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 (rick@homefolkmedia.com
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.