Clocking In -- Industry

Transcription

M&D
Mechanical
Contractors
ou can find James Day’s work in hospitals, local industries and in space.
“One of the most interesting jobs was when we did a
job for NASA back in the ’80s and repaired water lines to keep
the shield (on the shuttle) from burning up,” Day said. “Now
companies just call in the pipe measurements and we ship it
to them.”
As a pipe fabricator for M&D Mechanical Contractors, Day
uses a gas flame to meticulously bend and weld pipes together.
The 20-year torch-wielding veteran said he always enjoyed
working, especially with his hands. As a child, Day chopped
cotton in the fields of Limestone County, and after he received
his General Education Development diploma, he worked for
Pitt Des-Moines Inc., a company that builds oil and gasoline
storage tanks.
“I spent seven years traveling
with PDM. … I was tired of traveling, and building the 200-foot-high
tanks was hard work,” said Day.
“One day I saw the pipe welders
■ 1810 Sherman St. S.E.
sitting at the top of the tank and it
■ 180 employees
looked like they had it made so I
■ Fabricates sheet metal
decided to change crafts.”
and pipes for hospitals,
Beginning his career as a pipe
industries and businesswelder meant returning to North
es
Alabama and working for free.
“I worked for nothing for two weeks until I learned how to
weld,” Day said. “I didn’t feel right getting paid for something
I didn’t know how to do. When you’re working for free you
catch on fast, but it wasn’t as easy as it looked.”
The inexperienced Day learned his craft through practice
and watching more experienced welders. Now Bobby Allfrey,
president of M&D Mechanical, describes Day as “one of the
best welders at the company.”
For each weld Day constructs he has one goal.
“I try to make every weld better than the last one,” he said.
In a community filled with industries, Day said pipe
welders make “a pretty good living.”
“I’ve never been out of a job,” Day said. “This is a real good
town for welding. There are a lot of industries here and their
pipes always need replacing.”
Along with job security, Day appreciates the familial atmosphere of the company.
“Last year I had congenial heart disease, and thought I was
done for, but Bobby told me, ‘You’ll always be a part of our
family,’ ” said Day. “The people I work with are like brothers.”
Y
cgodbey@decaturdaily.com
340-2441
By Catherine Godbey
They manufacture refrigerators,
make plastic and build rockets.
It’s 4 p.m.: A pipe fabricator
is on the clock welding metal.
SPECIAL
SECTION
James Day works as a pipe fabricator for M&D Mechanical Contractors.
CLOCKING IN INDUSTRY
Daily photos by Jonathan Palmer
John Gamble, Alabama Farmers Cooperative
John Ash, Meow Mix
Steve Lansford, McCord Leakless Sealing Co.
INSIDE
14
13
12
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008
The DecaturDaily
2 ■ The Decatur Daily
www.decaturdaily.com ■ Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Barnes is
‘newcomer’
at Hyosung
in 10th year
By Eric Fleischauer
eric@decaturdaily.com
340-2435
Chris Barnes, safety and
training
coordinator
at
Hyosung USA Inc., does not hesitate when asked what he likes
best about his job.
“The best thing here is the
people,” he said. “They’re good
people to work with, and always
have been.”
Barnes has been at the plant
for a decade,
and he’s a newcomer.
“There’s no
one here right
now
that’s
been here less
than seven or
Barnes
eight years, I
don’t think,”
Barnes said. “Most have been
here 20 or 30 years.”
In 2006, Hyosung bought the
oldest industry in Decatur from
Goodyear. The first mill at the
plant was built in 1927 as Connecticut Mills. Goodyear bought
the mill at auction in 1933 for
$251,000. The fabric it produced
for use in tires, now synthetic,
was then made from cotton.
Barnes said the sale to
Hyosung resulted in no management changes at the plant.
Recently, he said, Hyosung has
begun consolidating some jobs.
Contractions in the U.S. automobile market “always make us
nervous here,” Barnes said.
Opening up the market
With the change in ownership
came a broader customer base,
Barnes said. Previously, all fabric produced at the plant was
shipped to other Goodyear
plants.
“It opened up the market for
us as far as who we could sell it
to,” Barnes explained. “Before
we only sent it to Goodyear. Now
we’ll sell it to anybody who will
buy it, including Goodyear.”
Before becoming safety and
training coordinator two weeks
ago, Barnes worked in creeling.
Creeling is the process in which
single-fiber yarn is loaded on a
machine.
“The yarn comes in small
packages, we call them bobbins.
We twist it in the cabling machine. We send it to the weave
shop where they weave the yarn
into a fabric,” Barnes said.
The fabric, 4 to 6 feet wide,
then goes to the plant’s dipping
Please see Barnes, page 6
‘It opened up
the market for
us as far as who we
could sell it to.
Before we only sent
it to Goodyear. Now
we’ll sell it to
anybody who will
buy it, including
Goodyear.’
Daily photo by Brennen Smith
Lawrence Shackelford at the digital control system board at BP in Decatur.
BP’s Shackelford found a job he loves
By Eric Fleischauer
340-2435
Larry “Shack” Shackelford
makes good money as a chemical operator at BP Chemicals,
but that is way down the list of
why he likes his job.
“Notice you asked me that at
the beginning of the interview,
and I forgot to even mention it,”
Shackelford laughs. “I like the
money, sure, but what I love is
the challenge, the people I work
with, and the attention to safety.”
Shackelford, 34, is part of a
team that converts one multisyllabic chemical into another
with even more syllables. His focus is not on the product that
ends up with the consumer, but
on making sure that the intermediate product is perfect when
it leaves the Decatur plant.
“We are starting with a product and ending with a product,”
Shackelford explained. “In between the start and the end, we
have to manipulate and monitor
certain process variables. If
those do not stay within (specifications), the final product will
not be in spec.”
To do that Shackelford and
his more senior team members
monitor a digital control board
and make regular adjustments
to flow rates, temperature, pressure and other variables.
He has been a BP employee
for less than a year, but before
that he spent 13 years at the
plant as a BE&K contractor.
“I knew this is where I wanted to work,” Shackelford said.
“This was one of my goals, to
BP
ChemicalsDecatur
■ 450 employees, 450 contractors
■ Chemical processor produces terephthalic acid and
other chemical intermediaries
work for BP. I knew the people, I
knew that this company stands
behind safety. Safety is No. 1
here. They want safety first, and
then they will talk about how
much it is going to cost.”
Relatively new on the job,
Shackelford holds his senior
teammates in awe.
“You almost have to be a psychic. You cannot just look at
what you’re doing; you have to
look far, far ahead and understand what will happen if you
do not correct the problem,”
Shackelford said. “You have to
have a good knowledge of the
process and you have to know
what to do when the problems
take place.”
Every day on the complex
equipment brings something
new for Shackelford, but senior
employees usually have seen it
before.
“Being around them you get
to learning a lot. They can spot
He groans when asked what
something and when they see it,
they automatically know what is the worst part of his job.
“I knew you were going to ask
is going on and how to stop it.”
that, and I knew you wouldn’t
Prepared at Calhoun
believe my answer,” he said.
To prepare for the job, Shack- “Seriously, no lie, there is not a
elford took classes at Calhoun bad part to this job.”
Community College in process
Shackelford lives with his
control technologies.
wife — a chemical operator at
“That gave me a better under- Daikin America — and 22standing of what is going on. It month-old daughter in Decatur.
helped me a lot, but there is
Please see BP, page 6
nothing like hands-on training.”
SAFETY FIRST!
Instructor Led Courses • Computer Based Training
Hands-On Training • On-Site Training
SCHEDULE:
Monday: Confined Space Entry
Tuesday: First Aid/CPR/AED
Wednesday: English as a
Second Language
(Construction/General Industry)
Thursday: Fall Protection
Friday: Excavation & Trenching
Perfect Sleeper Firm or Plush
Full
Queen
499 set
$
599 set
$
King
799 set
$
FREE
Delivery and
Pick Up Old
Bedding!
PREUITT FURNITURE VILLAGE
703 Hwy. 31 N. • Hartselle • 773-3833
Mon.-Fri. 10-6 • Sat. 10-3 • (Across from Eddie Preuitt Ford)
Contact Information: 350-9944 ext. 110 • 3158 Hwy. 20 W • Decatur
Over 200 training courses available. www.tvtc.org
Interest Free Financing
Chris Barnes
Hyosung USA employee
10% OFF
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MOST TIRES
Excluding Michelin, Light
Truck Tires, and new sets.
All Tires Guaranteed
WILLO
established in 1945
Manufacturing
Security Equipment
for Prison Facilities
throughout the
United States
We will meet or beat
any competitor price
on comparable tires.
Bilingual and
interpretation
service available.
COLLEGE TIRE
In Hanceville at the
intersection of 31 & 91
256-352-2221
Mon. & Tues. 8-5:30; Wed. 8-12
Thur. & Fri. 8-5:30; Sat. 8-2
We are now taking applications for both entry level
and experienced positions in:
Willo Products Company, Inc.
2115 Veterans Drive, SE
Decatur, AL 35601
• PRODUCTION
• ENGINEERING
Call 353-7161 ext. 264 or e-mail bthrasher@
willoproducts.com for more information.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
3
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Owner
since 1956
Earline Abercrombie
Owner
since 1956
Ron Abercrombie
Parts Manager
43 Years
Keith Abercrombie
General Manager
39 Years
John Cooper
Detail Shop
17 Years
Shirley Funk
Warranty/ Title Clerk
16 Years
Large Selection
of preowned
used vehicles!
Carol Newman
Office Manager
20 Years
David Stults
Parts Counter
13 Years
John Moses
Gen, Sales Manager
7 Years
Mike Funk Jr.
Technician
5 Years
Bill Darwin
Salesman
3 Years
Glenn Smith
Salesman
3 Years
Tina Austin
Service Advisor
3 Years
Lacey Maher
Cashier
3 Years
Neal Thompson
Salesman
2 Years
Bill McCown
Salesman
2 Years
Terri Savage
Salesperson
1 Year
Johnathan Davis
Technician
1 Year
Frankie Blair
Body Shop
1 Year
William Owens
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Donnie Wilkins
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Detail Shop
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Rick Nelson doesn’t sing,
he helps rockets launch
By Eric Fleischauer
340-2435
His name is Rick Nelson, but
don’t ask him to sing.
Building rockets is another
thing.
“Please do not ask me to sing
because then you’ll have to cut
the whole interview,” the United
Launch Alliance production
technician laughed. “My car
and my shower are the only
place I can get away with it.”
Many people turn on NASATV or the Internet to watch the
rumbling fury of a Delta IV
launch, but only a select few
watch it with the emotions that
Nelson feels.
“I still get butterflies in my
stomach watching the launches,” Nelson said. “You are thinking, ‘Did I check everything, did
I get everything?’ It takes a 10cent part to cause a problem
with a $1 million rocket. We go
through some pretty extensive
testing and it is a good feeling
seeing it get off of the pad.”
The Delta IV, the heavy-lift
rocket Nelson works on, is an
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. Built in United Launch Alliance’s state-of-the-art plant on
Red Hat Road, its payloads are
usually governmental. Recent
launches have included global
Rick Nelson
is a
production
technician
at United
Launch
Alliance in
Decatur.
United
Launch
Alliance
‘I still get
butterflies in
my stomach
watching the
launches. You are
thinking, “Did I
check everything,
did I get
everything?” It
takes a 10-cent
part to cause a
problem with a
$1 million rocket.’
Daily photo
by John
Godbey
■ 630 employees
■ Builds Delta IV and Delta II
rockets
Rick Nelson
United Launch Alliance
production technician
positioning systems and spy
satellites.
Atlas V coming
United Launch Alliance’s Decatur plant also makes the medium-lift Delta II. Later this year
the plant will begin installing
equipment to assemble the Atlas V, a Lockheed Martin Corp.
rocket similar to the Delta IV.
Nelson works in the final assembly area for the Delta IV.
“Mainly I have been involved
with performance acceptance
testing, which is the final test
that we do on the vehicle to test
all of its functions and basically
make sure it is ready to launch,”
Nelson said. “We test everything from nose cone to nozzle
on that thing to make sure all of
the systems talk to one another.”
It’s a massive job. The Delta
IV, when fully assembled, is not
only complex. It’s big. More
than 200 feet long and 16 feet
wide, it weighs over 800 tons. It
can lift a payload of 30 tons into
orbit. Nelson, whose specialty is
electronics, loves the challenge
of being on a team that works
on one of the most advanced
pieces of machinery known to
man. Also thrilling to him is
knowing the important functions of the satellite the Delta IV
will launch.
“I am prior-service military
and I have got family members
that are in the military and I
know that they probably use
some of the satellites that have
been launched in their tasks
Please see Nelson, page 6
2008
Focus On
Recognizing the Success of These Valley Professionals
House
of Wigs
2699 Sandlin Rd. Ste. A-5
Decatur, AL
Cell: 256-758-8820
Julie is a Sales Associate
for RE/MAX Platinum in
Decatur and has been in
real estate for eight
Julie Wheeler
years. “My number one
Realtor
job is getting you the
most home for your
money in the shortest
amount of time.” She has vast knowledge of
Residential property and new construction. She
received the 2003 “Rookie of the Year” for
Morgan County, a member of the local, state and
national Association of Realtors. She served on
the Board of Directors for the Morgan County
Association of Realtors for 2006, an Executive
Club member for the RE/MAX Dixie Region. She
graduated from West Morgan High School, and
plays softball for The Brick. Julie loves to cook,
entertain and spend time with the people she
loves and her kitty cat Ginger!
Prestige Oil
Portraits
Dtrob551@aol.com
256-566-4370
Tiffany Roberts is an oil
portrait artist and owner of
Tiffany Roberts Prestige Oil Portraits of
Decatur.
She has the talPortrait Artist
ent to turn your photograph portrait into a beautiful original oil painting.
A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, she has
lived in Alabama for the past ten years. Tiffany is
a member of the Decatur Art Guild, along with various charitable organizations. She and her husband Todd have three children, Alyssa, Quinn and
Hampton, and attend Wesley Memorial United
Methodist Church. She would like to thank each
and every one of her customers for making her
business a success.
You can see Tiffany’s ability to make
beautiful portraits with these examples
of her fabulous work.
“One Stop Shopping”
Westmeade Plaza
355-7377
Faye Bishop
Faye Bishop loves to
help women look and feel
beautiful. She has owned
and managed ‘House of
Wigs’ for 34 years.
Faye features famous name brand wigs including
Eva Gabor, Raquel Welch, “Black is Beautiful” by
Beverly Johnson, Henry Margu, Rene of Paris,
Clean & Style Wigs and men’s toupés. She specializes in chemotherapy wigs, with hundreds to
choose from. Faye is a licensed cosmetologist.
In-home service for the Homebound is just one of
her many services.
Faye has 2 daughters, Conne Steele and Debbie
Springer and 4 grandchildren. In her free time
she enjoys collecting antiques. House of Wigs is
open 10:00-5:30 Mon.-Fri., Sat. 10:00-4:00 to
serve you.
Weaver Realty &
Auction Company
905 6th Avenue SE
Decatur, AL 35601
(256) 355-3410
Fax (256) 355-3428
Cell (256) 303-6248
Wendye Weaver Eady is a
realtor for Weaver Realty
& Auction Co., and is
entering her 15th year of
service. She specializes in
Commercial, Residential,
HUD foreclosures, and
Wendye
Property Management,
Weaver Eady
and she can sell you anyRealtor
thing listed in North
Alabama. Weaver Realty
& Auction Company is a family owned company,
and she says there is no other feeling like helping
families find their dream home.
A Decatur native, she graduated from Austin High
School and Athens State University. She is a member of the National Assoc. of Realtors, the Morgan
Co. Assoc. of Realtors, and the Business Associates
of Decatur. She is also a member of Central Baptist
Church. Married 10 yrs. to Brandon, they have 2 children; Jordan, age 7, and Tyler, age 2.
Please call Wendye at (256)303-6248 for more
info on any real estate needs you may have.
Hutton Homes
Real Estate
504 14th St., S.E.
Decatur, AL
256-355-5428
Tammy has been with
Hutton Homes Real
Estate (formerly Gunnin
Real Estate) for 10 years.
She enjoys assisting her
Tammy Wood clients with finding homes
Threadgill
that meet their needs. She
Realtor
is a member of the AAR
and the NAR. In the Spring of 2006, she acquired
her Broker’s License, and in Oct., 2006 she
became a certified Real Estate Instructor.
Her greatest pastime and passion is her children
and songwriting. She and her sister were co-writers and her sister performed their original songs
on Sunday Night Writers Night at the Bluebird
Cafe in Nashville until her untimely passing in
March 2007. Tammy is a member of ASCAP and
NSAI and continues to write.
Tammy is married and has two daughters, Molly
Brooke, 22, and Mariana, 13.
Joe Sartain
Decatur, AL
3300 Hwy 31 S
350-2120 • 1-800-373-4131
www.joesartainford.com
Buffy Smith has been in
the automotive retail sales
and leasing business
since February 2000. She
adds sparkle to the automotive sales industry as
some automotive shopBuffy Smith
pers may be surprised at
Sales
the petite brunette’s knowledge of the automotive industry. However, she has
achieved “Salesman of the Month” numerous
times due to her product knowledge which is verified by her high overall customer satisfaction
scores. She enjoys the selling challenges of each
day because prospective car buyers have different
automotive needs. There is great job satisfaction
in finding the right vehicle for your customer.
Outside of work, Buffy is a busy mother of 2
Honor Students. She is very involved with their
education and extracurricular activities. Buffy is
looking forward to her upcoming wedding in July.
Buffy can be found at Joe Sartain, Decatur’s
Oldest Hometown dealership where you will
always receive “Your Best Price.”
Bender’s
Gym
Decatur, AL
256-303-1519
leighann@
leighannturner.com
935B Wimberly Dr. SW
Decatur • 353-9997
1309 Hwy. 31N Hartselle
751-9997
Amanda Bender is the
co-owner of the newest
24 hr. fitness facility in this
Amanda Bender area. Her work is primarily
Vice President behind the scenes, but
and Co-Owner Amanda enjoys interacting
with the members and
teaching classes. Helping members establish
healthy habits and improve their fitness level is a
very rewarding experience. Members enjoy an
atmosphere where people of all shapes, sizes
and ages feel comfortable and welcome The
Decatur location opened 2 yrs. ago, the Hartselle
location opened in Nov. of 2007. Her main interests are her family and fitness. She has a business degree from Indiana University and is a certified group fitness and Bodypump instructor. She
and her husband, Dr. Tom Bender, try to keep
their 6 children active and focus on family time.
Leighann is an agent for
RE/MAX Platinum in
Decatur. Licensed in
1997, she says “Real
Leighann Turner estate is a huge portion of
my ‘life.’ I have been
Realtor
fortunate to be a top
producing agent for
residential sales in the area for several years
with much support from my friends and clients.”
She was voted “Best of the Best” in Decatur
Daily poll for 2007, member of top sales clubs for
RE/MAX. She is a member of Platinum Club and
Hall of Fame. She is a member of the Morgan
Co. Assocation and National Association of
Realtors. Leighann has been married to Kelvin
for 14 years and lives in Trinity. They are members of Oak Grove FCM church. She enjoys
studying some commercial real estate and
investments, and loves landscaping and decorating and even “staging” some homes. Leighann
and Kelvin plan to start a family someday!
Hutton Homes
Real Estate
Decatur, AL
Office: 256-351-9180
Direct: 256-227-1360
504 14th St., S.E.
Decatur, AL
256-355-5428
Mary Kelly is a realtor for
the
Morgan
County
Association of Realtors
and is entering into her
18th year of service. She
Mary Kelly
is a member of the local,
Realtor
state and national association of realtors. Hutton Homes Real Estate,
where she works, has been in business for over
30 years and Don Hutton is the broker. Mary’s
purpose is to help people become home owners
and she works hard to make this a reality for
them. Another service she provides is a notary
for the state of Alabama.
Mary is a member of the First Missionary Baptist
Church, Rev. Herbert Cartwright, Jr., Pastor.
She participates with the “Fabulous Reds” a
chapter of the Red Hat Society. Mary dearly
loves her two children LaRosalyn and Gary. Also
her seven grandchildren, Korbyn, Tyler,
Dominique, Damari, Stanley, Kyron and Jakeem.
Betty has been a Realtor
since 1989, and with
RE/MAX for 10 years.
Betty Aldridge She is a Graduate of the
Realtor Institute, and
Realtor
Accredited
Buyers
Representative, and has
received
numerous
awards from the Dixie Region RE/MAX. Betty
has lived in the Decatur/Hartselle area most of
her life, she graduated from the Morgan County
High School, and she is a retiree from Marshall
Space Flight Center. Betty enjoys gardening,
shopping for clothes and home décor, and is very
interested in Interior Decorating. Betty is married
to Harold Aldridge. Call Betty for your real estate
needs.
Kid’s Central, Inc.
Childcare & Learning Center
Decatur, AL
256-221-4297
Original Photograph
Portrait
Original Photograph
Portrait
Tiffany’s Oil Painting
Portrait
Tiffany’s Oil Painting
Portrait
Lisa received her real
estate license in 2005,
and her broker’s license
in 2007. She joined
Lisa MartinRE/MAX Platinum in the
Vickers
Realtor-Associate summer of 2007. Lisa
was
voted
Morgan
Broker
County Association of
Realtors 2007 “Rookie of
the Year”. She is a member of the National,
State, and County Association of Realtors. Lisa
grew up in Priceville and has lived in the Decatur
area all her life; she graduated from Decatur
High School and the Southern Institute College
in Huntsville. Lisa holds a brown belt in Tae Kwon
Do/Tang Soo Do Karate; she enjoys the outdoors, reading, and loves spending time with her
children. Lisa has been married to Mike Vickers
for 18 years, and they have two children, Martin,
14 and Madison Rae, 12.
823 6th Ave. SE, Decatur
YourEyeDocs.com
353-1871
Dr. Ocampo has been
with Innovative Eyecare
since August, 2006. She
provides primary eye care
Kim Ocampo, OD for all ages, combining the
latest in leading-edge
technology with the personalized attention you
want and deserve.
Dr. Ocampo is an active member of the AL
Optometric Assoc., the N. AL Optometric Society,
the American Optometric Assoc., and the DecaturMorgan Co. Chamber of Commerce. She has
made several humanitarian trips to developing
countries to provide much needed eye care.
Originally from Hamilton, AL, Dr. Ocampo is a
Decatur resident. She attended Auburn University
Montgomery, and graduated from UAB School of
Optometry with honors. Besides spending quality
time with her son, Alex, age 9, she enjoys
camping, fishing, baseball and traveling.
BEN PORTER
410 11th St. SE
Decatur, AL 35601
353-5465
Margia has been the
Director at Kid’s Central,
Inc. for over 10 years. “I
brought with me the
Margia Partain desire to provide a loving,
Director
quality childcare service
for working parents and
to give them a sense of security and peace of
mind in leaving their children at Kid’s Central.”
Kid’s Central accepts ages 3 weeks to 13 years,
and they are open from 5:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
“Through my many years of association with the
owner, Jennifer Cole, I have watched many of
your children grow from infancy to kindergarten
years, taking with them the knowledge and the
desire for greater learning.” Margia worked for
the FBI and U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C.,
and was a legal and medical secretary. Margia
enjoys landscaping, interior design, and spending time with her husband Charles, 3 children, 3
grandchildren and a great grandchild.
Real Estate
“Always there for you”
919 6th Ave. SE
Decatur, AL 35601
256-350-9676
256-476-2993
Jamie has been a realtor
for Ben Porter for one year,
and a member of The
Morgan County Board of
Realtors, National Association of Realtos and
ARPAC- Alabama Realtors Political Action
Committee. She is a certified Lending Tree Realty
Services Agent, and has completed the ERA
Acceleration course. Jamie is also an Accredited
Staging Professional. She is a ‘94 graduate of
Austin High School. Jamie always had an interest
in home design and décor, and helping others with
their real estate needs just seemed a natural fit. In
Jamie’s spare time she enjoys canoeing, hiking,
camping, and floral design. Jamie is married to
Mark Howard, who is with TVA Brown’s Ferry
Nuclear Plant, and they currently live in Hartselle.
Jamie Howard
Realtor
5
2008
Focus On
Recognizing the Success of These Valley Professionals
Legacy Portraits
The French
Connection
910 6th Ave. SE
Decatur • 355-8700
Norma Williams has
owned and operated The
French Connection since
Norma Williams it opened in 1983. Specializing in reproducing
Owner
over 300 name brand
fragrances, she offers
one of the largest selections of fragrances, along
with a huge selection of candles, home décor,
jewelry and much more. Norma donates to many
organizations, hosts school fund raisers and
ships orders nationwide. The French Connection
has a wholesale division nationwide also.
Norma has been happily married to Don Williams
for 51 years. She has four daughters: Cathy
Woodruff, Betsy Shelton, Polly Moses and Karry
Williams; four grandchildren: Alex Woodruff,
Molly Moses, Maggie Moses and Anna Shelton,
who also like to work for her and carry on the
family business.
Furniture Company
2119 6th Ave. SE
Decatur, AL 35601
355-0632
Kristen Shumake has
been with Shumake
Furniture for 18 years.
Kristen Shumake She works as a Buyer/
Buyer/Decorating Decorator. She is an Ole
Miss University graduate
with a Bachelor’s degree
in Interior Design and a minor degree in Art. She
received a 1st place project award through ASID.
Kristen is an active member of New Song
Family Church where she enjoys teaching the
College and Career Class. She and her
husband, Chris, are the proud parents of 11 year
old triplets; Zoe, Noah and Jonah.
Kristen invites you to Shumake Furniture to see
how we make furnishing your home an enjoyable
and affordable experience.
810 Bank St.
Decatur, AL 35601
www.legacybyjennifer.com
legacyportraits@charter.net
256-350-3506
Jennifer is the owner and
photographer at Legacy
Portraits since 2000, but
has been shooting professionally for 20 years. She
Jennifer Culp
specializes in children’s
Owner
photography and her
clients’ parents would all
agree her work is very unique and creative.
She has received many awards through the
Professional Photographers Association, she is
an instructor at Calhoun Community College, and
teaches with Decatur City Schools. She attended
a three-day photo sabbatical in New York City in
2007. “Seeing and capturing a wonderful smile
and the true nature of a child is what I strive for
everyday.” Jennifer enjoys working in her rose
garden, spending time with her husband Rodney,
and two children Alexis, 13 and Stone, 12 and
taking care of her many animals. They have lived
in Danville for 13 years and attend Crosspoint
Community Church.
Furniture Company
2119 6th Ave. SE
Decatur, AL 35601
355-0632
Barbara Yost has been
with Shumake for 11
years. She completed the
Barbara Yost
Sales/Decorator Design Program at the
University of Alabama in
Huntsville in June of
1998. She can color coordinate your room or office and make redecorating fun and exciting with
beautiful results. Whether you come by the store
or have Barbara come to your home, you can be
assured of beautiful results with Shumake Furniture.
Barbara lives in Cullman and attends St. John’s
Evangelical Protestant Church. She loves to
travel and be with family and good friends. Barbara has 4 daughters and 10 grandchildren.
Dr. Bernice R.
Swain
801 Church St. NE Ste. 6
Decatur, AL 35601
256-340-0014
Janie Sewell has been the
HR Manager at Lyons HR
since September 2005
and has been in the inJanie Sewell
dustry for 8 years. Lyons
Branch Manager HR specializes in Short
and Long term staffing, Direct Hire recruiting, HR Consulting, HR Outsourcing, and Employee Screening and Background
Search.
Janie’s achievements include being voted the
“Best Temporary Agency” by the Decatur Daily for
two consecutive years in 2005 and 2006.
Janie is very proud to be a part of the largest independently owned employment firm in Alabama.
Her leadership abilities have made Lyons HR one
of the most prominent staffing services in Decatur.
She prides herself in excellent customer service
and owes her success to her team at Lyons HR.
Marie Allred
Owner
Marie Allred opened her
wig shop on Moulton St.
in 1972 and she specializes in wigs for customers
with hair loss.
As owner of Atlantic Wig
sales, she provides the kind of service that
women facing hair loss would appreciate. The
store has fitting rooms for complete privacy and
a wide range of wig styles for both the young and
mature man or woman. Her sales staff are
experts at fitting and styling wigs and are trained,
licensed cosmetologists who treat the hair loss
customers with understanding and sensitivity.
She also provides consultations in the home or in
the hospital.
Marie would like to invite her customers and
friends to visit her next to the post office on the
Beltine across from the Decatur Mall.
Consignments
& Gifts
1032-C 4th Ave. SE
Decatur, AL 35601
Sherry is the store
manager at Second
Thoughts Consignments,
Sherry Smith a new business currently
Store Manager celebrating their Grand
Opening on the corner of
4th and 7th Avenues. Second Thoughts carries a
wide range of different items. You will find
women’s apparel, menswear, teen and children’s
gently used clothing, shoes and accessories,
toys, books, small furniture and decorative accessories like lamps, pictures, etc. Sherry has
various work experience including five years of
retail sales
experience. Sherry lives in
Lawrence County, and enjoys spending time at
home with her family, shopping, and crafts. Sherry has been married to Travis Smith for 30 years,
they have one son Tim, and two grandsons,
Chandler 8 years, and Kobe 5 years.
Weety & Kate
VICKERY
466-SOLD • 466-KATE
Easy to Remember…
Hard to Forget!
www.vickerywebsite.com
BEN PORTER
Real Estate
919 6th Avenue • Office: 256.350.9676
Decatur, AL 35601 Fax: 256-355-6837
Weety Vickery GRI, Associate Broker for ERA
Ben Porter in Decatur. She is the 2008 President
of the Morgan County Association of Realtors.
She graduated from the Realtor Institute of
Alabama. Weety served on the Board of Directors
in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. She is also
the State Delegate for the Morgan County Association of Realtors in 2004, 2007, and 2008. A
member of the National Association of Realtors,
and a lifelong resident here in Decatur. She has
been married for 29 years to Mike Vickery, and
has three daughters and three granddaughters.
She is a member of various local organizations
and a member of Central Baptist Church in
Decatur.
Kate Vickery, Sales Associate for ERA Ben Porter
in Decatur. She graduated from The University of
Alabama with a degree in Real Estate Finance.
She is a member or the Morgan County Association of Realtors and the National Association of
Realtors. Kate is also on the 2008 Multiple Listing
Committee. Kate attends Central Baptist Church
in Decatur.
Shari is a realtor for
RE/MAX Platinum in
Decatur. She has been in
real estate for 12 years.
Shari Sandlin
Shari is one of the top
Realtor
agents in Morgan County,
and a member of the
100% club at RE/MAX. She has been a resident
of Decatur for 45 years. Shari attends First Bible
Church and is a member of the women’s Bible
study. She enjoys golfing, jogging and spending
time with her family. Shari is married to Mike
Sandlin of 25 years and they have three children,
one son in law, and one grandson. I thrive on
making people happy and providing them 100%
of dedication, loyalty and hard work. Call Shari
for your real estate needs.
Debbie is a Realtor/ Associate Broker for RE/MAX
Platinum. In her 13 years
of experience she has
earned many awards
such as, Multi-Million
Debbie Lake
Realtor-Associate Dollar Producer, 100%
Club, and has worked as
Broker
relocation director and
website manager for 5
years. Debbie believes in continuously educating
herself in order to best provide service to her
clients. She is a long time native to the Decatur
area, and a member of the Morgan County
Association of Realtors, and The Chamber of
Commerce. Volunteers with PACT, Kids One,
March of Dimes, Disabled Veterans, Alabama
Jubilee, and she supports our area schools.
Debbie enjoys all animals, swimming, fishing,
dancing, gardening and spending time with her
husband Rayburn Lake of 13 years. Debbie has
two sons, and two grandchildren, Colin and
Gabriella. “I am so blessed!”
Furniture Company
Furniture Company
Furniture Company
2119 6th Ave. SE • Decatur, AL 35601
355-0632
355-0632
Mandy Johnson has been
with Shumake Furniture
for 4 years in the furniture
Mandy Johnson
Sales/Decorator retail and decorating service industry. She is looking forward to completing
a Design Program in June 2008 at the University
of Alabama in Huntsville.
Mandy lives in Hartselle and attends East Highland Baptist Church. She is married to Jerry
Johnson. They have two children; a 9 year old
son, Jayce and a 5 year old daughter, Molly.
Mandy enjoys spending time with her friends and
family.
Jamie Rollins has been at
Shumake Furniture for 1.5
years. She graduated
from Calhoun Community
Jamie Rollins
College in 2005 with an
Decorating
Associated’s degree in
Consultant
Accounting and Business.
She is looking forward to
graduating UNA in May; she will have completed
a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design and a minor in Art. Jamie is the current President of UNA’s
student chapter of American Society of Interior
Design and the current Treasurer of UNA’s student chapter of National Kitchen and Bath Association. Jamie is also a member of the Delta Epsilon Iota Honor Society.
She enjoys spending time with her friends and
family; she also likes to shop, travel, do Tae Bo,
draw and paint. Jamie is married to Kenny
Rollins.
Heather Terry
Sales
Heather Terry is the
newest member of the
sales team at Shumake
Furniture. She has been
part of the team for 1
year.
Heather was born and raised in Decatur. She is
a member of Vintage Faith Church. Heather is
the proud mother of a 4 year old son named
Hunter.
Whether you are ready to update your home or
vacation getaway with latest trends or cozy
traditional, she can make your shopping an
enjoyable experience.
ABERCROMBIE
CHEVROLET
Hwy. 31 N. • Hartselle
773-2591
802 Bank St. NE
Decatur, AL
353-1741
Jennifer is the owner of
Sam Frank & Moore in
Downtown Decatur. She
Jennifer Manifold purchased the business
in July of 2005, but Sam
Chou
Frank and Moore has
Owner
been on Bank Street
since 1911. Her store
offers a gift shop with home décor, oil paintings,
baby gifts, complete bridal registry and gourmet
foods. Sam Frank & Moore was voted Best Gift
Shop in 2006 and 2007. She is an active
member on the Main Street of Decatur board.
Jennifer grew up in Decatur, and remembers
going into Sam Frank & Moore as a little girl. She
graduated from Auburn University. She enjoys
spending time with her family and friends,
Auburn football, and trips to the beach. Jennifer
is married to Marvin Chou with two children, Jake
3 years, and Rhys 6 months.
June Smith Hall
2699 Sandlin Rd.
Ste. A-5
Decatur, AL
256-654-1962
Dr. Bernice R. Swain is
board certified in family
medicine. She opened
her Family Medicine
Dr. Bernice R.
Practice in September
Swain
Family Medicine 1996. Her health care
focus includes women
health issues, preventitive care, and she offers bone density testing in
her office for all women who are concerned with
osteoporosis. She is a member of the ACOFP,
American Medical Association, Morgan County
Medical Society, and the Alabama Medical
Association. Dr. Swain enjoys movies, reading,
mentoring to children and sports. She is active in
community and church programs such as community health fairs and youth career day events.
She is currently accepting new patients. Office
hours are Monday-Friday. Please call for
appointments.
Decatur, AL
256-351-9180 x. 69
256-303-5402
355-0632
Second
Thoughts
1814-C Beltline Rd.
Decatur • 355-7224
2506B Danville Road
Suite 203
Decatur, AL 35603
341-0043
2314 6th Ave., SE, Ste. A
Decatur, AL • 303-0710
junesmith@
callplatinumfirst.com
June has been with
Platinum Mortgage as a
Mortgage Banker since
June Smith Hall 2004. She enjoys people
Mortgage Banker and her mission is to help
her customers with acquiring the best mortgage loan possible for purchase
or refinance. She is a top producer for Platinum
Mortgage and is a BBB Board Member.
In previous years June opened J&J School
Supply and sold to Learning Tree. She also
started Grisham-Cornell Art Gallery. A Decatur
Native, June has been a member of St. John’s
Episcopal Church for over 30 years. She also
enjoys flower arranging and snow skiing.
June is married to Steven H. Hall, and together
they have 3 sons, John, John Adam and Steven
Jr.
Terrie Savage is a dynamic
person who loves people
and cars; consequently,
this has turned her career
into one of new and used
Terrie Savage
automobile sales. Her
Sales
outgoing personality has
earned her salesperson of the month honors,
numerous sales awards as well as customer service
awards. Terrie has been a sales representative for
20 years. Terrie is originally from Birmingham,
Alabama where she graduated from UAB as a
Board Certified Histotechnologist. She enjoys
politics, football and the New York Yankees. She
and her husband, Scott live in Hartselle. If you’re in
the market for a new or used car, stop by and see
Terrie as, “customer satisfaction is her first priority.”
AHL
Mortgage Inc.
2042 Beltine Rd., SW,
Ste. E-316
Decatur, AL 35601
Laura has worked 35
years in the Decatur area
for different banks and
Laura L. Mitchell mortgage companies.
President/Owner She served as the 2007
President for the State of Alabama’s Mortgage
Broker Association (AMBA) and now serves on
several committees for the National Association
of Mortgage Brokers. One of her accomplishments while serving as President of AMBA was
to create a State Lobby Day for the mortgage
brokers to meet their congressman and see our
State Government at work.
Laura is a member of the Morgan Co. Board
of Realtors Association, AMBA, NAMB, BBB,
Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Chamber.
She is married and has three children and three
grandchildren.
Decatur, AL
256-351-9180 #26,
566-3580 Cell
Bonnie has been in Real
Estate since 1986. She
works with a wide range
Bonnie Mink, CRS of customers including
first time home buyers to
Realtor
clients that have down
sized or upgraded, and
she is available 24/7. Bonnie has received
numerous awards such as Multi-Million Dollar,
Top Producer, 2/08 Top 5 Officers in the State of
Alabama, and her office RE/MAX Platinum was
awarded #1 in the Decatur and surrounding
areas and in the Top 5 Offices in Alabama.
Bonnie has helped buyers find the perfect home
in Morgan, Lawrence, Madison and Limestone
markets. She attends Westmeade Baptist
Church and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, Alex, 8 years, Nicholas, 4, and Faith, 2.
In her spare time she relaxes while gardening
and sewing. Bonnie has been married 33 years
to Michael R. Mink.
Decatur Internal
Medicine Center
Dr. Kirk Jackson, MD
2506 Danville Rd. SW
Suite 101
Decatur • 350-6363
April is a 1998 graduate
from the University of
North Alabama with a
April Burkett
Bachelor of Science degree
Jackson
in Nursing and a minor in
RN, BSN
management. She is
employed as the Clinical
Trial and Research Coordinator/ Manager for
Decatur Internal Medicine Center. She has held
this position for 6 years. As the coordinator, Mrs.
Jackson recruits and screens patients for all
on-going international clinical research trials
conducted for various pharmaceutical companies.
She is then responsible for enrolling each qualified
patient and following these patients throughout the
course of the trial. Her primary responsibility is
communication with trial monitors and international review boards to assure there are no protocol
violations. At the completion of each trial, results
are published in physician peer reviewed journals.
April has had Type 1 diabetes since age 13. She
controls this with a Medtronic MiniMed insulin
pump. She is a Certified Insulin Pump Specialist/
Trainer for DIMC and Medtronic MiniMed. She
demonstrates use of the insulin pump and places
them on diabetic patients who qualify for the
pump. April works in conjunction with Dr. Jackson
to initiate patient’s insulin pump therapy. She is
then responsible for helping patients with
mechanical pump maintenance. April follows
patients long term for continuing education and
pump related complications.
In addition, April serves as a nursing preceptor for
local universities and colleges, helping to train
and educate student nurses to enter the work
force. She is an active member of the Alabama
State Nurses Association. Although not currently
working as an EMT, April continues to hold an
active license for the State of Alabama. She is an
active member of the alabama State Nurses
Association and the American Diabetes Association. She is also a member of the Decatur
General Gala Guild.
April grew up in Courtland and attended
Hatton High School. Her parents are Robert
and Charlene Burkett. She has one brother,
Mike Burkett.
In her free time interests include family, travel,
fitness and exercise, outdoor sports and movies.
April is married to Dr. Kirk L. Jackson, MD of
Decatur. They have 3 children: Katherine 8,
Dalton 6, and Logan 21 months.
Orr unlocks more than just cars
By Paul Huggins
Daily photo by Brennen Smith
Mickey Parker is a quality control manager at Byrd Maintenance
Services, Inc. in Decatur.
BMSI’s Parker
keeps pipes flowing
for local industries
By Paul Huggins
phuggins@decaturdaily.com
340-2395
You wouldn’t know Mickey
Parker is an X-ray technician
from his steel-toed work boots
and blue-collar shirt.
Actually, the 42-year-old
Lawrence County native doesn’t
take X-rays. But as quality control manager for the pipe department at Byrd Maintenance
Services Inc., he does need to
know how to read them.
Twenty percent of the welded
pipe connections Byrd produces
for local industries must be X-
Nelson
From page 4
every day,” Nelson said. “Every
time I look at a little handheld
global positioning system receiver I think that you could be
using some information off the
satellite on a rocket that we
built. It is a good feeling knowing that you provided a service
to a multitude of people around
the world.”
Nelson said he is not alone at
United Launch Alliance in
putting pressure on himself to
get the job done right.
“We have a bunch of good
teammates out here,” he said.
“Everybody works together
well. We try to keep each other
in check. If something does not
look right, nobody is afraid to
speak up and say, ‘Hey, we need
BP
From page 2
He grew up in Hillsboro.
In his spare time, Shackelford
restores classic cars. He recently restored and sold a 1965 Mustang and a 1969 Impala.
“Restoring cars is a challenge.
It is a challenge to find the cars;
it is a challenge to find the parts.
It is a challenge to troubleshoot
them and put them together. It is
a challenge to get them to run,”
Shackelford said. “It is a little bit
like this job. If you see something you don’t know, you have
to do research and find a procedure to do it. You have to use
your head; you have to think.”
phuggins@decaturdaily.com
340-2395
Brooks Lock
and Key
So you think locksmiths
mostly just help people locked
out of their cars and make
spare keys.
John Orr, owner of Brooks
Lock and Key, said most people
he talks to think those two services are 75 percent of his business, when actually, it’s more
like 10 percent.
Mostly, the job is about keeping businesses and homes safe,
Orr said, and staying ahead of
thieves and burglars is a constantly evolving effort.
“There’s never a boring day
in the locksmith business, he
said.
■ 411 Sixth St. S.E.
■ 12 employees, including the
shop in Huntsville
■ Locksmith
Electronic locks are becoming more popular every year as
companies seek the ability to
trace who’s in the workplace at
specific times, Orr said. But the
backbone of the business remains the basic, mechanical
lock.
While it’s essentially a simple
metal device, because it’s mechanical, it’s prone to failure.
Lock repair is good for business
but it can make for a trouble-
some day, Orr said.
“There are technicians who
have been here for 18 years, and
I think it’s safe to say they come
across something they’ve never
seen before at least once a
month,” he said. “And it can be
very time intensive. There’s a
lot of problem solving in it.”
It’s aggravating, Orr said,
when he thinks a repair job is
only going to take 45 minutes
and it lingers into four hours.
Meanwhile, other customers
who expected a service call two
hours earlier are still waiting
anxiously.
Orr bought Brooks Lock and
Key in 2004 from Larry Warnick, a deer-hunting buddy. Orr
had
owned
an
auto
detailing/mini-storage business
Satterwhite
feels right
at home
at BASF
Byrd
Maintenance
Services Inc.
By Ronnie Thomas
■ Alabama 20 West
■ Employees: 12 to 15 in pipe
shop; 150-plus overall
■ Maintains mechanical
systems for local industries
rthomas@decaturdaily.com
340-2438
rayed to determine a solid weld.
It’s just one of the ways he
ensures the work meets
government and customer
Please see Parker, page 10
to look at that again.’ ”
Off the job, Nelson, 49, lives in
Decatur and is active in aerospace education with the Civil
Air Patrol. He has an associate’s
degree in electronic engineering technology, and — thanks to
a United Launch Alliance tuition reimbursement program
— is taking online courses to
complete his bachelor’s degree.
Nelson is proud of his role in
the perfect success rate of the
Delta IV. Because he is in the
last team to check the rocket before it leaves Decatur, he feels
particular responsibility in
making sure it is launch-ready
when it leaves.
“I kind of consider us to be
the bottom of the funnel. Everything comes together and it all
comes to this one little area,”
Nelson said. “We have to have
everything working right before
we can ship it. We don’t want
any kind of problems.”
Shackelford said he first became impressed with BP’s focus
on safety while he was a contractor.
Even though he had a minor
role at the plant, he knew he
was expected to voice any concerns about safety.
“You can be the lowest man
on the totem pole and if you see
a safety issue and bring it up,
somebody is going to look at it,”
Shackelford stressed. “Somebody is going to get an answer
and somebody is going to get it
fixed. That is the way it is out
here.”
Shackelford is almost apologetic for his enthusiasm.
“My wife says, ‘I think you enjoy going to work a little bit too
much.’ What can I say? I love my
job.”
in Hartselle and made the
switch after realizing the longterm security of locksmithing.
Brooks has existed since 1971.
There’s job security in helping people stay safe, Orr said,
and he pointed out even basic
mechanical locks are susceptible to Internet crime. A risk
nowadays is that thieves can
buy a type of universal key and
instructions on how to pick a
lock on the Web.
One of the ways Orr combats
that is to sell Medico locks.
Medico locks have grooves on
the metal shaft that are unique
to the locksmith who sells them.
If business or homeowners had
a Medico lock installed by
Brooks, they can only get a duplicate key made by Brooks.
Daily photo by John Godbey
BASF worker Marvin Satterwhite checks a paint sample.
Marvin
Satterwhite
of
Athens has been a traveler
since he graduated high school
and joined the Army at 17. He
wanted to see more than Chicago, where he was born and
raised.
He has already accomplished
a major portion of that goal,
touching down on four of the
seven continents. And he’s only
51.
Satterwhite retired from the
Army at Redstone Arsenal in
May 1994 and found another
place where he’s right at home,
after joining BASF as a quality
assurance technician.
“We check all the physical
properties on the industrial
coatings. We also make sure
that the colors are good,” he
said.
Satterwhite rates a day as satisfying, he said, when he can assist his shaders — they make
Please see BASF, page 10
JMS Metal Services of Alabama, Inc. stocks over 2,000 inventory items in Decatur.
Carbon • Stainless • Aluminum • Galvanized
Products We offer:
• Tubing
• Floor Plate
• Plate
• Stair Treads
• Sheet
• Angles
• CR & HR Flats
• Channels
• CR & HR Rounds
• Beams
• CR & HR Squares • Pipe
• Expanded Metal
• Rebar
• Bar Grating
Services We offer:
• Steel Stacker Inventory System
• CNC Controlled Plasma & Oxygen Burning
• Production Cutting Saw Capabitities
• Shearing
• Mitre Saw Cutting
1312 Commerce Drive, NW • Decatur, AL
Phone: (256) 308-0580 Fax: (256) 308-0250 Toll Free 1-866-308-0580
Barnes
From page 2
unit. The rubberized fabric — in
rolls that weigh several tons —
is shipped by truck to the customer.
Most of the fabric is pressed
into tires or hoses.
“It’s a comfortable place to
work,” he said. “Most people
like the environment here.”
Barnes, who grew up in Ardmore, commutes 45 minutes
from his home in Lauderdale
County. He lives there with his
wife and two sons, ages 8 and 3.
“The boys take up most of my
time when I’m not at work,”
Barnes smiled. “After ball
games and everything, there’s
not much time left.”
Barnes, 34, was in the Army
for six years before starting at
Goodyear.
“This plant has been here a
long time,” Barnes said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to continue
being here for the long run.”
Lose the Weight. Change Your Life.
You are invited to a FREE seminar on Thursday, February 28 at 6:00 p.m. in the Pavilion
Classroom at Parkway Medical Center. The seminar topics are laparoscopic Roux-en-Y
gastric bypass and the LAP-BAND®. The LAP-BAND® is one the safest, least invasive and only
adjustable surgical treatment for morbid obesity in the United States. The laparoscopic gastric
bypass is America’s #1 weight loss operation and the gold standard for bariatric surgery.
The seminar is presented by Jay Suggs, MD, FACS, a fellowship-trained bariatric surgeon.
For more information, call 301-3310. No reservations required.
1874 Beltline Road • Decatur
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 ■ www.decaturdaily.com
The Decatur Daily ■ 7
Fairview man
teaches others
to drive trucks
By Bayne Hughes
hughes@decaturdaily.com
340-2432
ESD Truck
Driving
School
Justin Rhoades thought he
was going to be an electrician a Shoal Creek Road, Priceville
year ago, but after doing multi- 8 employees
ple odd jobs he decided to attend
truck-driving school.
Now he has found a career he
loves, and he’s teaching others
how to do it.
Based in Nashville, the comAfter attending ESD Truck pany has 10 service centers in
Driving School, the Fairview Alabama, Georgia, California,
resident went to work for West- Missouri and Virginia. The
Daily photo by John Godbey ern Express Inc. in Priceville.
Priceville center on Bethel
While most truckers are on Road is one of four in Alabathe road a week at a time, ma.
Rhoades is usually out for two 3,500 employees
weeks because of his duties as a The company owns and optrainer. He said he enjoys seeing erates about 1,600 power
his students find a career in units and in excess of 3,500
truck driving.
trailers.
After a day or two of rest, he’s
“An entry-level tanning bed ders with suppliers. He said that
“My philosophy is there are on the road again. Each trip to 715 miles a day, which takes
has an average of 30 to 32 like any job, the tanning bed in- no bad days, some are better could mean three or four stops.
Please see Trucks, page 10
Federal law limits truck drivers
lamps,” he said.
dustry has its challenges.
than others,” he said.
Higher-powered beds have
more than 60 lamps. Tanning
beds range in price from $5,500
to more than $40,000, he said.
“Typically, the more lamps
and wattage, the more expensive,” he said.
Frey has been with Milco for
about 16 months.
He said he has been involved
with the industry for about 11
years, and previously worked
for a major distributor of tanning beds in his hometown,
Paris, Tenn.
He said his job in Moulton involves working in production,
distribution and managing or-
Western
Express Inc.
Carter Frey with a tanning bed.
Milco’s beds keep people tan
By Nancy Glasscock
nglasscock@decaturdaily.com
340-2443
MOULTON — Whether it’s a
high-wattage tanning bed for
the experienced user or a lowerpowered, entry-level bed,
chances are Milco Inc. builds it.
Employees at the manufacturing facility at 900 Pickens St.
build tanning beds for commercial salons and for in-home use,
said Carter Frey, vice president
of operations. Headquartered in
New Jersey, the local facility employs 15 and has been in operation for about 12 years.
Frey said about 25,000 commercial tanning salons are open
in the United States, with six to
10 tanning beds at each site. Milco manufactures and distributes tanning beds across the
United States, he said.
Tanning beds vary in power,
indicated by the number of
lamps and wattage of the lamps,
he said.
Milco Inc.
■ 900 Pickens St.,
Moulton
■ 15 employees
■ Tanning bed manufacturer
We are here for you.
For 96 years, The Citizen’s Bank of Lawrence County, and now Hartselle,
has been proudly serving our community. And while we strive to maintain
the newest technology and services to our clientele, it’s really those one on one
relationships that have sustained our growth over the years. We sincerely
want “The Hometown Bank” to be the bank that you depend on. Whether
you need business lending, auto loans, or help putting next year’s crop in,
come and see us today, and let us show you why our service is the best.
Together we can build a better financial community for all of us in 2008.
THE CITIZENS BANK
“Your Hometown Bank since 1912”
member FDIC
thecitizensbank-moulton.com
Marriage
at work at
Steelcase
Morgan
knows
plastic
at Daikin
By Holly Hollman
hhollman@decaturdaily.com
340-2445
By Evan Belanger
evanb@decaturdaily.com
340-2442
Ever wonder how they make
plastic?
Tim Morgan doesn’t.
For the past 15 years, he has
been working at Daikin America Inc. in Decatur.
The plant manufactures a variety of plastics for industrial
applications that could end up
in your next car, appliance or
even your nonstick frying
pan.
As a chemical operator at
the plant, Morgan is intimately familiar with those
Morgan
processes.
In his day-to-day job, he uses
computers to control the plant’s
distillation towers. In a process
known as cracking, he takes a
mixture of potentially dangerous chemicals and refines them
to a nearly pure gas suitable for
making plastics.
“It’s a good job,” Morgan said.
“It supports my family well,
and you can have a very comfortable lifestyle.”
Morgan started at Daikin by
applying for a summer internship while he was in engineering school. He said he liked the
job so much he never returned
to school.
“There’s always something
different going on,” he said.
Please see Daikin, page 12
Daikin
America Inc.
■ 905 State Docks Road, Decatur
■ Manufactures plastics
■ Employs 270
Daily photo by Gary Cosby Jr.
Chris Russell and Jackie Russell set up a stamping machine at T&C Stamping. Jackie is the lead setup man in the shop and helps
machine operators set up and make accurate parts.
A family-oriented company
Couple met on the job
at T&C Stamping
T&C Stamping
■ Athens
■ 90 to 100 employees
■ Tool and die company
By Holly Hollman
340-2445
Coleman died from a fall. Coleman was
cleaning windows at his river home when
the ladder flipped, and he fell, Russell said.
“We were met at the door at work and
told what happened,” Russell said, and
apologized for the tears that formed.
“That was the worst day. The hardest.”
Coleman was a family-oriented man,
Russell said. He knew his employees by
name and their children by name. He
would also fill in and do any job at the
company, if needed.
“He spoke to everybody, and at the end
of the day, he would thank us for our
work,” Russell said.
ATHENS — Jackie Russell’s best day at
work was meeting the woman who would
become his wife.
The two still work together at T&C
Stamping in Athens and have been married for 11 years.
His worst day was arriving at work and
learning the owner, Mike Coleman, had
died in an accident.
Those are the joys and sorrows that
come with working for a family-owned
company.
T&C is a tool and die operation. The
company’s originators were Coleman and Happier memories
Although that memory brings Russell
John Turner. Turner then sold out to
sorrow, he has other memories at work
Coleman.
that make him smile.
Losing a boss
Russell is the setup lead man, which
Russell, 52, who has been at T&C for 22 means he does scheduling, assigns jobs
years, said he remembers the day in 1997 and checks on the condition of the mawhen he arrived at work and was told chines. He shares an office with 50-year-
old Beverly Russell, his wife. She started
as a press operator and now works in
product quality.
“We were friends first, and I went
through a divorce and later he went
through one,” Beverly Russell said. “After
some time, we eventually started dating.”
Working together doesn’t strain their
relationship, she said.
“A lot of times we don’t see a lot of each
other during the day because he’s out in
the shop,” Beverly Russell said. “We work
well together. We take our breaks together, eat lunch together and ride in to work
together, except on Thursdays in the summer. He goes and plays golf after work on
those days.”
They both work from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
four days a week to make products they
say the people of Athens probably don’t
realize are made locally.
For example, the company makes the
blades for Sunbeam blenders. A machine
produces 120 of those blades a minute.
Workers also make the shields for the
20-horsepower Briggs and Stratton motors, automotive parts, housing units for
the switches on stoves and other products.
The company ships products as far
Please see Family, page 12
ATHENS — Nearly five years
ago, Harold and Micki Woodfin
spent a weekend in Sevierville,
Tenn., and got married in a
scenic church.
They returned to their jobs at
Steelcase the following Monday,
and most co-workers were unaware they tied the knot until
they spotted their wedding
rings.
With their work schedules,
the Woodfins struggle to get the
same off days, so they meet over
lunch to get
couple time.
Micki
Woodfin followed her father to Steelcase and has
been at the
Micki Woodfin company for 27
years. Her dad
worked
for
Steelcase for 18
years. She is a
planner and
makes sure the
plant’s orders
are on schedule. Steelcase
Harold Woodfin makes office
products, such
as furniture panels and moveable walls.
Harold Woodfin, as a supervisor and team leader, manages
the work force, maintains safety
and controls costs. He has been
with Steelcase for 29 years, having gotten the job through a referral from the employment office.
Micki Woodfin knew of
Harold Woodfin because his
mother taught a Sunday school
Please see Steelcase, page 12
Steelcase
■ Athens
■ 750 employees
■ Makes office products
Where We Stand…
Transportation and Infrastructure
Economic and Community
Development
employs over 2,750 residents in the Morgan
County MSA, has an annual economic
impact of 160 million dollars.
The Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of
Commerce continues to support the com- The Chamber enthusiastically supports the
pletion of several transportation projects that efforts of Decatur’s Downtown Redevelop- Labor Relations
benefit travel and commerce.
ment Authority.
The Chamber supports legislation that
• Continued funding for improvements Education
would ensure the continuation of Right-Toto US Alternate 72/Alabama State
Work statutes.
Highway 20.
• Accountability in the education funding
process
Quality of Life
• Funding for the construction of Veterans • The effort to properly fund public educaParkway beginning at an interchange with tion, including pre-school, K-12 and The Chamber supports funding for projthe Atlanta-to-Memphis Highway.
higher education
ects, initiatives, programs and agencies that
enhance the quality of life for residents of
• Continuing funding for improvements to Campaign Finance Reform
Decatur and Morgan County.
AL 67 including the expansion of Beltline
Road (AL 67).
The Chamber supports a ban on PAC to
• The expansion of AL 67 from 2 to 4 lanes
from Priceville to the AL 36 intersection.
• Funding for the Atlanta-to-Memphis
(ATM) Highway.
PAC transfers.
Tourism
The Chamber of Commerce supports legislation to create tax incentives for tourism
product development, which is any facility
or attraction that is used for tourism or travel purposes. The tourism industry, which
353-5312
chamber@dcc.org
www.dcc.org
Dobbs an
expert at
keeping
things cool
Schotz runs
an engineering
marathon at 3M
By Evan Belanger
By Eric Fleischauer
evanb@decaturdaily.com
340-2442
340-2435
The next time you have dinner guests, remember ice cream
always tastes best when chilled
to precisely 12 degrees.
Lettuce is crunchiest when
served at 32 degrees — not 31 degrees, mind you — and milk is
at its best when poured at a
balmy 36 degrees.
No, the preceding food tips
did not come
from
a
gourmet chef
or a home economics
teacher. They
came from a
local refrigeration expert,
Dobbs
Jimmy Dobbs.
For more than 30 years,
Dobbs has worked quality control at Decatur’s General Electric plant on the Tennessee River. The plant produces thousands of refrigerators a year.
In his day-to-day job, Dobbs
puts new refrigerators through
a rigorous testing program, ensuring they are fit for public
consumption.
Chosen at random, the units
are placed in 90-degree testing
chambers and allowed to run
overnight. In the morning,
Dobbs checks specialized internal sensors to determine if the
unit maintained an even temperature.
He also applies “the formula”
to ensure they do not use too
Running 50 miles and completing projects at 3M Co. may
exercise different muscles, said
engineer and running enthusiast Eric Schotz, but they exercise the same part of the brain.
“You become unfazed with a
very hard problem,” Schotz
said.
“You
know that you
have the discipline to put a
goal out several months from
now and gradSchotz
ually work toward it.”
Schotz is 3M’s Lean Six Sigma
manager.
“No one, including us, really
knows what that means,” Schotz
said. “I like to think of myself
as a continuous improvement
manager and coach.”
Lean manufacturing focuses
on fast and efficient production.
Six Sigma focuses on quality. By
combining the two, the goal is
better quality at lower cost.
“My job is to successfully
complete a continuous improvement project, whether it be a
product that has its quality improved or a product that has its
yield improved,” Schotz said.
“We might save money on a
cleaning process, save money on
parts, save money on raw mate-
Please see Dobbs, page 12
General
Electric Corp.
■ 2328 Point Mallard Drive
S.E., Decatur
■ Employs about 1,200
■ Manufactures home
refrigerators
Daily photo by Gary Cosby Jr.
Shift supervisor Keith Mealer talks with Nancy Stafford at her work station in Electricfil in
Elkmont.
Lester resident progresses
quickly at Elkmont company
By Holly Hollman
340-2445
ELKMONT — At age 19, Keith Mealer was a
newlywed and an entry-level employee at Elkmont’s French-owned company, Electricfil.
Never one to coast through life, Mealer became first shift supervisor by age 21, and at age
22, he is a father-to-be.
“I’ve always been interested in seeing how
far I can progress, and I’m not afraid to try new
things,” Mealer said.
Still, the Lester resident figured he would be
in his 40s before he filled the supervisor role.
“I showed a lot of interest in how the company operates, so I guess that’s what helped me
reach this goal at my age,” he said.
As supervisor, Mealer has to ensure his
workers are meeting their production goals,
that the work environment is safe and that machines are operating.
“If a machine goes down, that’s a bad day,”
Mealer said. “It can take hours or days to get
one back running.”
Mealer also has to keep static off the production floor.
What’s the problem with static?
Well, it can damage the electronics in the au-
Electricfil
■ Elkmont
■ 55 employees
■ Produces automotive sensors
tomotive sensors that the company sends to
Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and Audi.
“We have to be very careful to prevent static,
so the employees wear smocks and booties, and
we check each part before it’s shipped to make
sure it’s working,” Mealer said.
He wants to become a manager one day and
eventually retire from Electricfil.
“I love my job,” he said. “I’ve always been
proactive. I don’t wait on someone else to do
something.”
On the weekend, Mealer does try to forget
work by hunting or watching sports. He also
is preparing for the birth of his and his wife,
Elizabeth’s, first child, a girl to be named Alivia
Kate.
Mealer may always be looking ahead in his
career, but he’s not ready to look ahead with his
daughter. When asked if he’s already prepared
for boys to come calling when she is a teen,
Mealer said, “That’s one thing I don’t want to
think about for a long while.”
rials. I’m successful if we make
an improvement and show we
can sustain the improvement.”
With 50 such projects going on
at any given time that can be a
laborious process, but then so
can Schotz’s version of running.
“I take running to the extreme. I’ve done races 50 miles
long or eight hours long. I have
done 16 marathons,” Schotz
said.
Work can be as grueling.
“There are a lot of continuous
improvement projects that may
take six months to complete.
Just like you are training for a
race. It is hard,” Schotz said.
“When you do some of the
things I have done at work or
even running, you get a lot of
confidence, I guess.”
Schotz lives in Decatur with
his wife, 4-month-old son and 4year-old daughter.
His daughter already shows
an affinity for her father’s unlikely pleasures.
No surprise that a 4-year-old
enjoys running, but even her
dad is amazed at the child’s other interest.
“I have a physical chemistry
book she wants me to read to
her before bed,” Schotz said.
“She likes to look at graphs of
thermodynamics. She calls
them maps. She does not know
what they are, but she likes to
look at them. I have her repeat
the elements. She goes through
hydrogen, oxygen, beryllium,
and all of those.
The 3M Experience
Visit 3M.com
At 3M, we are proud of our traditions, innovations, bright future — and our employees!
3M depends on the diversity and ingenuity of our global employees whose efforts are the primary drivers of our success. So far
our innovation has resulted in 55,000 products and 30-plus core technologies that help us meet real customer needs.
At 3M, we believe what the company stands for is just as important as what we sell. We are proud of our legacy as a
responsible company with uncompromising values, ethics and integrity.
© 2008 3M
BASF
From page 6
ITW Sexton worker has no plans to retire
By Catherine Godbey
the paint the correct color — the
mixers and the canners in meeting their quotas.
“A bad day is when things just
don’t go right, when communication fails,” he said. “We might
have a batch of paint that was
supposed to go out yesterday
and it wasn’t made until today.
We try really hard to prevent
that. We have a 97 percent delivery rate.”
He also is chairman of the
Site Activities Committee.
“We’re like motivators. We do
inspiring things,” he said. “If
BASF has money to donate, we
find a suitable donor. For example, we just donated $1,500 to
FACES, at the Morgan County
Department of Human Resources. We also give money to
the Decatur City School system
and Meals on Wheels.”
He is active in his church,
New Hopewell Missionary Baptist at Tanner, where he is
soundman and president of the
recording ministry.
“My family’s important to me.
My wife’s name is Annie, and
we have five children and six
grandchildren.”
‘We’re like
motivators.
We do inspiring
things. If BASF has
money to donate,
we find a suitable
donor.’
Marvin Satterwhite
Chairman of BASF’s Site Activities Committee
BASF Corp.
■ 152 Ipsco St., Decatur
■ 125 employees
■ Manufacturer of industrial
coatings
340-2441
In 1971, a year when a gallon
of gasoline cost 40 cents and
Congress officially lowered the
voting age to 18, a 37-year-old
mother of seven, applied for a
job at Sexton Can Co., now
named ITW Sexton.
“My friends who worked here
told me to go and fill out an application,” Melbalean Kirby
ITW Sexton
■ 3101 Sexton Road S.E.
■ 135 employees
■ Makes aerosol cans
said. “Since most of my children were grown, I figured I
would go ahead and do it.”
On Feb. 24, 1971, the Courtland native, entered the building at 3101 Sexton Road for the
first time, a building she would
enter for the next 37 years.
“Working was very much different back then,” said Kirby.
“Today, work is a lot easier, all
you have to do is push a button
and all the work is done for
you.”
For exactly half her life, Kirby has donned her eye protectors and ear plugs and worked
her rotating shift, where she
packs the bottom of aerosol
cans into sleeves and sends
them to the next stage of assem-
bly. Only recently, she said, did
her family persuade her to substitute her rotating shift for a
permanent 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift.
On Feb. 24, 2008, Kirby will
celebrate her 37th anniversary
with ITW Sexton. Even with her
74th birthday approaching in
August, Kirby doesn’t see retirement in her future.
“One of my granddaughters
told her mother, ‘Stop bothering
Nanny, when she’s ready to retire, she will retire,” Kirby said.
“I honestly don’t know when I’ll
retire. I get vacation every year,
but once the vacation is finished
I’m ready to get back to work.”
After more than three
decades with the same company, Kirby said, “The best part
about working at this job for so
long is the people. I have a lot of
good friends here, they’re just
like family to me.”
When not assembling aerosol
Please see Retire, page 12
Cowan enjoys fast pace Hicks is Mr. Fix It
at Earth Creations plant at Athens’ CoilPlus
By Holly Hollman
By Nancy Glasscock
340-2443
Earth
Creations
MOULTON — After 30 years
in the clothing production business and four years since opening her facility in Moulton,
Earth Creations Production
Manager Karen Cowan said she
still enjoys the fast pace of her
work.
Employees at the production
facility at 830 Main St. sew organic fabrics, including cotton
and hemp, into about 2,400 to
2,800 garments a week. The
Moulton facility sends the garments to a factory in Bessemer,
where workers dye them with
clay.
The distribution center in
Bessemer sends the finished
product to retailers. The gar-
■ 830 Main St., Moulton
■ 15 employees
■ Organic clothing production
facility
Parker
From page 6
ments are also sold online at
www.earthcreations.net. Offshore production facilities can
take up to two years to complete
the process, Cowan said.
“We work with designers,”
she said. “We get organic materials here and take them all the
way through to a finished product in about six months.”
Cowan said she has a good
day at work when employees
aren’t absent and sewing machines keep running.
“When the machines and staff
He has enjoyed the stability of
a constant location for two years
at Byrd. Though he hasn’t had
to move from job site to job site,
his current position does keep
him busy.
When there’s a leak or malfunction in the pipeline at
places such as Daikin America,
BP or Solutia, it means the plant
has to stop production until it’s
repaired. Byrd has the responsibility of getting the operation
back on line as fast as possible.
Parker will go in, determine
the problem and then call the
necessary personnel to repair it,
while also lining up the materi-
are all working to capacity and
everyone is here, it’s a good day,”
she said.
Cowan said she began considering opening a factory about 30
years ago, when she was 28
years old and working as an office manager at a textile factory
in Moulton. She then opened
Cowan Sportswear in Moulton.
She also worked for Liberty
Trouser Co. out of Birmingham.
Cowan said when she retires
in five years, her daughter, Kim
Hensley, will take over the business. Hensley said her mother’s
personality changes when she’s
at work.
Hensley said she tells people,
“She’s not the brownie-baking,
sitting-in-the-floor-playing-Monopoly-with-you mom when
she’s in that building.”
340-2445
als.
“They’ve called the house at 2
or 3 in the morning and you got
to get right out of bed and get to
work,” Parker said. “And when
about four different places have
an emergency and all are top
priority, it’s like having six
mothers-in-law and four wives.”
A tough day at work is those
specifications.
“Every nut, every bolt, everything we install, we monitor it,”
Parker said. “I can trace a piece
of pipe or steel back to the
foundry.”
From page 7
Parker is a second-generation
welder. It can be a tough job because for many, it means travelabout 11 hours. Western Ex- ing where the work is. One year
press’ trucks will not exceed 65 in the 1980s, his income tax remph.
turn contained 14 W-2 forms
Driver breaks are usually from 11 states.
only 15 minutes, so Rhoades has
to take care of any personal
business during his off time.
The law requires at least 11
hours of off time before he can
get back on the road again.
Around-the-clock Emergency Service
“It’s a totally different schedule,” Rhoades said. “Sometimes
•Complete Fire & Water
you lack sleep and sometimes
Damage Specialists
you get too much while you’re
•Recommended
by the
waiting on your next load.”
Insurance Industry
Rhoades said the worst part of
•Water Removal
spending life on the interstate is
•Carpet & Furniture
the boredom during a long haul
because “it gives me too much
Specialists
time to think about stuff.”
•Shampoo
It’s also difficult to be away
•Steam
from his 3-year-old son, Dawson,
•Dry Cleaning
for the long periods of time.
•Oriental Rugs
“At least I know he’s well tak•Pet Odor Removal
en care of, and I can talk to him
by cell phone every night,” he
said.
Before he became a trucker,
two trips to Gatlinburg, Tenn.,
were Rhoades’ only excursions
for water extraction
outside the state. Now he’s seeing new places, and it has
opened his eyes.
“People in other parts of the
country definitely have a different way of living,” Rhoades
said. “The South is the slowest
way of living. Everybody else is
515 Church St. Decatur
so fast-paced.”
Trucks
ATHENS — Danny Hicks
says he followed his father, Billy,
to work before he was old
enough to pull a bag of lemons
across the floor.
His father worked at a variety
of businesses, from pest control
to the gas department.
By age 7, Hicks was in his
grandfather’s cabinet shop,
learning how to turn wood into
furniture.
That’s how the multi-faceted
Hicks ended up the Mr. Fix-It for
CoilPlus, a Japanese-owned
steel processing plant in
Athens. CoilPlus processes steel
that eventually goes into torque
converters for Toyota, office
equipment for Steelcase and airconditioning units for Carrier.
CoilPlus
■ Athens
■ 60 employees
■ Steel processor
As maintenance supervisor,
Hicks does welding and oversees ordering parts, inspections
and makes sure production
lines stay running. If a line goes
down, Hicks estimates it can
cost CoilPlus $10,000 an hour.
“I’m one of those people who
will read a how-to book from
cover to cover,” said the Hicks,
46. “I love to learn and then explain how things work. I’ll sit
down and read an encyclopedia.”
Hicks went to work at
CoilPlus when the company
Please see Hicks, page 12
times when several industries
have problems simultaneously,
but on the other hand, he said
it’s those problems that mean
job security.
Providing The Finest in Retirement Living Like…
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for HUNTSVILLE, DECATUR AND
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www.basf.com • Ipsco Rd.
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Steelcase • Made in Alabama
229 Grant Street, Decatur • 340 -5100
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Eddie Allen, President
Perseverance pays off for shop supervisor Daily pressman
By Holly Hollman
David
Brackeen
works in the
quality
control lab
with Paul
Damphouse
at Turner
Machine in
Athens.
Brackeen
oversees the
shop for
Turner.
340-2445
ATHENS — During the workweek, David Brackeen said, his
car only knows how to get from
his home in Elkmont to Turner
Machine in Athens.
That’s because come May, Brackeen will have worked at the precision machine shop for 25 years.
Brackeen, now 41, was a 16year-old junior at Limestone
County Career Technical Center
when he started sweeping floors
at Turner Machine. He worked
there through a co-op program.
He had toured the school’s machine shop and asked his dad
about machining work.
“He said it was a good trade,”
Brackeen said. “He said I wouldn’t get rich, but I would make a
good living and always be able to
find a job.”
Please see Supervisor, page 14
enjoys working
with machinery
By Ronnie Thomas
When Sherman Dilbeck of
Decatur switched jobs, all he
had to do was walk across the
street.
Daily photo
He worked
by Gary
18 years as a
Cosby Jr.
deliveryman
for old Allied
Sales Furniture Co. at
Johnston
Street
and
First Avenue Dilbeck
Southeast.
Since March 1972, he has been a
pressman for The Daily.
Those are the only two fulltime jobs he has had during a
career spanning 54 years.
“I hired in to work in the
press room, and I’ve always
been a pressman,” said Dilbeck,
71. “We set the press up and web
it up, or run paper through each
unit we’re going to be running
■ Athens
that night. Most days are differ■ 800 employees
ent because we run a different
amount of pages. We also check
■ Chicken processing plant
the press to make sure it’s in
who were building a Habitat for good working order.”
Humanity house in the city.
Butler said she likes working Press maintenance
Press maintenance is a part of
for a company that promotes
the duty that suits him.
community service.
“I just love working on ma“We’ll get calls from people
who ask us to help, or we’ll hear chinery and working around
machinery,” he said. “I’m a jack
Please see Charity, page 14 leg auto mechanic.”
Clucking with excitement over charity work
By Holly Hollman
340-2445
ATHENS — There’s a lot of
clucking going on over work at
Pilgrim’s Pride that has nothing
to do with chicken.
It has to do with charity.
The Athens plant may be part
of the largest chicken company
in the United States, but employees also get excited about
working in the community.
Each plant in the United
States has a Company and Community Pride Team.
Ray Atkinson, director of corporate communications, said
the effort began in the 1990s
with a group of employees in
West Virginia, who formed a
team to help build employee
morale and team spirit.
The Athens team touches various aspects of its local community. Four of the team members,
Donna Butler, Elias Rojas,
Shirley Miland and Lillie Cosby,
had trouble remembering all
the team has done in recent
years.
For Christmas, they spent
$1,600 on four families serviced
by the Department of Human
Resources, and donated to the
Shop With A Cop program.
They also played Santa at the
Birdie Thornton Center, which
offers services for the mentally
challenged.
Miland said that is her favorite charity. The team took
presents and pizza and sang.
“The people there get so excited to see us,” she said. “They
even invited us back to their
party, and they had deer antlers
on. Some wear their Pilgrim’s
Pride ball caps that we gave
them.”
The team volunteered with
the city’s first Storytelling Festival, and took supplies to Hospice.
Earlier this year, the team
took Bojangles chicken to college students from Kentucky
The Decatur
Daily
340-2438
Pilgrim’s
Pride
■ 201 First Ave. S.E., Decatur
■ 114 employees
■ Newspaper
He said he bought a 1969
Chevy pickup from Marshall
Bracken, the press foreman who
hired him.
“I bought it when it was
about 12 years old, and I kept it
going,” Dilbeck said. “I’ve still
got it. I can’t fix the new stuff
though.”
He said aside from his job and
his family, there is nothing interesting about him. He and his
wife, Eloise, have two sons and a
daughter.
“I’m not a fisherman or a
hunter, but I used to love to play
softball for The Daily, when we
were in a city league,” he said. “I
played in the outfield and later
pitched. I started when I was 36
and played for eight years.”
Dilbeck gave the reason as to
why he likes his job so much.
“It’s because of the people
I work with. You couldn’t ask
for finer people,” he said. “The
Barrett Shelton family are
fine people to work for, and I’d
recommend a job here to anyone.”
But after a 36-year run, he is
preparing to back away from
the press. He plans to retire at
the end of March.
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No longer
on the farm:
Lansford
makes gaskets
Helms finds challenge,
satisfaction at Solutia
By Ronnie Thomas
340-2435
340-2438
ATHENS — Steve Lansford of
Athens said he thought he’d
spend his life smelling red dirt
and diesel smoke.
He grew up a farm boy, riding
tractors on his daddy’s lap.
In 1982, when he was 29, the
family sold its diversified farming operations at Mount Hope,
and Lansford turned to industry.
The first job off the farm for
the 1971 Mount Hope High grad
was at Bergen-Patterson Pipe
Support in Moulton, where he
spent almost eight years.
For more than 15 years, he’s
been a setup operator producing
head gaskets primarily for
Chrysler Corp. He began working for McCord Leakless Sealing
Co. in 1998. Nippon Leakless
Corp., headquartered in Tokyo,
and Federal Mogul created the
company in a joint venture.
Each owns 50 percent of McCord Leakless.
Lansford, 55, sets up machines and operates them until
each order is finished, then resets them with different tooling
to meet customer specifications.
He produces gaskets for V8 engines, V6s and some 5.7 Hemi
engines.
A good day for him, he said, is
when the machine runs primarily trouble free.
“A not-so-good day is when the
only thing that causes problems
for me happens,” he said. “The
particular parts I make are metal. They have a tendency to bow
or bend on occasion, and that
causes my machine to have
problems.”
Lansford said his machine is
time rated and that a time period that’s acceptable to him is
turning out 415 head gaskets an
hour.
“When everything is running
perfectly, I can produce as many
as 480 per hour,” he said.
McCord
Leakless
Sealing Co.
■ 1500 Freeman Ave., Athens
■ 82 employees
By Eric Fleischauer
Steve Helms likes to fix
things. So much so that he
walked voluntarily into one of
the nation’s biggest fixer-uppers.
Giving up a job at a General
Electric facility in Richmond,
Va., turning down other job offers, Helms came to a bankrupt
company in Decatur. He came to
Solutia, and he does not regret
it.
“It was a gamble, but it is also
a challenge,” Helms said. “It has
been a good gamble. They needed some optimization. As an engineer, that attracted me. I came
while they were trying to fix the
place up. That’s what attracted
me here.”
Helms moved here in February 2006, while Solutia was well
into a reorganization bankruptcy. It had closed its Acrilan production facility and laid off
hundreds. What he saw was not
a plant that was in trouble, but a
plant that he could help.
“When I first got here, it was
like everybody was waiting for
the second shoe to drop. The
plant was not run that well. We
were never making budget,”
Helms recalled. “Everybody
was waiting for them to close
the other part of the plant
down.”
Increasing efficiency
Solutia has taken reorganization seriously, though, and engineers like Helms have been central to its efforts to increase production efficiency.
“As we went through the
bankruptcy, as we started working on areas that had problems
we started fixing things. And we
started making money. Over the
last year or so, we have been
well over budget. We have had a
very good year in Decatur.”
Which is precisely what
Helms had hoped he would encounter in Decatur.
“I would like to consider myself part of that. Our team here
— the manufacturing technology team —converted a poorly
run plant into a better run
plant,”
explained
Helms.
“Morale has really improved.
Everybody sticks together.
Daikin
Dobbs
From page 8
From page 9
“I’ve been here 15 years, and I
know something will happen
next month that has never happened before.”
As a chemical operator, Morgan works 12-hour shifts, 14 out
of every 28 days. He says the
shift work enables him to spend
more time with his family.
He also says the job is a big responsibility.
“You’re sitting here running a
multi-million dollar piece of
equipment,” he said. “One
missed operation could cost the
company a lot of money.”
For others who want to get
into the work, Morgan said,
training in math and chemistry
would help. He said the company teaches most of the required
job skills, though.
With the plant running 24
hours a day, Morgan is one of 20
chemical operators.
much electricity.
Three times, discoveries
made in his department have
shut down the entire plant
while technicians tracked down
problems. When a problem arises, Dobbs not only has to determine what caused it, but how to
correct it.
Family
From page 8
away as Venezuela.
Both say the family atmosphere and Coleman’s attitude
with his workers are why they
have stayed with the company
for so many years. Coleman’s
family still oversees the company. His son, Mark, is president.
Russell said Mark Coleman is
Solutia engineer Steve Helms moved to North Alabama from
Virginia.
IN 1 DAY
quality control.
He started at the plant in 1977,
operating a plastic-molding machine.
He also drove a forklift and
spent three years working in the
company’s warehouse before
moving to quality control.
Taking that promotion meant
weeks of highly technical training provided by GE, followed by
extensive testing.
With decades of experience,
Dobbs says, he will probably retire from GE.
following in this father’s footsteps.
“One employee, over the holiday, was diagnosed with cancer,” Russell said. “He came in
to see everybody, and Mark
called him into his office. Mark
told him he would always have a
job waiting on him, and then he
said a prayer with him.”
Beverly Russell said all the
bosses treat their employees like
family.
“Mitch Fuller, our operations
manager, wants to know our
concerns whether work or personal,” she said. “Joe Brackin is
training to take over when
Mitch retires, and he’ll continue
that. It’s how Mike Coleman
wanted this place to be.”
Jackie Russell said there are
times he is working with a new
employee or on a machine, and
he senses Mike Coleman’s presence.
“We still miss him,” Russell
said. “Sometimes when I’m out
in the shop, I can feel him
around me.”
IN 13 DAYS
1904 WEST BROWNSTONE COURT
of steel a minute. I had on
gloves, and I was stupid and not
paying attention. It caught my
glove and pulled my arm into a
roll. I was able to get it out just
in time.”
He returned to work a day later with 72 stitches.
“I don’t like to miss work,”
Hicks said.
“The most sick days I ever
took in one year was 4½ days
when I had pneumonia.”
Away from CoilPlus, Hicks
tinkers in a shop at his Ardmore home, making furniture
for friends. He also fishes in the
Anglers for Christ tournaments.
But his mind doesn’t take a
vacation from work for long.
“Sometimes, I wake up out of
a dead sleep at 3 in the morning
with an idea on how to fix something,” he said.
“We take what we send to the
customer seriously enough that
we’re willing to do that,” he
said.
Dobbs, who also travels the
country training technicians to
repair GE refrigerators, says he
enjoys his work and wouldn’t do
anything else.
“I’ve been able to see parts of
the country I wouldn’t have otherwise, and I’ve met a lot of
great people that I wouldn’t have
otherwise,” he said.
But Dobbs wasn’t always in
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Danny Hicks
CoilPlus maintenance
supervisor
Steelcase
REALTY NORTH
Bonnie Black
Assoc. Broker
654-0441
located in Athens in 1985. He
read every newspaper article
about the company and applied
as soon as CoilPlus started taking applications. He was one of
10 employees initially hired and
sent for training. He started out
on a line.
When his cabinet shop-owning grandfather, Thomas
Brown, died a couple years after
Hicks got the CoilPlus job,
Hicks was devastated.
“I was hanging on his hip
from the time I was a baby,”
Hicks said. “His passing got me
to thinking about my life. I was
kind of wild, but after that, I
started going after things I needed in my life.”
He went to Calhoun Community College for education in industrial electrical maintenance
and became maintenance supervisor 15 years ago. He rarely
misses work. In fact, he returned to the job a day after a
work-related injury hurt his
arm.
“That was about 20 years
ago,” Hicks recalled. “We have
machines that can run 1,200 feet
look at what you did,” Helms
said. “When I bought my house,
I definitely had to purchase nylon carpeting.”
Moving from Richmond, Va.,
to the Decatur area was a culture shock for Helms and his
family, but one he has enjoyed.
He considered moving to Decatur, but local high schools did
‘Jesus has
not have programs that his
daughter was seeking.
blessed us
“My daughter actually chose From page 8
with good jobs,
the high school,” he said. “She is
good people to
really into computer art, vector
art. That is what she wants to class at Sardis Springs Baptist
work with, life in a
spend her career on. We moved Church, where she attended.
small town and
to Madison so she could go to The couple then worked on proeach other.’
Bob Jones. Schools are a big jects together at Steelcase.
Divorced and a single mom,
thing in where you want to
Harold Woodfin
move to. Schools and economic Micki Woodfin said she concenSteelcase employee
development have to be hand in trated on working and her family and wasn’t thinking about rehand.”
Greater Limestone County
Helms’s wife works for a med- marrying.
Harold Woodfin, also di- Chamber of Commerce and a
ical
supply
facility
in
vorced, said he didn’t want to guest teacher at local schools.
Huntsville.
Other than the challenges at date for a period of time. When The two also are involved in acSolutia, the main attraction of he asked his mother about dat- tivities at First Baptist Church
North Alabama for Helms was ing again, Micki’s name in Athens.
“Jesus has blessed us with
its recreational opportunities. emerged as a possibility. EvenHe enjoys biking, camping, hik- tually, friendship turned into ro- good jobs, good people to work
mance.
with, life in a small town and
ing, kayaking and fishing.
Now, they drive to work sepa- each other,” Harold Woodfin
“Everything is in your backsaid.
yard here,” he said. “You do not rately but eat lunch together.
“Sometimes she is so busy we
After marrying practically in
have to drive far to get anyeat at her desk and have small secret five years ago, Harold
where.”
Helms, 50, hopes to retire in talk, or I eat and watch her Woodfin is trying to figure out
work,” Harold Woodfin said. how to surprise his wife for
North Alabama.
“Your quality of life here is “Sometimes we get out of here their fifth anniversary, which is
March 15.
great,” Helms explained. “That for an hour and eat in town.”
Steelcase also allows the cou“I can’t say what it is because
is one thing you should sell,
your quality of life. Prices are ple to do community service. it’s a secret,” he said, “and now
lower; you have better weather; Micki Woodfin is on the local re- that it’ll be in the paper that I’m
your recreation is great. It was a cycling board. Her husband is a planning something, I feel the
Rotarian and has been on Unit- pressure to really come
good move for us.”
ed Way, an ambassador for the through.”
13100 BRADFORD ROAD
LD
O
S
From page 10
‘Sometimes, I
wake up out of
a dead sleep at 3 in
the morning with
an idea on how to
fix something.’
Everybody works like a family
here.”
Helms’ job is to optimize existing processes and create new
ones.
“This plant is a dream for any
chemical engineer, and I’m a
chemical engineer by background,” Helms said. “It has
every unit operation there is.
All the way from reactions
through separation through distillations. Every one of those
things can be optimized. What I
do is make sure everything is
running very smoothly, that
there are no upsets.”
His work on new processes involves taking products that Solutia makes for particular customers and developing processes that make them attractive to
other customers.
The main product at Solutia’s
Decatur plant is adiponitrile, an
ingredient in nylon. The plant
receives barges full of one liquid from Chocolate Bayou,
Texas, and converts it into another liquid with larger molecules, Helms explained. That
liquid is shipped to Pensacola
where another Solutia plant
makes it into either nylon yarn
or nylon chips.
Much of the nylon yarn ends
up in nylon carpet. All carpet
with the brand name “WearDated Carpet” made its way
through the Decatur plant.
The heat-resistant nylon
chips typically end up as plastic
parts in vehicle engines.
“The joy of being an engineer
is that you can stand back and
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Retire
From page 10
cans, Kirby spends time traveling with her family and tending
to her garden.
“Working in
my yard with
my flowers is
therapy for my
mind,” Kirby
said.
While gardening keeps
Kirby’s mind
Kirby
calm, working
keeps her body
active.
“Everyone has a purpose and
as long as I can work I will,” she
said. “If I wasn’t working, I’d
‘Everyone has
a purpose and
as long as I can
work I will. If I
wasn’t working, I’d
probably sleep late
or shop, neither
one would be very
good for me.’
Melbalean Kirby
ITW Sexton employee
probably sleep late or shop, neither one would be very good for
me.”
Kirby expects to continue
serving her “purpose” as long
as she is physically able.
“Maybe when I get older I’ll
retire, maybe,” she said.
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Dry cleaner doesn’t mind dirty work
By Catherine Godbey
340-2441
Exceptions exist to almost
every rule, including rules in
the dry cleaning business.
Almost 100 percent of the
time, River Oaks Cleaners returns the items found in clothes’
pockets to their customers in envelopes, unless the item is a
dead mouse, a discovery made
by the company’s assistant manager, Sue Henderson.
Henderson, a five-year worker
in the dry cleaning business,
said the mouse, trapped in the
lining of a coat, registered as
the strangest item she has
found.
“The customer had no clue a
mouse was in her coat,” Henderson said. “When we told her
what we found, she said the coat
had smelled ever since she
bought it three years ago.”
Without a hole in the coat’s
lining, Henderson guessed the
‘We handle a
lot of shirts
from doctors and
lawyers and they
don’t get that
dirty.’
Sue Henderson
rodent became trapped sometime during the manufacturing
process.
Dead mice never challenged
Henderson in her previous duties
as a homemaker and secretary.
After graduating from Austin
High School, the Decatur native
became a homemaker and entered the work force as a secretary, but missed forming personal
relationships with the public.
“I needed something different
and that is when the manager
(of River Oaks Cleaners), who is
a friend of mine, contacted me,”
Henderson said.
In the midst of accepting
clothes, sending them to the
cleaning plant and hanging
them on the racks, Henderson is
able to establish relationships
with her co-workers and the
customers. She said it is “the
best part of the job.”
“Everybody likes working together here, and we get to know
the customers and care about
them,” she said.
When people find out she
works in dry cleaning, Henderson said, they ask her one question: “How can you stand working with dirty clothes?”
“I tell them the clothes aren’t
that dirty,” she said. “We handle
a lot of shirts from doctors and
lawyers and they don’t get that
dirty.”
For those interested in entering the dry cleaning business,
Henderson offered one piece of
advice: purchase supportive
tennis shoes.
“Standing on your feet all day
long is the hardest thing to get
used to, but the more you stand
Sue
Henderson
sorts
laundry at
River Oaks
Cleaners.
the more you get used to it,” she
said.
The dry cleaner and mother
offered these tips for handling
clothes.
“Do not pre-spot or treat
stains at home, that’s a no-no. If
you get a stain, bring it to us immediately,” she said.
Do not substitute an at-home
dry cleaning kit for actual dry
cleaning.
“I admit I tried the kits before
I worked here, and they may get
them fresher,” Henderson said,
stressing the word “may,” “but it
doesn’t clean them.”
Keep black ink, the toughest
stain to remove, away from silk,
the most delicate fabric.
Daily photo
by John
Godbey
River Oaks
Cleaners
■ 1715 Beltline Road S.W.,
Suite A
■ 7 employees
■ Dry cleaner
John Ash helps make product
behind ‘Meow, meow’ jingle
By Melanie B. Smith
msmith@decaturdaily.com
340-2468
The whir of machinery and
the constant movement of a
production line are part of John
Ash’s everyday work environment in a plant beside the Tennessee River.
Ash helps make sure that
products keep going out from
those machines and lines. What
Ash helps create feeds cats and
dogs across the country. Del
Monte Foods workers in Decatur make Meow Mix, Alley
Cat and other types of pet food
at Market Street Northeast.
On a morning earlier this
month, Ash operated a forklift
to move boxes of bags into
place. He punched information
into a computer on line No. 2,
preparing it to switch from one
type of product and weight to
another. He watched as other
employees did their work.
Ash, 38, said he has worked at
the plant since finishing Austin
High School in 1989. He said he
started as a utility worker stacking 40- and 50-pound bags. He
said he gradually was training
to take on more responsibilities.
He moved from operator to shift
coordinator, his current job.
He said he likes what he does
and enjoys the work environment. Visitors cannot help but
smile when they open a door and
the “Meow Mix” ad jingle plays.
Lobbies and offices display cat
photos, cat posters and cat décor.
“It’s a fun place to work,” he
said. “There are a lot of good
people working out here.”
Pictured L to R: Skip Thompson, Dan David, Tommy Daniels, Ashton Dement, Tim Lovelace, Reese Hamn,
Johnnie Howell, John Pylant, Wally Terry
John Ash is a packing room shift coordinator at Meow Mix.
Human Resources Manager
Amy Smith said Ash is one of
the employees with the longest
tenure. A few others in maintenance were at the plant when
Jim Dandy owned it, she said. ■ 1200 Market St. N.E.
Decatur’s Del Monte plant em- ■ 136 employees
ploys 136, Smith said.
■ Pet food producer
Ash, who has children ages 14
and 7, said he feels good about care for their pets.
the work he does and the prodBut Ash said he does not have
uct he helps make. He said he a cat or a dog.
feels strong job security, know“I work too much to have
ing how much people love and one,” he said.
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Hot, humid, dark under the mask John Gamble deals
in agriculture; keeps
farmers in the field
By Seth Burkett
sburkett@decaturdaily.com
340-2355
Gary Taylor of Danville said he
learned to weld back in 1975 with
“a day and a half of training and
a lot of time under the helmet.”
Taylor said he wanted to keep
the job he had at the time with an
industrial supply company in Decatur.
“My employer came to me one
day and asked me if I thought I
could learn to weld and I said,
‘Yes,’ ” Taylor recalled. “He sent
me to a store we had in Memphis
Tenn., and I spent a day and a half
learning how to do it, and then I
came back and put a helmet on
and started doing it.”
It wasn’t until three years later
that he studied welding at Calhoun Community College.
Now 53, Taylor runs TNT Metal Hose and Supply, supplying
stainless steel hoses for industrial use.
“They’re used for so many applications,” he said. “They’re
used for chemicals, for steam, for
water, for just about anything
where they need a stainless product for erosion resistance.”
Taylor cuts and welds the raw
hose into whatever configuration
a client needs.
He first cuts the hose to length,
then slides the tube inside a stainless steel braided wire sleeve to
give it its pressure rating. Then
he secures it with a stainless collar and welds the assembly together.
He welds by means of tungsten
Supervisor
From page 11
Brackeen’s trade school
teacher, Bobby Johnson, then told
Brackeen, “If you work for four
years at Turner, you can work for
anyone.”
Brackeen never left Turner
Machine. Today he’s the shop supervisor.
Turner Machine makes medical implants, such as spine and
knee implants, medical robots,
surgical instruments and engine
parts for helicopters for the aero-
By Nancy Glasscock
340-2443
John Gamble always knew he
wanted to work in agriculture,
but he didn’t always have a specific career path in mind.
Gamble, vice
president of
Alabama
Farmers Cooperative Grain
Division in Decatur, worked
his
way
through the Gamble
ranks of the
co-op after graduating from
Auburn University with a deDaily photo by Jonathan Palmer gree in agricultural science in
1978.
Gary Taylor welds hoses and fabricates other metal supplies for industries.
The son and grandson of
small-time cattle and row-crop
inert gas or TIG welding, a diffiTaylor said welding is a useful
farmers in Morgan County,
cult but precise method.
skill not only for him, but for anyGamble said he knew he would
“I have an electrode and I one who knows him and needs
have to work in the public sector
feed the wire in with my other something repaired.
to make a living in agriculture.
hand, so that I can actually
“I’ve done all kinds of little jobs
“If you’re not born into it, like
control how much I’m putting for people on the side,” he said. “I
■ 205 Childers Road N.W.,
some of these guys in Limein,” he said. “It’s the cleanest type use it for repairing friends’ trailDanville
stone or Lawrence counties
of welding you can do. You’ve got ers. I’ve built a trailer for myself.
with three or four thousand
more control over what you do.” I’ve repaired different items for ■ 2 employees
acres, it’s hard,” he said. “You
Under the mask, he said, “It’s neighbors, like plows for tractors. ■ Customized assembly
just can’t do it off small
hot and humid and dark.”
There are so many different ap- of raw industrial tubing,
acreage.”
“When you’re under the hel- plications. If you break a leg off air and water hoses,
Gamble buys and sells grain
met you don’t have any indication your gas grill at home, you can conveyor belts and
across Alabama and other
of what’s going on around you be- put it back on. … You can always other industrial replacement
items
Southeastern states. The Grain
cause you’re concentrating on come up with something that you
Division’s busiest time of year
what you’re doing,” he said.
need put back together.”
is the fall when harvesting begins, he said.
Few problems arise as long as
space industry. The company
Huntsville for skilled workers, so workers can move grain, he
sends products to Huntsville, San
we decided to offer sign-on bonus- said.
Diego, Memphis, Florida, Indies,” he said.
“We buy grain from farmers,
ana, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Away from the job, Brackeen then resell and ship to bigger
Brackeen said it started as a ■ Athens
said he enjoys Auburn football,
tool-and-die company, but when ■ 50 employees
Atlanta Braves baseball, raising
auto industry work started going ■ Makes medical and aero25 head of cattle and playing with
oversees, the company evolved space products
his month-old grandson.
into a precision machine shop.
He even multi-tasks with his
From page 11
With 25 years experience, Brac- multi-task.”
hobbies.
keen can do any job needed, from
Brackeen said finding skilled
“Well, I tell everyone that I infilling in with shipping and re- workers is one of his toughest terview that, if you work for us about needs and discuss who we
ceiving to getting the machines challenges. The company worked for a few years, you can handle can help,” Butler said.
Rojas and Cosby said the team
running to interviewing appli- with Calhoun Community Col- anything thrown at you elsecants.
lege on its curriculum, he said, where,” Brackeen said. “I decided also takes care of the company’s
“I handle everything as shop and now 70 percent of its work to stay with Turner because my employees. If someone loses a
supervisor, and I deal with two force has trained at the school.
car wouldn’t know how to get me home to a fire, the team sells
tacos or hotdogs to raise money.
shifts,” Brackeen said. “I have to
“But we have to compete with anywhere else.”
TNT Metal
Hose and
Supply
Turner
Machine Inc.
Charity
grain companies and feed
mills,” he said. “My function is
to keep it moved out into the
proper channels to keep farmers in the field.”
Malfunctions that halt or slow
transportation on the Tennessee River result in a chain reaction leading back to growers
left with nowhere to send grain,
he said.
In August 2006, grain transportation, along with other traffic on the river, stalled after a
barge struck a Wilson Dam lock.
“Pretty much everything shut
down,” he said.
Gamble said his favorite part
of the job is making business
deals with different companies.
“I can make a $10 million deal
over the telephone with people
I’ve never met, all based on the
trust between the companies,”
he said.
When he isn’t at work, Gamble said he likes to play golf,
hunt and spend time with family. Gamble and his wife, Sandra,
have two daughters, Jennifer, 23,
and Jessica, 20.
Alabama
Farmers
Cooperative
■ Regional federated, supply
and marketing agricultural
cooperative
■ Has 46 member associations; 90 retail locations with
annual revenue of more than
$300 million
■ More than 2,300 employees
The team visits employees
when they are in the hospital
and goes to funeral homes when
an employee has a death in the
family.
Ted Lankford, complex manager at Athens, said having the
team creates a caring atmosphere within the plant.
“It makes the employees feel
good when they are doing
good,” he said.
15
©2004 International Paper
Renew. Reuse. Respect.
At International Paper, we believe in managing and conserving all forest
resources to meet the needs of society today and for future generations.
As a sustainable business enterprise, IP strives to be environmentally
responsible in all aspects of our business from seedling to finished product.
At the Courtland Mill, our unwavering commitment to environmental
excellence earned us membership in the elite National Performance Track
Program, an honor that is bestowed on facilities with a history of stellar
environmental stewardship that goes above and beyond legal requirements.
We proudly partner with the Abundant Forest Alliance in encouraging
consumers to renew, reuse and respect our precious natural resources.
16
At Decatur’s oldest hometown dealership,
OUR PEOPLE MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
We would like to take this opportunity to say
Thank You North Alabama
for allowing us to become your friends since 1974
Joe Sartain
President
Allen Sartain
Vice President
30 Years
Doug Butts Sr.
Body Tech
31 Years
Steve Motes
Wrecker Driver
29 Years
Frank Vincent
Service Tech
29 Years
Bobby Harris
Sales
26 Years
Marty Steelman
Pre-owned Inv. Control
24 Years
Jack Payton
General Sales Manager
23 Years
Brian Presley
Service Manager
22 Years
Ted Boyd
Shop Foreman
20 Years
Jim Bolding
Parts Manager
19 Years
James ”Buzz” Stegall
Clean Up
13 Years
Rebecca Romine
Rental Manager
12 Years
Joey Smith
Diesel Tech
12 Years
Ricky Bonds
Technician
11 Years
Ricky Drake
Fleet Manager
11 Years
Melinda Mears
Body Shop Secretary
11 Years
Jada White
Warranty Clerk
11 Years
Johnny Widener
Body Tech
9 Years
Nathan Pitt
Service Tech
8 Years
Jimmy Harbin
Body Shop Manager
7 Years
Darrell Hawkins
Parts
7Years
Bea Terry
Porter
7 Years
Buffy Smith
Sales
6 Years
Andrew Storey
Technician
6 Years
Michael Bullard
Body Tech
5 Years
Janet Faulkner
Payroll Administrator
5 Years
Liza Gonzalez
Office Manager
5 Years
Glenn Hodge
Sales
5 Years
J.J. Jackson
Sales
5 Years
Jose Felix
Service Tech
4 Years
Christopher Bumbarger
Technician
2 Years
Howard Godbee
Sales
2 Years
James Boyd
Sales
1 Year
Judy Brown
BDC
1 Year
Tyler Peebles
Diesel Tech
1 Year
Greg King
Technician
2 Years
Carol Sartain
BDC Manager
4 Years
Doris Holder
BDC
3 Years
Alisa Horton
Title Clerk
3 Years
Tommy McRae II
Sales
2 Years
Tommy Vest
Service Writer
2 Years
Samantha Storey
Cashier
1 Year
Randy Burtram
Sales Manager
1 Year
Amanda Eady
Clean Up
1 Year
James Guyse
Body Tech
1 Year
Chris Howard
Sales
1 Year
Robert Smith
Clean Up
1 Year
Steven Smith
Service Tech
1 Year
Reggie McKellar
Sales
1 Year
Craig Vick
Oil Change Tech
1 Year
Joe Miller
Service Writer
3 Years
Justin Behrendt
Oil Change Tech
1 Year
Ron Sawyer
F&I
1 Year
SALES • SERVICE • STABILITY
3000 Hwy 31 S • Decatur
800-373-4131 sartainford.com 350-2120

Clocking In -- Industry

Transcription

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