James Hudgins currently serves as the Council’s secretary.
James grew up in Hall County, Gainesville, Ga. He attended Southern Technical Institute (also known as Southern Polytechnic State University and now Kennesaw State University.) On June 19, 1978, he took a surveying job with an Atlanta firm, Hensley-Schmidt. Hensley-Schmidt (now Arcadis), where he is still employed as a Program Director. He has been embedded at Cobb County DOT since 2011, managing the SPLOST Pre-Construction activities (design, permitting, and R/W acquisition). James is very active in numerous community associations and with local museums. He has attended key leadership development programs, including the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce Leadership Cobb Association – Class of 2005 and the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce Honorary Commanders Association – Class of 2004. He graduated from ARC’s Regional Leadership Institute in 2015. He has been on the Atlanta Council of the U.S. Navy League Board of Directors and served as Secretary to present.
James and his wife, Ann, have been married for 38 years and have a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren. He says the 1980s was a “great decade” because he and Ann met in 1981, got married in 1982, bought their first house in 1983, and their children were both born in the 1980s.