GWCCA hires Atlanta-area native for new Sr. Staff Writer position

(ATLANTA – July 23, 2015)
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) announces the appointment of Kent Kimes to the newly-created position of Sr. Staff Writer in the Communications Department.

“Content is the voice of the brand,” said Jennifer LeMaster, GWCCA’s Director of Communications. “Adding a dedicated resource to generate great content and consistently deliver it through established networks is essential to globalizing your brand in today’s communication environment.”

Kimes joins the GWCCA after a 20-year career in journalism, including stints at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgetown Times (S.C.), Augusta Chronicle, and The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.). He is also the founding editor of alt-weekly newspaper The Weekly Surge (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and has contributed to various publications and web content providers, including Creative Loafing, Grand Strand Magazine, Fuel Interactive, Rare.us, Vacatia.com and Randstad North America.

“Kent’s experience working with large news organizations as well as alternative publications will allow us to grow our presence exponentially,” said LeMaster.

Kimes won South Carolina Press Association Awards for Business Writing and Best Entertainment Section and The Sun News’ Publisher’s Award: Cutting Edge.
Kimes is a native of East Point and graduated from Woodland High School.

He has lived in various parts of the metro area, including Decatur, Dunwoody, Virginia-Highland, Poncey-Highland and Candler Park, and returns to Atlanta after 14 years in Myrtle Beach.

“I am incredibly excited – and at the same time, humbled – to be back in the city I love and to be a part of the next chapter of the GWCCA’s continued success and visionary roadmap for the future,” he said. “I look forward to sharing and promoting the stories and good deeds that make the Authority and its properties a leading economic driver and quality-of-life enhancer in the state of Georgia.”

He is married to Kimberly Raley-Kimes and they have two children – Gabriel, 4 and Ava, 7.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and History from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala.