A longtime Hall County community leader and manufacturer who recently sold his die-casting operation, has joined Gainesville-based Willis Investment Counsel (WIC).
The addition of R.K. Whitehead comes on Willis Investment Counsel's 45th anniversary. WIC now has over $3.7 billion of assets under management, ranking in the top 10 percent of U.S. registered investment advisors across the Southeast.
A press release for WIC says Whitehead brings his entrepreneurial skills to the firm at the conclusion of a 34-year career as a Georgia Tech-educated mechanical engineer and owner of Whitehead Die Casting Company. Whitehead will carry the title of Engineer into his new job as part of the firm’s focus on new technology and innovation.
WIC President Jay Kilroy said, “RK will certainly speak the language of our business clients in helping them structure and grow their assets. He also has a high level of investment experience through his participation on a number of foundation boards and will be sharing those insights in overseeing the 401(k) plans for our business clients.”
Whitehead follows in the footsteps of former Regions Financial Corporation principal Pete Miller and Invesco founding partner Wendell Starke, both of whom joined the Willis Investment Counsel team after longtime corporate careers.
Bob Willis, CEO and founder of WIC said, “We are honored to have had such esteemed financial minds as Pete and Wendell – and now RK – sharing their real-world business acumen with our clients."
Whitehead was previously the Gainesville Jaycees Young Man of the Year in 2005 and Rotary Man of the Year in 2020. He is is equally known as a dedicated community servant and chaired the boards of Northeast Georgia Health System, Greater Hall Chamber, the Chicopee Woods Area Park Commission, the Quinlan Visual Arts Center, Elachee Nature Science Center, and Lakeview Academy. Whitehead also has served on the Gainesville-Hall County Development Authority and Vision 2030’s Greenspace Committee, as well as a founding member of the new North Georgia Land Trust.
In addition to is education from Georgia Tech, Whitehead attended the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia for one semester before leaving in 1990 upon the death of his father to run the family business, Whitehead Die Casting.
