Mississippi State Coach Football Coach Tre' Bell joins me today at the table.  We will be talking education, football, discipline, careers and more.  Tre' shares his life in football.  We talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of the sport.  He shares how he was able to bounce back after he didn't make it to the NFL.  He openly shares how he fought depression during this time and how important it is to have great relationships.

If you have a son who has aspirations to go pro, then you really need to listen to this episode.  

John was born in Atlanta and have lived in Georgia his whole life.  He went to North Gwinnett and Collins Hill High School.  He graduated from the University of Georgia where he graduated with a bachelors in business administration with a major in management information systems.  He worked in software development for about 15 years.  It was during that time that he started to home brew as a creative outlet and fell in love with the whole process.  It was during this time that he started talking about the possibility of starting a brewery with his brother in law Marty during this time and Slow Pour Brewing Company was born.

​Joe Allen started his career of service to Gwinnett County in the Tax Commissioner's Office, where he served as Director of Administration and then Chief Deputy Tax Commissioner. Later, he was Gwinnett’s Division Director of Risk Management and Employee Services. Allen also spent a number of years as the Director of Public Affairs and Business Resources for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. While at the Chamber, he helped organize the business leaders that later formed the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District. In April 2006, Joe was named Executive Director for the CID. Joe is married to Melanie and they have two children.

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Throughout my life, I’ve always been proud to call Gwinnett County home. I am a progressive raised by progressives. Thus, I’ve spent a lifetime embracing, and working for, change. My parents were politically active in the anti-Vietnam war effort in the late 1960’s and into the early 70’s. When I graduated from Shiloh High School, I pursued my college career at the American University. While in college, I started my own work in politics. This included volunteering on the 1988 Al Gore for President campaign and volunteering at the 1988 Democratic Convention in Atlanta. I received a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and international studies, and went on to receive my J.D. from Georgia State University.

Most recently, I served in the Georgia State Legislature for the last 16 years. My biggest legislative accomplishment that affects people locally is the bill I helped pass to create Community Improvement Districts (CID’s) in Gwinnett County. I served on the Gwinnett Village CID for 10 years (now the Gateway 85 CID) and  I was the first, and founding, president. This work on CID’s gave me experience working on local government issues and local planning. Much of this experience focused on the transportation planning for mass transit that, along with the work of countless others, has ultimately grown into the Connect Gwinnett plan that is part of the 2019 Transit Referendum.

Throughout my career, I have continued to stand up for progressive causes. As a constant advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, I continuously opposed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. In 2003 and 2004, I led the fight against the state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. I also co-sponsored legislation to address hate crimes, bullying and voting rights.

As a legislator, I was the first in Georgia to propose a referendum that would allow Georgians to vote on the legalization of retail marijuana sales. Additionally, I was the first to propose full-spectrum medical marijuana legislation. Each year, I worked with the state legislature to expand Georgia’s medicinal cannabis CBD oil laws.

I am also proud to have been a co-sponsor of the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act – the bill that created the tax credits that have brought so much movie and television industry business to Georgia. Gwinnett County has specifically benefited from Eagle Rock Studios.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to volunteer with, and serve on the boards of, AID Gwinnett, Gwinnett Sierra Club, Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity, and Norcross Cooperative Ministry. Currently, I am a member of the Sierra Club and the Peachtree Corners Rotary Club.
I continue to live and work in Gwinnett and want to ensure that we build a bridge to a bolder and brighter future for our county and all those in it. My values are to ensure that my fellow citizens are safe, treated with respect, have equal opportunity, and are free from discrimination of any kind. I hope you join me in our campaign for Gwinnett’s future.

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