Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, May 17,2023
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Dawson engineer wins prestigious industry award
Photo courtesy of Atlanta Gear Works
Atlanta Gear Works Applications Engineer Corinna Draghhi receives the
AGMA 2023 Next-Gen Award from AGMA board member Michelle Maddox.
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
An engineer from
Dawsonville-
headquartered company
Atlanta Gear Works
recently won a presti
gious industry award
from the American Gear
Manufacturers
Association (AGMA), an
organization consisting of
companies from across
North America.
According to a press
release by Atlanta Gear
Works (AGW), the
AGMA Next-Gen Award
was presented to AGW
Applications Engineer
Corinna “Rinna” Draghi
during the 2023 AGMA
annual meeting in Lake
Buena Vista, Florida.
The award presented to
Draghi was one of only
three prestigious awards
presented at the annual
meeting, the release said,
and is designed to “honor
an up-and-coming leader
that has done innovative
work and significantly
contributed to the better
ment of the gear industry
and AGMA”. The other
two awards presented
during the meeting were
given to industry veterans
who have made career-
long contributions to the
association.
“For over a century,
AGMA has been blessed
with outstanding mem
bership,” AGMA
President Matthew
Croson said of Draghi
and the two other win
ners. “Time and again, we
have seen gear industry
professionals at different
points in their profession
al careers go above and
beyond to support
growth, foster innovation,
and create positive, mean
ingful connections.”
Each year, the AGMA
awards committee
reviews the merits and
achievements of award
nominees, the work they
have accomplished and
how it contributed posi
tively to the future of the
gear industry. The com
mittee then selects and
presents their final nomi
nee to the full board of
directors, and according
to the release the board
voted unanimously in
favor of awarding the
honor to Draghi.
“When joining AGW,
Rinna had zero back
ground in gearing. She
dove in headfirst with no
reservations,” AGMA
board member Michelle
Maddox said in the
release. “She has continu
ously put forth the effort
to improve not only her
self but also Atlanta Gear
Works as a whole.”
Since joining Atlanta
Gear Works, Draghi has
learned gearing from the
ground up, used gear
inspector machines from
Penta Gear, designed a
gear set, identified vari
ous gears, learned the
geometry of gear teeth,
earned her OSHA 30 cer
tification and aimed to
take at least one or two
AGMA online courses
every year, the release
added.
“Her involvement with
the AGMA has been
invaluable,” Maddox said.
“Not only was she invited
to speak on an all-wom
en’s panel at the Motion
& Power Technology
Expo, she also continues
to actively engage and
contribute to the Strategic
Networking &
Leadership Forum - a
group designed for the
next-generation of manu
facturing leaders. Rinna’s
contributions are nothing
short of an inspiration to
the next generation of tal
ent.”
Atlanta Gear Works is a
total-solution industrial
gearbox design, engineer,
manufacture and repair
company located at 433
Hightower Parkway in
Dawsonville. For more
information about the
company, go to atlan-
tagear.com.
FROM 1A
Pony
call when it was ready to
pick back up. Whittle said
that she fully expected
their team to just work on
fixing up the existing stall
to make it more secure, so
she was surprised to arrive
back at the store to find an
entirely new stall waiting
for her.
“I thought they were just
going to shore up the one
we had which I was happy
about, but they built us a
whole new one,” Whittle
said. “They put in hooks
for his tack and handles so
we could pull it in and out
and tie-downs so we can
secure it and it won’t be
moving around in the van.
They built it from the bot
tom up; they used our
design but they made it for
real.”
The new stall, she said,
provides a much safer and
more comfortable way for
little Sparky to ride in the
minivan.
“It’s safer for him; I
would be so worried
because you would hear it
crack and creak and I was
worried that if we had to
stop we’d all be in danger,”
Whittle said. “It’s not rick
ety, it’s not making any
noises and I took a turn
and he bumped it and noth
ing creaked or cracked —
it’s perfect.”
And Sparky himself
loves it too, she added.
“Sparky gets a little
touchy if we touch it; he
pushes our hands away and
he didn’t do that before but
he certainly did it last
Monday,” Whittle said.
“We roll his window down
and he loves to look out
the window — he just
loves it.”
Getting the new stall is a
win-win all the way
around, she said, because
being able to travel safely
allows Sparky to spread
boundless joy to people
throughout the area.
“He’s the sweetest little
fellow; the older people
love him,” Whittle said.
“We don’t want anything
from them, they don’t want
anything from us, we just
enjoy each others’ time
and it’s just such a good
thing.”
She recounted the joy he
brings to each of the resi
dents he goes to visit, say
ing that they’re always
excited to see him walking
in the door to spend time
with them.
“He wears shoes, but the
shoes you buy for horses
are designed for them to go
out in parades or on pay
ment are expensive and
ugly, so we go to Build-a-
Bear and he wears Build-a-
Bear shoes,” Whittle said.
“And the nursing home
folks love it; that’s the first
thing they look at when we
come in is what shoes does
he have on today.”
And the visits are a great
learning experience for her
granddaughters too, she
said, as the goal is to teach
them to be caring and kind
toward everyone they
come in contact with
through their project.
“My granddaughters are
homeschooled so we use
this as a part of learning;
they take care of all of the
logistics and scheduling
and I’m just the facilitator,”
Whittle said. “We’re just a
Photos courtesy of Cindy Whittle
Every Monday, Sparky goes to visit residents of
local nursing homes all across North Georgia.
family that lives out here
on our farm and we’re out
here trying to teach our
kids how to be cordial and
nice to the world and give
of themselves.”
Whittle said that she’s
excited to continue visiting
local nursing homes with
Sparky and her grand
daughters, and that she
couldn’t be more grateful
to the Dawsonville Home
Depot and store manager
Fred Brown for helping
keep their project going.
“That Home Depot just
went over, above and
beyond for us; we just
wanted them to shore up
what we had but they
rebuilt a whole new one
from our design and
Sparky just loves it,”
Whittle said.
Left to right: Brielle Nichelson, Cindy Whittle and
Bella Nichelson stand with their miniature therapy
pony, Sparky.
City of Dawsonville
FY 2023-2024 Budget Notice
The City of Dawsonville hereby gives public notice that the proposed
FY 2023-2024 City of Dawsonville budget was presented to the Mayor
and City Council at the May 15, 2023 regular City Council Meeting
and Work Session.
Interested persons may view a copy of the proposed FY 2023-2024
budget at City Hall, 415 Highway 53 E, Dawsonville, Georgia, during
regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM until
4:30 PM. In addition, the proposed budget has been placed on the
City’s website: www.dawsonville-ga.gov
The Mayor and City Council will hold a Public Hearing to receive
public comments on the proposed FY 2023-2024 Budget at 5:00 PM
on Monday, June 5, 2023 in the G.L. Gilleland Council Chambers on
the 2nd Floor of Dawsonville City Hall, 415 Highway 53 E,
Dawsonville, Georgia, at the regular City Council Meeting.
Adoption of the budget will be considered at the regular City Council
Meeting and Work Session on June 19, 2023 at 5:00 PM, in the G.L.
Gilleland Council Chambers on the 2nd Floor of Dawsonville City Hall,
415 Highway 53, Dawsonville, Georgia.
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