Business owners will try their hands at governing

By Rachel Kellogg; Neighbor Newspapers

Now that campaigning and elections are over, Alpharetta will have two new faces when Mike Kennedy and Chris Owens join the city council in January.

Kennedy has lived in Alpharetta for 11 years, and he moved from the Houston, Texas area to Atlanta in 1990 when he was offered a job giving radio traffic updates.

“Flying around in a helicopter doing traffic reports is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “But I tend to stay on the ground more now that I have three young children.”

He and his wife Randi have been married for 12 years, and their children are Tyler, 11, Brandon, 9, and Rachel, 7.

Kennedy owns North Point Financial Advisors, but he was not always interested in investing.

“I started as a TV weatherman and was a news anchor on TV and radio,” he said. “When I moved to Atlanta, I started dabbling in investments and started doing it for other people.”

When Kennedy is not working or spending time at Wills Park, he is involved with the Georgia chapter of the Angelman Syndrome Foundation.

“My oldest son has Angelman Syndrome,” he said. “We do things educationally and financially for kids in Georgia who have it.”

When he starts on council, Kennedy said he is most looking forward to learning the ropes.

“You don’t want to be the new guy who acts like he knows everything,” he said. “There’s a lot to learn before you jump in and start proposing new things.”

Kennedy and Owens both said they plan to help maintain and improve the community feeling of Alpharetta once they take office.

“I get a sense of community and a sense of home from this city,” Owens said. “The next natural thing is to try to maintain that feeling.”

Owens, who grew up in northwest Georgia, has called Alpharetta home for four years.

“I took my first job out of college as a city employee for Alpharetta,” the Southern Polytechnic State University graduate said.

Owens worked in the engineering and public works department and now owns Lowe Engineers where he runs the engineering department.

“I enjoy the client service aspect of my job,” he said. “I love to help people solve their problems.”

Owens has been married to his wife Jennifer for 15 years, and they have two children, 10-year-old William, and Lauren who turned 13 last week.

“My family and I, this past summer, just started going to the Greenway,” he said. “I love that we have so many opportunities to do fun things here.”

Owens also enjoys camping with his family and said he loves to go hunting in cooler weather.

“My closet sport that I enjoy is NASCAR,” he said. “I usually go to one or two races a year.”

Owens said he is looking forward to taking office so he can help plan a future for the city where citizens have everything they need.