the number of parking spaces to 1,200. “We want to be Decatur without the parking problem,” McGahee said.
Meantime, Personify (a home furnishing and gift shop), Good Word Brewing & Public House (from the creators of Brick Store Pub in downtown Decatur), Korean steakhouse and seafood restaurant Noona, a yoga studio and Truck & Tap - a restaurant and bar featuring a rotating selection of local food trucks and craft brews – are expected to open their doors in downtown Duluth in the near future. Those businesses should have a strong customer base, as a $53 million, 22-acre residential project, which will include 95 townhomes and 39 single-family residences, is under construction right behind City Hall, less than a five-minute walk from Parsons Alley. “We’re of the mindset that we want to bring people back to downtown,” Corbin said. “We want to have a downtown that creates a lifestyle.” The city also has demolished the outdated Proctor Square Shopping Center so it can build the District at Duluth, a $64 million mixed-use residential commercial development featuring 37 high-end apartments, 11 live-work commercial units, and two restaurants on the ground floor. The complex, which will feature among the county’s highest rent, is expected to welcome its first tenants this fall. “We want to be a city that knows what it wants, embraces its past and believes in its future,” McGahee said. “We want to be a destination.”
A major part of the city’s economic rejuvenation is the construction of an gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 19
Georgia Gwinnett College 2017 WINNER – College By Jon Gallo
Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) handed out a school-record 505 bachelor’s degrees during its spring commencement ceremony on the Library Lawn in May, marking the first time in the school’s 11year history that more than 500 students turned their tassels in a single ceremony. The graduation marked the first time GGC awarded bachelor’s degrees to the college’s first Special Education Paraprofessional students, through a program developed in collaboration with colleagues at Gwinnett County Public Schools. The school also recognized graduates who received their teacher certifications as part of their degrees in biology, English, history, mathematics and political science.
“Having a four-year college that’s affordable inspires people and you are seeing a lot of kids graduate from our high school system, which is among the best in the country, and going on to become the first in their family to graduate college. They are learning to succeed and now going to college for many is the expectation.” Georgia House of Representatives Minority Leader Stacey Y. Abrams – the first woman to lead either party in the Georgia General Assembly and the first AfricanAmerican to lead in the House of Representatives – gave the keynote address.
“As graduates, today you join the ranks of a special ensemble cast: those who have sought and achieved higher education and The event “was celebration for graduates who now face the ultimate cliffhanger: and their families as well as the faculty and what next?” she said. “For those who are staff who work together to foster a caring the first, you become the next chapter in culture that revolves around student sucyour family’s epic tale.” cess and mentoring,” the school said in a press release. “GGC’s accessible, attentive A democrat, Abrams stressed the graduand affordable model is game changing and ates focus on how they’ve impacted their student-centric by design.” communities and told them that education comes with responsibility. “I came to GGC to learn how to be a good leader. After four years, I am confi“What is demanded of you is this, that dent that I have built a rock-solid founyou honor the sacrifices of your parents, dation for my future,” graduate speaker your families and yourself in pursuit of Flurim Aliu, a political science major and constant progress,” she said. international student from Kosovo, said. Abrams has received the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, and has been “The community taught me the true nationally recognized as one of “12 Rising meaning of leadership by example. I came Legislators to Watch” by Governing magahere with dreams; I am leaving with goals zine and one of the “100 Most Influential and plans on how to achieve them.” Georgians” by Georgia Trend for 2012 and GGC had 118 students in its first class 2013. when the Lawrenceville school opened in 2006. It now has an enrollment of about 12,000. “It’s been phenomenal in keeping talented people here and giving people opportunities that never had or even thought they would ever have,” said Dr. Daniel J. Kaufman, the president and chief executive officer of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce who was GGC’s first president. 20 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
Mall of Georgia – Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram 2017 WINNER – Auto Dealership By Jon Gallo
Brian Wolfswinkel, the general sales manager at Mall of Georgia Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Buford, knows he’s likely in for a challenge as soon as a customer walks through the door. “If you took a survey and asked 10 people if they’d rather go to the dentist or buy a car, I think nine would say they’d rather go to the dentist.” Wolfswinkel, who moved into his position in early April and has been selling cars since 2006, said he relies on his honesty and transparency to help customers make what’s likely the secondbiggest purchase of their lives, after a house. “It doesn’t matter if you are selling shoes at Nordstrom, houses or cars: if the customer doesn’t like you, then they aren’t going to buy from you,” he said. “I always want to make sure I’m honest with customers and treat them right.” Wolfswinkel, a Sugar Hill resident, recently spoke to the Gwinnett Daily Post about his transition to his new position and the future of the automotive industry.
GDP: What makes your dealership unique in a highly competitive market? BW: We are much more of a familyoriented store and we’re not one of those corporate-owned stores where you are either an employee or a customer. The experience we give our customers is what sets us apart. We may not have the cheapest prices, but you’ll find that customers will be willing to pay a little extra if you give them a fair deal and treat
them properly.
GDP: What makes the Gwinnett County market so attractive for car dealerships? BW: The people of Gwinnett seem to be a whole lot more sincere and down to earth. [In other places where I’ve worked] customers have more of a get-me-in-andget-me-out type of attitude and it’s harder to have a relationship with them. GDP: How do you see your industry changing in the next five years: BW: It’s going to be even more digital than it is now. You’ll pick a car out online, have all of the documents emailed to you and then have a trailer deliver your car to your front door. But what gives our staff here an upper leg is that we are all factory trained and we know everything about all the vehicles we sell, so the knowledge we have to help our customers is what sets us apart.
GDP: How have environmentally friendly cars changed your industry? BW: They tend to be bigger with millennials because they are better for the environment. When gas prices spiked a few years ago, you saw families exchange their trucks and SUVs for a Prius. But since gas prices have gone down and stayed relatively the same, and six months later, you are seeing those customers turn in their Prius for bigger cars because the Prius is just too small for their families. See Mall of Georgia Chrysler Page 21
• From Page 20
GDP: How do you know if you are successful? Honorable Mentions: • University of Georgia • Agnes Scott College
gwinnett life Aquatic Center FIRST Place Collins Hill Aquatic Center gwinnettcounty.com 2200 Collins Hill Road, Suwanee 770-237-5647 Runner Up: • Bogan Park Community Recreation & Aquatic Center Honorable Mentions: • Bethesda Park Aquatic Center • Mountain Park Aquatic Center and Activity Building
college FIRST Place Georgia Gwinnett College ggc.edu 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville 678-407-5000 Runner Up: • Gwinnett Technical College
BW: You always have to take care of the customer first and that means throughout the whole process, even after the sale. If you are offering free maintenance, you can’t have customers wait three hours for an oil change. If you have customers who keep coming back, then that shows you are doing a good job.
RE/MAX Regency (Previously Coldwell Banker RMR)
2017 WINNER – Realtor
daycare FIRST Place Discovery Point Hamilton Mill discoverypointhm.com 2380 Hamilton Mill Parkway, Dacula 770-614-3556 Runner Up: • Duncan Creek Academy Honorable Mentions: • Great Beginnings Dacula • Sugar Hill Christian Academy
downtown FIRST Place Lawrenceville lawrencevillega.org Runner Up: • Duluth Honorable Mentions: • Suwanee • Buford
By Jon Gallo RE/MAX Regency President Jennifer Baxter has a simple, but very effective approach to buying and selling homes for her clients. “At the end of the day, it isn’t about how many houses you buy or sell, but how well you negotiate deals that help our clients achieve the dream of becoming homeowners.” Baxter’s philosophy is echoed throughout RE/MAX Regency in Suwanee, where the Snellville native has worked since 2006. RE/MAX Regency, which has more than 20 agents serving the Atlanta metropolitan area, recently cut ties with Coldwell Banker. “We don’t want to create a highpressure buying or selling experience,” said Baxer, who graduated from Brookwood. “What our agents bring is their extensive backgrounds and knowledge and their expertise in negotiating effectively for our clients. We want to have a lasting relationship with our clients.” The firm, which has an office at 790 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Suite 100, in Suwanee and recently opened another at 5829 S. Vickery St., Suite E6, in Cumming, has done more than $1.5 billion in transactions since it opened nearly three decades ago.
ranking brand. Coldwell Banker finished second and Keller Williams was third. In 2016, more home shoppers searched on remax.com, which had 95 million visits, than any other national real estate franchisor website, according to recent data provided by Hitwise. The website had more than 95 million visits last year. “As we considered making a change from Coldwell Banker, we looked at several brand names and independent operations, Lisa Macy, who owns RE/MAX Regency, said. “We wholeheartedly agreed and RE/MAX was a company that fit better with our established company culture. I decided it was time to take advantage of the visibility, support and unrivalled benefits of being a part of the RE/MAX brand.” Baxter said the company’s real estate roots run throughout the Atlanta market, enabling them to help clients who are at different stages in their lives. RE/MAX Regency is just as effective at finding a single-family home in Lawrenceville or a townhouse in Suwanee as it is in locating a house at Lake Lanier or a spot in a high rise in Midtown. “We want to manage our clients’ expectations, whether they are buying or selling,” Baxter said. “We try to make the whole process from finding a home, making an offer, getting it accepted and then going through closing seamless. We shelter our clients from the crazy ups and downs. We help our clients find solutions to problems. Not every house is 100 percent perfect and not every buyer and seller are on the same page. When a problem rises, we find solutions.”
The change to RE/MAX was centered on the RE/MAX network’s overall quality. RE/MAX agents accounted for 22 percent of those listed in the industry’s largest agent ranking based on homes sold in 2015. RE/MAX affiliates accounted for 2,691 of the more than 12,000 participating To learn more, call (678) 318-7900 or agents in the survey, with nearly one-third visit remaxregencyatl.com. more agents named than the next highest
gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 21
festival/ fair FIRST Place Duluth Fall Festival duluthfallfestival.org 3142 Hill Street NW, Duluth 770-476-3434 Runner Up: • Suwanee Beer Fest
hotel
FIRST Place
Chateau Elan Winery and Resort chateauelan.com 100 Rue Charlemagne Drive, Braselton 678-425-0900 Runner Up: • Sonesta Gwinnett Place Atlanta Honorable Mentions: • Hilton, Peachtree Corners • Lake Lanier Islands Resort
Honorable Mentions:
movie theater FIRST Place AMC Colonial 18 amctheatres.com 825 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road, Lawrenceville 770-237-0744 Runner Up: • Movie Tavern at Horizon Village Honorable Mentions: • Regal Hamilton Mill Stadium 14 • Studio Movie Grill
• Gwinnett County Fair
park /outdoor space FIRST Place Duluth Town Green duluthga.net 3167 Main Street, Duluth 770-476-3434 Runner Up: • Little Mulberry Park Honorable Mentions: • Alexander Park • Suwanee Town Center
• Elisha Winn Fair
mall gwinnett sports team FIRST Place Gwinnett Braves gwinnettbraves.com 2500 Buford Drive NE, Lawrenceville NO PHONE NUMBER Runner Up: • Atlanta Gladiators
FIRST Place Mall of Georgia mallofgeorgia.com 3333 Buford Drive, Buford 770-271-9458 Runner Up: • The Forum - Peachtree Corners Honorable Mentions: • Sugarloaf Mills • Shoppes at Webb Gin
Honorable Mention: • Georgia Swarm
22 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
museums FIRST Place Southeastern Railway Museum train-museum.org 3595 Buford Highway, Duluth 770-476-2013 Runner Up: • Fernbank Museum of Natural History Honorable Mentions: • Gwinnett County Veterans Memorial Museum • High Museum of Art
private school FIRST Place Hebron Christian Academy hebronlions.org 775 Dacula Road, Dacula 770-963-9250 Runner Up: • Greater Atlanta Christian School Honorable Mentions: • Providence Christian Academy • Sugar Hill Christian Academy • Wesleyan School
Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce (Dr. Daniel Kaufman)
By Jon Gallo Dr. Daniel J. Kaufman has served as the president and chief executive officer of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce since July 2013. He oversees all of the chamber’s programs in addition to providing insight for regional strategic opportunities that improve the economy and the quality of life in throughout Gwinnett and the Atlanta region. Kaufman recently spoke with the Gwinnett Daily Post about the economic strides the county has made and the direction he envisions Gwinnett heading as it strives to continue to distinguish itself in the global economy while still providing families access to a top educational system, an affordable cost of living, and of course, alleviating traffic jams. GDP: What’s the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce’s role? DK: Our job is to facilitate economic and developmental growth throughout Gwinnett County. One way we do that is by getting people to move here and support entrepreneurs and start-up businesses. When folks see that happening, they gain the confidence that they can start a business, too. GDP: How has Gwinnett County emerged as a major player in an ultra-competitive global economy? DK: It starts with three things. One, is the foundation of providing a quality education that has opportunities to give students the exposure to education to become entrepreneurs. We’ve done that through our initiatives with our high schools and with our colleges. Secondly, we have become a very international community and that makes us attractive – there are about 600 international businesses whose North American headquarters are in Gwinnett. Finally, you have to offer a great quality of life and we have a relatively low cost of living, available housing that’s affordable, and Gwinnett is a great place to raise a family. We have easy access to downtown Atlanta and the airport, if you have to travel for business. GDP: How has business changed in the past 15 years? DK: It’s a an entirely different
strategic environment. There was once a time where when it was time to get a job, you worked at a big company like Ford or General Motors and you spent 30 years working there and lived a reasonable middle-class life and then you retired and got a pension. Now, what you are seeing in today’s generation is young people aren’t spending their career with one company; they are going to have 10-12 jobs. In some cases, if they have a good idea, they are going to want to start their own business and we don’t want them to be reluctant to start one. It’s like this everywhere, not just in Gwinnett, so we have changed accordingly, as has our business community. GDP: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen economically in Gwinnett? DK: One change, and you are seeing it all over the county, is that we are reimagining ourselves. It’s significant what has happened in downtown Lawrenceville and Duluth. Suwanee was the first to build a town center and now we’re doing the same in Sugar Hill and other places. We’re no longer that suburban bedroom community where we have commuters who drive to Atlanta everyday to go to work. We have a county where you can live, go to school, work and play – and it can all be within walking distance. This isn’t a couple of towns that are finding their niche – it’s an effort our entire community is making to attract young talent and keep it here. GDP: I can’t sugar-coat this question: traffic is terrible. How can it be fixed? DK: What makes this issue so tough is there is no silver bullet. The population of Gwinnett County is 900,000 – and growing – and a lot of the people stay here during the day because of our economic growth. We’ve asked young people what they want,
and they say more sidewalks and trails to ride their bikes and to old guys like me, it’s a revelation because if you think about it, we truly have a remarkable trail system. But there is no single solution. We need to invest in ourselves when it comes to transportation. We need to extend right and left lanes and synchronize stoplights. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it would make a big difference. We also need to find a way to do a better job of connecting areas of our county. We need a mass transportation system like a rail system. Everyone has an idea of what to do, but we need transportation alternatives. GDP: You were the founding president of Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, which became the first new public four-year college in the state in more than a century. It’s first class in 2006 had 118 students, butt now the Lawrenceville-based school has an enrollment of about 12,000 students. How has that impacted the county? DK: Think about it: Before Georgia Gwinnett College opened, Gwinnett was the biggest county east of the Mississippi River that didn’t have a four-year college. We’ve gone from zero students to about 12,000. It’s been phenomenal in keeping talented people here and giving people opportunities that never had or even thought they would ever have. Having a four-year college that’s affordable inspires people and you are seeing a lot of kids graduate from our high school system, which is among the best in the country, and going on to become the first in their family to graduate college. They are learning to succeed and now going to college for many is the expectation. I speak with local businesses about our graduates and they say the graduates are well-educated and well-prepared to enter the workforce, so they are happy with the quality of the workforce. That’s what companies are looking for because at the end of the day, what drives business is having a talented workforce and giving people a great quality of life.
Gwinnett Braves 2017 WINNER – Gwinnett Sports Team By Jon Gallo Maybe the team that calls Coolray Field home will be called the “Buttons,” named after Gwinnett County’s founding father, or maybe, they’ll be the “Duelers,” referring to the manner in which Button Gwinnett – one of three Georgians who signed the Declaration of Independence - died in May 1777. Or maybe, the Braves’ Triple A club that has played in Gwinnett County since 2009 will be called the “White Tails” as a tribute to the state’s official mammal, or possibly, the team will be known as the “Gophers,” “Tomahawks” or “Choppers,” an homage to the team’s groundhog mascot. No team in major or minor league baseball may undergo as big a change this offseason than the Gwinnett Braves, who are amidst a major renovation in what they’ll be called, how they look, and perhaps more importantly, how they’re perceived. “Every name is on the table – our team’s name and even colors if we feel they need to be changed in our best interest,” North Johnson, the G-Braves’ general manager, said, adding all changes will be implemented by the start of next season. “We could be called the Red Solo Cups and wear pink and purple – and I know that is being extreme - if that’s what determined to be the best for us.” Recently, several Gwinnett Braves officials “were at our booth at the Georgia Swarm playoff game and we were all wearing our G-Braves clothes and had a big sign behind us that you couldn’t miss,” Johnson said. “This family walked over to us and said they were excited to be going to our game tomorrow.” The problem? The G-Braves were playing in Durham, N.C., but the Atlanta Braves were hosting the Washington Nationals in brandnew SunTrust Bank Park in Cobb County. “We’re in a market where when people hear the word ‘Braves,’ they think of the Atlanta Braves, so there is confusion of who’s who,” Johnson said. “We want the Gwinnett Braves to reflect Gwinnett County because we take a lot of pride in Gwinnett County.” See GWINNETT BRAVESPage 24
gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 23
• From Page 23
But playing in Gwinnett County is challenging. The G-Braves play in the International League’s South Division. The division’s other three teams – the Durham Bulls, a Tampa Bay Rays’ affiliate in North Carolina; the Charlotte Knights, a Chicago White Sox affiliate in North Carolina; and the Norfolk Tides, a Baltimore Orioles’ affiliate
organization as it competes for business in a highly competitive market.
“There is just so much to do in terms of entertainment in Gwinnett County because there a lot of major attractions, both in Gwinnett and throughout the metro area, especially during the summer. If you drive by a park on a summer night, you will see But the Gwinnett Braves, who are owned that every field is full of kids playing games, by the Braves and serve as the major league which is great. Now, you have a mom and club’s top affiliate, compete in a market in a dad who spend nearly every night at a which the Atlanta Braves have been ingrained baseball, softball or soccer practice or a in the region for decades and every one game. They maybe have that one night when of their 162 games is available on TV. The the family is free to do something and the Atlanta Braves also have a new stadium, challenge is to get them to come to another which serves as yet another reason for ballgame.” Gwinnettians to drive about 30 miles south on Interstate 85 than head to Coolray Field.
Though a minor league team, the G-Braves provide fans a major-league experience as soon as they arrive at Coolray Johnson said the franchise has partnered Field. The home schedule is loaded with with Brandiose, a renowned sports marketing promotional giveaways – ranging from company based in San Diego, to oversee the bobbleheads to beach towels to pennants – process that includes a new name, branding and the in-game entertainment keeps fans and the necessary legal requirements that are engaged regardless of the score. Coolray Field seats 10,427 and offers an array of required to make the change. seating options, including an outfield lawn Johnson has been keeping a file of that’s general admission. names submitted by the public, who have The G-Braves won the South Division been encouraged to submit a team name last year, and have served as a stop for and a reason why it is relevant to the team’s numerous players, including pitcher Julio Gwinnett County roots. Teheran and Freddie Freeman, who have When the team’s naming contest wraps up gone on to lead the Atlanta Braves. This June 2, a committee that includes Johnson, year, the G-Braves entered the final week G-Braves assistant general manager Shari of May with a record of 21-21, seven games Massengill, Braves president of development behind division-leading Durham. Mike Plant, Braves president of business “We want to make coming to G-Braves Derek Schiller, Braves CFO Chip Moore and game a great experience,” Johnson said. two representatives from Brandiose, will “The challenge we face is to have fans who evaluate the names, picking the top five to eight. Those selections will be revealed on the keep coming back to our games. I’ve talked G-Braves’ website, which will allow fans to vote on the finalists from June 19-July 3. “We are keeping an open mind about all the names we get,” Johnson said. “We don’t want to get too attached to any one or two names just yet.” Once a name is selected, it will be fullspeed ahead to create a logo, affix the name to uniforms, apparel and ballpark signage, in addition to completing the legal process necessary to begin the newest chapter in team’s history. The minor league team had been named the “Braves” since it began playing in Richmond, Va., in 1966. Johnson said rebranding the G-Braves is just one step in strengthening the
24 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com
with fans who say they came to a game and had a great time. Then, they tell me that they wanted to go to more games but they were so busy that by the time they wanted to go again, our season was over.”
LawrencevilleSuwanee School of Music
2017 WINNER – Music Lessons By Jon Gallo
music can have on a child,” Giles, who has been playing piano for more than a half century, said. “We also teach special needs kids here. There was a boy who when he started, he couldn’t speak. Now, he’s talking and saying sentences, so music has is going to have a lifelong impact for him. It also can help with kids’ self-confidence, since we have recitals where they perform. I see music and art as investments in kids’ futures, so you can never waste money on lessons.” Lawrenceville-Suwanee School of Music teaches students how to play the piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, violin, viola, saxophone, ukulele, mandolin and Greek instruments, in addition to offering classes on singing and art. Kids are motivated through programs where they are rewarded and recognized for completing harder musical selections. The Lawrenceville-Suwanee School of Music’s roots can be traced to Giles’ home in Lawrenceville. As a stay-at-home mom, Giles began teaching piano lessons to about 20 kids a week in 2008 before her mom’s deteriorating health forced her to live with Giles.
In 2009, Giles formally opened the school Valencia Giles has the same goal for each of at its current location at 2001 Lawrencevthe nearly 500 students at the Lawrenceville-Suwannee Road in Suwanee. It has ille-Suwanee School of Music, which she’s gone from 27 students and just herself as been running for nearly a decade. a teacher to having a 28-member faculty “We want to inspire and motivate them and what could be as many as 500 kids this to reach their highest level, whatever that summer, when the Lawrenceville-Suwanee may be,” said Giles, the school’s owner and School of Music offers weeklong camps. music director, said. “Every kid is different She’s also exploring opening another and every kid is an individual. Not every school, possibly in Grayson or on the other basketball player is going to make it to the side of Grayson. NBA, just like not every musician is going But Giles makes sure there is more to her to play at Carnegie Hall. But that doesn’t business than recitals and art displays. She mean we won’t help kids to try to reach sees the Lawrenceville-Suwanee School of their dreams.” Music as an outlet to perform community Giles, who has called Lawrenceville home service, which is why students are involved for more than two decades, has combined in philanthropy, including food drives. two of her passions – music and helping “I want to keep helping kids grow and children – into a business that has helped learn and have an impact on the commuchildren learn to sign, play instruments nity because it’s a way to give back, which and hone their art skills. She’s used music and art to teach life lessons that extend well is important to teach kids,” Giles said. “I’m beyond how well they can play the piano or very passionate about this. I don’t have a business. It started as a business, but now paint a canvas. we’re a family.” “Not everyone understands the influence
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Looking for something FUN to do this summer? TAKE MUSIC LESSONS with Lawrenceville-Suwanee School of Music.
PIANO GUITAR VOICE DRUMS VIOLIN UKULELE ART MORE! ARE WE THE RIGHT MUSIC SCHOOL FOR YOU? 1) Save time & money with Gwinnett’s Most Award-Winning School. Nearly 500 students take lessons with us each week for Piano, Guitar, Voice, Drums, Violin, Ukulele, Mandolin, Art (and more!) all in one location, making it easy for one family to take multiple instruments on the same day. Voted BEST OF GWINNETT 2016, Best of Suwanee 2015 & 2016, Best of Thumbtack 2015 & 2016 and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Small Business of the Year. 2) The largest & most qualified teaching faculty in Gwinnett who will teach you the songs you want to learn. We have 29 teachers, all with either University training or professional performance experience, who are dedicated to learning about your personal musical goals and helping you achieve them. We are confident that we have the right teacher to meet your needs. Our teachers have warm personalities, and are dedicated to teaching you the style of music that you want to learn. 3) The widest range of lesson times to help fit your busy schedule. We are open from 10AM-9PM Monday-Friday & 9AM-5PM Saturdays. 4) Free, all inclusive, “optional” recitals so that your family & friends can share in your musical journey. Every Spring and December, our students have the option of performing in our recitals. In addition to the recitals, we offer multiple performance opportunities throughout the year.
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info@LSschoolofmusic.com 2001 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Rd. Suite 201 • Suwanee, GA 30024
Music Books & Book Bag
2017
gwinnettdailypost.com • Gwinnett Daily Post • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • READER’S CHOICE • 25
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STILL ROCKIN’ AT
70
We’re 70 and we’re in good company.
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Carlos Santana, b. 1947
Orchestrating progress for 70 years. #Rockin70
28 • READER’S CHOICE • Sunday, June 4, 2017 • Gwinnett Daily Post • gwinnettdailypost.com