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  • Oakwood Cafe owner Kasey Carpenter will be honored as the first recipient of the Junior Achievement Northwest Georgia Business Hall of Fame Rising Star award.

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March 7, 2010

Restaurant owner named ‘Rising Star’

Jamie Jones Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — Kasey Carpenter wasn’t sure what his career path would be after graduating from college.

His mother was running a restaurant on Walnut Avenue and needed some help. So Carpenter came home to Dalton to lend a hand. Now, some 10 years later, Carpenter and his family own two successful Oakwood Cafe restaurants: one in Dalton and the other in Forest Park.

“I didn’t have any career goals at the time,” Carpenter said. “I was almost done with school. I had about six, eight months left. So I said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll just come help her out and figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life.’ And here we are.”

Carpenter, 31 and a 1996 graduate of Dalton High School, will be the first recipient of the Junior Achievement Northwest Georgia Business Hall of Fame “Rising Star” award. He’ll be honored during a banquet on May 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center along with the three new members of the Hall of Fame: Bob and Dixie Kinard and Dr. Don Thomas. That will bring to 18 the number of people in the Hall of Fame, including bankers, floorcovering pioneers and people representing other vital industries.

The Oakwood Cafe has been a stalwart in the downtown dining scene for some 80 years. The name came from its founders, a Mr. Oak and a Mr. Wood. The restaurant moved to its current spot at 201 W. Cuyler St. sometime in the 1940s and was operated for many years by Johnny and Mary Metcalf. In 2001, it shut down and reopened as The Gourmet Day Cafe. In 2004, Carpenter reopened it as the Oakwood Cafe complete with the large, familiar Oakwood Cafe sign hanging outside.

In 2006, Carpenter and his father-in-law opened an Oakwood Cafe in Forest Park. Carpenter spends his time shuffling back and forth between the two restaurants. He and his wife, Julie, also stay busy with their three children.

Why the restaurant business? He enjoys seeing familiar faces, whether they’re employees or customers, and the small town atmosphere Dalton offers. He also likes to eat.

“To me, it’s kind of instant gratification to feed somebody,” Carpenter said. “Whether they enjoyed it or not, it’s pretty instant feedback. It’s not like you sell somebody a car and they’re happy for a second, then eight months down the road they don’t like it anymore.”

Junior Achievement area director Judy Norris borrowed the Rising Star award idea from a chapter in Augusta. But the idea of honoring a younger entrepreneur alongside the Hall of Fame members goes back further.

“Even before that, I mean from the first one we had in 2006, several people had said we really need to recognize some of our younger people who have been involved,” Norris said. “I kind of put that in the back of my mind and when I saw Augusta’s Rising Star, I thought that it sounded like something we would want to do.”

Criteria include being an “up and coming individual who is paving the way for others to follow either in new creative ways or in an emerging business, an individual who has taken their ideas and passions and created a successful business model.”

Junior Achievement received nominations from the public, then its executive board chose Carpenter as the first award winner. Upon learning of the award, Carpenter’s sentiments were similar to those of the area residents being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“I thought it was awesome, but I don’t know if I feel worthy,” Carpenter said. “There are a lot of great people in town, there are a lot of young leaders. I’m appreciative, but pretty humbled about the whole thing.”

Founded in 1964, the Junior Achievement Northwest Georgia District is based in Dalton. The district serves Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield counties. During the last school year, 8,901 students in 51 schools and 410 classrooms learned real-life business skills from volunteers, board and staff. Volunteers from 65 area businesses as well as parents and retirees participate.

For information about the banquet, call Junior Achievement at (706) 278-9180.

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