Parker named an American Public Works Association 2016 Young Leader of the Year

Published 12:04 am Friday, October 7, 2016

Dalton’s assistant public works director, Andrew Parker, was recently named an American Public Works Association 2016 Young Leader of the Year.

Parker and two other 2016 National Young Leaders were honored at the awards ceremony of the 2016 APWA international conference, PWX (Public Works Expo), in Minneapolis, Minn., recently at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Representatives from the APWA Georgia Chapter presented the award locally on Monday at the Dalton City Council meeting.

The APWA Young Leader Award recognizes and encourages young APWA members who have demonstrated a commitment to the profession and the association and shown potential for future growth within the association. The award promotes the concept that length of career does not necessarily indicate leadership abilities or potential for service.

The selection of Parker for this award recognizes his service to the city of Dalton as well as his significant contributions to the public works profession through his participation in APWA.

Parker is the first APWA National Young Leader Award recipient from Georgia. After graduating magna cum laude with a major in civil engineering technology from Southern Polytechnic State University in 2010, Parker began his career with the Dalton Public Works Department as the special projects manager. In that role, he provided management and oversight of all roadway construction projects, maintenance programs, grant submittals, infrastructure contracts and the city’s traffic systems network. In May 2014, Parker was promoted to his current position as assistant public works director where he assists the director in managing and planning the daily operations of 70 employees, in seven divisions, who provide public works services to the city’s 33,000 residents and large industrial base.

As a member of APWA’s Georgia chapter, Parker has been an officer of the Northwest Georgia Branch, District 7 director on the Chapter Executive Committee, developed and maintained the chapter website, and is the Georgia chapter representative on the National Young Professionals Steering Committee. In 2014 he was appointed to the National APWA Project of the Year Selection Committee and was later selected by then APWA National President Brian Usher to co-chair that committee in 2016. This year, Parker has served as vice president of the Georgia chapter and was elected in July to serve as chapter president-elect in 2017.