January - East Walker Chamber of Commerce
Transcription
January - East Walker Chamber of Commerce
East Walker Chamber of Commerce revives monthly newsletter The East Walker Chamber Board of Directors is proud to announce the revival of the monthly Chamber Newsletter. The newsletter’s focus is on the municipalities and businesses of East Walker County. The EWCC did a newsletter in the past but mailing costs were prohibitive so the publication was put on hold. The new newsletter will be delivered via email and available for download from www. eastwalkerchamber.com and from the groups Facebook Page. Each month the newsletter will highlight business, community, education, and government leaders in an effort to show our area in a positive light. Doug Ragsdale, East Walker Chamber President The EWCC has begun an initiative to update their website to include relevant information about Cordova, Dora, Sipsey and Sumiton as well as all the businesses in East Walker County. “We built on the foundation built by chamber member Ken Moore and others and expanded the information contained on the website,” said Rick Watson. Building a website is vital for small areas because it gives outsider a window into what’s going on in the communities. “People and business alike use the Internet like they once used the Yellow Pages,” said Watson. He went onto say that any business that doesn’t have a web presence is missing opportunities to connect with more customers. If you have suggestions for profiles, stories business highlights, community events, charity events, or other news within our communities, please send an email to Rick Watson ([email protected] City of Dora commissions new website Dora The City of Dora now has a website for the first time in the city’s history. The website has a great deal of information for citizens and visitors to the area. Mayor Randy Stephens worked with a web developer to put important city initiatives, ordinances, office information, area attractions, contact information, city council meeting minutes, and the city calendar online. “We want to be transparent with city operations,” Stephens said. The city also created an official Facebook page to release timely information about city business. During the recent holidays and weather emergencies, the mayor kept citizens informed about changes in garbage pickup, the reschedule of council meetings as well as Park and Recreation announcements. “We’re excited about where the city is going, and we want to involve our citizens,” the mayor said. Sumiton Backyard Blessing gets a new truck Story by Rachel Davis, from The Daily Mountain Eagle When Backyard Blessings first began, the group loaded their food bags into personal vehicles and drove them to the school, but as the program expanded that became increasingly difficult. Now, with 400 food bags going to five schools, loading the heavy crates of food had become almost impossible. In addition to the weight and dangers of lifting the containers repeatedly, many times the group’s volunteers are older community members who have the time to pack the bags but aren’t able to lift the heavy boxes. “We didn’t know what we were going to do, but we couldn’t do that much longer,” Executive Director and Founder Leneda Jones said. When asked about the group’s two greatest needs last year, Jones responded space and transportation. With Mark and Phillip Bozeman stepping up to donate excess space at the back of the Dora Piggly Wiggly, Jones saw one of those needs met last fall. The transportation need was met this week when AT&T Alabama stepped in to donate $5,000 to purchase a small panel truck for the group to use in deliveries. Terri Williams, regional director of external affairs for AT&T Alabama, said after she spoke to Jones about the group’s needs last year, they were happy to be able to help. “We are glad that we were able to help,” Williams said. “Figuratively and literally, this puts the spirit of giving in motion. We want to be able to help where we’re the most needed.” Jones said the panel truck has greatly improved the delivery process, with a ramp to easy loading and unloading and being able to carry all the containers at once, rather than making multiple trips or use multiple vehicles. “We are just so grateful and blessed by this,” Jones said. “We didn’t have to apply or fill out a grant or anything, they came to us.” The group is hoping to get the truck painted or wrapped to cover the old bread company logos that currently adorn the sides of the panels, but just having the vehicle has been a major improvement for the group so far. The nonprofit, started in 2010, provides food to children in the community who are in need by placing a bag of food discretely inside their backpack every Friday afternoon during the school year. The items are single-serving, readyto-eat items the kids can serve themselves so they don’t go hungry on weekends when they are away from school. When the group started, they were serving 100 children at Sumiton Elementary/Middle School, but soon grew to cover other elementary schools in Dora, Cordova and Jasper through community donations. The group always has a waiting list of children in need and looks to expand its numbers as well as the schools covered whenever an opportunity presents itself. “She is definitely filling a need,” Williams said of Jones and the program. Donations to Backyard Blessings can be made by calling Jones at 544-9094 or sent by mail to P.O. Box 129 Sumiton, AL 35148 Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Hiring Smart brought to you by: Intuit The ideal new employee will help grow your business, while the wrong choice can be an expensive mistake. 1. Do pre-screen candidates on the phone. 2. Do prepare candidates for the interview. If you want to see samples of their work, let them know in advance. 3. Do interview several candidates — at least three if you can. 4. Do listen more than you talk. 5. Do be realistic — about job responsibilities, experience required, salary and benefits. 6. Do stick to the same evaluation process for each candidate. 7. Don’t make promises of job security. 8. Don’t hire someone just because you know them. 9. Don’t be overly impressed by credentials from big corporations or well-known universities. 10. Don’t be swayed by your first impression. Let the conversation flow. For important jobs, arrange for a second in-person interview with your top prospects before you make your final choice. Cordova Officers and Board Contract Awarded for new grocery store in Cordova President - Mr. Doug Ragsdale The Daily Mountain Eagle Vice-President - Mr. Hezikiah Walker Story by Rachel Davis CORDOVA The Cullmanbased company that oversaw the demolition of downtown Cordova last spring will also be in charge of preparing the site for the city’s new grocery store. Treasurer - Ms. Kristie Tuggle The Cordova City Council awarded the contract to Civicon, LLC Tuesday night. Civicon’s bid of $281,125.60 was the lowest in a field of 10 firms who submitted bids for the project last month. Mr. Paul Gonzalez Long-term recovery manager Steve Ostaseski said work should begin at the site in 10 days, and Civicon will have 90 days to complete the job. The contractor, which has yet to be named, will have 200 days to build the store. “We still have some background work to do,” Ostaseski said. PTI Inc. is in line for the job with a low bid of $1,005,000. Ostaseski said that he and Mayor Drew Gilbert will also be meeting with architects this week about the new City Hall and police station, a project funded through a $3.7 million federal grant. Bids are expected to go out in May. As part of the grant agreement, the city must complete the project in two years or risk losing funding. Getting all Social Media’d up and what not If you haven’t already, please consider following the East Walker chamber of Commerce on Facebook. Executive Director/Secretary Chee-Vee Whitfield 2014 Board of Directors Mr. Charlie Cook Mr. Norman Holt Mr. Richard Lovelady Mr. Ken Moore Mr. Doug Ragsdale Ms. Karen Taylor Ms. Kristie Tuggle Mr. Rick Watson Director/Secretary – Ms. Chee-Vee Whitfield East Walker Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 188 Sumiton, Al 35148 The East Walker Chamber meets the second Tuesday in each month at Lee’s Family Restaurant in Sumiton at 12 noon. Visitors are welcome. New businesses, stop by and see the exciting things going on in the East Walker Community. A conversation with business entrapreneur Paul Gonzalez Profile Paul Gonzalez, local entrepreneur and business owner originally came from Beckley West Virginia. He retired after 21 years in the military as a Sargent Major and after his stint in the military, he looked around West Virginia for business opportunities. He bought a radio station in 1989, and then in the year 2000, he purchased his second station. This is where he learned his business chops because not only was he the owner, but he was also the sales manager. He did all the back office work, which meant he paid the bills, did payroll, and the human resource work. His background prior to radio was in food services, so he jumped at the chance to go through McDonald’s training program. After completing the program, there were opportunities to buy restaurants in Atlanta, another one in Nebraska, Iowa, and then he learned about the restaurant in Dora/Sumiton. He was vacationing in Florida when he got the call that the restaurant was available here, so he drove up the check out the area. He also went to Iowa, but he loved East Walker County. “I decided to live hear because of the warmer climate, and it’s also a great place to live because I love boating and fishing.” When asked why he likes this part of the country, Paul is quick to say, “It’s the people. The people here made me and my wife feel as if we’d known them forever.”The local businesses have been very supportive as well. He’s excited about the future for East Walker County, and about the things going on with the Chamber of Commerce here. Paul said one of the primary objectives of the chamber and community leaders should be to attract new business that in turn would bring jobs to the area. “That’s the big thing.” Another thing he would like to see is for our chamber to form committees that are responsible for various functions – Communications, recruiting, economic development, fundraising, and special projects. “We should look at the assets of our membership and get those people in committees.” He feels that this is the way to get results and to make an area grow. He feels that as a group, area leadership should develop long-range plans and then work toward those goals to bring entrepreneurship to the area. Paul has been married for 35 years and has two daughters. One is a nurse, and the other is a business major in college. He not only owns the Dora/Sumiton McDonald’s, but also the one in Graysville.