Junior Achievement banquet to laud Doug and Kay Ivester, Wendell Starke

Rachel Estes, The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
·3 min read

Feb. 4—On Saturday, three pillars of local business and philanthropy will be formally inducted into the Junior Achievement of Northeast Georgia Business Hall of Fame, joining a longstanding lineage of forebears in business, philanthropy and community leadership.

Doug and Kay Ivester and Wendell Starke, regional movers and shakers in their own "distinguished careers and philanthropic achievements," will take their respective places as new inductees during the 12th annual Hall of Fame Gala slated for 6 p.m. at the Chattahoochee Country Club.

According to the organization, the banquet benefits JA's efforts to arm local students with the business and entrepreneurial sense and financial literacy to succeed as next generation leaders in a global economy — efforts that Starke and the Ivesters have devotedly supported and sustained.

"They have made an incredible impact on this community over the past several decades, and their dedication to our young people and our area's wellbeing is evident in all they have done and continue to do," said JA of Northeast Georgia Director Dana Miller.

The Ivesters

Born and raised in Hall County, Doug and Kay Ivester are building Gainesville Renaissance, a $22.4 million mixed-use development on the "fourth side" of the downtown square.

Following Doug Ivester's retirement from The Coca-Cola Company in 2000 — where he spent 21 years climbing the ladder from assistant controller and director of corporate auditing to president and chief operating officer — the couple turned their attention toward enriching the communities that shaped them, according to JA.

A decade prior, the couple spearheaded the Kay and Doug Ivester Endowed Scholarship at Brenau College to benefit first-generation students based on academic performance, leadership, character and motivation; in 2001, they added the Ivester Programming Endowment to support "high-level programs that the university would be unable to otherwise present."

The couple have also invested in Brenau's Ivester College of Health Sciences and Mary Inez Grindle School of Nursing, the Ernest Ledford Grindle Athletics Park in New Holland, the Ada Mae Pass Ivester Children's Garden at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in Gainesville and the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center at the Northeast Georgia History Center.

President of Deer Run Investments, Doug Ivester has held positions on numerous boards including the Coca-Cola Co. and Coca-Cola Enterprises, Georgia-Pacific, SunTrust Bank of Georgia, SI Corporation, Capella Hotel Group, the University of Georgia Foundation, the Woodruff Arts and Health Sciences centers, Emory University and Brenau University. Today, he manages Deer Run Plantation in South Georgia and the M. Douglas & V. Kay Ivester Foundation.

Wendell Starke

Starke has also "followed a call to philanthropy" throughout his life.

A native of Seale, Alabama, Starke's spirit of servanthood and entrepreneurism was partly inherited from his parents; his mother was a nurse and his father operated a general store and "always put community first in his business dealings."

Starke entered the business arena in boyhood, selling newspapers and working in his father's store. In 1978, he co-founded investment management firm Invesco, serving as president and chief investment officer before transitioning to board chairman and chief executive officer from 1992 to 1997.

A past president of the Atlanta Society of Financial Analysts and YMCA of Georgia, Starke is a strong proponent of higher education, according to JA, and has wielded his time and resources to help students prioritize college and mentor emerging business professionals.

Starke and his wife, Lydia Starke, have lived in Gainesville since 2004 and supported various causes and organizations including Eagle Ranch, Boys & Girls Clubs, the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia, My Sisters Place, The Arts Council, JA, American Heart Association and Glory, Hope and Life.

Joining the evening's honorees are Volunteer of the Year Frank Norton Jr. and Gus Whalen Rising Star Alison Bagwell Smith.