A Closer Look into the Carrollton Menu

The two year anniversary of a rapidly growing Carrollton business will happen on Nov. 2. Jonathan Dockery, owner and creator of The Carrollton Menu, said he never thought it would grow this fast. From the first big spike in interest, followers and fans, after the release of the Dunkin’ Donuts story, Dockery now has 11, 300 followers on Facebook and reaches over 60,000 website views each month.

The Carrollton Menu covers an array of topics such as business openings, business closings, community events, traffic information and jobs.

“During my childhood, I would always know what was coming to town because of being close to city officials in Tennessee,” said Dockery.

“Even living in Carrollton, I have always been in the know. One night I had a dream about creating a website in using my knowledge.”

He got up and began writing. On Nov. 1, 2011, Dockery create The Carrollton Menu website.

Dockery’s favorite part of his job has been meeting small business owners and researching things coming to Carrollton. On the other hand, Dockery struggles with mobile experiences.

“I try to stay positive about everything, but my mobile web experience is a struggle,” said Dockery. “I do not have the funding to make it amazing.”

After spending a short time in Savannah, Ga. recently, Dockery spent some time updating The Carrollton Menu website, which is much more mobile compatible.

“My creative side works best when I am away from the environment in which I work,” said Dockery.

A typical day for Dockery begins at 8 a.m. with social media posts for The Carrollton Menu’s business partners. Around 10 a.m., Dockery ventures out into the community in search of stories and gossip.

“I listen for gossip to confirm story ideas. Gossip from business owners or people. I just listen,” said Dockery. “I also use a researching site throughout the day to see if anything is being bid on construction wise in the area.”

When asked about growth and competition, Dockery said there is no competition, yet.

“My focus is on Carrollton at this time. I have tried Douglasville and Newnan, but these are commuter cities. The sense of community is lacking,” said Dockery. “Carrollton is a sleeper town and people love it. They seem to talk to each other and want to know everything that is going on.”

Dockery grew up in Cleveland, Tenn., 25 miles northeast of Chattanooga. Dockery’s father was a Southern Baptist pastor. He was raised very simplistically, with no cable television as well as other amenities many people had.

“My parents taught me well and from that, I learned how to navigate through life,” said Dockery.

At 14, Dockery moved to Carrollton where he went on to graduate from Central High School in 2004. He attended West Central Technical College for web page design, but after a few months he transferred to The Art Institute of Atlanta where he graduated with an associate’s degree in Audio Production. During his college career, Dockery interned with WSTR Star 94 in Atlanta. Post degree, Dockery worked with several major concert productions in the mid-south, setting up staging and directing. A few concerts he worked were Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Atlanta Fest and Disney on Ice. Dockery’s most recent job prior, and partially during the beginning of The Carrollton Menu, was an on-air traffic reporter for 95.5FM and AM750 News/Talk WSB.

“I try not to look more than six months in the future at a time, so I can’t say what’s in the future for The Carrollton Menu,” said Dockery.

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