R. Eric Clarkson
A graduate of Missouri State University with a B.S. degree in Marketing Research and Decision Analysis, Eric has more than 30 years of marketing, sales, business development, and municipal governance experience. He has worked as a licensed real estate broker in Georgia, as well as handling business development services for architectural, engineering and land planning firms for the past 18 years. In addition to his private sector experience, Eric served as an elected official in Chamblee, Georgia for 20 years.
After spending three years on the City of Chamblee’s volunteer Architectural Review Board and four years on the City Council, Eric served for 16 years as the city’s Mayor. During this time, he served on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Municipal Association as the President in the District 3 East Region as well as serving on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Planning Association. Eric served as the DeKalb County Mayors appointee to the Board of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), serving on the Executive Committee, Budget and Audit Review Committee, and Transportation and Air Quality Committee (TAQC). He is a past chairman of the Metro Atlanta Mayors Association and past chairman and founder of the Peachtree Gateway Partnership, a 501c6 organization promoting economic and community development in the communities of north Metro Atlanta. Eric has served on the Partnership Gwinnett Redevelopment Task Force as well as on the board of Select Cobb.
In 2010, Eric was awarded the Georgia Municipal Association Certificate of Distinction for attending more than 204 hours of training through the University of Georgia and Georgia Municipal Association’s Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute for Elected Officials. This included attending the Leadership Institute for Municipal Elected Officials in 2002. He is a graduate of the ARC’s Regional Leadership Institute and in 2004 was named one of Georgia Trend Magazine’s “40 Under 40.”
Eric has been active in his Church and has coached 8th grade football at Marist School for the past 6 seasons. He is originally from Lakewood, Colorado, however Eric has called the metro Atlanta area his home for over 25 years. He currently resides in Chamblee, Georgia with his wife Lynn, two daughters and a son.