Executive Director, Camp Dawson Event Center
By Lori Kersey
Even before she chose a career path, Kerry Gnik knew she wanted to be part of a team.
“That common thread ran throughout my ‘what do I want to be when I grow up’ dreams,” says Gnik, executive director of the Camp Dawson Event Center (CDEC). “I loved playing sports and being in the school band. Anything that involved comradery and working together drew me in.”
In search of that comradery, Gnik joined the Army in 1989 and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, KY. She completed active duty in 1993, after a deployment to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Storm, and moved home to Kingwood, WV, to work as the director of Main Street Kingwood.
Her work there put her in touch with the commander at Camp Dawson, ultimately leading to her role at the West Virginia National Guard facility. She joined the Guard in 2000 and went back to school full time at Fairmont State University. After 9/11, she went to work full time for Camp Dawson Operations, helping fill a gap created by soldiers being deployed.
“It turns out, I loved it, and I was really good at it,” she says. “I coordinated and scheduled all the training that occurred at Camp Dawson.”
By 2002, Gnik was appointed to the board that oversaw the installation’s small hotel, now known as the CDEC.
“I was inexplicably drawn to this work,” she says. “I love to problem solve, and what I was observing was an organization that was growing but had a tremendous need for leadership, processes and structure.”
The CDEC represents the people that manage certain facilities at Camp Dawson. CDEC manages a hotel, a full-service restaurant, cafeteria, a retail and convenience store and a workout facility. The facilities can only be used by military, retired military and federal and state employees. The center employs 65-75 people.
“Retired Major General James Hoyer and I knew we could provide a much more comprehensive conference type experience for those groups utilizing Camp Dawson,” says Gnik. “With his support and guidance, we grew to hold huge government conference events while ensuring the soldiers who train at our facility are receiving top notch care.”
As Gnik was nearing her 20-year mark with the military and considering retirement, Hoyer asked her to continue working and lead the CDEC organization, and that was exactly what she wanted to do.
“Six years later, I am still excited to come to work every day,” says Gnik. “Major General Hoyer is truly the person who trusted me and inspired me to do this job. He understood my desire to be involved in my community and supported me in every organization I joined. He really gets how important it is to help one another.”
Aside from her role at Camp Dawson, Gnik gives back to her community through various service organizations. She currently serves on the boards of the Preston County Chamber of Commerce, Mon Health Preston Memorial Hospital Foundation, Visit Mountaineer Country Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Rotary Club of Kingwood. She formerly served as festival director for Friends of the Cheat and as a board member for Main Street Kingwood.
A self-described doer, Gnik prefers not just to come up with ideas but to make them happen. When choosing volunteer service organizations, she makes sure it’s something she can truly contribute to.
“I want to work. I want to make a difference,” she says. “So as long as the organization has a good cause and I can truly be of help, I’m going to find ways to contribute my time.”
Gnik values her community and wants to make it the best it can be for everyone who lives there, including her husband, Mark, and children, Gavin and Sydney.
“I want to set an example for my kids so when they go out into the world, they go out there wanting to make it a better place,” she says.
Gnik lives and works in West Virginia because she loves it and wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I believe we are sometimes misunderstood by the rest of the world about who and what we are, but in short, we are a hard-working, kind and service-oriented people,” Gnik says. “I wouldn’t want to live or work anywhere else.”
1989 Joined the Army
1989 Assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, KY
1991 Deployed to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Storm
1993 Completed active duty
2000 Joined WVARNG at Camp Dawson
2002 Married husband, Mark
2004 Son, Gavin, was born
2006 Daughter, Sydney, was born
2015 Earned MBA from WVU
2016 Retired from WVARNG
2016 Named executive director of CDEC
