Ready on Day One
Rob Adkerson grew up in rural North Georgia, with his family roots in the 11th District dating back to the 1800s. His paternal grandparents lived in a modest home in Canton, overlooking the textile mill – which served as the center of Industry in Cherokee County, and was where his grandfather and other family members worked their first jobs. Dating even further back, Rob’s family resided in the City of Allatoona – which today no longer exists, as it gave way to Lake Allatoona in the 1950s.
Rob’s childhood was not one of advantage, and had limited positive influence. He made his fair share of mistakes as a young adult. But instead of dwelling on those mistakes and falling into a generational trap, he rose above and set out to become the type of father, husband, and citizen that changes the trajectory of a family line.
He learned electrical work on the job, eventually acquired his license, and started a business that focused primarily on the residential housing sector. As the business began growing, bad financial policy triggered the housing crisis of 2008. Undeterred by the downturn in residential work, Rob shifted his focus to other sectors of the alarm and surveillance business. Working with specialized contractors, he focused primarily on securing community banks and credit unions around the state of Georgia and the Southeast. This proved to be a winning strategy – until Washington struck again. With the passage of the disastrous Dodd-Frank legislation, virtually all new small bank construction came to a halt. This not only had major negative effects on Rob’s business, but on community banking as a whole.
These events were the catalyst for Rob to focus his attention on politics. Although a conservative by nature, he realized that even if citizens don’t pay attention to politics – politics pays attention to citizens. This compelled him to begin a journey of self-education and activism. He founded one of the first Tea Party groups in the state, and participated in several national rallies to protest the bad policies coming out of Washington. He also began to get involved with his local, district, and state Republican parties.
Through this activism, Rob established a relationship with then-State Representative Barry Loudermilk. They shared a vision for America and a reverence for the principals that made the country great. Rob helped on the grassroots effort when Loudermilk ran for the Georgia State Senate and won. During the following years, Rob was active in several groups who regularly visited the Capitol in Atlanta to lobby for conservative causes.
When Loudermilk decided to run for an open seat in Georgia’s 11th District, he chose Rob to serve as his campaign manager. In a competitive race, including the Georgia House Majority Whip and a popular former Congressman, Loudermilk won the seat – and then asked Rob to serve as his Chief of Staff. Rob accepted the role, knowing full well that the learning curve would be steep and sudden.
Helping to establish a congressional office with no prior experience was an experience in itself, but Rob relied on his business understanding and common sense to help Congressman Loudermilk build an all-star staff – and would eventually see many from their team go on to fill key roles on and off Capitol Hill.
Over the course of the next 12 years in the role of Chief of Staff, Rob built the relationships and gained the experience needed to manage the daily operations of the congressional office, and serve as a trusted ally and advocate for Congressman Loudermilk. With one foot in the political worlds of both Georgia and Washington, and one foot in the policy world of Congress, Rob developed all the tools needed to understand the true role of a Member of Congress.