Bill Hatfield, Jr.

DUNLAP, Tenn. — New Mayor Dwain Land couldn’t have picked tougher times to take the helm of a town, and he says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I like a challenge,” said Mr. Land, 49.

“The tougher, the harder the job, the harder I work, the better the outcome,” he said. “I felt that in these trying times I would be the best for the community and I would give it my all.”

Mr. Land doesn’t sleep much; he says it interferes with accomplishing goals. He was inspired to go into business when his age was still measured in single digits.

“When I was about 9 years old I was selling the Grit newspaper,” he said. “I didn’t have to go out house to house at first because my mother had a beauty shop and I looked to those ladies to buy the newspaper.”

The captive readership gave him the confidence to start selling door to door, which evolved into what he called “a lucrative business at the age of 9,” he said.

But that only whetted his appetite.

By 17, Mr. Land bought his first rental property. His second came by 18 and by 20, he had his first restaurant. His interest in rental property, real estate and business grew into a career, he said.

In the late 1980s, Mr. Land was operating an auto parts store when a customer suggested he run for Sequatchie County Commission.

He won but didn’t seek the seat four years later because he’d moved to another district that was already represented by a cousin. Mr. Land joked he couldn’t run against him and still expect civil Thanksgiving dinners in future years, so he stuck to business until recently.

He’s already learned one mayoral lesson: “It’s going to be hard to please everyone,” he said. But if he accomplishes his most important goal, he might make most folks pretty happy.

With the job losses at Tecumseh Products, Seymour Tubing and Forrest Cate Ford, “my goal is to put these people back to work,” he said.

Mr. Land said his experience will give him the right tools to deal with interested industries.

Bill Hatfield Jr. is a lifelong friend who says Mr. Land has been destined for a lead role in the community.

“Dwain’s one of those people that has an innate ability to be a problem-solver,” Mr. Hatfield said. “He’s been an entrepreneur and a businessman.”

Mr. Land will put his aggressive business sense to work for the public, Mr. Hatfield said. The new mayor is goal-oriented.

“At the end of the day he has to have some successes to gauge whether he’s had a good day or not,” he said.