Wednesday's Woman: Anita Henry

Tucked away in a former “man cave,” a thriving business in Snellville employs 15 full and part timers in addition to a network of off duty police officers throughout Georgia.

Known as Traffic Specialties, Inc., and headed by president Anita Henry, this $3 million privately held company got its start in 2004. 

Henry, 53, didn’t set out to be a career woman. An original Gwinettian who was raised in Norcross, Henry married at age 20 and enjoyed being a stay at home mom to three children. 

“I got catapulted into the world when my first husband decided he wanted a divorce” about 11 years ago, Henry said. 

“I had never been to college. I didn’t have any work experience aside from cleaning houses and working at the polls,” she said. So Henry enrolled at Gwinnett Technical College to pursue an associate’s degree in office technology. 

Along the way, she met Ed Henry, a retired Gwinnett County police officer. Together, they started the company in November 2004.

“And,” Anita recalled, “that same month, my Daddy got sick and had to come and live with us,” she said. “It was a crazy time to start a business.” 

Traffic Specialties, which is housed in a building behind their Snellville home, began by providing off-duty police officers for traffic jobs, Henry said. It then evolved into a company that coordinates lane closures and provides traffic signage, cones, barrels, and directional boards for  job sites.

Henry noted that the company now has 15 – 20 regular customers and works primarily in the metro Atlanta area and in Savannah. Customers include private companies, highway contractors and utilities. Recently, Traffic Specialties provided traffic control when Atlanta’s 17th Street bridge malfunctioned and needed repair. 

Henry noted that her company, which operates 24 hours a day and seven days a week, “hasn’t written off $5,000 of bad debt. Our customers are reputable and we know we’re going to get paid,” she said. “It’s a blessing.” 

Today, Henry splits her time between Milledgeville and Snellville. She and her husband, Ed, moved to a home at Lake Sinclair about three years ago where she can work remotely. She enjoys the lake, but hasn’t developed a hobby yet.

“I’ve been busy building a business,” she said. 

Henry’s 80-year-old mother is the person who most inspires her.

“I would say not because she has any huge accomplishments in her life, but she is steady as a rock and strong in her faith.”