Ashton-Tate
In June 1982 Cole hired Rod Turner as the director of OEM sales for Ashton-Tate. In a few weeks Turner solved a sales commission plan issue, that had been bothering George Tate for some time, with the top performing salesperson (Barbara Weingarten, now Guerra), and Tate and Cole promoted Turner to be Vice President of world-wide sales three weeks after his initial hire. Turner was approximately the 12th employee of Ashton Tate. Since the company was truly boot-strapped, using no external venture capital, the founders did not make a practice of hiring experienced veterans, and most of the team at Ashton-Tate were young and enthusiastic, but inexperienced. Jim Taylor was responsible for product management in the early days, and worked closely with Wayne Ratliff and the other key developers on dBASE II. In 1982 Perry Lawrence and Nelson Tso were the two developers who were employed at Ashton-Tate, while Wayne Ratliff employed Jeb Long from his royalty stream.
Adaton, Mississippi
James Robert Steele built a lumber mill and cotton gin in what is now Adaton around 1852, after relocating from Steelville farther west in Oktibbeha County. John Easterwood built a new gin on Self Creek Road in 1893, behind Christopher's Store, which operated from some time in the late 1800s until 1979. In 1870, the first Adaton Post Office was established. The town began as a farming community and became known for its many churches, some of which still exist today. Adaton United Methodist Church was founded in 1878, after originally organizing in 1856 as Steele's Chapel, Josey Creek Missionary Baptist Church was founded by poor black sharecroppers in 1886 in a brush harbor, and Adaton Baptist Church was founded in 1923. The local economy progressed over the years from cotton farming to dairy, then lumber. Today the community is primarily a bedroom community to the city of Starkville and Mississippi State University.