Mobile Bay | Intersection of Air, Land, Sea & Success

Mobile Bay

Intersection of Air, Land, Sea & Success

Beers & Associates would like to thank the following organizations for their valuable support and cooperation in the creation of this volume.

Bayou La Batre Area Chamber of Commerce

Chickasaw Chamber of Commerce

Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce

Coastal Alabama Business Chamber

Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce

Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce

Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce

North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce

Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce

Semmes Chamber of Commerce

South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce

SouthWest Mobile County Chamber of Commerce

KathyHicks

Mobile Bay

Intersection of Air, Land, Sea & Success

Corporate

Profiles

By Emmett Burnett

by Breck Pappas and Michael Dumas

Mobile Bay | Intersection of Air, Land, Sea & Success

Writtenby

Emmett Burnett with company profiles y Breck Pappas and Michael Dumas.

Featuringthephotographyof

Michael Dumas, Kathy Hicks, Elizabeth Gelineau, Carmen Sisson and Becca Frederick

Ronald P. Beers, Publisher

Kurt Niland, Managing Editor

Wendi Lohr Lewis, Associate Editor

Amye King, Designer

Benjamin Tomlin, Proofreader

Gary Pulliam, Print and Production Management

Cover image by Becca Frederick

Beers & Associates, LLC

9241 Bradford Place Montgomery, Alabama 36117

Beersandassociates.net

334-396-2896

© Beers & Associates, LLC

All Rights Reserved

Published 2022

First Edition

ISBN: 978-0-9796601-1-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022943656

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuray of the information herein. However, the authors and Beers & Associates are not responsible for any errors or omissions that might have occurred.

Printing and Production by Friesens Corporation. Printed in Canada.

Corporate Profiles

INTRODUCTION

Mobile’s vision equates to success. The Azalea City preserves its heritage. It remembers the past but embraces tomorrow - not just looking at the future but making it.

AstretchofI-10alongthenorthernstretchofMobileBay.InMobile,I-10isthesouthernterminusofI-65.

More than two centuries ago, on December 14, 1819, Alabama became our nation’s 22nd state, a day Mobile remembers well because it had already been here 117 years. In fact, when America became America, July 4, 1776, Mobile was already 75 years old. With age comes innovation, perseverance, experience, and vision. Mobile exemplifies all fou.

Innovation led the Port City to reach for the sky and build airplanes, jets, and air support in an emerging aerospace industry leading the state.

Mobile’s perseverance allowed the expanding land to endure the ravages of Civil War, the heartbreak of yellow fever, and the wrath of hurricanes to forge a once fledging sttlement — Unionoccupied territory — into a tempered steel modern metropolis.

Our experience draws from the waters surrounding us, a bay that defines u, and the Gulf of Mexico the Mobile Bay spills into. Our forefathers built a bustling port, docks, and a maritime shipping industry that birthed “The Port City.”

Mobile’s vision equates to success. The Azalea City preserves its heritage. It remembers the past but embraces tomorrow — not just looking at the future but making it.

It all started with a boat from France.

Although Spanish conquistadors initially visited what would become Alabama’s fourth-largest city in the early 1500s, France claimed, colonized, and captivated it. Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville established a settlement on the Mobile River’s Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff (tody Axis, Alabama) in 1702. Fort Louis de la Louisiane or “La Mobile,” as it was called, was the firt capital of the French colony of Louisiana, under the direction of d’Iberville’s brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.

Britain gained control in 1763, after victory in the Seven Year War. In addition to France, Spain, and Britain, other flags fl over Mobile, including the Republic of Alabama and the Confederate States of America, before Mobile rejoined the United States after the Civil War.

In the 1700s a yellow fever epidemic spread throughout the colony and miserably lingered for decades. In 1819, the year Alabama claimed statehood, yellow fever claimed 430 Mobile lives, annihilating almost 50 percent of the 1,000 population. Mercifully the Deep South’s yellow plague ended in the early 1900s after the discovery mosquitoes transmitted the virus.

In 1860, the last slave ship known to transport African slaves to America, the schooner Clotilda, docked in Mobile. The vessel illegally carried 110 African men, women, and children to Alabama more than 50 years after the U.S. banned the importation of enslaved people. Africatown, north of Mobile in Plateau and Magazine Point, was built by the ship’s descendants. Many still live in the area.

History came alive once again in 2019 when the Clotilda was discovered submerged beneath the Mobile River.

In Mobile’s early years, yellow fever, coupled with the humiliation of a Civil War’s defeat, made the town a dismal place until a parade changed the morale, perhaps forever.

In 1866, Joe Cain, fed up with Union occupation, paraded through downtown Mobile dressed as an imagined Indian chief. Others joined the procession. We still parade today, only in a much bigger, better, parade known as Mardi Gras.

Carnival originally began in Mobile in 1703 — 104 years before New Orleans’ firt parade in 1837. Don’t remind our friends in the Crescent City — they get a little touchy about that.

During the years, Mobile became a voice in government, in Alabama and the nation. Five sitting U.S. presidents have visited. They include Theodore Roosevelt, speaking in Bienville Square in October 1905, making his case for building the Panama Canal. Woodrow Wilson addressed a business group at the Lyric Theater in 1913. Richard Nixon joined our Tombigbee Waterway Project Construction celebration in 1971, Gerald Ford campaigned for reelection in a 1977 Mobile stop, and Jimmy Carter toured the aftermath of Hurricane Frederic in 1979.

President Donald Trump visited twice, as a presidential candidate in August 2015 and as President-Elect in December 2016, speaking both times at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Regardless of work, government, politics, religion, or race, Mobile is a city with an amazing past, looking to the future, with eyes on progress. Its strength is derived from diverse cultures and people melding as one and working together at the intersection of air, land, sea, and success. That is our heritage and history. Together, we are Mobile.

ImagecourtesyoftheAlabamaHistoricalCommission.

Clotilda and Africatown

In May 2019, after a comprehensive assessment and months of research, the Alabama Historical Commission announced experts and archaeological evidence determined the identity of the Clotilda the last-known slave ship to enter the U.S. The storied ship illegally transported 110 people from Benin, Africa to Mobile, Alabama in 1860, more than 50 years after the U.S. banned the importation of enslaved people. Co-conspirators Timothy Meaher and Captain William Foster tried to evade authorities and destroy evidence of their criminal voyage by sinking, burning, and abandoning the vessel and then dividing the kidnapped Africans among their captors, where they remained in slavery until the end of the Civil War. A small band of the Clotilda passengers reunited post-war with the hopes of returning to Africa. When that dream was not realized, the survivors and their descendants established a new home for themselves in the Plateau area of Mobile – a community that is known today as Africatown. Source: Alabama Historical Commission

Africatown,itselfaNationalRegisterhistoricdistrictofnationalsignificance,isanimportanttouchpointincollectiememory. above: AbustofCudjoeKazoola Lewis,thelastknownsurvivoroftheslaveshipClotilda,standsinfrontofUnionMissionaryBaptistChurchinAfricatown.

opposite page; top: ThissonarscanshowsthesubmergedwreckoftheClotilda,locatedinwatersnearMobile,Alabama.Theshipandsitewereofficiallylted intheNationalRegisterofHistoricPlacesonNovember8,2021.ThePhase3explorationandsiteevaluation,underwayinMay2022,wasfundedbytheAlabama StateLegislaturewitha$1millionappropriationtotheAlabamaHistoricalCommissioninitsFY2021budget.ImagecourtesyoftheAlabamaHistorical Commission. bottom: AmuraloftheClotildaslaveshipispicturedonAfricatownBoulevardintheAfricatowncommunity.Thestoryofthisvesselandits destructiontoavoidprosecution,theresistanceandresilienceofthepeopleforciblybroughttoAmericainittobeenslaved,andtheirpost-CivilWarformingof

CourtesyNationalArchives

right: Aworkermovesbananasonthedockin Mobileportca.1937. opposite page, bottom: Today,moderntechnologyassistsworkersin loadingandunloadingcargoinMobile’sports.

Topleftandright: Alabama’s only seaport and its role in global trade can be traced back to the early explorers who sought the region’s natural resources for the crowns of Europe. In 1922, the Alabama state legislature authorized the construction of the Alabama state docks on 500 acres north of Mobile’s waterfront. The docks were opened officially in 28 and served to increase the region’s commercial shipping capacity.

Source:PortofMobile,Alabama PortAuthority.

MichaelDumas

Biancoblue|Dreamstime

opposite page: BeautifulmossyoakstellthestoryofMobile’slongevity. top: TheMobileBayMiddleLighthouse,locatedinMobileBay,beganoperationsonDecember1,1885,andMobilians couldobserveawhitelightwithredflasheseery30secondsoutinthebay.Whenfogcoveredthebay,abellsoundedeveryfiesecondsasafogsignal.Thelighthousewasautomatedin1935 anddeactivatedin1967.Afterdecadesofneglect,thelighthouseunderwentalmost$350,000inrenovationsundertheguidanceoftheAlabamaHistoricalCommission. bottom: Whileyou’re admiringMobile’snaturalbeautyandwildlife,itmaybewatchingyouback!

KathyHicks

KathyHicks

MichaelDumas

MichaelRolands

top: Noteverycityboastsabattleshipview!TheUSSAlabamaisastrikingsightatsunsetalongMobileBay.TheshipishousedatUSSALABAMABattleshipMemorial Park,whichopenedtothepublicJanuary9,1965.Theparkattractsmorethan15millionvisitorsandhasastatewideeconomicimpactapproaching$1billion. bottom: AyoungmanreclinesonaFairhope,Alabama,municipalpierasthesunsetsonMobileBay.

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JeffreyIaacGreenberg16+

top: AcoupleenjoysabreakfromtheirbikerideinFairhopeMunicipalParkwitharelaxingviewoftheBay. bottom: RelaxationisaprimepastimealongbeautifulMobileBay.

KathyHicks

KathyHicks

Since 1834, Fort Morgan has stood as the guardian of Mobile Bay. The military site and National Historic Landmark is located 22 miles west of Gulf Shores.

GeorgeDodd

Sunrise over Lake Forest and the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay in Daphne, Alabama.

CourtesyMobileBotanicalGardens-NickReese

SteveByland|Dreamstime

We treasure our incredible diversity of wildlife. Wildlife viewing and birdwatching attract more than 1 million to the state every year. Many of these visitors come to our shores to venture through our wildlife reserves, parks, and protected natural areas, all of which are excellent places to view some of our most common animals.

KathyHicks

KathyHicks

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

RichardCummins

RichardCummins

top: AmuralatCentralPresbyterianChurchhighlightsthechurch’smissionoflove,service,acceptance,andhope. bottom left: Colorfulparkingmeter,Cathedral Square,Mobile,Alabama. bottom right: ThePortal,asculpturebyCaseyDowning,residesinCooperRiversideParkalongtheMobileRiverinMobile,Alabama.

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

top: AtilemosaicbenchstandsinfrontofthefountainatSpanishPlazainMobile,Alabama.MobilewasruledbySpainfrom1780to1813. bottom: Amuralwelcomes visitorstoMobile.

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

top: ApicketfenceisdecoratedwithMardiGrasbeadsonChurchStreetinMobile,Alabama. bottom: TheinteriorofMalbisMemorialChurchinDaphne,Alabama,is pictured.TheGreekOrthodoxchurchwasbuiltin1965.

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

KathyHicks

top: ColorfulstainedglasstopsthedoorsofTwinBeechAMEZionChurchinFairhope,Alabama.Thechurchwasbuiltin1925.

bottom: Decoratedboatstraveldownthe bayouduringthe66thannualBlessingoftheFleetinBayouLaBatre,Alabama.

Parades,parties,ballsandothergalafestivitiesareheldinMobilethroughoutCarnivalSeason.

KathyHicks

opposite page; top: BottlenosedolphinjumpingandswimminginthewatersoffGasparillaIsland. bottom: SummerfunalongtheshoreinGulfShores,Alabama. above: Thesugar-whitesandandemeraldwaterattractsthousandsofvisitorseveryyeartoGulfShores,Alabama.

Didyouspothim?Americanalligator,MobileBay,Alabama.

DOWNTOWNS & COMMUNITIES:

Life and Living around Mobile Bay

Downtown is where the heart is. Heritage, history, character, and personality start here. The charm of where we are and where we have been are within a city’s core, and like a good heartbeat, a healthy downtown benefits the whole. Such is the case of Mobile Bay, where the beat goes on, heart to heart.

In Downtown Mobile, history blends with the future, old southern charm meets cutting-edge commerce, and 22,000 people work within a fie-mile stretch. But the stretch is flexible, with tunnel, skyscrapers, residential mansions, museums, a Dauphin Street entertainment district, and restaurants ranging from 4-Star rated to hot dog stands.

In the middle of downtown is Bienville Square. Established in 1824, it’s a smaller version of New York’s Central Park and 52 years older. The square is a landmark for locals and visitors, Ground Zero for Mardi Gras revelers, and where President Theodore Roosevelt pleaded his case to build the Panama Canal. The restful retreat is shaded by centuries-old oak trees and the shadow of the nearby Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) Battle House Tower.

Directions to the RSA building are easily remembered: Go downtown and look up. At 745 feet from earth to steeple, the 35-story complex with 30 elevators is the tallest building in Alabama.

Core Mobile’s revitalization began in the early 1990s when organizations like Main Street Mobile, under direction of the Downtown Mobile Alliance/City of Mobile, undertook street light additions, sidewalk improvements, and beautification and public art projects. In 2019, city leaders in government and business moved to make Mobile more accessible by bicycle routes, walking paths, and additional public parking. The process is ongoing.

Also in 2019, Mobile reached for the sky — yet again. The Mobile Downtown Airport premiered its new terminal at the Mobile-Aeroplex at Brookley in May 2019. Located within minutes of downtown, it offers greater accessibility and prximity to not just downtown Mobile and outlying areas, but to Eastern Shore passengers as well. The terminal opened providing direct routes to Chicago and Denver, with more planned.

Yesterday’s businesses, former stores, and years-past residential estates are being repurposed, remodeled, and reopened as condominiums and apartments to draw people back downtown.

From Mobile to the Eastern Shore, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, both tunnels actually. Traveling under the Mobile River via the Bankhead or George Wallace Twin Tunnels, downtowns resurface in Baldwin County. The “Big Three” awaits.

A drive through Daphne, Foley, and Fairhope speaks for itself but doesn’t have to. The press promotes the Eastern Shore just fine, and usually with high praise. CN/Money Magazine ranked Fairhope as one of “100 Best Places to Live in America.” USA Today proclaimed Fairhope, Foley, and Daphne areas as seventh-best in the U.S. for places adding jobs in 2017. And Forbes Magazine noted Daphne as the 17th Best Place in America to start a business or career.

MichaelDumas

Vibrant downtowns contributed heavily to Bay and Gulf towns’ media accolades. Take Olde Towne Daphne for example. Many gladly do.

With 26,000 residents, Daphne is the largest municipality in Baldwin County. But “Jubilee City” is a tale of two cities. City one includes clusters of commerce, financial center, and the U.S. Sports Academy, lining both sides of Highway 98. City two is a microcosm of Mayberry — “Olde Towne Daphne.”

Little Bethel Baptist Church, a picturesque white wooden building with a majestic steeple and gothic windows, graces one end of Olde Towne’s Main Street. The worship center originated in 1867 when Major Lewis Starke deeded two acres to his ex-slaves. Within walking distance are antique shops, boutiques, several highly regarded restaurants before reaching the Daphne Museum and Daphne City Hall.

Further down Highway 98 is an art colony, writers’ cove, and shopping district in a New England-like atmosphere on a Mobile Bay bluff. Dwntown Fairhope is a good place to be.

The bayside city was founded on the Eastern Shore bluff in 1894 as a model community single tax colony. An original colonist unintentionally named the town when remarking, “We have a ‘fair hope’ of succeeding.” He was correct and thus began Fairhope, Alabama.

In Baldwin County, Fairhope’s tourism industry is typically second only to Gulf Shores. The 2016 U.S. Census reports that arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation and food services account for about 12 percent of Fairhope’s job sector.

Approximately 120 destinations for shopping, browsing, and admiring line Fairhope’s brick sidewalks, streets, and winding alleyways. Art galleries, boutiques, apparel, sidewalk cafes, and indoor dining are at every turn. Fresh flwers are everywhere, hanging from light poles, street-side displays, and store window sills.

The annual Fairhope Arts and Craft Show doubles the city’s 20,900 population during the annual four-day spring event, and the city’s Mardi Gras celebrations and lighting of the Christmas tree draw people statewide.

Downtown Fairhope ends where its land does at the Fairhope Municipal Pier, home of joggers, parents strolling babies, fishermen and watercraft from kayaks to yachts. Indeed, Fairhope is a good place to be.

But in downtown tours of Bayside and Gulf waters, perhaps none have transitioned more than Foley. There was a day when Foley was basically a gas stop before hitting Gulf Shores’ beaches. Those days are no more. People still stop in Foley, but they remain here, visiting and living here.

The city founded by Chicago’s John B. Foley and the home of the late NFL Oakland Raiders Quarterback, Ken Stabler, has

transformed its inner core into “Historic Downtown Foley.” Popular with visitors and locals are the Foley Railroad Museum, Holmes Medical Museum, art galleries, shopping, and pausing to refresh with homemade ice cream sundaes, crafted by soda jerks at Stacey’s Rexall Drugs and Old Tyme Soda Fountain.

From Foley, due south is Al-59 also called the “Highway to Happiness” because it ends in Gulf Shores. But this beachside playground is a tale of two cities in one. The firt is a bustling municipal downtown, including City Hall, the Thomas B. Norton Public Library, Gulf Shores Museum, and Erie Meyer Civic Center. The second is paradise.

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach’s sandy shores lead the state in tourist destinations. But sugar-white sands and turquoise water is only the beginning - albeit a really good beginning. But there is more. East-west beach boulevards are lined with top-notch restaurants, shops, and boutiques. The roads and the Gulf of Mexico run parallel. They make a great pair.

Around Mobile Bay and inland, our downtowns exemplify our cities as a whole. Each has a heart of its own and captures ours.

TheannualFairhopeArts and Craft Show doubles the city’s20,900population.

JeffreyIaacGreenberg17+

top: EachmonthduringArtWalk,DauphinStreetisshutdownonaFridayeveningforpedestrianfoottraffic,andlocalartgalleri,studios,andshopsstayopenextended hoursforthepublictoexplore. bottom: Mobilewasalready117yearsoldwhenAlabamabecameastate.Today,thecontrastsbetweentheoldandthenewcanbeseen throughoutthedowntownarea.

CourtesyofVisitMobile

MOBILE COUNTY COMMISSION

As the state of Alabama commemorated its 200th anniversary, Mobile County Commissioners took the opportunity to celebrate the role that the County has played in the development of the state.

“Exploration in and out of Alabama started in Mobile,” said former Commission President Jerry Carl, now a U.S. Congressman representing Alabama’s First District. “Since then, we’ve put Mobile on the map for economic development and so many other attributes.”

Like Carl, current Commission President Connie Hudson and fellow commissioner Merceria Ludgood represent diverse areas of the County yet they strive to coordinate their efforts to achiee common goals that benefit the entire Count, from public safety to economic development and everything in between.

The County Commission’s creative leadership has sparked tremendous economic development in recent years, including a $2.5 million incentive package for the construction of the Walmart Distribution Center. Now operational, the center is providing 650 new jobs. Likewise, in 2017, the Commission celebrated the opening of Amazon’s $30 million sortation center in Theodore, a facility that employs up to 1,400 part-time workers and marks Amazon’s firt Alabama investment.

In late 2018, the County Commission and the Mobile City Council each approved equal $250,000 shares in support of MTC Logistics’ construction of a $58 million cold storage facility. Aside from the hiring of 50 to 70 employees, the tax benefits for the County ver the next 20 years are expected to be $2.4 million.

Mobile County also continues to attract and sustain international corporate relationships. In just the past seven years, the County has experienced a 27 percent growth in manufacturing jobs, 90 percent of which are a result of foreign direct investments. The Finland-based Kemira Water Solutions is making a $70 million capital investment in its polymer plant in the Chickasaw area, providing 20 new jobs. In January 2019, the County Commission approved a $4 million incentive plan for Airbus, the European aerospace enterprise, to expand its Mobile footprint with a new facility to assemble its A220 aircraft. By the middle of the decade Mobile could be the fourth largest commercial airline manufacturing hub in the world.

Such developments have helped put the County on solid financia footing. In 2017, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Mobile County’s long-term credit rating to Aa1, citing “the county’s sizable and regionally important tax base, which will continue to experience commercial and industrial growth.” The rating was reconfirmed in 219.

In addition to attracting industry and investment to the area, the Mobile County Commission works to improve the quality of life for its citizens, maintaining and investing in public parks, sporting facilities, libraries, museums, and senior citizen centers. Renovations are either underway or completed at parks such as Mt. Vernon Park, Chickasabogue Park, Citronelle’s Davis and Clayton Parks, Mobile’s Sage Park, and the newly renovated Playground Express at Medal of Honor Park. The County also purchased the Escatawpa Hollow Campground on the Alabama/Mississippi state line with plans to add more campsites, walking trails, and river access.

ChickasabogueParkisjustoneofMobileCounty’smanypaddlingopportunitiesandispartoftheCountyCommission’s commitmenttosupportingenvironmentalprotectionandensuringpublicaccesstotheCounty’swaterways.

In May 2019, the County Commission broke ground on a stateof-the-art soccer complex near the intersection of I-10 and I-65. In other exciting sporting news, the Commission also announced plans to help fund the University of South Alabama’s planned football stadium, pledging $2.5 million to sponsor an academic center in the stadium complex.

While continually looking towards the future, the Mobile County Commission maintains its primary duties of public safety and the construction and maintenance of public infrastructure. The new Emergency Operations Center on Ziegler Boulevard, which opened in 2018, is a crucial asset during hurricanes or other large-scale disaster-response situations. The Commission contributed $10 million to the facility.

From May 2017 to May 2018, Mobile County programmed $82 million for the planning, design, construction and resurfacing of roads and bridges. Voters overwhelmingly passed the 2018 PayAs-You-Go program, which provides for the building or improving of 73 miles of roads and bridges. Since 1977, nearly $750 million

has been allocated to road and bridge improvements in Mobile County thanks to Pay-As-You-Go.

The County has also made a significant impact in evironmental preservation through its Love Your Community anti-litter campaign, drop-off reycling center, and the Salt-Aire Shoreline Restoration Project, which aims to protect the last large undeveloped parcel of property along the Western Shore of Mobile Bay.

Commissioners say infrastructure is a main focus for the future. As the County grows, the need for better infrastructure increases. This benefits nt only the taxpayer but also the companies looking to develop in Mobile County. More businesses create more jobs, which provides for a better quality of life to the residents of Mobile.

The Mobile County Commission is made up of three elected members, each representing geographical districts and serving 4-year terms. It evolved from the Mobile County Revenue and Road Commission, which was established in 1933.

top left: ShipbuilderAustalUSAoccupies164acresontheshoreoftheMobileRiverandisstrategicallypositionedatthemouthoftheGulfofMexico.Austalspecializes inthecommercialanddefensealuminumvesselmarketintheUnitedStates,includingtheLittoralCombatShips(LCS)fortheU.S.Navy.Austalemploysmorethan 4,000atitsMobileCountyfacility. top right: GovernmentPlazaisthecenterofMobileCountygovernmentandcourts.ConstructedandownedbyMobileCounty,itis oneofthefewfacilitiesinthenationtohousebothcityandcountyoffic.Itincludesalargeinsideplazareminiscentofoldgovernmentcourtyardsthatisavailablefor largegatherings. bottom: AirbusassemblesitsA320andA220jetsinMobileCounty.WhenaFinalAssemblyLine(FAL)-and400jobs-forproductionoftheA220 wereaddedin2019,MobileCountypositioneditselftobecomethefourthlargestcommercialairlinemanufacturinghubintheworldbythemiddleofthedecade.

Core Mobile’s revitalization began in the early 1990s when organizations like Main Street Mobile, under direction of the Downtown Mobile Alliance/City of Mobile, undertook street light additions, sidewalk improvements, and beautification and public art projects.

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

MOBILE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

JOBS

Why we do what we do

The Mobile Chamber is committed to growing the local economy and the economic well-being for every one of us living here. It’s a broad category – jobs – but our goal is pretty simple. As the economic developer for the City of Mobile and Mobile County, we want to keep the jobs our community has and add jobs so our citizens have ample opportunities.

What that means for you

With new jobs, especially those paying high wages, families have more money. They treat themselves to a meal at a local restaurant, maybe buy a new laptop, splurge on dry cleaning, plan an outing and more, creating a better quality of life for our citizens. We’re also here to help existing industry, whether that means finding the right entrepreneur-focused programs, introducing you to new international markets, connecting you to local resources or navigating the process to expand, the Chamber’s staff has a unique skillset and network to help your business.

“The Chamber’s economic development efforts ocus on four key areas – new industry recruiting, growing jobs within industries already located here, international business and workforce. Our team’s efforts continue to focus on making obile an ideal place to live, work and play.”

- David Rodgers, VicePresidentEconomicDevelopment, Mobile Chamber of Commerce

ADVOCACY

Why we do what we do

When it comes to advocacy and pro-business legislation at the local, state and federal level, we know you can’t be everywhere, so we monitor and advocate for you.

What that means for you

The Mobile Chamber is your eyes and ears and, when needed, your voice, when it comes to securing an even more businessfriendly environment. We’re the ones supporting better infrastructure to help your commute and to bring products through the city. We’re advocating to get Alabama’s education budget adequately funded, so your children will be more competitive when it comes to pursuing additional learning and heading into the working world. If you’re a business owner, we are speaking out against frivolous lawsuits and honoring your right to keep guns out of the workplace – two issues our members deemed important. We’re also telling your stories to a larger audience through our magazine, e-news, social media channels and the web.

The Chamber is the “voice of business” in the Mobile region. We actively seek our members’ guidance to develop a legislative agenda promoting a pro-business environment for continued economic growth and prosperity.

- Bob Chappelle, ChiefOperatingOffic , Mobile Chamber of Commerce

VALUE

Why we do what we do

We want you to have the greatest return on your membership investment, and that means being your one-stop-shop for professional development, networking and recognition opportunities.

What that means for you

Need professional development for you or your team? We’ve got it. Need to shake hands and meet people? We’ve got it. Need someone with a birds-eye view on what’s going on? We’ve got it. Need a cheerleader? We’ve got it.

“The Gulf Coast is experiencing unprecedented growth, and Mobile sits at the epicenter. The Mobile Chamber has the unique opportunity to serve as the advocate for businesses large and small across the region and be the catalyst for the continued growth of our economy.”

- Bradley Byrne, President & CEO, Mobile Chamber of Commerce

EXCELLENCE

Why we do what we do

The last, and most important, of our four values is excellence. That’s our promise to you. We do our very best, every single time. This is where our drive for innovation lies and why we strive for efficiey.

What that means for you

Our commitment to excellence means we’re committed to you. You don’t need mediocre, average or even good from your Chamber of Commerce, and we know it.

projectstheMobileChamberhelpedrecruitoverthelastdecade.Thoseprojects accountformorethan9,300newjobsand$3.85billionincapitalinvestment. bottom left: Eachyear,MobileChamberstaffand olunteershelpdozensof businessescelebrategrandopeningandribboncuttingevents.Picturedhereare Chamberambassadorsandstaffand olunteersofBigBrothersBigSistersof SouthAlabama. bottom right: TheMobileChamber’sLeadersExchangetoSt. LouisspurredthecreationofInnovationPortal.Thenonprofitinnvationand entrepreneurialhubbrokegroundonitsfuturelocationat358St.LouisSt.in 2019,andisaprogramoftheMobileChamberofCommerceFoundation. opposite page, large: SixtylocalbusinessownersparticipatedintheEmerging Leadersentrepreneurialtrainingprogram,helpingsetarecord.Accordingto U.S.SmallBusinessAdministrationofficialswhosponsortheprogram,obile’s 100percentgraduationrateisauniquefeat. opposite page, inset: TheMobile Chamberisprivatebusinessorganizationwithmorethan1,800members representingthearea’ssmall,mediumandlargecompanieswhoemployalmost 100,000people.Wefocusoureffortsinfour eyareas–jobs,advocacy,value andexcellence.

top photo: Mobile’sdiverseeconomicbasecontinuestocelebratenewcompany announcementsandexistingindustryexpansions.MTCLogisticsisbuildingacold storagefacilityacrossfromAPMTerminals,andisoneof83economicdevelopment

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

opposite page; top left: Mobile’sBienvilleSquarewasestablishedin1824.Thesquareis52yearsolderthanNewYorkCity’sCentralParkandhasbeenalandmarkfor localsandvisitorsthroughoutitshistory. top right: MobileGovernmentPlazaishometotheMobileCountyCommission,MobileCityHall,localcourts,andother administrativetenants. bottom: FromMobiletotheEasternShore,thereisalightattheendofthetunnel,bothtunnelsactually.TravelingundertheMobileRivervia theBankheadorGeorgeWallaceTwinTunnels,downtownsresurfaceinBaldwinCounty.

above: The745-feet-high,35-storyRSABattleHouseTowersoarsabovethe historicalstreetsofdowntownMobile.ItisthetallestbuildinginAlabama.

MichaelDumas

SARALAND AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Welcome to Saraland! Our city, known as the Gateway to Progress, is perfectly positioned just north of Mobile in beautiful Southwest Alabama. Founded in 1957, Saraland has become Mobile County’s fastest-growing small city with a current population of approximately 15,000 residents. With our world-class city school system, we have seen phenomenal growth with the construction of many new subdivisions as well as new commercial and retail development.

Saraland formed its own city school system in 2006. It is now ranked among the best school systems in the State of Alabama. Students receive outstanding education in fields such as nursing, engineering and welding in state-of-the-art facilities. Since its inception, the Saraland City School system has more than doubled in size, from 1500 students in 2009 to over 3000 students in 2019. This is but one example of the tremendous growth that the City of Saraland is experiencing.

The City of Saraland was recently designated as an Alabama Community of Excellence. Saraland was the firt and, to date, the only municipality in Mobile County to receive this honor.

Youth sports activities are very popular in Saraland. Saraland has, at present, 11 city parks for recreational activities of every kind. The City operates the McAuthor-McKinney Recreation

Center which offers a outstanding venue for young people to play basketball, volleyball and other activities.

The Saraland Senior Center offersmany activities for active seniors. Arts and crafts, painting, card games, pool, exercise equipment and computer lab are available with many classes provided. A nutritious lunch is available weekdays at the center with Meals-On-Wheels delivering food to homebound seniors.

Located adjacent to the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, scenic boating, canoeing, fishing and ther watersports opportunities abound. Saraland is part of the Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust, home to some of the most biologically diverse habitat in Alabama. This preserved scenic area is also popular for camping, hiking with multiple trails available, and bird watching.

Saraland is proud to be building a safe, connected community with outstanding infrastructure that promotes neighborhood pride and provides social interaction, economic growth, environmental stewardship, and a world-class education for all generations. Saraland is a regional destination offering eerything needed to live, work, play, and thrive. Please come and visit us soon!

CITY OF CHICKASAW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Chickasaw began life as a company town in 1946. It was designed and built as a commercial and residential component for the Chickasaw Shipbuilding and Car Co. During its peak productive years, the shipyards employed up to 15,000 workers and built 76 cargo and naval ships.

Chickasaw is one of only two cities in America with “sidewalk streets,” originally designed to accommodate shipyard workers walking to work. These “sidewalk” streets are over 100 years old and are still used by the US postal service to deliver mail to its residents.

Other programs sponsored by the Chamber include paper drives for local non-profit, scholarship fund donations, the 911 Banquet honoring firt responders & veterans, a Disc Golf Tournament, and the City Christmas Tree lighting.

Additionally, The Chickasaw Chamber provides ribbon-cutting ceremonies to all new businesses locating in Chickasaw and hosts a monthly luncheon to honor its Teacher/Employee of the Month from the Chickasaw School System’s Early Learning Center, elementary school and high school.

As the city grew into the 21st century, the City of Chickasaw Chamber of Commerce was born for the purpose of “Promoting Chickasaw’s Business & Community Growth.” The Chamber works diligently in support of numerous annual events such as the 4th of July Celebration, Founder’s Day Celebration, Family Fun Day, Annual Awards Ceremony, Christmas Festival, and the Night-Time Land Yacht Christmas Parade.

The Chickasaw Chamber, true to its founding, works tirelessly to not only support local businesses but also help the community with programs that promote a positive atmosphere to impact and inspire future generations.

bottom left:Launchingofshipyardvesselinearly1900s bottomright: Chickasaw HistoricSchoolbuiltin1913forthechildrenofshipyardworkers Photosprovided byCattSirtenandcontentprovidedbyRobertE.McFall,Jr.,pastpresident ChickasawChamberofCommerce.

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

KathyHicks

The cities and neighborhoods of Mobile Bay live at their own pace. Shaded city squares, palmetto-lined streets, and historic homes wrapped in intricate cast-iron balconies seem to slow time down.

SEMMES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Semmes, Alabama, the place we call home, is a picturesque small town snuggled in one of the best areas of Mobile County. The town gives you that good ole “back-in-the-day” feeling when everyone knew everybody by name, met at the local diner for coffee, and roced on the front porch. Rich in history from the Lumber, Forestry and Nursery Industries Semmes is quite a beautiful blooming place. With the Chambers focus on Growth and Economic Development it has been labeled “The Fastest Growing Town in Alabama”. Our small business owners are the backbone of our town and “Shop Local” is an everyday motto here.

The Chamber of Commerce was established in 2014. Five local business owners got together and discussed the need for a local area Chamber. Today the Chamber Board and its members continue to grow the membership. In 2019, under the leadership of past President Brandon Van Hook, membership more than doubled. He also established Semmes’ firt Welcome Center operated by the Chamber. Today, current Chamber president Sharon Murrill carries on that legacy of growth.

Leading the Way to a Better Tomorrow

The Semmes Community is all about traditions. The Azalea Festival was firt held nearly 20 years ago, even before Semmes was incorporated in 2011. March 2022 was the Chamber’s eighth year hosting the event.

The bright future of Semmes is being made a reality with the significant progress the Chamber is making and their vision for Growth and Economic Development. As more businesses open in our area and more residents relocate to Semmes the most fundamental concepts of economics increases: Supply and Demand.

The place we call home always has their door open, a hand extended and a warm welcome waiting. Come visit us in Semmes, Alabama and experience our town, our rich history and our beautiful blooming landscapes. Explore our nurseries and you will see why we are known as the “Nursery Capital”. Stop by our Chamber located at 8740 Mofftt Road and experience that good ole southern hospitality with a great cup of coffee or a cold drink. The future is bright in Semmes and the Chamber is “Leading the Way.”

The Chamber, considered as a fairly new established organization, has worked diligently for their success and it is apparent with their annual Azalea Festival.

SOUTHWEST MOBILE COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The motto of the SouthWest Mobile County Chamber of Commerce is, “In Step with Progress,” and this tells just part of the story of the Chamber and its industrious members. The strength of our members, presidents and dedicated officers is a vital force that represents the interts of the community and our citizens, while ensuring the promotion of economic development of South Mobile County.

This rich tradition reflects a Chamber that works toether to instill and encourage a strong economic foundation for South Mobile County. We are leading and developing the business community toward important goals through active participation in Chamber affair, while encouraging participation individually and collectively in the development of the economic resources of our community to attract new businesses and contribute to the growth of existing ones.

The Tillman’s Corner area is undergoing enormous growth and over the past decade has experienced a tremendous increase in population, as well as industry. This increase has caused unprecedented changes in the demographic face of the entire community. Our economy is on the rise! The many changing lifestyles within our community reflect the imae of a modern metropolis marching forward to the resounding beat of progress, led by the Citizens of Tillman’s Corner with utmost pride, ambition, and optimism. Like the community we serve and

In Step with Progress

represent, the SouthWest Mobile County Chamber of Commerce is ‘In Step with Progress’, says Tina Poiroux, Executive Director of the SouthWest Mobile County Chamber of Commerce.

Tillman’s Corner is an unincorporated community and censusdesignated place in Mobile County, Alabama. The population at the time of the last census was 17,398 and is a part of the Mobile metropolitan statistical area. SouthWest Mobile County Chamber was established in 1986 and has been a vital part of the City of Mobile through advocacy and involvement. Being a member of the Chamber, you are given opportunities to become active while being engaged in Chamber activities through the many Levels of Growth Campaigns: Young Ambassador, Diplomat, Committee Chair, Board Member and Advisory Board. The SouthWest Mobile County Chamber of Commerce was recently awarded one of the most prestigious awards from the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama. This CCAA Accreditation sets standards of excellence for chambers throughout the State of Alabama.

Regardless of work, government, politics, religion, or race, Mobile is a city with an amazing past, looking to the future with eyes on progress.

KathyHicks

RickLewis

RickLewis CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

BAYOU LA BATRE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Bayou La Batre is located along the Mississippi Sound, in Mobile County, on the Gulf of Mexico. The area was founded in 1786 by Joseph Bosarge, who received the land in a land grant award from the King of Spain. Bayou La Batre was the firt permanent settlement on the south Mobile County mainland. The City of Bayou La Batre was incorporated in 1955.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the area was a thriving resort. Tourists rode the BayShore Railroad from Mobile to the many hotels that lined the beach. However, the “Hurricane of 1906” destroyed many of the hotels and, eventually, the Railroad, and the tourists quit coming.

Today, Bayou La Batre has a thriving and innovative industrial and business environment representative of the city’s commitment to excellence. Known as the Seafood Capital of Alabama, it is estimated that the combined seafood landing of Bayou La Batre’s big commercial flets of shrimpers, crabbers, and fisherman has an economic impact on the state that exceeds $80 million annually.

Additionally, people from all over the world have boats built in Bayou La Batre. More than sixteen boatyards in South Mobile County build everything from seventeen-foot wooden gillnetters to 110-foot super-slabs. They also construct many other hull designs, including oil platform crew supply boats, workboats, barges, tugs, jack-up rigs, and shrimp boats. Total vessel construction is estimated to exceed $46 million annually.

In April 2005, Disney Studios launched a secretly built pirate ship, the Black Pearl, out of Bayou La Batre to film the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. The FV Cornelia Marie from the Deadliest Catch TV series was built in Bayou La Batre in 1989. Also, the Discovery Channel TV series Big Shrimpin was created to showcase shrimpers from Bayou La Batre with boats all built in Bayou La Batre.

The unofficial kioff to shrimping season is My 4th and 5th with the “Blessing of the Fleet,” which can be traced back to Old World European fishing communities where God as publicly acknowledged and petitioned for a bountiful harvest and the safety of the men at sea. In 1949, St. Margaret Parish held its firt Blessing of the Fleet. Over time, it has become a popular tourist attraction and community event featuring a Gumbo Cook-off, an Arts & Crafts Show, a Decorated Boat Contest, Boat Cruises, Bingo, and more.

The Bayou La Batre Area Chamber of Commerce promotes several tourism events each year, including the “Blessing of the Fleet,” the “Kayak Classic,” the “Taste of the Bayou,” and “Oyster Fest.” Tourists still travel to Bayou La Batre to spend time birding, fishing boating, or riding down scenic byway 188 to see century-old oaks or Shell Belt Road and Coden Belt Road to see our beautiful sunsets. Bayou La Batre is also called the Gateway to Dauphin Island, as tourists plan their route to dine at some of the best local seafood restaurants along the coast. Come on down to the bayou. We’re waiting on you!

PhotobyDavidMarkfromPixabay

DAUPHIN ISLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Even the French knew more than 300 years ago that Dauphin Island, Alabama, was a great place to live and work. It was a thriving community, port and base for exploration of the vast Louisiana Territory set right at the mouth of what would become known as Mobile Bay.

It wasn’t until the early 1950s, however, that the Mobile Chamber of Commerce set out to develop Dauphin Island as the “Gem of the Ocean,” selling lots and promoting the new destination to guests and businesses. Taking the lead in stimulating the Island’s success was the Dauphin Island Business Men’s Association (DIBMA), the group that eventually became the Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce.

Today more than 80 businesses are entrenched on the small barrier island determined to keep their community a vibrant tourist destination and favorable environment for business come hurricane or economic turmoil.

From its sugar-white beaches and rolling dunes, deep-rooted history and sport fishing, Dauphin Island is hw vacations used to be. Thick maritime forests are laced with camping, beaches and hike and bike trails on the East End and crisscrossing the Island. The West End Beach is like no other playground along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Sightseers and shoppers can even rent carts to shuttle across Dauphin Island. It is a laid back retreat where

family memories are made, and it’s easy to escape the stresses of everyday life in the Sunset Capital of Dauphin Island.

Whether it’s fresh-baked pastries and bread, succulent seafood, Southern or Texas-style barbecue, burgers or gourmet soups and sandwiches, the pallet is in for a party on Dauphin Island.

The introduction of beachside condominiums is recognized as one of the many positive accomplishments the Island has seen in recent years. Not only did the condos complement the wide assortment of rental homes available, they broadened the pool of those who many times chose to make the Island their home after visiting.

As Dauphin Island looks to the future, projects such as a working waterfront are planned. Rows of “Mom and Pop” businesses will line the bayside waterfront bringing new retail shops, markets, and eateries to the Island. Event-specific enues for concerts, entertainment and festivals also lie ahead in the near future.

The Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce continues to build on the vision of its founders so many years ago, while looking ahead into the 21st Century. After all, Dauphin Island is Alabama’s Family Beach Within Reach.

www.dauphinislandchamberofcommerce.com

PhotoscourtesyofChrisGrangerandtheAlabamaDepartmentofTourism

“People from all over the world have boats built in Bayou La Batre.”

CourtesyofBayouLaBatreChamberofCommerce

KathyHicks

CourtesyofNorthBaldwinChamberofCommerce

EASTERN SHORE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Life is easy on the Eastern Shore! This sportsman’s paradise is bustling with vibrant communities, opportunities to flourish and a shared appreciation for the natural beauty found along Mobile Bay. There’s southern charm, blooming magnolias and fresh Gulf seafood to tempt every palette.

You can’t miss the Eastern Shore’s sprawling coastal views, the perfect setting for magnificent and colorful sunsts. Locals spend lazy Sunday afternoons propped up along the bay soaking in the scenery or strolling down one of the Eastern Shore’s many public piers.

Grab a bike or lace up your walking shoes and enjoy the Eastern Shore Trail as it winds along Mobile Bay from Interstate 10 to Weeks Bay. The path showcases stunning views, including the Fairhope Municipal Pier with its rose garden and giant fountain.

Nature-lovers can enjoy a plant and animal scavenger hunt at the Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog. From the boardwalk, you can spot rare carnivorous plants, butterflies and een red-tailed hawks.

If you’re up for an adventure, go on a gator hunt at Daphne’s Gator Boardwalk. This free and accessible attraction is a favorite for children looking to spot some big teeth.

You can even take a boat tour from Blakeley State Park or 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center and explore the area’s diverse wildlife in America’s Amazon, the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta.

While you’re at Blakeley State Park, get a history lesson as you explore battlegrounds of the last major battle of the Civil War. The property includes miles of unspoiled fortifications from the Battle of Fort Blakeley in 1865 as well as remnants of the early Alabama Town of Blakeley, a colonial-era homestead.

The Eastern Shore’s beauty has become a haven for artists. Several galleries dot Fairhope’s downtown streets. The Eastern Shore Art Center features monthly exhibits in their fie galleries and the American Sports Art Museum and Archives in Daphne showcases more than 1,800 pieces, the most extensive collection of sports art in the world.

The Eastern Shore’s fabulous boutiques, antique stores and mom and pop shops attract shoppers year-round. Sunny afternoons are spent strolling down flwer-lined downtown streets in Fairhope and Daphne. In Spanish Fort, you can find may national brands and local merchants at the Eastern Shore Centre and Spanish Fort Towne Centre.

The Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay leaves a lasting impression on visitors and a feeling of small-town warmth for those who call it home. The Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce welcomes you to stop by our office at 327airhope Avenue in Fairhope for more information on local attractions and businesses.

NORTH BALDWIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce has been serving Bay Minette, Alabama and the surrounding communities since 1945, and celebrated 75 years of service in 2020. Representing more than 300 members and 5,000 employees, the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce is a business-focused, member-supported organization that works with the community to develop sustainable economic growth and to enhance the quality of life for all residents, business owners and employees. We work to represent the interests of our members and the wider community, and by doing so we are a united voice for progress in our area.

In Coastal Alabama you will find eerything you can imagine all rolled into one region – rivers and bayous, historic forts and Indian mounds, city lights and rural farms, as well as bays and beaches! However, it is nestled among the pine forests, Spanish mossdraped live oaks and the Tensaw River Delta that you will fin our home here in North Baldwin County. Our communities are steeped in history and culture with a landscape draped in natural beauty with fascinating wildlife, waterways, swamps and wetlands. North Baldwin County is a must-visit destination for any outdoor enthusiast and is ideally situated for business and industry.

Alongside the hustle and bustle of a growing economy (Baldwin County is the fastest-growing county in Alabama), you will find the natural wonders of North Baldwin County with well-planned

communities that have small-town charm and a relaxing atmosphere. The citizens and elected officials of our Baldwi County communities pride themselves on maintaining a balance between both positive progress and environmental preservation.

The City of Bay Minette is the economic hub of North Baldwin County and boasts an economic infrastructure that is continuously expanding and improving. North Baldwin County is a key player on the economic development front and is home to the 3,009 acres, shovel ready, South Alabama MegaSite. The North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, along with city and county governments, is actively involved in strategic growth plans that reach well into the future, working to recruit business and industry on all fronts. Through the North Baldwin Chamber, you will find a business community like no other; Businesses that are dedicated to giving back to the communities that they serve.

As the northern gateway to Baldwin County and the county seat, Bay Minette, Alabama is ideally situated within an hour’s drive of the city of Mobile, Alabama and just 45 miles north of the white sandy beaches in Gulf Shores, Alabama. With easy access to interstates 10 and 65, you are merely a stone’s throw away from Pensacola, Florida; Biloxi, Mississippi; and New Orleans, Louisiana. Consequently, residents and visitors enjoy small-town living and outdoor adventures all with easy access to bustling metropolitan areas.

“Downtown Fairhope is a good place to be.”

CENTRAL BALDWIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Drive off the beaten path through Central Baldwin Count, and you’ll see acres of farms, pastures, timberland, and orchards. But, as the region retains its agricultural heritage, business is booming in Alabama’s gateway to the Gulf.

Take Baldwin County’s Hub City. Robertsdale sits smack dab in the heart of Central Baldwin. State Highway 104 and U.S. Highway 90 run east to west while Highway 59 and the Beach Highway provide a north-south corridor that heads straight to the coast and to Interstate 10.

Its central location and proximity to transportation make it a center for commerce. Transportation has long played a role in the development of these communities.

Robertsdale and the other municipalities of Central Baldwin were built in the early 1900s around the Louisville & Nashville Railroad line. Speculators like Chicago’s Southern Plantation Corp. and the Svea Land Company played a critical role in the early development of the towns, as did a lumber camp built among the virgin pine forests of Loxley and a turpentine distillery and cannery in Summerdale.

But Central Baldwin has grown to more than cow pastures and cornfield. Much more. It’s one of the hottest real estate markets in the state and home to an ever-growing number of small businesses, tech companies, and manufacturers.

Our Baldwin County Public School System, Coastal Alabama Community College, and technical and aviation school’s partner to provide training for a skilled workforce.

The population rises almost too fast to keep up with new residential neighborhoods popping up across the landscape. The town of

Summerdale, for example, saw a 75 percent increase in population since 2010. Loxley and Silverhill are also among the fastest-growing Alabama municipalities.

Each municipality offers ample recreation opportunities with parks, trails, playgrounds, and ballfield. A 1.7-mile walking and bike path runs north and southeast of State Highway 59 through Robertsdale - along the old railroad line. The city’s newest addition is Honeybee Park that adds lots of green space, a pavilion, parking, and restroom facilities around the trail. Plans at the site include an amphitheater.

The Baldwin County Coliseum in Robertsdale hosts events like the Rotary Foundation’s PCA Championship Rodeo and the Baldwin County Fair while our parks provide sites for year ‘round activities, including the Honeybee Festival and Run, Strawberry Festival and Silverhill Heritage Festival.

With a vision of thriving commerce, the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce was incorporated in 1975. Businessmen like Raymond Fell, Percy Pearson, Jimmy Gilbert, and Huey Mack dedicated themselves to making that vision a reality. The Chamber continues its focus on workforce and economic development, education, youth leadership, quality of life, and business advocacy.

With historic downtown revitalization, friendly residents, and a diverse mix of restaurants and shops, our communities appeal to families, retirees, and young entrepreneurs.

Combine local amenities with a strategic business location, and you have the perfect spot for a new business or a new home. We’ll roll out the welcome mat for you!

SOUTH BALDWIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Welcome to South Baldwin! Here at the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, we are proud of this community and proud to support the businesses and people that make it such a special place. As we near our 80th year of service, the Chamber could not be more excited about the progress this community has made and its prospects for a bright, successful future!

In 1944, the founders of this Chamber began organizing for the purpose of “protecting and promoting the interests of the merchants, businesses, and citizens of Foley and its trade area.” They sought to “attain by combination, advantages which could not be reached by individual entrepreneurs.” Seventy-fie years later, those tenants are still at the heart of our work. Thoughtful planning, innovative practices, and dedicated leadership have been key elements of the success not only of the Chamber but also of our entire community. We are fortunate to have elected officia, civic volunteers, business owners and citizens who are passionate about the prosperity and quality of life here.

From Foley’s downtown historic district to OWA’s ever-changing entertainment options and from the serene waters of the Graham Creek Nature Preserve to the bustle of Alabama’s beaches, this is a

business and fun. Whether it is art filling the park, ht air balloons filling the sk, or runners filling the treets, the calendar is packed with ways to celebrate and enjoy life in South Baldwin. From Elberta Sausage, to Bon Secour oysters, to the bounty found at a local farmers’ market, our tables are plentiful.

Each year, our program of work mirrors the needs and priorities of our members and our business community and we are led by a dedicated board of directors in getting that work done. We continue to support and strengthen our business community and preserve our quality of life. The Chamber welcomes members, new and long-standing, to join a committee or attend an event, to voice an opinion and offer a solution. e are fortunate to work with many civic and faith-based organizations to leverage our ability to reach and positively impact many areas of interest, from education to workforce development to community planning.

The South Baldwin Chamber welcomes you to be a part of our efforts and a part of our communit. Together we are stronger and together we will build an even brighter future in this amazing place we call home.

KathyHicks

ElizabethGelineau

Since 1929, Stacey’s Rexall Drugs and Old Tyme Soda Fountain has been serving handmade milkshakes, malts, ice cream sodas, sundaes, and more in downtown Foley.

From Dauphin Island to downtown Mobile and everywhere in between, the neighborhoods of Mobile Bay are full of a distinctly Southern charm and beauty.

KathyHicks

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

COASTAL ALABAMA BUSINESS CHAMBER

The Coastal Alabama Business Chamber is a volunteer-driven organization set to strengthen their members, businesses, and community. Currently serving in two locations in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, the Chamber is led by President and CEO Greg Alexander. Since beginning his time in office, Alexand has helped lead the charge in bringing positive change to the Chamber through enhancing member benefits and already in place programs. A major steppingstone included forming a partnership with the neighboring South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, leading to the Coastal Alabama Business Chamber becoming a part of the regional workforce development alliance, the Gateway Initiative.

One of the Chamber’s main focuses is the organization of the Annual National Shrimp Festival, a four-day experience that has been running since 1971. Attendees can look to enjoy an exciting weekend on the beaches of Gulf Shores filled with art, food, music and vendors from across the country. If one can think it, it can probably be found at the festival; from eclectic sculptures, handmade goods, and even the elusive snack item known as the Cajun Pistol.

When Shrimp Fest season wraps up, the Chamber enjoys bringing their own coastal twist to the traditional holiday parade. In midDecember each year, the Chamber sets sail along with area captains down the Intracoastal Waterway for the Annual Lighted Boat Parade.

Along with businesses and events, one of the Chamber’s other main focuses is education. Since 2018, the organization has been part of the national program known as Lemonade Day. The program takes children in Kindergarten through Fifth Grade on a month-long course, which teaches them various aspects of businesses, including recipe development, sales, design, and financial manaement. The program concludes with the actual Lemonade Day, where the children spend a whole day out in the community using all they’ve learned to run their very own lemonade stand. Older students have the opportunity to participate in the Chamber’s Junior Leadership program. In this program, area high school juniors get out of the classroom for a day and learn about career opportunities in their own backyard. Students who have participated in the Junior Leadership program have had the chance to take tours of and learn about the cities’ government offic, fire and police tations, hospitals in the area, and even an aerospace supply company.

Whether through their programs, events, or day-to-day networking, the Chamber looks to continue bringing together the community through a culture of excellence.

topleft:CuttingtheribbononanothernewCoastalAlabamabusiness!

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bottom left:Leadingthe fletoftheAnnualLightedBoatParade. bottomright: Volunteersaretheheartof theCoastalAlabamaBusinessChamber. PhotoscomplimentsofRyanMoberly.

Sugar-white sands and turquoise water are only the beginning of life and living on Alabama’s coast.

NicholasCourtney|Dreamstime

A DESTINATION:

Entertainment, Recreation, and Celebrations

The water is a crucial element in Mobile. The coastal community draws enjoyment, economic health and tourism revenue from the ocean, lakes, bays and bayous. A celebration in recognition of the importance of this natural resource is the annual Blessing of the Fleet, which takes place in Bayou La Batre. The event features a prayer from the Archbishop of Mobile for the town’s commercial fishing flt.

“Let the good times roll,” has been Mobile’s call to action since the early 1700s and a sight to behold since day one. Spanning weeks, parades of colorful float, fire-breathing draons, and marching bands parade through downtown. Masked revelers toss treasures, treats, and beaded necklaces to euphoric crowds with outstretched arms.

Other towns have similar Carnival celebrations, including Fairhope, Dauphin Island, Prichard, and Saraland.

We are also a region rich in artistic creativity of national and local acclaim. Nearby shops, galleries, and artisans offer their work through such venues as Mobile’s LODA Artwalk. Across the bay, the annual Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival is noted as one of the best and biggest such events in America.

Year-round exhibits are available from all shores in both counties, from larger galleries such as the Mobile Museum of Art with a permanent collection of 10,000 pieces to The Eastern Shore Art Center with viewings, classes, studios, and outreach activities.

Almost every town has an art presence, such as the City of Semmes’ - “The Semmesonian.” Located in a wing of the Semmes Regional Library, the gallery is a showcase for local artists with an ever-changing display of talent.

For fun and games, we take sports to a higher level as football legends like Joe Namath, Bo Jackson, Walter Payton, and hundreds more testify. These are some of the professional football careers that started in Mobile. Arguably our most prominent sporting event is the Reese’s Senior Bowl. It showcases an all-star match played by the best of college football. The nationally televised game has been Mobile’s January place to be since 1951.

In other sports, soccer is kicking interest with a strong presence in an emerging 60-acre Mobile County Soccer Complex. Lacrosse is gaining support through league play and college/high school programs. And with 60 courts and thousands of visitors, the Mobile Tennis Center is one of the most extensive public tennis facilities in the world.

From games on ballfield, courts, and stadiums, we move to water, where Mobile Bay is more than history and livelihood, it is our playground.

Area yachts and yachting clubs compete in sailing events from Dauphin Island, Fairhope, and other points of Mobile Bay. For sailors, it’s a race of honing aquatic skills. For spectators, it’s a sight of beauty with billowing white sails cutting blue skies.

A newer offering, the Draon Boat Festival takes oars to water in a bay adventure placing the “you” in unique. The fundraising event is organized by the Fuse Project, a non-profit dedicated to local children’s charities. Twenty-one member boat crews, which recently launched 55 teams, take to the water. The race of 46-feet-long vessels resembles Hong Kong on Mobile Bay.

Other water activities are not competitive but just as fun and at times uplifting. Bayou La Batre’s Blessing of the Fleet, on the dock behind St. Margaret Parish, features a prayer from the Archbishop of Mobile for the town’s commercial fishing flt. The day’s activities also include crafts, games, and food — especially magnificent gumb.

But another craft commands the bay — the USS Battleship Alabama. At 42,500 tons, 680 feet long, and rising about 194 feet above water, the ‘Mighty A’ is hard to miss, nor do you want to.

Since the early 1960s, millions have visited the proud World War II vessel permanently berthed on the shores of Mobile Bay. The fortress of steel is a top Alabama tourist attraction.

Though the USS Alabama Battleship is the bay area’s largest artifact, thousands more await. About a fifteen-minute drie from the battleship are treasures of a 300-year-old city.

The History Museum of Mobile is a storehouse of centuries past. Nearby is the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center, complete with IMAX film, permanent exhibits, hands-on displays, and visiting collections.

Also on the list, the GulfQuest National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico tells the story of our maritime history with interactive displays and attractions bringing oceans alive.

Others of note include The Foley Railroad Museum and Model Train Exhibit. In the heart of Foley, the museum tells of history on track — railroad tracks — like in the early 1900s when Chicago’s John B. Foley arrived in Baldwin County by train. Falling in love with the area, he purchased 40,000 acres, which became his namesake city — Foley.

The Gulf Shores Museum chronicles the story of a tiny sea village that rose from the carnage of Hurricane Fredrick to become a national tourist mecca. Smaller museums, libraries, and historians throughout the bay area also gladly share their stories

News of our recreational icons spreads through word of mouth, reported by the media, and even referenced in To Kill a Mockingbird. “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful, Mrs. Dubose?” asked Atticus Finch in the Harper Lee classic. “The gardens at Bellingrath have nothing to compare with your flwers.” We respectfully disagree. Bellingrath Gardens and Home has few rivals. Acres of eye-popping color await peaceful exploration.

In other venues of flwer power: The Mobile Botanical Gardens are a peaceful getaway in Mobile’s Spring Hill. Fairhope streets are adorned with fresh flwers in hanging baskets in downtown displays. And the beauty of fabulous flora is celebrated annually in the Providence Hospital Foundation’s Festival of Flowers.

Mobile Bay has it all. From nature’s tranquility to downtown’s bustling beat, to artistic works great and small. World-famous tourist attractions are here but so are smaller, yet just as special, community prizes. Competitive events in stadiums, field, and even boats are a mainstay.

It’s all worth the trip, a return visit, and for many, making it home.

Pictured,theCarnivalEcstasyisparkedattheAlabamaCruiseTerminalinMobile,Alabama

THE POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS

A STORY OF SPIRIT, STRENGTH AND PERSEVERENCE.

The story of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians is a story of spirit, strength and perseverance.

We have known extreme hardship, endured stereotypes and discrimination, and struggled to secure our land, educate our children, and maintain our culture and our traditions.

We have also realized great accomplishment and enjoyed sustained success, and today we stand as a federally-recognized sovereign nation, self-reliant and fully in control of our future.

Native Americans are an indigenous people, the original settlers of what is now the United States. The Poarch Band is descended from the powerful Creek Nation that resided in the southeastern coastal plain, primarily Alabama and Georgia.

But the Creek Indian War of 1813-14 forever changed our trajectory, dividing us and impacting the evolution of the Tribe.

The Treaty of Fort Jackson in 1814 further altered the legacy of the Creek Nation when more than 22 million acres of Creek land was, in effect, seized y the United States for white settlements. Subsequently, President Andrew Jackson pushed Congress in 1830 to pass the Indian Removal Act to ruthlessly clear Indian lands.

In what is known as the “Trail of Tears,” the Creeks and other southeastern tribes were forcibly removed from their ancestral homes. It was an exceedingly dark moment in U.S. history as thousands died during the brutal and inhumane march of more than 1,000 miles. But while some ancestors of the Poarch Band were forced to relocate, others stayed — with or without government approval. Aided by government land grants, a core group was able to remain in Alabama and moved inland to the area around present-day Poarch, 50 miles northeast of Mobile.

We have now made our home in Poarch for over 200 years, our families at the heart of our lives.

Nature reveals that a single reed is fragile but, when reeds are woven together, there is strength. As Poarch Creeks, we are bound to each other by our past, our lives entwined, and together we are moving forward to secure our future. We are also bound to our beloved Alabama community — our friends and neighbors — as a major employer and benefactor for social programs, local events and charities.

It has been a long journey but together, with an enduring faith and resolve, we have persevered.

Theharvestofcorn(“vce”)representsthebeginningofanewyearforCreekpeople.

left: Chief CalvinMcGheewithPresident JohnF.Kennedy,circa1962.

belowleft:TribalViceChairmanRobbieMcGhee andPresidentBarackObamaatameetingofNative AmericanleadersattheWhiteHouse,circa2014.

below right: TribalChairStephanieBryanwith AlabamaGovernorKayIvey,circa2018.

TRIBAL GOVERNMENT

The Tribe wields significant influence in thetate, and is a very active player in the world of philanthropy. From the halls of the legislature to Congress to charitable foundations and organizations throughout the state, the Tribe is an economic and political powerhouse

Service makes a community strong and is an essential mission of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Today we are led by a fully functional Tribal government that ensures Tribal Members have the services they require to not only survive but to thrive.

The Tribal government has established a strong infrastructure to provide quality education, housing and health care for Tribal Members and to promote public safety, in addition to other benefit.

The Tribal government also actively works to preserve our heritage and revive our native arts with regular activities to encourage and promote traditional dancing, language and other cultural learning.

Rather than building private wealth like most business entities, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians is growing assets for the good of the community. It is an American success story in the best sense.

Under the direction of the Tribal Council, our gaming and business development entities have been strategic in developments and acquisitions over the years. As of this writing, successful business ventures are being administered across a number of industries, including entertainment, hospitality, service and manufacturing. This portfolio has enabled the Tribe to attain not just self-sufficiey but prosperity.

On April 13, 1985, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians opened a 1,500-seat high-stakes bingo hall in rural Escambia County, Alabama. The Creek Bingo Palace immediately created 130 jobs in the small town of Atmore and set the Tribe on a path towards self-reliance and improved socio-economic standards.

WIND CREEK HOSPITALITY

“It has provided our rural community with jobs — both for our Tribal Members and for our neighbors,” said former Tribal Chairman Buford L. Rolin. “It has allowed us to add to our community’s tax base, and it has provided us opportunities to educate our children, build housing and medical clinics, and improve the lives of our elderly. Our gaming business has also provided us with capital that we have used to start other businesses.”

As the Tribe’s principal gaming and hospitality entity, Wind Creek Hospitality generates a sustainable revenue stream to fund the services provided by the Tribal government.

As of this writing, the Tribe operates three gaming facilities in Alabama: Wind Creek Casino & Hotel, Atmore; Wind Creek Casino & Hotel, Wetumpka; and Wind Creek Casino & Hotel, Montgomery.

These destination resorts feature electronic bingo games, stylish lodging, and casual and fine dining. Some locations offer a luxu spa. Wind Creek Casino & Hotel, Atmore, also offers family entertainment options such as a movie theater, bowling alley and arcade.

In addition, Wind Creek Hospitality owns two gaming properties in the Caribbean — the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino in Oranjestad, Aruba; the Renaissance Curaçao Resort and Casino in Willemstad, Curaçao; and Wind Creek Bethlehem in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The Tribe also operates commercial racetracks in Alabama and Florida and manages the Wa She Shu casino in Nevada for the Washoe Tribe.

clockwise from top left: ThefirtCreekBingoPalaceinAtmore,Alabama(c.1985); WindCreekAtmore(c.2018); WindCreekBethlehem; WindCreekWetumpka’sshowpieceaquarium;WindCreekCuraçao.

CREEK INDIAN ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

The Tribe’s business portfolio extends well beyond the gaming industry. They also own and operate two aerospace companies that manufacture essential equipment for U.S. military aircraft.

“Our Tribe is extremely proud to support our nation’s military aviation,” said PCI Aviation’s CEO Mal McGhee. “We are ever mindful that each part we produce is critically important to ensuring that our military aircraft and the men and women who serve on them are effectie and safe.”

In 2017, the Tribe ventured further into the hospitality industry with the opening of OWA, a top-class, family-friendly tourist destination in Foley, Alabama. OWA means “water” in the Muskogee Creek language (originally spelled “owv”) and refers to the 14-acre lake at the center of the unique project. It features a themed amusement park, a hotel and a wide selection of restaurants and shopping. The Tribe also owns multiple convenience stores and has partnerships with various hotels across the southeastern United States.

PHILANTHROPY

The relationship between Native Americans and those that came to our shores from abroad has frequently been contentious, especially in the early years of the U.S. But despite the decades of discrimination and injustice — even violence — against them, the Poarch Creeks have always fostered a desire for unity and reconciliation.

This desire has now been realized. With the growth and development of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the relationship between Alabama and its only federally recognized Tribe has deepened into a mutually beneficial partnershi. And as the Tribe’s economic impact on the state has increased, its influence has grwn — from

the halls of the legislature to charitable foundations to leading organizations throughout the state.

The Tribe has also become a benevolent leader in the world of philanthropy. Given its long-standing tradition of sharing with those in need, the Tribe contributes to many charitable organizations in the community, helping to fund the arts as well as activities such as youth sports, senior care and emergency support services — a total of almost $35 million from 2013–2019. Its generosity also benefits the broader Alabama community hrough job creation. As of this writing, Tribal businesses alone accounted for nearly 9,000 direct jobs, over 90 percent of which are held by non-Indians.

Like reeds that have been woven together, we have survived the harsh winds of our history, emerging strong, successful and self-reliant.

clockwise from top left: Rollin’ThunderrollercoasteratTheParkatOWA,afamilyentertainmentdestinationinFoley,Alabama; WeldingatMuskogeeTechnology;WorkatPCIAviation; BoysatMagnoliaBranchWildlifeReserve.

Spanning weeks, America’s original Mardi Gras features parades of colorful float, fire breathing dragons, and marching bands that parade through downtown. Masked revelers toss treasures, treats, and beaded necklaces to euphoric crowds with outstretched arms.

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

CourtesyofVisitMobile

CourtesyofVisitMobile

GULF STATE PARK

While meandering a coastline of aqua-blue waves of soothing saltwater lapping sugar-white sand, one may find what is aid about Gulf State Park hard to believe: “The beach is only the beginning.” The beginning? You ask. ‘How could there be more?’

Then you explore the rest of the park and agree. Gulf State Park is much more than sandy shores - not that anything is wrong with 2.5 miles of pristine beaches. Alabama’s top-ranked outdoor playground with engaging and innovative amenities covers 6,150 acres. Within the park are nine ecosystems, 28 miles of hiking and bike trails, 496 RV campsites, a quarter-mile long fishing pier, beach pavilion, and adventures in the great outdoors as well as indoors.

Opened in 1939, Gulf State Park is one of the oldest state parks in Alabama. It has weathered the storm – literally. On September 16, 2004, the park was devastated by Hurricane Ivan. Most of the facilities were destroyed, badly damaged, or rendered unusable.

In 2014, the State of Alabama announced that $85.5 million from the Deepwater Horizon recovery funds would be dedicated to renovate the park. This included rebuilding the – closed for a

decade – Lodge, building a new Interpretive Center and a new Learning Campus, expanding and enhancing the trail system, and restoring the park’s dune system. The Lodge at Gulf State Park opened November 1, 2018.

The Lodge at Gulf State Park, Interpretive Center, Learning Campus and Woodside Restaurant showcase a commitment to eco-friendly design. All of the new facilities have achieved some of the world’s most rigorous building standards, with the Interpretive Center designed to be the firt building in Alabama to achieve full Living Building Challenge certification.

Beyond the Lodge’s boardwalks, one steps into the uniqueness that is Gulf State Park. It offers a varity of sensory activities for everybody. Vacationers, wildlife enthusiasts, hikers, and explorers can find the wonderment and we they are looking for.

Fishing enthusiasts from Mobile to Montreal, united in the pursuit of seafood by hook, line and sinker, enjoy the largest fishing pier on the Gulf of exico. Anglers encourage each other and welcome newcomers, assisting as needed in reeling in the next “big one.”

The park is prized by birders for its vast range of feathered diversity. Hundreds of bird species call the park home, or migrate through during the spring and fall, and still others will spend their

winters here. Animal and botanical life not commonly seen in any other part of the state flourishes here

“People don’t realize what all is encompassed,” says Chandra Wright, the Lodge at Gulf State Park’s Director of Environmental and Educational Initiatives. “We have excellent lodging, camping, and events year ‘round.” In addition to wildlife, she added, “We offer kyaking, paddleboards, playgrounds, picnic areas, a Coastal Segway Adventure, and much more. The Nature Center has several resident animal ambassadors to educate guests about some of the other park inhabitants. The park’s naturalists do a great job with a variety of family-friendly educational programs.” The complimentary bikeshare program and tram serve to transport guests around the park without need of a car.

Gulf State Park has three lakes: Shelby, Middle, and Little. The largest, Lake Shelby at about 600 acres, borders Lakeside Cabins and Eagle Cottages. “In August 2018, the cottages were rebranded and refreshed,” noted Wright. “We added local art, replaced furniture, and renamed them ‘Eagle Cottages,’ offering a intimate and authentic sustainable tourism experience for our guests. We are very proud that Eagle Cottages is a member of the prestigious National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World collection, one of only a handful in the United States and less than 70 in the world.”

Valor Hospitality Partners manages the Lodge, and also operates the amenities associated with the Gulf State Park Enhancement Project, including the Interpretive Center, known as the “Gateway to Gulf State Park.” The “IC” was introduced in May 2018 and teaches visitors about the park’s nine ecosystems and the importance of preserving our resources for the future. The IC practices what it preaches. “It generates 105% of its power needs through solar energy,” notes Wright. “The facility also collects rainwater in an 11,000-gallon cistern. We are the firt commercial facility in Alabama to turn rainwater into potable drinking water.”

Woodside Restaurant is nestled in the park’s piney woods and is steps off the Hugh . Branyon Backcountry Trail, making it a perfect meal stop for hikers, bikers, locals and guests. Live entertainment and family games on the lawn cap off the dy’s adventures.

The Learning Campus, adjacent to Woodside Restaurant, offers meting space, classrooms, a lab, and bunkhouse-style accommodations. Serving as an educational hub, it offers a place for guests to learn about the park before exploring.

Through nature trails, educational programs, delicious dining, great fishing, and a varity of lodging, Alabama’s Gulf State Park has something for all. It is waiting to be explored and the beach is only the beginning.

alapark.com/parks/gulf-state-park

top left and bottom right: ChristmaslightsinterprettheGulfCoast’snaturalhabitatsandwildlifeinvividcolor.Visitorsstandonthe“oceanfloo”withschoolsofcolorful fish wimmingoverhead,andaflockofflamiosshinesaneonpinkreflectiononthe ater. bottom left: Patronspausetoreflectonarecentgalleryexhibit.Museum, artgalleriesandpublicartinstallationsshowcaseworksfromlocal,regional,national,andinternationalartists.

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

top right: Hotairballoonsglowintheskyandcastacolorfulreflectioninthe ater. bottom center: ThereisbeautyinartandarchitectureatthisfestivalinMobile, Alabama’sCathedralSquare.ArtistwaresaredisplayedagainstthebackdropoftheCathedral-BasilicaoftheImmaculateConception,thefirtCatholicParishontheGulf Coast,establishedatMobilein1703.

PhotocourtesyofSouthBaldwinChamberofCommerce.

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

GULF REBEL CHARTER FISHING

The charter fishing indutry is a survival-of-the-fitest endeavor. Few have survived long enough to thrive like Gulf Rebel Charter Fishing out of Orange Beach.

The third-generation business has built its reputation on expert knowledge of its fishing essels, the waters they sail, and a decades-long investment in artificial reefs where the bet — and tastiest — fish congregate.

Owner Brian Annan was raised in commercial fishing y his father, who was also a shipbuilder, and his uncle, a professional fisherman, who passed Gulf Rebel Charters to his nephew more than 30 years ago. Annan, a skilled draftsman, had the choice to leave the coast to pursue other careers or stay on his home turf and perfect his various passions. The decision to stay came easy.

“I was never going to leave the coast,” Annan said. “I’d always been taught, pick an occupation that you’d do for nothing, do it for a living, and you can be the most successful at it.”

The Gulf Rebel flet includes the Joyce, a 38-foot charter fishing boat, the Kelly Anne, a 55-foot shrimp boat, the 55-foot Summer Breeze, and the company’s namesake, the 44-foot Gulf Rebel, which has been fishing the Gulf of exico since his uncle, Armand Annan, III bought it in 1965. Brian’s great grandfather, Armand Annan, Sr. was a 3rd generation shipbuilder and hard-hat diver

that built sail ships and also had a Captain’s license dated back to 1908. Brian’s father, Donald Annan, built their firt charter boat, the Joyce, in 1958 which launched their charter fishing busines. Brian’s brother Kevin Annan is a skilled deckhand and helps with maintenance work on the boats in the shipyard.

The company offers charters ranging from fou-hour trolling sessions close to Pleasure Island and longer offshore trips to deep waters and Gulf Rebel’s reefs, of which there are hundreds. Overnight trips for prized yellowfin tuna are among the mot popular as the legendary fish put up epic batles and taste incredible.

Natural disasters are one of the most dangerous adversaries of commercial fishermen. Brian Annan has seen his share, althoug his ability to secure his boats on his family’s generational property help him control how his vessels, and the business itself, is protected. The result is that, while some companies are entirely wiped out by hurricanes and other large-scale misfortunes, Gulf Rebel Charter Fishing is well-prepared to weather the storms.

And just like his father and uncle prepared him to earn the captain’s chair as a younger man, Annan has raised his sons, Captain Phil and Captain Kendall, to do likewise. Whether you’re on the Summer Breeze or the Gulf Rebel, a third-generation Annan will be there to help ensure the safest, most satisfying trip possible. www.gulfrebelcharters.com | www.freshshrimpofftheboat.co

top left: ThreegenerationsstandinginfrontoftheKellyAnne. L-RKevinAnnan,CaptainDonaldAnnan,CaptainPhilAnnan,CaptainBrianAnnan,andCaptain KendallAnnan. inset photos: CaptainArmandAnnan,Sr.,ArmandAnnan,Jr.DMD,DDS,CaptainArmandAnnan,lll,CaptainDonaldAnnan. top right: The“KellyAnne” shrimpboat. top center: The“SummerBreeze”charterfishingboat. bottom: The“Joyce”38’woodencharterfishingboatbuiltbyCaptainDonaldAnnanin1958(inset). opposite page: The“GulfRebel”charterfishingboatboughtin196.

The Draft starts in Mobile! Elite draft prospects from around the country are selected to showcase their talent and connect with coaches and decision-makers from all 32 NFL teams in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. The annual college all-star football game is played at South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium at the conclusion of the NCAA season.

above: SeniorBowlExecutiveDirectorJimNagyandalltheplayersfromMobilewhocompetedin the2022SeniorBowl.PhotobyTravisMiddleton,CourtesyofTheReese’sSeniorBowl. opposite page; top right: TheSeniorBowlisconsideredthemostprominentcollegefootballall-stargame intheU.S.andisthefirtstageintheNFLDraftprocess.PhotobyTravisMiddleton,Courtesyof TheReese’sSeniorBowl. bottom right: MobileMachineLacrosse(“TheMachine”)wasfoundedby parentsandcoacheswhosevisionistopromotethegrowthofyouthlacrosseinMobile,Alabama, andtheGulfCoastRegion.Pictured,TheMachinecompetesintheannualBattleshipShootout LacrosseJamboree,ayouthlacrossetournamenttypicallydrawing50teamsfromAlabama,Florida, andMississippi.

TravisMiddleton

TravisMiddleton

THREE GEORGES CANDY SHOP

With wonderment, Scott Gonzalez carefully places an original Three Georges Southern Chocolate box next to the others in his collection. “This box came from the Visitation Monastery,” he explains, “and was found as the sisters were cleaning out the attic.”

When describing the legendary sweet shop on the corner of Dauphin and Joachim streets, owner Gonzalez puts it best: “Three Georges Candy Shop is a story. It’s the story of three Greek immigrants who chased the American promise of independence and self-reliance and created a little company that would touch the hearts and souls of everyone who visited.”

Founded in 1917, Three Georges Candy began as a partnership between George Pope, George Spero, and George Papplamprous. Fifteen years later, George Papplamprous bought out his partners and changed the shop’s name to George’s Candy Shop. In 1992, George’s daughter-in-law Eupel Pappas sold the shop to Scott and Siobhan Gonzalez, who have done everything in their power to preserve what has made Three Georges a beloved Mobile institution.

That all starts with the sweets — handmade chocolates, creams, truffl, heavenly hash, divinity, brittle, and pralines, to name

a few. It also meant reinstating a soda fountain and sandwich counter, two aspects that were original to the business but had fallen by the wayside over the years. In the same spirit of preservation, Gonzalez restored the shop to its firt name (Three Georges), adopted the original logo, and even redesigned the storefront to match archival photos.

The Gonzalezes were also the beneficiaries of a wealth of knowledge, recipes, and equipment. Original recipes were handwritten by George in a language that sometimes needs a little interpretation but shares through the generations ageless treats of perfection. Eupel also passed along timeless equipment: marble slab tables, copper kettles, double boilers, and other fitures.

“The important part is maintaining the spirit of the shop,” Gonzalez says, a place where a sweet, chocolatey aroma fills the air and rolls through the mahogany doors onto Dauphin Street.

“We want to do everything we can to keep the shop where it is for future generations. The best way to do that is to grow the brand — and keep creating a product that everybody loves: chocolates and Southern confections, sundaes and delicious milkshakes, classic sandwiches and gumbo,” Gonzalez says. “This is the vision the three Georges imagined, and we are honored to keep their dream alive.”

THE GRAND HOTEL GOLF RESORT & SPA

There’s just something about the Grand Hotel. Maybe it’s the timeless quality of the sprawling live oaks or the resident ducks that stroll the grounds without a care. Or perhaps it’s a million little details rolled into one that makes this “Queen of Southern Resorts,” officially named the Grandotel Golf Resort & Spa, one of the South’s most beloved destinations.

First constructed in 1847, the hotel is steeped in history, serving as a hospital during the Civil War and as headquarters for a top-secret Army Air Force mission during World War II. Rebuilt three times, the main building, as seen today, was erected in 1941.

In 2017, the hotel completed its most comprehensive restoration since that third rebuilding, a $32-million upgrade, according to Director of Sales and Marketing Kevin Hellmich, “touched every aspect of the resort.” With the renovations also came the Grand’s induction into the Marriott’s Autograph Collection, an elite classification of 164 unique htels worldwide.

“We took a very simple approach,” Hellmich says. “We listened to what our customers were telling us.” The hotel’s leadership reevaluated every detail, starting with a renovation of the Dogwood Golf Course. A new practice facility offers olfers a state-of-the-art training experience.

In addition to revamping the conference center, all 405 guest rooms have been updated; rooms that previously featured two double beds now sport two queens, and rooms with a king-sized bed have traded in tubs for walk-in showers.

The all-new 1847 bar specializes in garden-to-glass cocktails and provides the perfect setting to catch the sunset before stepping next door for dinner at Southern Roots, the new farm-to-table hotspot. The ever-popular Bucky’s Lounge features fie new firepits and expanded outdoor seating, while the Byside Grill boasts a presentation kitchen with 14 beers on tap. For adventurers heading out the door, a new grab-n-go Local Market near the lobby provides a quick pick-me-up.

When guests aren’t enjoying the reconfigured spa or the new hammocks and cabanas, they can confer with the Grand’s resident historian and, of course, attend the daily cannon firing, celebratin the establishment’s military history.

“It’s not just a hotel or a resort,” Hellmich says. “We’re in the memory business. We’re confident that will continue and a new generation will learn about the traditions and history of the Grand Hotel.”

PhotoscourtesyofAlabamaTourism

PhotoscourtesyofAlabamaTourism

opposite page; top and bottom: TheDragonBoatFestivaltakesoarstowaterinabayadventure.TheuniquefundraisingeventisorganizedbytheFuseProject,anon-profi dedicatedtolocalchildren’scharities.Twenty-one-memberboatcrews,whichrecentlylaunched55teams,taketothewateronMobileBay. top: ThePerdidoQueen hostsaMobileDinnerCruise,LiveJazzBrunch,MurderMysteryDinnerandotherspecialevents.Thevesselisheatedorcooledforpassengers’comfortwhileguestsare treatedtodinnerandliveentertainmentwhileenjoyingthebestviewintownofMobile’sriverfront.ThepaddleboatisdockedattheArthurC.OutlawConventionCenter. bottom: AreayachtsandyachtingclubscompeteinsailingeventsfromDauphinIsland,Fairhope,andotherpointsofMobileBay.Forsailors,it’saraceofhoningaquatic skills.Forspectators,it’sasightofbeautywithbillowingsailscuttingblueskies.PhotocourtesyofESCC.

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

PhotocourtesyofESCC.

WINTZELL’S OYSTER HOUSE

If opening a new business during an economic recession seems like a recipe for disaster, then Mobile’s most iconic restaurant, Wintzell’s Oyster House, is an unlikely success story.

“Folks eat oysters in good times and bad,” J. Oliver Wintzell once wrote. “It’s just part of living on the Gulf Coast.” And so it was that Wintzell’s Oyster House came to be during the Great Depression in 1938 when Oliver affixed his family’s name to what was then a small, six-stool oyster bar in Mobile, Alabama. Now, more than 80 years later, Wintzell’s continues to celebrate service, seafood, sentiment, and success. The original location at 605 Dauphin Street proudly remains a dining landmark and is joined by additional Wintzell’s locations, reaching from the Gulf Coast to central and northern Alabama.

Oliver was revered throughout town not only for his civic involvement but also for his homespun sayings — thousands of quips and questions that color the walls of all Wintzell’s restaurants. These widely read witticisms deliver an atmosphere that’s lively, casual, and unmistakably southern.

Wintzell’s is known far and wide for its oysters — “fried, stewed and nude” — as well as the folks who shuck them — folks like

Willie Brown. In November 1970, Willie, then a 23-year-old, firt-time job seeker, had never opened an oyster before, but much like the restaurant’s founding itself, Oliver took a chance. After apprenticing for several weeks, Willie was given a knife and a glove and began making friends at the oyster bar, ultimately turning skill into craft and becoming an icon at Wintzell’s flagship retaurant for nearly half a century. Willie represented the warmth, authenticity, and easygoingness that Mobile is known for until his passing in December 2017. Wintzell’s recently named its oyster bar in memory of Willie, and the Omainsky family hopes that the dedication of ‘Willie’s Oyster Bar’ establishes a special, historic place where friends, fans, and guests may share memories and honor him. Leaving a legacy of service and charm to oyster eaters, to the restaurant and its team, and to the Mobile community, Mr. Brown was truly a once-in-a-lifetime icon and a significant figure in southern foodays.

From Wintzell’s homemade recipes to its lineup of veteran team members who live for southern hospitality, to its communitydriven focus, right down to its famed oyster eating contest, the brand continues to appropriate a remarkably unique style that salutes Oliver’s entrepreneurship, civic participation, and spirited personality.

Wintzell’sOysterHouse/ElizabethGelineau

Business is about people and connections,” says Jennie Campbell, president/CEO of Stewart Steelwood Investments, dba “The Stewart Lodges,” and she means it. Only 20 minutes outside of Mobile sit the idyllic Stewart Lodges, a place where corporate executives and co-workers can gather to enjoy simple pleasures in a natural environment. Nestled within the 1,200-acre gated Steelwood community in Loxley and overlooking a 200+ acre stocked, freshwater lake, the lodges have become one of the area’s most charming locations for exclusive corporate retreats and trainings.

“If you’re the CEO of a business looking to plan a company retreat, we’re here to understand your goals and objectives,” Campbell says. “Having overseen our investment since 2003, I have had the wonderful opportunity to watch this emerging and sustainable economy. Mobile and Baldwin County have been the cornerstone of the four critical areas of infrastructure — airways, highways, railways and waterways — making our area very attractive to foreign investment companies. This has caused a continual expansion of the manufacturing sector, creating an environment of entrepreneurialism and small business opportunity.”

Since 2006, the Stewart Lodges have provided visitors with two fully furnished lodges with private guest rooms and baths with all the amenities and facilities you would desire including screened in porches, flat screen television, and high-speed fibe-optic Wi-Fi. Each lodge is equipped with Executive board rooms, full audio/visual needs, and full-service catering capabilities. The newly renovated Executive Lodge also features a private apartment with the option of a fully furnished private office for CEOs o group leaders in need of short term or long term stays. Connecting the two lodges is a pool, cabana, and entertainment space.

Guests also receive access to otherwise private amenities for their recreational enjoyment, including an 18-hole golf course designed by former US Open champion Jerry Pate. The nine-person staff at Stewart Lodges works daily to exercise its three core values: privacy, exclusivity, and a fully customizable experience.

“Our strength is our ability for customization,” Campbell says. “We prefer to have face-to-face meetings or in-depth conversations with our customers before they stay with us. We truly want to understand the purpose and their desired outcome of their gathering. People are at the core of any company’s success. When a CEO takes the time to invest in their employees, they’ll

find lyalty, passion, and alignment with the vision, mission, and core values of the company.”

The best feedback Campbell could receive? “When a client states that they have experienced a change both quantitatively and qualitatively due to the improvement of synergy and relationship of their group through connection. The result is the team feels valued, significant and that they mae a difference. or the CEO, you have given your team your greatest gifts: your knowledge, your time and your belief in them. Your investment will come back tenfold. Business is connection. Business is people.”

RonBuskirk

ElizabethGelineau

top: Sincetheearly1960s,millionshavevisitedtheUSSAlabamaBattleship, permanentlyberthedontheshoresofMobileBay.TheWWIIfortressof steelisatopAlabamatouristattraction. bottom: TheFoleyRailroadMuseum andModelTrainExhibitislocatedintheheartofFoley.Intheearly1900s, Chicago’sJohnRFoleyarrivedinBaldwinCountybytrain.Fallinginlove withthearea,hepurchased40,000acres,whichbecamehisnamesakecityFoley. opposite page; top left: TheHistoryMuseumofMobileisoneofthefew remainingexamplesofacombinationtownhallandpublicmarketintheU.S. Builtinthe1850s,thecomplexlostitsretailfunctionsbytheearly1900s.The mainbuildingwasthenrenovatedtoaccommodateanexclusivelymunicipal function.Theoriginalground-floormaretspacewasenclosedtocreateastair lobby,andacouncilchamberwasconstructedonthesecondfloo.In1994,city officesleftthebuildingpermanentlyitasagainrenovatedandreopenedas theHistoryMuseumofMobile. top right: TheGulfQuestNationalMaritime MuseumoftheGulfofMexicotellsthestoryofourmaritimehistorywith interactivedisplaysandattractionsbringingoceansalive. bottom: Mobile MuseumofArtvolunteerMaryJaneSissonescortsagroupofMMofAvisitors throughanartanddesignexhibitSinceitsfoundingin1963asthe “MobileArtGallery,”theartmuseumhasevolvedintotheonlyaccreditedart museuminsouthAlabama,withacollectionofmorethan6,400worksofart. CourtesyofMobileMuseumofArt.

HistoryMuseumofMobile

MichaelDumas

VISIT MOBILE

The cultural tapestry of Mobile is colorful and 300+ years old. Mobile’s DNA is unique and can be seen and felt throughout the city. From industry and architecture to cuisine and tradition, Mobile’s history tells a story of economic development, innovation, and a fusion of cultures.

Once called the “Paris of the South,” Mobile has long been the cultural center of the Gulf Coast. Here you’ll find an authentic experience found nowhere else in the southern United States. One of the busiest ports in the country, our colorful downtown has drawn people for centuries. Many large businesses are headquartered in downtown Mobile right next to quaint, locallyowned art galleries, shops, restaurants, and bars. Nestled on the Gulf of Mexico, Mobile is home to some of the best seafood in the country. Gulf to table isn’t a movement, but rather a lifestyle; with French, Spanish, and Creole roots, Mobile is where some of the world’s best chefs call home and where new and upcoming ones flock. A melting pt of culture and flvor, Mobile is where southern classics are infused with culinary innovation.

Mobile’s proximity to the Gulf brings more than flvor to the table, offering some of the bet bio-diversity to be seen in the country. The Mobile-Tensaw Delta has been coined “America’s Amazon” and offers world-class kyaking, canoeing, birding, and camping. Mobile has many natural outdoor adventures with great fishing, vat blueways, hiking, running, and bike trails. It is also home to beautifully planned gardens & squares, including the famed Bellingrath Garden & Home’s 65-acre gardens.

Experience genuine Southern Hospitality with world-class attractions such as the USS ALABAMA, Mobile Carnival Museum, GulfQuest National Maritime Museum, History Museum of Mobile, Mobile Museum of Art, and many, many more. Downtown Mobile continues to be the heartbeat of the destination. A vibrant urban setting with ample lodging within walking distance from an electric cuisine scene; with dozens of locally-owned restaurants and cafes, museums, art galleries, nightlife, shopping, concerts, waterfront eco-tours, and paddleboat cruises. A fusion of economic development, innovation, and old-world charm, it won’t take long to see why Mobilians are born to celebrate!

photobyTadDenson

THE LODGE AT GULF STATE PARK

A Hilton Hotel

There is lodging, and there is ‘The Lodge.’ The latter is The Lodge At Gulf State Park - for some, a place to stay on vacation. For others, it is the vacation.

It is also a business meeting/conference center, wedding venue, dining experience, and the starting point for coastal adventure. That is just the inside. The Lodge’s backyard is the Gulf of Mexico.

The facility was established in 1974 and welcomed guests for three decades before Hurricane Ivan destroyed it in September 2004. It was rebuilt, renamed, and on November 1, 2018, reopened bigger, better, with eye-popping detail, venues, and features.

The Lodge at Gulf State Park is owned by the State of Alabama and managed by Valor Hospitality Partners, in association with Hilton Hotels and Resorts. “Guests love this area, and many tell us they feel like The Lodge is their beach home,” said Kurt Fedders, marketing manager of the 350-guest room complex. “It’s a unique ownership feeling you just don’t see very often.”

Facilities include four restaurants, a fitness cente, a spectacular lobby and more than 40,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space. Business meetings, weddings, receptions, conventions, celebrations, and other events are held daily. Dan Keyser, director of sales and marketing, notes, “The Lodge has so much to offer to the leisure guest and meetings attendee alike.” Keyser adds, “The Lodge’s awareness continues to grow and is being embraced year

round by our local and regional friends.” In addition to being a nationwide attraction, locals are visiting for “staycations” – and great dining experiences.

The lobby’s picturesque setting encourages visitors to enjoy its fireplace seating area. Artwork from area artians graces the lobby and surrounding public spaces. Panoramic windows offer vitas of wave-swept beaches.

Food from local and regional farmers and fishermenare incorporated in the Lodge’s four restaurants: Foodcraft – a family friendly casual restaurant good for any meal of the day, Perch – an elevated dining experience with a beachfront terrace, Roasted Oak Coffee and Wine Bar, and The Dragonfly ool Bar and Grill.

The Interpretive Center, The Learning Campus, Woodside Restaurant, National Geographic Eagle Cottages and Cabins, a Bike Share program and a Tram System are all available to explore for the Lodge guests, and visitors throughout Gulf State Park.

Eco-friendly construction and conservation practices ensures guests, beaches, and parklands live in healthy harmony. The original site had 144 rooms on 30 beachfront acres. Today’s Lodge has 350 rooms on 21 acres, which allows a smaller beach footprint, enhancing dune restoration and growth.

Since its 2018 startup, this beachside destination frequently experiences very busy days. “The usually slower offseason time frame is increasing in visitors, thanks to the Lodge’s family focused offering, expanded activities and experiential dining venues,” said Dan Keyser. lodgeatgulfstatepark.com.

Since1834,FortMorgan,ahistoricpropertyoftheAlabamaHistoricalCommission,hasstoodastheguardianofMobileBay.ThemilitarysiteandNationalHistoricLandmark islocated22mileswestofGulfShores.ThefortishistoricallysignificantforitsCivil arroleintheBattleofMobileBay.ItishereonAugust5,1864,UnionAdmiralDavid Farragutorderedhisflettochargetheheavilyminedbay.(Atthetime,tetherednavalmineswereknownastorpedoes.)“Damnthetorpedoes!”saidFarragut,“Fourbells. CaptainDrayton,goahead!Jouett,fullspeed!”AftertheBattleofMobileBay,soldiersatFortMorganenduredatwo-weeksiegebyUnionforcesbeforesurrenderingon August23,1864.FortMorganwasactiveduringfourwars:CivilWar,Spanish-AmericanWar,WorldWarI,andWorldWarII.Source:AlabamaHistoricalCommission.

PhotocourtesyofFortMorgan

PhotocourtesyofFortMorgan

FortGaines,locatedatDauphinIslandalongMobileBay,wasacrucialsiteforthesouthduringtheCivilWar.Thewell-preservedrampartsofFortGaineshave guardedtheentrancetoMobileBayformorethan150years.Nowahistoricsite,theFortstandsattheeasterntipofDauphinIslandwhereitcommandspanoramic viewsofthebayandtheGulfofMexico.TheFortwasrecentlydesignatedasoneoftheElevenMostEndangeredHistoricSitesinAmericaduetoon-going shorelineerosion.TheroleofFortGainesintheBattleofMobileBayisdetailedinexhibitsandsignsthroughoutthefort.Thestoriesofthefort’sdaysinbattle, andthesoldiersencampedthere,arebroughttolifedaily.Source:FortGaines.

Flphotogirl|Dreamstime

PhotocourtesyofFortGaines

THE FLORA-BAMA LOUNGE AND PACKAGE

The Flora-Bama Lounge and Package is a Gulf-front oyster bar, beach bar, and Gulf Coast cultural landmark, touted as being America’s “Last Great Roadhouse.” The Flora-Bama takes its name from its location on the Florida-Alabama state line where Orange Beach, Alabama meets Perdido Key, FL. This famous Gulf Coast establishment has been entertaining visitors and locals alike since 1964. Featuring 365 days a year of live music from top regional and national acts across fie stages, music is the heartbeat of this establishment.

The Flora-Bama Lounge opened in 1964 and has been rocking and rolling ever since. Joe Gilchrist became an owner in 1978; Pat McClellan joined him in 1984, then John McInnis and Cameron Price came on board in 2011. Along the way, Flora-Bama has been recognized by PlayboyMagazine, The New Yorker, RollingStone, Maxim, Jimmy Bufft, John Grisham, Kenny Chesney, USAToday, BonAppetit, CNN Travel, TheHuffingto Post, Fox News, Travel Channel and SouthernLiving

Part of the Flora-Bama’s epic history includes the Interstate Mullet Toss and Gulf Coast’s Greatest Beach Party, Polar Bear

Dip, Bulls on the Beach, Flora-Bama

Fishing Rodeo, Thanksgiving and Christmas Potlucks, and Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival, to name a few.

Flora-Bama has grown over the years, with more businesses on the north side of the road located on the beautiful Ole River. These include a stand-alone Liquor & Lottery Store, two sit down restaurants, Flora-Bama Ole River Grill and Flora-Bama Yacht Club, and a full-service marina with inshore and offshore fishin and water sport rentals like kayaks, pontoon boats, stand up paddleboards and jet skis. Sundays even include a church service with a live band and 500+ attendees per service under the tent stage. With a little bit for everyone, all walks of life are welcome and they stand true to their motto of “To always be responsive and sensitive to the human dignity of others, to grant equal respect to all who enter the Flora-Bama, expecting the same in return, to ensure our guests enjoy the magic of the Flora-Bama, leave safe and happy and come to visit us again with new friends.”

DOC’S SEAFOOD

Richard (aka Doc) loves to talk about the family that is Doc’s Seafood Shack and Oyster Bar in Orange Beach. He shares that with his customers who, after years of patronage, also become like family.

A group of vacationing ladies who pick a different spt for their annual vacation saw an advertisement for Doc’s “best fried shrimp in the civilized world” on their way to town.

“Sandy waited on them, and they loved Sandy,” Doc said. “And I told them this is a family operation. See the man at the host station? That’s Sandy’s daddy. Her mama’s in the kitchen putting together to-go orders.

“They really liked our shrimp and came back several times during their visit.”

Family members permeate the staff at Docs. During its 34-year history, several mother-daughter combinations have worked as servers. Others’ children have been cashiers, bussed tables, seated guests or worked in the kitchen. Doc just beams when he talks about his staff

“They are great, they’re professional and they’re crazy,” he said. “Individually nuts and a delight to the customers. They enjoy the customers, too. And the customers enjoy them. That’s part of the glue of that whole place. All the different personalitie.”

Through 40 plus years, Richard has owned a number of restaurants on the Alabama Gulf Coast, building several from scratch. He still owns the firt one he bought in 1980, Hazel’s Nook in Gulf Shores, a breakfast, lunch bufft restaurant. And during those 40 plus years, he’s partnered with other restauranteurs in many other ventures.

Today it’s down to three restaurants solely owned by the family and operated by people who have become family through their work for the company.

The latest is Doc’s Seafood & Steaks on the main beach road and it’s serving only the best signature aged, Certified Angus Bee™. Ever challenging the status quo, instead of a typical steakhouse’s one or two token seafood offering, Doc’s menu features many choices, any of which can be paired with the ribeye, New York strip or filt mignon. “Yummy!!”

Additionally, each of the Doc’s locations offers a daily meat-and three lunch special, but the full menu is also available open to close, served up with a folksy Doc’s smile.

“We take care of the customer. When they come in here, somebody speaks to them and they mean it. The servers are really, good servers. It tickles me to death when I see ‘em hug people when they come in.” And don’t forget: “The Best Fried Shrimp in the Entire Civilized World.”

PhotobyChrisGranger,VisitMobile

above: Pictured,fishermendisplyacatchofSnapperafterasuccessfuldayonthewater.ApopularannualeventinJulyistheAlabamaDeepSeaFishingRodeo,aProject oftheMobileJaycees.Itisthelargestfishingtournamentintheworld. oundedin1929,thefishingrodeonwattractsover3,000anglersand75,000spectatorstoDauphin Island,Alabama.Thethree-dayeventfeatureslivemusicplus30categorieswithprizesawardedfor1st,2ndand3rdplaceinallcategories.OneMasterAnglerisalso awardedalongwithcashprizesforKingMackerel,SpeckledTrout,andBigGameJackpots.

RSBPhoto

PhotobyChrisGranger,VisitMobile

CourtesyofWintzell’sOysterHouse

top left: FriedcrabclawsareatastytreatwhenenjoyingfreshseafoodattheGulfCoast.PhotocourtesyofWintzell’sOysterHouse. top right: Charterfishingoperation provideexcitingopportunitiestoenjoytheGulfandcomehomewithdinner. bottom: TheRollin’ThunderrollsinasthelargestandmostthrillingcoasteratOWAamusement parkinFoley,Alabama.Designedwithdaredevilsinmind,theRollin’Thundercheckseverybox.Strapin,holdontightandliftoff!Thiscoasterwillhaveyoutwisting, turning,loopinganddroppingalldaylong.Source:visitowa.com

3CIRCLE CHURCH

3Circle Church is celebrating twenty years of ministry on the Gulf Coast. What began as one campus in Fairhope, Alabama in the year 2000 has since grown into local, regional, and global impact (the three concentric circles described in the Bible, from which 3Circle derives its name).

“YouwillreceivepowerwhentheHolySpirithascomeuponyou, andyouwillbemywitnessesinJerusalem[local]andinallJudea andSamaria[regional],andtotheendoftheearth[global].”Acts1:8

3Circle’s inception included specific dreams to launch multiple campuses across the region, leading as many people as possible to the hope found in Jesus Christ. Today, 3Circle Church includes four campuses, across three southern counties within the state.

Each campus is committed to its unique geographical and cultural context, and to being a “place to call home” for local residents. Fairhope served as the only physical location for the firt ten years, until 3Circle began one in Thomasville, which is equidistant between Mobile and Montgomery. This campus is known for its outreach, including ministry to inmates through Life Tech Transition Facility.

The campuses to follow came through church revitalization 3Circle was asked to assume a historic church in Mobile, in danger of closing its doors. This became 3Circle’s Midtown Campus in January 2015, whose location is considered the most diverse fiesquare-miles in the state of Alabama, based on both ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. Accordingly, the campus is very diverse, and known for its selfless community ivolvement, serving meals

through Ransom Café, offering help to tudents through the Midtown Learning Center, and supporting racial reconciliation through an effort called Shrink the Divide

3Circle’s fourth current campus also came through revitalization, as yet another church asked for help. This became 3Circle’s Daphne campus in September 2015, located just four miles from the original campus in Fairhope, and has quickly become a thriving congregation, in its own right. Together, these two campuses serve the people and communities stretching across Baldwin County.

One of 3Circle’s core values is wantingmoreFORpeoplethan FROM them; and this can be seen, perhaps, most vividly, through the Hope Center clinic, located on the property of 3Circle’s Fairhope campus. Hope Center offers eneral and specialty medical care, dental care, and counseling to those who are uninsured or underinsured. Begun in 2009, Hope Center actively serves over 6,000 patients along the Gulf Coast, and recently expanded its facilities to over 7,000 square feet. Formoreinfo,visit3circlehope.com

3Circle Church is fiercely commited to its mission of leadingpeople toagrowingrelationshipwithJesus-locally,regionally,andglobally Outreach magazine has, several times, named 3Circle one of the 100fastest-growingchurchesinthecountry, including this year. And while this reflects the heart of 3Circle to reach and sere its communities, at large, its focus remains on each individual and family, aiming to be a “place to call home.” And by the grace of God, 3Circle’s next twenty years will be even brighter than its firt. Learn more at 3circlechurch.com

top: BellingrathGardensandHomeisthe65-acrepublicgardenandhistorichomeofWalterandBessieBellingrath,locatedontheFowlRivernearMobile,Alabama. WalterBellingrathwasoneofthefirtCoca-ColabottlersintheSoutheast.VisitorscantourtheGardensandtheBellingrathMuseumHome. bottom left: Magnolia blossomsarecloselyassociatedwiththeSouthernUnitedStates.Theybloominthespring,typicallyanytimebetweenFebruaryandJune.Therearemanyvarietiesof magnolias. bottom right: AbrightredSummerTanagerpeeksfrombehindatreebranch.

KathyHicks

KathyHicks

KathyHicks

CONDÉ-CHARLOTTE MUSEUM

The Condé-Charlotte Museum, located in peaceful Fort Conde Village, has served many purposes; built as Mobile’s firt jail, the structure was repurposed into a private residence. It has also been a boarding house, office space, a Naval Officers’ Cl. Constructed in 1822, the home now stands as a historic house museum, complete with period antiques and furnishings and knowledgeable docents to entertain while educating its visitors.

The mission of the Condé-Charlotte Museum is to preserve its historic structure and collection to interpret the history of the site and the influence of those who have flwn their flags ver the city: France, England, Spain, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.

“It’s a great place to get an encompassing perspective of where Mobile started and to

see how these Mobilians of old lived,” says Director Mary Lee Montgomery.

Owned, preserved, and operated by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Alabama, the Condé-Charlotte Museum was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Its collections are used to educate the public about local, regional, and national history.

SASSY BASS

By the time Mark Frohlich was 19, he was running nine restaurants and in just a few years was in charge of 350 nation-wide locations. Now he and his wife Robin have created and grown Sassy Bass into some of the area’s must visit destinations on the Gulf Coast.

Sassy Bass Amazin’ Grill - the restaurant that started it all with unique menu choices and a house rule that you must holler when the ship bell rings.

Sassy Bass Island Grill serves up the best tropical recipes and beverages in a relaxing setting overlooking the gulf.

Sassy Bass Crazy Donuts - the wild restaurant concept that features 28 meals all served on a donut…try ”what came firt” fried chicken, farm egg, candied bacon, honey drizzle.

Sassy Bass Market, Wine & Liquor Store and Gift Shop - fast becoming the area’s leading gourmet marketplace offering the fint just-caught oysters, seafood, hand-cut grass-fed, dry aged prime cuts of steak, stone-oven baked pizza, craft beer, deli meats and cheeses, wines, spirits and novel, hard to find uniqu gifts and treasures!

“We are all about the food, the fun, the experience,” says Robin, and that’s what makes the Sassy Bass Family of Brands the go-to spots for locals and tourists. While they are known for their made-from scratch recipes, famous oysters, and the lively experience, they are most proud of the family-oriented atmosphere that overflws from the close-knit dedicated team members as Sassy Bass strives to become one of the best companies to work for.

Mark and Robin agree, “Our staff treats each other and our guests like family.” “They execute the vision expertly.” It really is such a unique community, and their passion brings people back. Our guests are our best ambassadors.”

At the end of the day, nothing beats a friendly smile, good music and great, affordable food, only found at Sasy Bass.

Below: TurtlesswiminanaquariumexhibitrepresentingtheMobileDeltaatDauphinIslandSeaLabandEstuariuminDauphinIsland,Alabama.

GIGI & JAY’S

On the corner of Fairhope Ave. and Section St., across from the iconic City Clock, sits a one-stop-shop for all things babies to tweens. Since 2011, Katherine Lapeyrouse and her store, Gigi & Jay’s, have been dressing the children of Mobile Bay. Some, she says, since birth.

When Katherine and her best friend Suzy McLean decided to open a shop in Fairhope, they began with the idea of a boutique exclusively for tween girls. Later, they reoriented their concept to include clothing and accessories for ages 0-13. With Katherine’s business background and Suzy’s fashionista flare, they opened Gigi & ay’s (named after their children) to the delight of Fairhope and the surrounding area.

Today, Gigi & Jay’s is the place to shop for children’s clothes, accessories, and gifts. And while the shop has become a community

staple, Katherine is most proud of building a business that allows her to never miss a moment in the lives of her own children and creating an atmosphere where personal relationships with their customers are paramount. “I love seeing kids’ faces as we dress them and then seeing them out and about,” says Katherine. “And I love that they love the store as much as I do.”

above: MobileistheoldestpermanentsettlementintheoriginalColonyofFrenchLouisianaandthefirtcapitol.Mobilebecameamajorcoastalportandlaterbecame knownascityofflagsrepresentingthesixflagsthat veflwnoverher:French,British,Spanish,RepublicofAlabama,theConfederacyandtheU.S.Visitorsenjoyshopping, diningandadmiringthearchitectureandhistoryinthecity’sFrenchQuarter.Source:VisitMobile

RonSBuskirk

top: AvisitorstrollsinBellingrathGardensnearMobile,Alabama.BellingrathGardensandHomeisopeneverydayfrom8a.m.-5-p.m.,exceptonThanksgiving,Christmas andNewYear’sDays,whentheGardensareclosed.BellingrathGardensandHomehasextendedhoursduringtheMagicChristmasinLightsseason,whentheGardensare openuntil9p.m. bottom: Pictured,RamseyMoody,anAzaleaTrailMaid,standsbeforetheBragg-MitchellMansion,alsoknownastheBragg–MitchellHouse,ahistoric housemuseuminMobile,Alabama.TheMobileAzaleaTrailhaditsbeginningsin1929,asaprojectoftheMobileJuniorChamberofCommerceencouragingcitizensto plantazaleasalongthecity’sthoroughfares.TheAzaleaTrailCourtrepresentsMobileyear-roundathundredsofciviceventsandappearateventsnationwide.

LawrenceP.Bestmann,LawrencePhotography

ElizabethGelineau

RENEY’S HONEY BUTTER

Meredith Simmerman’s recipe for the overnight success of Reney’s Honey Butter is made up of unlikely ingredients.

It started with one tasting party, but no one showed up except her family.

Her sister shared a social media post touting Meredith’s homemade honey butter. The next day, she sold $1,000 of her creation, and Reney’s Honey Butter was born.

In the last two years, Meredith has whisked up a brand inspiring connection, community, and celebration. The flvors range from the original blackberry to cinnamon, pumpkin, and even birthday cake. Her storefront, The Cottage, is a gourmet food boutique providing space for people to gather, eat, and meet one another.

Meredith is on a mission to help people “#dolifebutter” and live a life full of the sweet, delightful goodness she believes makes life full.

ISLANDERS RESTAURANT

There’s only one restaurant on Dauphin Island that serves fresh oysters, and its owners came all the way from Pennsylvania to make it happen.

In 2015, Richard and Sharon Seybold and their two sons, Jordan and Ryan, moved to the Alabama barrier island and bought Islanders, located just across the road from the isle’s signature sugar-white sands. And they infused the coastal menu with savory staples such as thick-cut steaks, ahi tuna, and the Steel City’s famed delicacy: the Pittsburgh Loaded sandwich overflwing with coleslaw, corned beef and French Fries.

EDUCATION FOR LIFE: Building the Foundations of Prosperity

Our schools understand that children are a precious resource. We know that quality education from early childhood through college and beyond is the bedrock for better lives, better societies, and a better future.

Obviously, the product of superior learning is a good education but there is more. Superior classrooms yield productive lives, better jobs, and a well-trained workforce. Quality schools are the catalyst.

• Quality schools like the University of South Alabama. At times since its 1963 opening, USA has supplied almost one-third of all physicians in Mobile.

• Quality schools like Mobile and Baldwin County high schools: In classes from junior high and up, aviation repair, robotics, medical field, and emerging technologies are being taught along with traditional academics. Millions of dollars in college scholarships are awarded annually.

• Quality schools like private institutions: Teaching our youth in private, parochial, and specialty-based education for diverse scholars with equally diverse learning needs.

• Quality schools like trade and vocational training, honing skills for aerospace, maritime, and other industries of Mobile today and the fields of tomorrw.

Mobile and Baldwin County have a lot of young people — educated in school systems that range in age from two centuries old to 2017 startups.

Founded in 1826, the Mobile County Public School System is the oldest and largest district in Alabama and the 71st largest in the United States. But MCPSS does not rest on laurels. “It starts with us,” the district including 12 high schools, 16 junior highs, 50 elementary schools, and seven magnet schools, says in its strategic plan overview.

MCPSS means business, the business of education where an emphasis in teaching students is two-fold: Learn and use knowledge gained as contributors.

“We believe our primary focus is to educate all students to become productive citizens; and we are committed to making this the priority over all other district functions,” the system managing 65,000 students says on its website.

To the north, The Saraland School System opened in the summer of 2008 with 1,535 students. By 2019, the number doubled to 3,053. Like the city it serves, the Saraland School System has grown every year since its startup and is ranked one of the best in Alabama. Saraland Elementary School awards include the National Blue Ribbon presented by the U.S. Department of Education – one of only fie in the state. The school district earned an “A” state report card for all schools pre-K through high school for the 2017-2018 school year, ranking it among Alabama’s highest performers.

Further north, Satsuma City Schools initially opened its doors in the fall of 2012. In 2019, Satsuma High School boasted a 95 percent graduation rate. The system’s Pre-K through 12th grade offers superior courses in technolog, career and technical, computer applications, and more.

Satsuma schools were chosen as a 2018 CLAS Schools of Distinction for outstanding education, a model for other Alabama schools. It was one of 24 selected statewide.

Chickasaw Schools also formed in 2012, serving Pre-K through 12th grade. What started basically as a ”good idea,” today is three campuses: Chickasaw High School, Chickasaw Elementary School, and Chickasaw Early Learning Center. The High School’s award-winning JROTC program is recognized for its excellence throughout the Bay area, Alabama, and beyond.

Across the bay, the Baldwin County School District fills the educational needs of 32,000 students. Every school day, about 300 Baldwin buses transport students to 45 campuses, on routes covering 16,000 miles. With more than $85 million in college scholarships (Senior Class of 2018) BCSS is recognized as one of the fastest growing school districts in Alabama. It currently has the largest student technology program and largest and most award-winning after-school program in the state.

Other notes of Baldwin’s bountifulness: In 2019, U.S. News and World Report ranked Fairhope High School 12th in the Best High Schools in Alabama and 1,320th place in Best High Schools in America.

Due south until almost hitting saltwater, Gulf Shores City Schools (Elementary, Middle, and High School) is one of Alabama’s newest public education systems. The system formed in late 2017 by unanimous vote of the Gulf Shores City Council. The district is adamant about challenging students to reach their full potential. Gulf Shores High School provides a rigorous college preparatory program.

In 2018-19 Mobile County had 60 private schools serving 18,756 students. According to Niche.com, three of the highest-rated private schools with criteria including most diverse, best teachers, college readiness, and SAT scores are: UMS -Wright, St. Paul’s Episcopal School, and McGill-Toolen Catholic High School.

Niche also noted in 2019 Baldwin County’s 16 top private schools served 2,925 students. According to Niche, three of the best based on teachers, college readiness, SAT scores, and other factors include Bayside Academy (Daphne), Bayshore Christian School (Fairhope), and Central Christian School (Robertsdale).

On a stately Dauphin Street Campus near the heart of Mobile, math and science reach new heights in the one-of-a-kind Alabama School of Mathematics and Science. The complex is Alabama’s only fully public and residential high school for sophomores, juniors, and seniors taking advanced studies in math, science, and the humanities. And here is the kicker: Tuition, room, and board are free.

Founded by the Alabama State Legislature in 1989, the state provides the operating budget. The facility is owned and operated by the ASMS Foundation, which also maintains a partnership with business and industry.

Graduating to the next step in education is an adventure in higher learning not far from home. Mobile/Baldwin have colleges with diverse offerings from mteorology to medicine. Colleges and universities in Mobile include: The University of South Alabama, Spring Hill College, University of Mobile, and Bishop State Community College.

Baldwin County’s halls of post high school learning include Coastal Alabama Community College (Bay Minette, Fairhope, Gulf Shores), the United States Sports Academy (Daphne), and the University of South Alabama Gulf Shores (Gulf Shores).

But meeting the future goes beyond books and into the talented hands of craftsmen and craftswomen. Mobile was built on the bay and a skilled maritime workforce serves shipping in the bay to the Gulf of Mexico and oceans beyond.

Mobile’s AIDT Maritime Training Center’s quest is to educate and train citizens in industrial maritime technologies enabling Alabama to be a world leader. Its vision: “To provide a technically trained, highly skilled and educated workforce for industrial and maritime-related technologies, and to promote the growth and expansion of business through craft education.”

Other skills, including aviation maintenance, welding, robotics, and more are being offered in high school, vocational training, and trade schools throughout the bay area.

A well-rounded education starts in the classroom, transcends through books, and transforms into study and hands-on training. The result is greater communities and productive lives through quality education around Mobile Bay.

Not all learning is done in the classroom. Our museums, aquariums, nature centers, libraries, after-school and summer programs, and more offer learning opportunities for students of all ages.

CourtesyofBigBrothersBigSisters

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA

The University of South Alabama – South, for short – is Mobile’s only comprehensive research and teaching university. With an enrollment of approximately 14,000 students and a workforce of nearly 7,000 employees, USA’s leadership and innovation in education, research, service and healthcare make it an economic driver and a catalyst for positive transformation around the state and along the Gulf Coast.

South has awarded more than 90,000 degrees since its founding in 1963. The University’s faculty promote an environment where curiosity and discovery are given free rein in more than 100 fields o study that include business, the liberal arts, education, engineering, computing, the sciences, nursing, health professions and medicine.

Classified as a high research activity uniersity by the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education, US’s advanced degree offerings include doctorates in audiolog, business, computing, educational leadership, engineering, marine sciences, medicine, nursing, physical therapy and psychology. Research is conducted at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and students work alongside faculty experts on an array of research projects in varied disciplines. In addition, the USA Technology & Research Park acts as an incubator for tech startups.

As the region’s premier healthcare provider, USA continually generates medical research aimed at improving quality of life. Healthcare education programs at USA are offered through the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing and the Pat Capps

Covey College of Allied Health Professions. Many of the University’s healthcare graduates begin their careers at USA Health University Hospital, USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute and the USA Health clinics and patient care centers.

Community engagement is a strategic priority at South, and the University’s Office of Community Engement connects employees and students with organizations, services and programs that enhance their interests and passions while improving our local community. In addition, hundreds of USA students each year work in local businesses and organizations through internships and cooperative education programs.

At South, individual and group experiences promote the application of practical and useful skills, and enhance the academic learning environment. With more than 200 student clubs and organizations on campus, students have many opportunities to cultivate interpersonal relationships and learn leadership skills.

Within South’s culture of learning and discovery, the University responds to local, regional and global issues with bold ideas infused with creative energy. The USA Honors College offers a diverse community of interdisciplinary excellence designed to stimulate the thinking and intellectual curiosity of highly motivated students. Through discussion, research, creative scholarship, intercultural engagement and the arts, honors students are challenged to achieve their highest potential.

USA is committed to creating new pathways to education through partnerships with other colleges and enhanced scholarship support. The $25 million Mitchell-Moulton Scholarship Initiative, established by Mobile philanthropist Abraham A. Mitchell to honor the late USA President Emeritus V. Gordon Moulton, is an invitation to the University’s alumni, friends and community partners to multiply their philanthropic impact on USA and its students.

In 2013, the University Library was renamed in honor of the Marx family of Mobile in recognition of a $3 million pledge from the Julien E. Marx Foundation Trust. The library is home to the Learning Commons, a flexible tudent workspace, and the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, a valuable and historically significant collection of 18th, 19th and 20t century documents that is regarded as one of the most significan collections in the region.

South students study and live on a picturesque campus of 1,224 acres, located close to some of the nation’s most beautiful beaches. Students can live in one of 33 residence halls, divided into seven residential communities. An additional nine residences house members of the University’s Greek community. The Recreation Center offers tudents, employees and alumni a comprehensive

recreational experience that includes pools, a weight room and a climbing wall, and the JagFit trail provides additional opportunities to get fit while enjying the outdoors. In addition to the main campus, South also offers classes and special eents at its Baldwin County and Gulf Shores campuses.

South is a charter member of the Sun Belt Conference and the College Football Playoff. The aguars field 17 NAA Division I teams, including baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and olleyball. The Jaguars compete in outstanding facilities, including the 25,000-seat Hancock Whitney Stadium, which opened in 2020. The Jaguars won the Vic Bubas Cup — awarded to the best all-around program in the Sun Belt Conference — four straight years from 2015 to 2018, and have earned the trophy 15 times overall, the most of any Sun Belt institution.

USA is a place where students discover and strengthen their career passions, and form connections that result in lifelong relationships. At South, we look at the world and see things that we have the power to change, affect and shape — toether. So that’s exactly what we do, every single day. Visit us at SouthAlabama.edu.

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A

that strives to unlock each child’s potential underpins the foundation of a better society.

BISHOP STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Bishop State Community College abides by its mission to “provide open access to an affordable, quality education, which promotes student success, academic transfer, workforce training, adult education, and community partnerships.” The idea is more than just a catchy phrase. Bishop State puts its words into action by equipping its students with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully enter the workforce and thrive. This is done through education in academics, training in technical field, and learning through on-the-job, real-world, hands-on experiences.

Bishop State President Olivier Charles, adds to that vision: “The opportunity to help people improve their lives is what motivates me the most. Bishop State can be all things to all people. We can help a student get a GED, help them transfer to a four-year institution, or help them get to work. We can literally help any single way someone wants to improve their quality of life.”

With nearly 100 years of academic service in Mobile County and surrounding areas, Bishop State is one of the oldest community colleges in Alabama. It was established in 1927 as the Mobile Branch of Alabama State College, now known as Alabama State University. The teachers’ training college operated only during the summer months offering etension courses to African-American elementary and secondary teachers in Mobile.

Today, Bishop State is an accredited, state-supported, openadmission community college with its main campus located in downtown Mobile, Alabama. It has three other campuses spread throughout the city, each providing unique programs, courses, and training opportunities.

No matter where a person is in his or her educational career, anyone can get his or her start – or start over again – at Bishop State. The possibilities are endless! A majority of students take general studies courses at Bishop State, earn an Associate in Science (AS)

or Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree, then transfer their credits to the public college or university of their choosing. Other students choose to earn a certificate, short certificate, or Associat in Occupational Technologies (AOT) degree in one of our many career technical programs and go straight into the high-wage and high-demand workforce.

Education and workforce training sets Bishop State apart from most other colleges. Some of the College’s top-performing programs with a 95% or better job placement rate include truck driving, nursing, PTA, and adult education, but there are many more programs from which to choose! Other programs include the entire health sciences division, early childhood education, computer information systems (CIS), culinary arts, and cosmetology. There are also automotive, welding, diesel, barbering and hairstyling, air conditioning and refrigeration technologies and still so many more programs to study. With such an array of programs and trainings, local businesses and industries have noticed as well. They partner with the institution to both train students as well as hire them to start working immediately after graduation.

At press time, construction on Bishop State’s brand new 80,000 square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center has been completed and the firt set of classes is underway. “This $21 million state-of-the-art facility will train students, giving them the skill sets for business and industry in the Mobile County Area,” says President Charles. “We are ready, willing, and able to help our city. Our role in this is to train the people who want to work. We have strong partnerships with our local employers, but we want to make those partnerships stronger so they always know they can call us so we can help them with their training needs.”

The Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center will provide training in industries such as aviation manufacturing, electronics, computer-aided drafting & design, process operation technology, machine tooling, and industrial maintenance technology.

In 2019, the average age of students at Bishop State was 24. This provides a whole spectrum of people who attend. Some students get a head start by starting their college career in high school through the college’s academic and career tech dual enrollment program. Other students have returned to school after starting a family or career, or they desire a career change. Then others find success through the award-winning adult education program where students can earn their GED and/or several other certification.

In addition to academic and technical training, campus athletes

compete in women’s and men’s basketball, baseball, fast-pitch softball, and women’s volleyball.

“One of the things I love about community college is that the dream looks different for eeryone. So whether someone is 18 and still in high school, or whether some things in life have not gone the right way and someone just wants to improve their current situation, Bishop State can help. We can absolutely help them in any single way that they want to be helped. That is Bishop State. We are Mobile’s Community College!”

“We believe our primary focus is to educate all students to become productive citizens.”

MichaelDumas

MichaelDumas

MonkeyBusinessImages|Dreamstime

MonkeyBusinessImages|Dreamstime

“Our quality schools are the catalyst for productive lives, better jobs, and a well-trained workforce.”

COASTAL ALABAMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Coastal Alabama Community College, located in Baldwin, Mobile, Monroe, Clarke, Choctaw, and Escambia Counties in southwest Alabama, has campuses in Bay Minette, Atmore, Brewton, Fairhope, Gulf Shores, Monroeville, Thomasville, and Gilbertown and other instructional sites at the Academy at the Fairhope Airport, the Aviation Center at Brookley Field, the Jackson Center, the North Baldwin Center for Technology, the South Baldwin Center for Technology, and Fountain Correctional Facility. The Bay Minette campus is the regional administrative campus.

Coastal Alabama Community College is a public two-year institution, a member of the Alabama Community College System and governed by the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees. The Alabama Community College System consists of twenty-three comprehensive community colleges and technical colleges; Marion Military Institute; and the Alabama Technology Network, an extensive workforce development initiative. Coastal Alabama was formed through the consolidation of Alabama Southern Community College, Faulkner State Community College, and Jefferson Dvis Community College. Dr. Craig Pouncey is the president of Coastal Alabama and has served as president since October 2019.

Coastal Alabama Community College provides broad access to quality, affordable educational opportunities through a varity of instructional strategies in diverse learning environments that promote economic growth and enhance the quality of life for a global community.

Today, Coastal Alabama Community College services nearly 9,000 square miles in southwest Alabama and offers more than 10 programs of study. Coastal Alabama Community College serves a current combined enrollment of more than 10,000 students across all eight campus locations. With locations in six counties, Coastal Alabama provides accessible, quality educational opportunities. The College continues to be a strong partner in its local communities and continues to answer the needs of business and industry in lower Alabama.

Coastal Alabama has Alabama’s lowest tuition. And, thanks to state legislation, academic classes taken at Coastal Alabama are guaranteed to transfer to public universities across the state. Many private schools also have entered into agreements to accept transfer credits. Whether a student is seeking seated or online classes, Coastal Alabama’s flexible class schedule prvides options for students.

With expanding career technical programs, Coastal Alabama offer everything from Animation and Visual Effects to Cosmtology, Engineering, and Veterinary Technology. Other high wage, high demand programs include Nursing, Industrial Maintenance, Welding and Paper & Chemical Technology, and many more. Coastal Alabama’s technical programs also tout many achievements. The nursing programs are often ranked in the top ten in the state of all nursing programs, including those at four-year universities. The culinary arts and pastry baking programs have continuously been recognized as exemplary programs by the American

Athletics is very popular in all of the College’s communities. The Eagles (Monroeville), Sun Chiefs (Bay Minette), and Warhawks (Brewton) continue to hit the court and the field, all representing Coastal Alabama Community College. The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) continues to see strong competition among the athletic programs, who are designated as separate members of the organizations.

Coastal Alabama Community College continues its active participation with events, festivals, organizations, and partnerships throughout its many communities and counties. The foundation on which Coastal Alabama Community College was built paves the way for the success of the students and citizens in southwest Alabama. As the legacy of the College makes its mark, students, employees, alumni, and communities can be proud of the academic and technical standard of excellence Coastal Alabama provides.

Culinary Federation. Coastal Alabama Community College provides quality workforce training for its students to meet the needs of business and industry in southwest Alabama.

ElizabethGelineau

CourtesyofCoastalAlabamaCommunityCollege

Maritime training, aviation maintenance, auto mechanics, welding, robotics, culinary education, and more are offered in trade schools and community colleges throughout the bay area.

CourtesyofUniversityofMobile

CourtesyofUniversityofSouthAlabama

HEALING HANDS: Cutting-Edge

Health Care

“If I could tell you of all I have witnessed and endured since I became a hospital nurse!”

-AugustaJaneEvansWilson

“If I couldtell you of all I have witnessed and endured since I became a hospital nurse!” — Alabama’s firt professional writer and caregiver Augusta Jane Evans Wilson penned in an 1862 Confederate War letter to her brother. Wilson saw a need for quality medical care in Mobile County.

In the late 1800s, she united with other like-minded Mobilians, raised money selling pencils, and funded a fledgling medical facility on Springhill Avenue. It is still there, just down the road. Born of pencil funding and baked goods sales is today’s Mobile Infirmary - biger and better.

Such can be said for all-encompassing health care along Mobile Bay: “bigger and better.”

• Bigger as in cancer treatments and research, in standalone facilities or hospital wings serving cancer patients, monitoring survivors, and searching for cures.

• Bigger with cutting-edge diagnostics offering early disease detection with pinpoint accuracy.

• And bigger in research, including the only academic health system along the Northern Gulf Coast.

And better? As health care technology advances, so does care in Mobile and Baldwin Counties, with medical marvels on the horizon that Augusta Evans Wilson never dared dream. Today the dream is real and locally provided.

At the forefront is Infirmary ealth, a Mobile fiture since October 21, 1910. Today it is the largest non-government-owned health care system in Alabama. Infirmary ealth facilities serve 11 south Alabama counties and Escambia County, Florida. More than 700 active on-staff pysicians, and 5,700-plus employees, in over 60 locations, treat a million-plus visitors annually.

In Mobile, it is not unusual for entire family generations to have been born at the Mobile Infirmar, from great grandparents to their infant offspring.

Infirmary ealth’s services include fie acute care hospitals, three post-acute facilities, and a physician clinic network with more than 60 locations. Six diagnostic imaging centers, two full-service breast centers, and a freestanding emergency department, along with other affiliates add to its medical mix

Bay area medical care also combines education with research and treatment – partnerships of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and USA Health. Established in 1963, USA Health is the only academic health system along the upper Gulf Coast. In four and a half decades its outreach built major area care facilities including:

University Hospital, which in addition to being a teaching and research facility, serves as a major referral center for southwest Alabama, southeast Mississippi, and parts of northwest Florida.

USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, one of the nation’s fie freestanding centers dedicated to children and women. It delivers more babies than any other hospital in Mobile.

The USA Mitchell Cancer Institute, which continues research and technological breakthroughs in the treatment of cancer with science in medicine and compassion for patients.

Other USA Health sites include USA Health Strada Patient Care Center, with more than 100 multispecialty services in a 133,000 square-foot complex. In addition, the Mastin Patient Care Center provides internal medicine and surgical specialists for services including bariatric surgery, burn care, diabetes, internal medicine, trauma, and more.

Moving west to Airport Boulevard is a futuristic skyscraper with a proud past. Over two centuries ago Father Michael Porter asked four Sisters of the Daughters of Charity to leave Maryland, come to Mobile, and care for orphaned children. Their parents were victims of yellow fever. The sisters heeded the call, moved to Mobile, and added mercy to health care. Their kindness towards others continues today as Providence Hospital.

Beginning in 1854, the Providence Health and Services complex today rises 11 stories, 170 feet above Mobile. It offers expertise in heart and vascular treatment, emergency services, women’s health, cancer care, and much more.

Springhill Medical Center is a full-service hospital specializing in surgical services including outpatient, inpatient, open-heart, robotic surgery, occupational health. Springhill’s state-of-the-art heart care is all under one roof.

In addition, the campus provides primary care physicians, a senior residence, a sleep center, a cancer center, an orthopedic surgery center, and an emergency department.

Across the bay, Infirmary ealth contributes Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, North Baldwin Infirmary in By Minette, and other affiliates throughout the coun. But there is more.

Based in Foley, South Baldwin Regional Medical Center’s 112-bed facility staffing 650 health care professionals features inpatient out-patient emergency, diagnostic, and surgical care, cardiology, robotics, gynecology, and dozens of other specialties. It is the recipient of numerous awards including Modern Healthcare Magazine’s 2018 “Best Places to Work in Healthcare Top 100,” for seven years in a row.

South Baldwin Regional Medical Center’s affiliates of The Sout Baldwin Medical Group services Robertsdale / Central Baldwin, Foley, Gulf Shores, and Orange Beach.

The Bay is committed to quality health care and support for caregivers as well, regardless of ability to pay. One such program is Mobile’s Ronald McDonald House. The friendly estate within walking distance (by design) of USA Children and Women’s Hospital provides lodging and meals to families of pediatric patients in nearby medical facilities.

In addition to quality care, advancing medical research, and staying on top of cutting-edge technology, the bay’s big business of better health gives back. Most of our local hospitals are in the top fie employers of Mobile and Baldwin County.

Thousands of health care employees are our neighbors, community volunteers, and residents reinvesting in towns they live in. Collectively they give as companies.

Infirmary ealth alone pumps almost $1.8 million annually into local programs, agencies, and charities. Other medical providers do likewise.

Quality living through good health and wellness combined with physician care when needed, all while boosting the economy, is a prescription for success.

CourtesyofInfirmary ealth

CARDIO-THORACIC & VASCULAR SURGICAL ASSOCIATES, P.C.

Alot has changed in Mobile since 1971. The 34-story First National Bank Building (now called the RSA-BankTrust Building) dominated the downtown skyline, a 25-cent toll was required to drive through the Bankhead Tunnel, and the Bayway was seven years from completion. But one thing has remained constant over those nearly fie decades.

“It’s remarkable to think that, over that time, if you call our phone number, someone answers every call,” says Dr. William E. Johnson III, a senior surgeon at Mobile’s Cardio-Thoracic & Vascular Surgical Associates. “Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. If you have a problem, and you call us about it, we provide our services. That’s a lot of Christmases, a lot of Fourth of Julys, a lot of Mardi Gras days, a lot of 2 a.m. wakeup calls. That service has been constant and ongoing.”

Established by Drs. Louie C. Wilson, William R. Higgs and John E. Stone, when cardiac surgery was in its infancy, the practice has become a source of pride for the city of Mobile and the entire Gulf Coast region, providing expert care in the areas of cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgery.

In its firt year of existence, the practice consisted of two examination rooms and a single office.oday, located in a beautiful office on Springhillvenue, CTVSA has grown to include eight of the area’s finet surgeons, with over 150 years of combined experience in caring for cardiac and vascular patients: William E. Johnson III, M.D., Peter (Trey) Pluscht III, M.D., John W. Boyer, M.D.,

All practicing surgeons are university-trained and board-certified in cardio-thoracic and vascular surgery and many have additional board certifications in various sub-specialtie. A well-trained staff of nurses, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners, technicians and administrative personnel bring the practice’s total number of employees to greater than 50. Each staff member is carefully selected and screened before hiring to ensure that each employee meets the highest measures of quality and caring. Each clinical employee is certified in Basic Life Support y the American Heart Association and participates in ongoing professional and personal education opportunities.

Specializing in surgery of the heart, lungs, chest, esophagus and major blood vessels of the body, surgeons at CTVSA have performed well over 50,000 heart, vascular and lung/chest wall operations since the practice’s inception. Today, the surgeons perform 2000 – 3000 major operations a year in 4 regional hospitals. “Our mission is to provide the most up-to-date procedures within our specialties in a compassionate, honest and ethical manner,” Dr. Johnson says.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Dr. Johnson received a Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, from the University of Alabama and a Medical Degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham School of Medicine in 1979. He completed a fie-year general

Larkin J. Daniels, M.D., Gregory S. McGee, M.D., Juan G. Penaranda Canal, M.D., Melanie K. Rose, M.D., and Michael V. Do, M.D.

surgical residency at the University of Texas in Houston, followed by a two-year combined cardio-thoracic and vascular surgical residency at the Texas Heart Institute. In 1986, his home state came calling, and Dr. Johnson has been at CTVSA ever since. “And it’s been a busy, very successful practice over that whole time,” he says.

When it comes to cardiac care, the team at CTVSA offers a wide range of procedures to treat coronary artery disease, heart valve diseases, aneurysms of the aorta and certain types of abnormal heart rhythms. Dr. Trey Pluscht, who has been with the practice for over 25 years notes “The whole field of cardivascular surgery continues to evolve over time. In recent years, we do more and more procedures with catheter-based technology and with hybrid techniques.”

In the area of thoracic surgery, Dr. Larkin Daniels specializes in procedures involving the lungs. Airway, and esophagus. He has also become adept with the use of robotic techniques in many of his operations. Other partners specialize in vascular care, which focuses on circulatory disorders, using open, catheter-based and hybrid techniques. A relatively recent addition to the group’s services is vein care, allowing the team to diagnose and treat varicose and spider veins.

opposite page - front row: MichaelV.Do,M.D. GregoryS.McGee,M.D. MelanieK.Rose,M.D. LewisLyons,IIIM.D. back row LarkinJ.Daniels,M.D. JuanPenaranda-Canal,M.D. WilliamE.Johnson,IIIM.D. JohnW.Boyer,M.D. PeterPluscht,IIIM.D.

below - top left: WilliamE.Johnson,IIIM.D. top right: PeterPluscht,IIIM.D. JasonWhitePA-C middle left: LarkinJ.Daniels,M.D. middle right: Bethany Ward,RN RobinSavage,RVT GregoryS.McGee,M.D. bottom left: Juan Penaranda-Canal,M.D. JerriB.DavisBSRN bottom right: JohnW.Boyer,M.D.

For Mobile and the entire region, the existence of a practice as esteemed and innovative as CTVSA is not be taken for granted. “The surgeons we have here were all trained at world-class institutions,” Dr. Johnson says. “So, we have people in a smaller community, like Mobile, Alabama, who can provide world-class services in our areas of expertise.”

In addition to the excellent training undergone by each of the practice’s surgeons, a strong emphasis is placed on continuing education at CTVSA, ensuring that all surgeons are well-versed with the latest advances in their fields of expertise. Continuing education is critical to what we do,” Dr. Johnson says. “As you can imagine, these therapies change rapidly. So, all the surgeons of this group are constantly retraining. We go to meetings, and when new technologies arrive, we go to training seminars to learn to use these newer techniques.”

Though the technology evolves, and new surgical techniques are developed, Dr. Johnson notes that a practice such as CTVSA is in an excellent position to provide patients with the best possible care, as it straddles the fence between the old and the new.

“In some ways, the procedures we perform today are almost unrecognizable to what we did in the early days, but the basic surgical principles that we use for open operations will always apply. We must know the traditional surgical techniques because there are still many situations where that’s necessary. It makes those of us who are highly skilled surgically a lot more valuable because there are not as many of us around anymore who can do these things that need to be done.”

Leslie Gaston is one of several nurse practitioners at CTVSA. Mrs. Gaston has been working in the practice since 2011, and she loves being in a position to help patients and their families during such difficult tim. “I am very proud of my position with CTVSA,” she says. “I believe we provide excellent care for our surgical patients. The NP (nurse practitioner) position allows me to see the patients from the beginning with a consultation, arranging their surgeries, providing post-op care, and education. It’s a very stressful time for the families, and I feel like I can alleviate some of the stress and fear of open-heart surgery.”

Gaston celebrates the relationships she forms with her patients over time. “Seeing the patients daily affords a continuity of care. I love getting to know the patients and their families. I often see former patients in church, the grocery store, or in outpatient clinics, and I’m always greeted with a big hug like I’m seeing an old friend. It’s a very satisfying career and a pleasure to work for some of the best heart surgeons in the country.”

Speaking about the practice’s relationship with Mobile and its residents, Dr. Johnson says it’s been a long and beautiful partnership. “We take a lot of pride in the fact that we have been in practice for almost fie decades,” he says. “I speak for all of us when I say that we love Mobile, we love being a part of this community, and it means the world to us to be able to provide these services. It is a remarkable group of people in many ways — to be able to adapt, change, stay current, and stay engaged.”

Looking into the future, the surgeons at CTVSA hope to preserve all the things that set the practice apart in the ever-evolving landscape of surgical care.

“The business of medicine has changed dramatically over the course of my career, in that physicians increasingly are allied with the hospital systems they serve. This allows for stronger integration of patient services and better economic support of healthcare providers.” Dr. Johnson says. “CTVSA has recently entered into an alliance with Infirmary ealth Systems. The surgeons are enthusiastic about this new partnership. Our relationship with IHS will help us to better manage our business and continue to be able to recruit outstanding surgeons to our community.”

“Our goal is to pass the baton to the next group of surgeons so that they can continue our work and maintain that same level of quality, care and consistency for our entire region. As it has been for nearly 50 years, high quality care is just a phone call away.”

above - top left: LeslieGaston,CRNP top right: AmyHendrix,ClinicalDirector DonnaPittman-Mills,RN bottom: KarliTodd,CRNP SusanOverton,PA-C opposite - top left: WilliamE.Johnson,IIIM.D. SusanOvertonPA-C top right: MelanieK.Rose,M.D. middle left: MichaelV.Do,M.D. middle center: Michael Do, M.D.&PashalaJensen-Battley,RN middle right: LeslieGaston,CRNP MelissaVandenberg,PA-C bottom left: KareemBedeir,M.D. bottom right: Melanie K.Rose,M.D. LewisLyons,IIIM.D. GregoryS.McGee,M.D. BrentWildberger,PA-C

“Mobile Bay area medical care also combines education with research and treatment –partnerships of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and USA Health.”

CourtesyofUSAHealth

USA HEALTH

With the mission of helping people lead longer, better lives, USA Health, the University of South Alabama’s health system, is transforming medicine along the Gulf Coast with advanced and innovative care. USA Health is the region’s only academic medical system, and more than a million residents depend on its nationally recognized treatment teams in highly specialized fields including troke, trauma, burn, heart, pediatrics and neonatal intensive care.

USA Health is composed of University Hospital, Children’s & Women’s Hospital, Mitchell Cancer Institute, and the affiliate outpatient clinics and care centers. As the primary teaching center for the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, University Hospital is the Mobile region’s only state-certified Level 1 trauma center. With its opening in January 2021, the Fanny Meisler Trauma Center is transforming trauma and medical care in the region and is providing more board-certifie emergency medicine physicians for Alabama through USA Health’s emergency medicine residency program. The new trauma center more than doubled the size of the former space and includes 41 new private beds.

Mobile’s leader in births, Children’s & Women’s Hospital, offers the region’s only high-risk obstetrics program, a nationally

recognized neonatal intensive care unit and pediatric intensive care unit where women with complicated pregnancies and extremely ill infants and children receive life-saving care. The hospital includes the region’s only 24-hour pediatric emergency department, where board-certified emerency physicians treat more than 35,000 patients each year.

The Mapp Child and Family Life Program at Children’s & Women’s Hospital reduces the stress of hospitalization for children and families. Within the program, therapists, specialists and teachers help young patients and their families cope with the anxiety often related to hospital stays and long-term illnesses. Through a partnership with the Mobile County Public School System, teachers in an initiative called Class Act provide ongoing education for more than 1,200 hospitalized students each year in two hospitalbased classrooms and at the bedside.

The region’s only academic cancer treatment center, Mitchell Cancer Institute, houses research scientists and clinicians in the same facility and offers patients the latet options in care. From basic science research to multidisciplinary oncology teams, the bench-to-bedside approach to cancer care gives patients and families more hope for successful outcomes. To improve the lives of patients and help accelerate medical advancements, USA Health

takes part in the latest clinical trials that develop and test new medicines and treatment options. With a mission of vanquishing cancer through transformative research, education and quality care, Mitchell Cancer Institute offers a holitic approach for patients with programs including physical therapy, survivorship, patient navigation and nutritional management.

The physician practices of USA Health are composed of the clinical faculty at the USA College of Medicine as well as a growing number of community-based practices. Offering a range of services from primary care to the treatment of complex conditions, USA Health physicians and providers collectively represent the largest multi-specialty practice on the upper Gulf Coast.

Since the founding of the USA College of Medicine in 1973, USA Health has offered ecellent healthcare at the same time it provides outstanding medical education to new generations of physicians. At any given time, approximately 250 physicians are training in USA Health’s 20 graduate medical education programs. Most College of Medicine students are from Alabama, and USA ranks in the country’s top 20 percent for graduates practicing in-state. In addition to training College of Medicine students, USA Health also has served as a training ground for more than 10,400 nurses and 5,600 allied health professionals, complementing the array of professional health programs offered at the Uniersity.

A vital component of a well-rounded academic medicine program is basic science research. For example, in 2019, there were 90 active research grants in USA’s College of Medicine. That same year, the entities within USA Health received more than $24 million in extramural funding. Institutional groups include the Center for Lung Biology, the Center for Healthy Communities, the Center for Strategic Health Innovation, the Center for Disaster Healthcare Preparedness and the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center.

USA Health is changing how medical care, education and research impact the health of people who live in Mobile and the surrounding area. For more information, visit USAHealthSystem.com.

Ipeople and has more than 700 physicians on the medical staff. Infirmary ealth provides on average more than $40 million in uncompensated medical care each year, and since 2010, the system has invested more than $355 million in capital towards its entities. As the Gulf Coast’s preferred healthcare provider, Infirmary Health sees over 1.3 million patient visits each year at its facilities in Mobile and Baldwin counties.

For more than 110 years, Infirmary ealth has provided comprehensive, state-of-the-art healthcare to the Gulf Coast. Today, Infirmary ealth is the largest private employer in the region and is composed of four acute care hospitals, two post-acute rehabilitation hospitals, a physician clinic network with more than 60 locations, six diagnostic imaging centers, two full-service breast imaging centers and two freestanding emergency departments, along with other affiliated entiti.

Infirmary ealth is the Gulf Coast’s leader for cardiovascular services. In 1978, Mobile Infirmary opened Operation BouncBack — the firt cardiac rehabilitation program in Alabama. In 2019, Infirmary ealth established its third cardiac rehab facility, located at North Baldwin Infirmary in By Minette, and welcomed to the system the surgeons of Cardio-Thoracic & Vascular Surgical Associates — the market leader for cardiovascular physician practices. Additionally, Thomas Hospital earned its position as the fourth largest cardiovascular program in the state and is home to the only open-heart facility in Baldwin County.

Collectively, Mobile Infirmary and Thomas ospital offer the most comprehensive surgical program along the Gulf Coast. Infirmary ealth was the firt in the region to acquire the da Vinci® Surgical System robotic equipment, providing communities with one of the most precise and least invasive surgical treatments available. As a surgical volume leader in Alabama, Infirmary Health offers surgical services at six locations across the region

As Mobile and Baldwin Counties have grown, so has the need for accessible emergency care. Mobile Infirmary Emerency | Saraland and Thomas Hospital Emergency | Malbis are freestanding emergency departments dedicated to serving the ancillary areas of Mobile and Baldwin Counties. These state-of-the-art facilities, strategically located near and accessible by interstate highways, provide 24/7 emergency care and include the same full-service amenities expected of a traditional emergency department.

Infirmary ealth’s mission is LIFE: Leadership, Integrity, Family and Excellent Service. The system has pursued this mission over 110 years by fostering a seamless continuum of care for its patients. With expansions to its CARF-accredited rehabilitation facilities, an emerging Neurosciences Center of Excellence and a cancer care program on the cutting edge of the latest treatment protocols, Infirmary ealth continues to earn its position as the FIRST CHOICE for healthcare in the region.

top: Infirmary ealth’sflagshiphospital, obileInfirmar,openedin1910,and todayholds669licensedbeds. bottom right and left: MobileInfirmaryEmerency| SaralandandThomasHospitalEmergency|Malbisarefreestandingemergency departmentsdedicatedtoservingtheancillaryareasofMobileandBaldwinCounties.

ALTAPOINTE HEALTH

In 1957, authorities established Mobile County Community Mental Health to address the local need for mental healthcare services. Operating out of a two-story house on Springhill Avenue, a fie-member team served 325 clients with a modest budget of $36,500. Rebranded AltaPointe Health Systems in 2007, the organization serves approximately 34,000 individuals today across seven Alabama counties on a $101-million budget.

“It is humbling to remember the dedicated efforts of the may executive administrators, board members, and clinicians who helped set the stage on which AltaPointe now performs,” says AltaPointe CEO Tuerk Schlesinger.

As Alabama’s largest and most comprehensive behavioral healthcare and psychiatric hospital system (and the second largest in the southeastern U.S., serving Mobile, Baldwin, and Washington counties in south Alabama and Clay, Coosa, Randolph, and Talladega counties to the north), AltaPointe Health oversees a community-based system of mental health, substance abuse, intellectual disabilities and primary healthcare services and psychiatric hospital system.

AltaPointe employs a staff of 1,60, including 19 psychiatrists, 14 psychiatric certified regitered nurse practitioners (CRNP), 20 psychiatric residents and fellows, two primary care physicians, two primary care certified regitered nurse practitioners, one primary care physicians assistant and more than 450 licensed and certified behvioral and clinical healthcare professionals.

The public, not-for-profit entity operates y fie core values:

service, quality, integrity, innovation, and collaboration. These core values are carried out every day, resulting in a care model in which patients receive the highest quality care in a seamless continuum of outpatient, residential, and inpatient settings.

Constant innovation is the name of the game. “Advanced technology is satisfying patients’ desires for greater access through alternative means such as telehealth,” Schlesinger says, referring to the ability to telecommunicate with patients via videoconferencing. The initiative is just one of the many ways in which AltaPointe is rethinking how to operate in the communities it serves more efficient.

Aside from its role as a catalyst in transforming local mental health, AltaPointe has also made community outreach a top priority, participating in over 250 events within the past two years, as well as hosting opioid addiction and suicide prevention hotlines.

“The need for mental health services is increasing at an even faster pace than it was 60 years ago,” Schlesinger says. “Just as our predecessors met challenges that enhanced the care they provided, we must continually improve by facing and conquering challenges for the sake of the people whom we serve today.”

top left: EastPointeHospitalinDaphneopenedinJuly2012asafree-standing adultpsychiatrichospital.AltaPointeoperatestwofree-standingpsychiatric hospitalstheotherone,BayPointeHospital,islocatedinMobile.Itserveschildren andadolescents. top right: TuerkSchlesingeristheChiefExecutiveOfficero AltaPointeHealth,Alabama’slargesthealthandhumanservicesorganization servingmorethan35,000peopleeachyear.AltaPointeprovidesmorethan1million servicestomorethan35,000individualseachyearinitsresidential,outpatient, andpsychiatrichospitalandprimarycaresettings.

Phanie/Alamy

As health care technology rapidly advances, so does care in Mobile and Baldwin Counties, with medical marvels on the horizon we only dreamed about just a few short years ago.

CourtesyofUSAHealth

CourtesyofUSAHealth

VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA SOUTHEAST

As a charter affiliate of the national human service organization VOA, Inc., Mobile-based VOA Southeast assists individuals from every walk of life. This includes providing healthcare services by way of a paid, professional staff

“Today, VOA Southeast has 850 employees who provide healthcare and human services to persons with addictions, mental illness, intellectual disabilities, to veterans, the deaf or hard-of-hearing, and to the elderly,” says VOA Southeast President/CEO Wallace Davis.

VOA Southeast provides housing and direct services for over 2,500 individuals daily. This includes caring for over 650 lowincome seniors across Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. In its affordable apartment communities for senior, VOA Southeast allows individuals to age in place, with grace, dignity, and support.

VOA Southeast also provides care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to hundreds of individuals in group homes across Alabama and Georgia, including persons with intellectual disabilities.

“We are one of the largest intellectual disability service providers in Alabama,” says Davis. “We have national accreditation in that service category.” VOA Southeast also runs 3 community enrichment centers throughout the state and vocational training and placement programs, providing meaningful day activities for individuals with intellectual disabilities and assisting them with everyday living skills.

left: AtEagle’sLanding,a38-unittransitionalhousingcommunity locatedinMobile,VOASoutheastprovidestemporaryhousingwith wrap-aroundsupportiveservicesdesignedtomeettheuniqueneedsof homelessveterans. VOASoutheastisproudtohelpveterans,notonly inreachingtheirshort-termgoals,butalsotheirlife-longdreams. bottom left and center: “Today,VOASoutheasthas850employeeswho providehealthcareandhumanservicestopersonswithaddictions, mentalillness,intellectualdisabilities,toveterans,thedeaforhardof-hearing,andtotheelderly,”saysVOASoutheastPresident/CEO WallaceDavis. VOASoutheastprovideshousinganddirectservices forover2,500individualsdaily. bottom right: MillenniumCenterfor womeninGeorgiaprovidesdrug/alcoholscreeningandassessment,crisisintervention,grouptherapy,andone-on-onecounseling,allstaffed bycredentialedprofessionals.

At Eagle’s Landing, a 38-unit transitional housing community located in Mobile, VOA Southeast also provides temporary housing with wrap-around supportive services designed to meet the unique needs of homeless veterans. Using a clinical model for treatment, the program provides a variety of services, including mental health and substance abuse counseling but also provides housing assistance, vocational support, and educational training in financial manaement and daily living skills among other things. VOA Southeast is proud to help veterans not only in reaching their short-term goals but also their life-long dreams.

VOA Southeast also provides support to 350 veterans and their families in Alabama and Georgia through the VA’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families program that works to prevent homelessness.

Finally, VOA Southeast offers behvioral health services in partnership with state agencies and local community service providers. With two programs for substance abuse disorder in Georgia that serve women with children, the organization is able to provide drug/alcohol screening and assessment, crisis intervention, group therapy, and one-on-one counseling, all staffed y credentialed professionals. “Many staff view themseles as responding to God’s calling on their lives,” Davis says.

CPSI

CHealthier Communities Begin With Us

PSI understands our role is more than simply providing technology; it’s doing our part to help build and sustain healthy communities. We work diligently to provide the solutions needed to be successful in healthcare delivery today and tomorrow. The result - tools and resources our customers need to deliver the kind of care their patients deserve.

Founded in Mobile, Alabama in 1979, CPSI is a leading provider of healthcare

solutions and services for close to 4,000 customers representing community hospitals, their clinics and post-acute care facilities.

As the parent of four companies – Evident, American HealthTech, TruBridge and Get Real Health, our combined companies focus on helping improve healthcare delivery, connecting communities for a better patient care experience and improving the financia operations of our customers.

CourtesyofUSAHealth

Dragoscondrea|Dreamstime

“Quality living through good health and wellness combined with physician care when needed, all while boosting the economy, is a prescription for success.”

CourtesyofUSAHealth

“In addition to quality care, advancing medical research, and cutting-edge technology, the bay’s medical community gives back in other ways. Most of our local hospitals are in the top-five employers of Mobile and Baldwin County.”

CourtesyofUSAHealth

HELPING HANDS:

Community Services for the Greater Good

Share the Beach maintains and mobilizes an army of volunteers to help sea turtles that nest and hatch on these shores. Hundreds of workers also promote turtle habitat awareness through engaging outreach programs.

Helping hands define a communit’s conscience, build character, and speak louder than words. We are many communities joining hands, reaching out, and lifting others. Collectively, the Mobile Bay community answers the call of those in need.

Our reach extends through vastly different ays. We are individuals — contributing, volunteering, and serving. We are diverse organizations — protecting beaches, advocating for veterans, promoting the arts, and advancing just causes. We are non-profits— charities raising money for distribution to others or networking to see funds are delivered to the greatest value.

But regardless of the cause, need, or money, Mobile Bay givers share a commonality. We have the heart to serve, to heal, and provide for others. Yes, doing so enhances the lives of those benefited. It also enhances the spirits of giers.

We give freely. Our charities contribute greatly to national organizations such as the Red Cross, Boys and Girls Clubs, and the Salvation Army, but we also meet local needs. The want is there and so are responders such as these:

Founded in Mobile in 1976, the Community Foundation of South Alabama has managed over 450 funds and made possible over $79 million in grants and scholarships. Working with donors, the Foundation provides expertise in prudent and sound investments to grow charitable dollars.

Among its charities are veterans’ groups, youth organizations, drug treatment programs, and many more. Services include expertise in grant writing and skills for managing philanthropic funds, thus improving lives in eight Alabama counties.

Generosity is also exemplified y groups such as the United Way of Southwest Alabama. It abides by a mission statement: To improve the quality of life in the community. Mission accomplished means resources and funding are united for the betterment of education, health, financial tability, and access to basic needs from hunger to children’s sports and after-school activities. UWSWA partners with approximately 50 agencies including Alpha Resource Center, Boys and Girls Clubs of South Alabama, and Feeding the Gulf Coast.

Mobile Bay givers graciously assist with physical needs, medical concerns, and the fight againt substance abuse. Groups such as the Drug Education Council answer the challenge. A voluntary, non-profit organization, the DEC is a local united force for a drug-free society unshackled from chemical dependency. Its programs, serving 12 Alabama counties, meet three criteria: prevention, intervention, and recovery, in the eradication of drug abuse.

Meeting medical needs of the underserved is paramount across the bay, not just for patients, but for caregivers too. Ronald McDonald House of Mobile supports families of pediatric patients 21 years of age or younger. In a large stately

home on Spring Hill Avenue, the patients’ families are offere guest rooms from days’ to months’ duration. Typically, their child is receiving care at nearby hospitals. Local donations help supply Ronald McDonald house with food and supplies. In addition, charitable organizations like Feeding the Gulf Coast, with a main branch in West Mobile County’s Theodore, maintains a food bank serving 24 local counties in south Alabama, south Mississippi, and northern Florida.

Hunger, as well as physical and emotional needs, are met with groups such as The Home of Grace for Women, serving women with chemical dependencies, abusive relationships, or other needs.

Area churches of all faiths assist with more than emotional and spiritual support, but also with food, shelter, and disaster relief. Mobile Catholic Social Services offers emerency aid, financial assitance, and more. One such program is its infant and foster care, placing babies in approved homes of married couples and single individuals. Catholic Social Services of Baldwin/Escambia Counties’ programs include a low-income pharmacy, disaster services, and therapeutic counseling.

Obviously, a region encompassing a bay thrives on water. Good stewardship is crucial. Non-profits such as the Alabama Coastal Foundation work for better beaches. ACF leads an oyster shell recycling program partnering with area restaurants collecting and returning / recycling oyster shells back to the crustacean’s marine habitat.

Also, Share the Beach, an army of volunteers based in Gulf Shores and beyond, works with sea turtles. Volunteer members extend helping hands to needy flipper. Hundreds of workers promote turtle habitat awareness, monitor turtle nests, and protect the hatchlings from predators. Their outreach program includes almost every beach associated with south Alabama.

The Weeks Bay Foundation supports more than 7,000 acres of coastline in Baldwin and Mobile Counties. Using conservation, land donations, and purchases, the land under its watch cannot be sold to developers, much to the delight of appreciative wildlife.

At the end of the day, we do what we have to do in helping others, our communities, and the environment we share. We are hands united in heeding the call.

Individuals and businesses donate time, money, and resources to improve and enhance the lives of all those who occupy our shores.

Courtesyof3CircleChurch

The communities across Mobile Bay have many things in common, but one of our biggest commonalities is our giving spirit.

Courtesyof3CircleChurch

VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA SOUTHEAST

Founded in 1896 by social reformers Ballington and Maud Booth, VOA was envisioned as a movement to “reach and uplift all people and bring them to the knowledge and active service of God.” Over the following 125 years, it has evolved into one of the nation’s most comprehensive human services organizations, touching the lives of 1.5 million people each year in hundreds of communities across the United States.

VOA Southeast, a charter affiliate ofOA, Inc. based in Mobile, began serving the community in 1980 under the leadership of President/CEO Wallace Davis. Beginning with the operation of three group homes for people with intellectual disabilities, it has since grown to be one of the largest affiliates in theOA family, serving over 2,500 persons daily in communities throughout Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Today, in addition to intellectual and developmental disabilities programs, VOA Southeast assists veterans, seniors and families with low-income, children and youth, the homeless, and people with addictive diseases and mental illness.

“Every VOA affiliate reflects the individualized needs of the community,” says Davis. “This affiliate is incredibly derse.”

Through the work of over 850 employees and countless volunteers, VOA Southeast works to fulfill its mission o “illustrating the presence of God through all that we do, serving people and communities in need and creating opportunities for people to experience the joy of serving others.”

“When telling our story, people have a difficult time wrappin their minds around everything we do,” Davis says, “from stuffin students’ backpacks to building drug treatment facilities and housing complexes. Over the years, we’ve been fortunate enough to grow in many different directions simultaneousl, the result of which is an organization of tremendous scope.”

Much of the VOA Southeast ministry is carried out from its new corporate office, worship cent, and ministry building located at 1204 Hillcrest Road. The buildings, located on approximately fie acres of land that were once owned by Hillcrest Baptist Church, were donated to VOA Southeast for the furtherance of the ministry. The campus includes a renovated worship center that currently serves as the home for two local church congregations.

The campus also includes a ministry building that is used for many activities, including VOA Southeast’s annual 10 Caring Gifts Campaign. “We are now able to collect, sort, separate, and store donations in one place,” says Janet Hyde, VOA Southeast’s Community Engagement Liaison. The ministry building also serves as a voting site during elections, includes a beautiful community meeting space that has a commercial kitchen, and is equipped with facilities for temporarily housing relief workers in the event of a natural disaster.

Within the greater community, VOA Southeast has a long history of serving wherever a need presents itself. The organization is proud of its work to provide support, resources, and technical

throughthehelpofourvolunteersandstaff. bottom center: Today,inadditiontointellectualanddevelopmentaldisabilitiesprograms,VOASoutheastassistsveterans, seniorsandfamilieswithlow-income,childrenandyouth,thehomeless,andpeoplewithaddictivediseasesandmentalillness.Here,WallaceDavisispicturedwitha childatourMillenniumCenter,aGeorgiaprogramforwomenaddressingtheirsubstanceabuseissues,andwheretheyareabletolivewiththeirchildren.

opposite page: MuchoftheVOASoutheastministryiscarriedoutfromitsnewcorporateoffice,worshipcent,andministrybuildinglocatedat1204HillcrestRoad. Thebuildings,locatedonapproximatelyfieacresoflandthatwereonceownedbyHillcrestBaptistChurch,weredonatedtoVOASoutheastforthefurtheranceofthe ministry. inset: Foundedin1896,VOAwasenvisionedasamovementto“reachandupliftallpeopleandbringthemtotheknowledgeandactiveserviceofGod.”VOA Southeast,acharteraffiliateofOA,basedoutofMobile,beganservingthecommunityin1980withtheleadershipofPresident/CEOWallaceDavis,Ph.D.,whohasbeen withtheorganizationeversince,morethan40years.Forover20years,Dr.Davishasprovideddailyradiospotscalled“UpliftingMoments,”whichyoucanhearondrivetime.

assistance to churches and faith-based organizations while offerin training in leadership, community ministries, and non-profit management.

Disaster recovery is also a vital part of the VOA Southeast’s mission, connecting volunteers, supplies, and financial donation with those directly affected y disaster.

“A significant miletone in the organization’s history was our response following Hurricane Katrina,” Davis says. At that critical moment, VOA Southeast helped bring order out of chaos, creating the means for the quick and efficient collection and dtribution of supplies, creating access points for medical care and triage, and

rebuilding homes across the Gulf Coast. “This was the beginning of our disaster relief effort, which continue today for both natural and man-made disasters.”

But it hardly stops there; the beauty of VOA Southeast is its flexibility to support a seemingly endless rane of charitable initiatives. This includes everything from stocking food pantries and collecting blankets for the homeless, building hundreds of wheelchair ramps for the elderly and disabled, to providing a space for AA meetings as well as support groups for widows and families struggling with Alzheimer’s disease.

top: DisasterrecoveryisalsoavitalpartofVOASoutheast’smission,connectingvolunteers,supplies,andfinancialdonationswiththosedirectlyaffectedydisaster. “Asignificantmiletoneintheorganization’shistorywasourresponsefollowingHurricaneKatrina,”Davissays.Atthatcriticalmoment,VOASoutheasthelpedbring orderoutofchaos,creatingthemeansforthequickandefficientcollectionanddtributionofsupplies,creatingaccesspointsformedicalcareandtriage,andrebuilding homesacrosstheGulfCoast. bottom left: Disasterreliefdoesn’tjustmeangettingimmediatesuppliestopeopleafterahurricaneortornadohits.Italsomeansrepairing andrebuildinghomesthathavebeendestroyedanddamaged.VOAhasalsobuilthundredsofwheelchairrampsallacrosstheGulfCoastandcontinuestodosotoday,

bottom right: Herewehaveoneofthefirtthreegrouphomesforpeoplewithintellectualdisabilities.VOASoutheasthassincegrowntooneofthelargestaffiliatesinthenation,servi over2,500personsdaily,throughoutAlabama,Georgia,andMississippi.

CourtesyofFeedingtheGulfCoast

CourtesyofTheSalvationArmy

KathyHicks

WILMER HALL

Wilmer Hall was founded in 1864 by Richard Hooker Wilmer, the second Episcopal bishop of Alabama as a home for orphans of the Civil War. It has been occupying its current campus on Old Shell Road since 1916.

In 2008, the Wilmer Hall Board of Trustees publicly reaffirme its core mission of providing a long-term residential home for children and young adults who cannot live with their natural parents or care for themselves. In returning to this mission, Wilmer Hall has expanded its programs and services. In addition to the Residential Living Program, we now have a Transitional Living Program, a Transitional Family Program, an Education Program, and a Community-Based Education Program. The Education Program has a 100% graduation rate in the 11 years since its inception.

The mission of Wilmer Hall Children’s Home is to provide a safe home for children and young adults in need due to poverty, abuse, neglect, and homelessness. It serves all children and young adults without regard to race, ethnicity, or religion.

Wilmer Hall extends to each child or young adult a warm and nurturing home where they are surrounded by people who love and support them. The goal is to help young people succeed in four areas: physical health, emotional stability, academic achievement, and spiritual maturity. Wilmer Hall’s keys to success have been an individualized approach, positive reinforcement of successes, thoughtful and caring responses to setbacks, and genuine concern about the spiritual well being of each young person. For the young adults in our transitional programs, the goal is to assist the residents in developing the educational, vocational, and social skills necessary for a successful transition to self-sufficiey.

Wilmer Hall provides a home for up to 36 young residents and serves 175 children in its education programs for a total number of young people served well over 200. The historic campus contains nine buildings and is staffed y 23 employees. To learn more about Wilmer Hall’s mission and ministry, please visit wilmerhall.org.

THE UNITED WAY OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA

The name has changed a few times since its 1926 startup.

But the vision never altered: “The United Way of Southwest Alabama will strengthen communities by focusing on uniting and mobilizing resources that support the building blocks for a better life: health, education, financialstability, and access to life’s basic essentials.” The need is great, but so are the responders.

For about a century, UWSWA’s programs and partnerships have funded millions of dollars for charitable programs throughout Mobile, Choctaw, Clarke, and Washington Counties. Currently, there are 46 partner agencies under its umbrella. It is a broad-spectrum, including children’s programs, medical care, job training and shelter and hunger relief.

All adhere to and meet UWSWA’s focus block: Health, Education, Financial Stability, and Essentials. It is a group effort. “It i important to know that participating agencies and program

funding grants are reviewed and recommended by community volunteers - not us,” says UWSWA’s Leslie C. Schraeder, Marketing Specialist and AFL-CIO Labor Engagement Liaison. “Partner agencies are reviewed every two years and report their impact every year.”

Most people know the United Way through company payroll deductions, typically one hour of wages per month.

“But we are grateful for whatever people can give,” adds Ms. Schraeder.

“Fundraising, bringing together donors, volunteers, businesses, nonprofit, and others, is a major part of the United Way” But there is more.

Leslie Schraeder notes that Southwest Alabama has always been charitable in donations and service. But with increased worker retirements and sometimes unpredictable economic factors, raising charitable dollars can be challenging. Not to worry. Just as it has done for almost a century, the United Way of Southwest Alabama and their partners meet the challenges.

The UWSWA also offers its own services and programs including:

• Volunteer Connect - a recruitment/management website that increases volunteerism and mobilizes resources with opportunities for individuals and groups to volunteer.

• United Way 2-1-1 Helpline - a national program localized by UWSWA for help with basic human needs, health issues, employment, senior care, crisis needs and more.

• Family Wize - a prescription drug card distributed by the UWSWA offering avings to those without insurance or needing medications not covered by insurance.

• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library - sends eligible children a monthly age-appropriate book by mail at no charge up until the child’s fifth birthdy.

• Free Tax Preparation - The UWSWA provides IRS certified Federal and State tax preparation services through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

• Project Blueprint - a training and learning opportunity for people interested in learning about nonprofit board tructure, board service and nonprofit organization operation.

• Engaging the Next Generation - a collaborative program to showcase nonprofit organizations in the obile area and connect them with the next generation.

• Airbus Foundation Flying Challenge - a mentoring program focused on middle school students with the goal to enhance students’ life options.

• Clarke County Outreach Center - a central hub for UWSWA partner agencies serving Clarke County to meet/provide their full spectrum of services to residents of the county.

• Washington County Dental & Vision Program - provides limited dental and vision care for residents of Washington County who meet specific requirement.

• UWSWA Community Resources Network - in response to the Covid-19 Outbreak, is a partnership of UWSWA, USA Office o Community Engagement, and Spring Hill College, to convene, plan and complement positive change in our community as we respond to the impacts of Covid

CourtesyofBayouLaBatreChamberofCommerce

KathyHicks

KathyHicks

Good stewardship is crucial to a region that thrives on water. Non-profits such as the Alabama Coastal Foundation work for better beaches while the Weeks Bay Foundation works hard to protect and preserve more than 7,000 acres of coastline in Baldwin and Mobile Counties.

CourtesyofSharetheBeach

EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION GULF COAST

Social and recreational opportunities are few and far between for adults with special needs, except for those who participate in programs at the Exceptional Foundation Gulf Coast. There, in Daphne, Alabama, love and passion are made manifest every week through activities such as field trip, Special Olympics, art, daily exercise and music.

No wonder they call it the “Happy Place.”

“You can’t help but smile when you’re here,” said Jennifer Flad, executive director of the Exceptional Foundation Gulf Coast.

Since 2011, EFGC has cared for adults and youth with disabilities in south Alabama. The Gulf Coast location was the second Exceptional Foundation affiliate to open after the non-profit organizatioas created in Birmingham by a group of passionate parents and loving supporters. There are now four locations in the southeast, including locations in Auburn and Atlanta.

The Exceptional Foundation Gulf Coast is not a school. Its staff and volunteers — including recreational therapists and those with a background in special-education — are solely dedicated to fostering recreational and social enjoyment for the Participants as much as four days a week. That includes cooking and art programs, Dance Without Limits, horseback riding, and a myriad of other field trips and activitie.

Adults who participate in the year-round program range in age from 19 to 64, and the EFGC’s popular summer program includes Participants from 10 to 21 years of age.

“There was a huge need in this area, for a program such as EFGC” Flad said of the Gulf Coast location’s creation, which requires renting space at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Daphne. “Once you age out of high school at 21, options for our Participants and their families becomes a major question. What is the next step?”

The issue for the special needs community is that there’s no structure to facilitate socialization, she said, so the Exceptional Foundation Gulf Coast promotes group activities that cultivate friendships, which is especially appreciated by the families who utilize EFGC’s services.

“Everyone wants their loved one to have friends,” Flad said. This is their place to grow as a person, as an individual and as a friend. “For many of them, this is an opportunity they might not get anywhere else.”

While engaged in many activities at EFGC, Participants continue to develop skills learned during their school years. Participants are able to experience “firts” as adults. Through the Exceptional Foundation Gulf Coast, Participants could have the opportunity to attend their firt Prom, earn their firt Special Olympics medal, or even go on a group date with friends. “We love each and every Participant who walks through those doors,” Flad said. “They are our family.”

DRUG EDUCATION COUNCIL

Since 1967, the Drug Education Council has provided drug education, prevention, and intervention services to Mobile Bay and the surrounding counties.

Executive Director Virginia Guy says the needs are critical and ever-changing, but their mission remains the same. Today, the council is taking on the current cultural challenges from the opioid and e-cigarette/vaping epidemic to the effects bullying and social media have on drug and alcohol use.

“I really believe the biggest threat to the health and safety of our youth and families is drug abuse,” Virginia says. “It impacts every social problem from crime to family abuse and dysfunction, low education, under-employment and more.”

The council’s largest effort is to educate parents and tudents with the hope of delaying the onset of alcohol and drug use.

“We want parents to work together to send the same message among their friends,” says Virginia. “And we want to work with kids on finding their passion and taking healty risks because it lowers their chance of using.”

Brain research is driving the council’s work and enabling them to present practical solutions to intergenerational groups of students, educators, and parents. “We need to arm our kids with as much knowledge as we can,” Virginia says. And they are doing just that and so much more.

The council excels at not only raising awareness, but also connecting individuals and families to services when drug and alcohol problems are present. As the culture continues to evolve and people are increasingly vulnerable to addiction, the Drug Education Council will lead the way forward to create momentum to affect lating change in our communities and in the lives of those they serve.

“Defenders of Potential: Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Alabama creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.”

CourtesyofBigBrothersBigSistersofSouthAlabama

CourtesyofTheExceptionalFoundation

bottom: TheExceptionalFoundationGulfCoastprovidessocialandrecreationalopportunitiesforthespecialneedscommunityofBaldwinandMobileCounties.

CourtesyofBigBrothersBigSistersofSouthAlabama

CourtesyofDowntownMobileAlliance

top: DowntownMobileAllianceisanonprofitorganizationdedicatedtopromtingtheredevelopmentandrevitalizationofdowntownMobile.

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

CourtesyofDowntownMobileAllianceBlockbyBlock

top row left: AfreelibraryinMobile,partofafreepublicbookexchangeprogramfoundedin2009. top row right: Cleaningupandrejuvenatingcitydowntownsisaninitiative ofDowntownMobileAlliance’sBlockbyBlockprogram.Theeffortalsobringsanundertandingofhowvaluableitisfordowntownbusinessdistrictswhenpeoplehave positiveexperiencesandinteractions. bottom: Anumberoforganizationsprovideregularentertainment,includingweeklysummerconcertsandotherspecialevents inMobileandthroughouttheMobileBayarea,enhancingthequalityoflifeforallresidents.

Sidelnikov/Dreamstime

CourtesyofDowntownMobileAllianceBlockbyBlock

bottom: Ourgivingspiritmanifestseverywhere,sometimesinsurprisingways.

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

NEXT LEVEL SUCCESS:

Business and Commerce Around Mobile Bay

With its vibrant business community and entrepreneurial spirit, Fairhope, Alabama, is recognized by the Alabama Policy Institute as the most business-friendly city in Alabama.

Business started on the waterfront and expanded outward. The expansion continues on all levels. Today the shadows of office wers are cast on the Mobile River, where commerce began three centuries earlier.

In Mobile, from the RSA Trustmark Building, Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel, Wachovia Building, and other such strongholds, professionals conduct business affecting South Alabama and all reaches of the world.

One such entity is American Equity Underwriters. With over 130 employees, the company administers American Longshore Mutual Association Ltd worker’s compensation program. “Not many companies focus on specializing in the services related to this Longshore Act. So that’s the need we fill” says CEO Mike Lapeyrouse about his company on floors 32 and 33 of the RSA Battle House Tower, the tallest building in Alabama. “It’s what we grew up doing. We focus on it. We specialize in it. We consider it our niche.”

American Equity Underwriters joins bankers, financier, insurance brokers, and hundreds of others in Mobile’s professional community occupying downtown’s skyscape. But the epicenter is on ground level where business and commerce have been conducted for almost three centuries.

A walk down Church Street is a business history snapshot of Mobile. On one end is the street’s namesake – Christ Church Cathedral, established in 1822. On the other end is Church Street Cemetery with graves as old as the worship center down the street. In between are repurposed antebellum houses now serving as offices for torneys, accountants, data processing centers and more.

Downtown businesses flourish in various sizes and purpose. They range from giants like Royal Street’s Hargrove’s Corporate Headquarters, serving engineering, design, and controls. By contrast, nearby Three Georges Fine Southern Chocolates, a candy store of high acclaim, has conducted business on Dauphin Street since 1917.

Mule wagons once unloaded ice blocks to trays under Three Georges’ chocolate display counters to keep the candy from melting in summer heat.

Dauphin Street, Springhill Avenue, Old Shell Road, Government Street, and many other downtown thoroughfares share similar tales.

Moving outward, business/office parks abound on the y. According to Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce statistics, Mobile’s business real estate inventory includes several million square feet of manufacturing, warehouse, IT, and high-tech space.

An example of the latter is the new University of South Alabama (USA) Technology and Research Park. USA’s facility unites academia and private sectors, promoting and supporting innovation for economic growth.

The Bay also reaches for the sky with Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. The industrial complex hosts manufacturing, distribution, aerospace, aviation, and other sectors, with excellent access to air, rail, and sea.

Moving west, the Amazon Distribution–Fulfillment Center sprwls over 362,000 square-feet in a $30 million investment – the first Amazon facility in Alabama.

Nearby in the community of Theodore (West Mobile County), the Walmart Distribution Center includes a 2.6 million squarefoot complex — about the size of 45 football fields — with $135million investment.

Other close proximity municipalities flourish to. Mobile County’s outlying cities are flexing economic muscle.

One such example is the City of Saraland, with an industrial park, expanded retail and restaurants area, and the new Mobile Infirmar Emergency medical facility. Saraland’s latest U.S. Census data shows a 9.74 percent population increase during the last 10 years, making it Mobile County’s third largest city.

On the eastern side of Mobile Bay, Baldwin County continues in massive commercial and residential growth. In the summer of 2021 Governor Kay Ivey cut the ribbon kicking off contruction of a logistics hub that will become home to Imperial Dade in Loxley. The 220,000-square-foot building will support the company’s growing customer base on the Gulf Coast.

And what a growth it is. Baldwin County is no longer just the largest county in Alabama by physical size. It is a leader in residential and commercial real estate and development.

According to the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, Baldwin County is the fastest growing county in Alabama and seventh fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States.

But like everywhere else, Covid changed the bay’s real estate market, both commercial and residential. Realtors strive for corona-friendly environments. The standard three-bedroom, two-bath home now has an additional room — the office

More South Alabamians are working from home. Realtors and developers are urging commercial realty to provide more open spaces with less touch points. Architects and developers are meeting those challenges and realtors are selling it.

As the professional community on both sides of the bay grows, so does the demand for development and hot real estate markets. “We have a healthy economy, a port, beaches, and low property taxes,” says Alabama realtor Mamun Siddiq. “It’s a great opportunity.”

In addition, contractors and construction companies, many rebounding from COVID, are filling the needs for commercial development. “In the last ten years, we’ve doubled our holdings in Mobile County as far as acreage and facility square footage,” says Gary West, founder and president of G.A West and Company. His business specializes in large industrial projects.

Opportunities abound in Mobile Bay’s business and professional world and it covers a wide berth:

• In air, with aerospace office parks and site manufacturin

• On land, such as commercial and residential real estate properties as hot as any in the U.S.;

• By sea, maritime trade and support;

• And much more.

Just as it has done for 300 years.

bottom right: Whenitwasbuiltin1908,Mobile’shistoricVanAntwerpBuildingwas thecity’sfirtskyscraperandoneofthetallestbuildingsintheU.S. opposite page; top right: ExtensiverevitalizationeffortshveturnedMobile’sDauphinStreetinto abustlingandpicturesquehubofshopping,dining,andothercommerce. bottom right: SincetheirearliestdaysassmallGulfCoastseafaringcommunities,thecities andtownsofMobileBayhavesustainedathrivinganddiversebusinesscommunity.

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

G.A. WEST & COMPANY

There’s a saying around the offices and facilities of G. West & Co., Inc. — performance with integrity. “That’s definitely the motto around here,” says Gary West, company founder and president. “We want to work with the highest degree of integrity.”

Founded in 1987, G.A. West is a full-service construction company organized to meet the demand for flexible, cot-effectie construction, fabrication, and maintenance service operations. Focused on industrial construction, the company’s footprint extends well beyond Mobile and the state of Alabama. “We work in about ten states at any given time,” West says, “and we’re licensed in sixteen.”

At G.A. West, a commitment to safety, on-time completion, and high-quality products are the standard. With a yearly average of 1,100 employees, the company is one of the top 10 employers in the Mobile area and is the largest direct-hire contractor in the southern part of the state.

“In the last ten years, we’ve doubled our holdings in Mobile County as far as acreage and facility square footage,” West says. G.A. West has multiple support facility locations in Mobile County, encompassing 147 acres of land and over 250,000 square feet of warehouses, fabrication shops, docks, roll-off platform, laydown yards, training facilities, and office space. This includes a corpora

office in Creola, fabrication facilities in Chunchula and Mt Vernon, and a dock and assembly facility in Saraland.

G.A. West has the capability to construct across an enormous range of industries. “If it’s a heavy, dirty job involving cranes and heavy equipment, we’re likely in that industry,” West says.

The company has capabilities in structural steel (fabrication, detailing, and erection), civil (concrete placement and site work), mechanical, piping (fabrication and erection), module fabrication, code fabrication (vessels, tanks, and piping), electrical, instrumentation, painting, rigging services, heavy hauling and equipment rental associated with grassroots construction, unit revamps, or routine maintenance projects. G.A. West’s local clients include entities such as Georgia-Pacific, the State ort Authority, AM/NS Calvert, BASF, and SSAB, among many others.

“The strength of our company lies in the direct-hire concept,” West says. “Our people make the difference. e’re not driving our product with contract terms and conditions. We’re driving our product with people. A lot of general contractors will go out and hire subcontractors and then pressure those subcontractors to do the work. We don’t do that. We’re on the project from site work all the way through to electrical and finishing. Its a different busines model, but it allows us to prevent the customer from having to be the policeman between different subcontractor.”

Furthermore, as an extensive equipment owner, G.A. West is better positioned to control a project’s finish date. “The only ay to control the process is to control the labor and the equipment,” West says. The company is ranked 63rd in the U.S. in crane ownership. Its ability to perform a project’s major tasks and its dedicated vetting of all suppliers and subcontractors allow the company to meet and exceed safety, quality, and schedule goals. In fact, during the last ten years, G.A. West’s quality control department has grown by over 600 percent while our safety department was winning numerous safety awards including the 2017 AGC Safety Leader of the Year Award and the 2019 AGC Construction Safety Excellence Award - Industrial Division.

G.A. West is also a community leader, working to raise breast cancer awareness and supporting organizations such as Mission of Hope, Wings of Life Recovery, and Penelope House. But it doesn’t stop there. “I think that by providing a good place for people to work, where people go home the way they came in and are treated fairly and allowed an opportunity to advance — that’s another value we bring to the community.”

G.A. West operates on the cutting-edge of industrial technology, taking full advantage of 3D modeling software and GPS-controlled equipment in addition to utilizing the power of social media. The goal for the future, West says, is to continue strengthening each department in order to be prepared to weather the inevitable cycles of business in the world of construction. “We try to have a footprint across different indutries so that, as one industry sinks, we can easily step into another,” West says. “That’s why it’s so important for us to have our craft labor trained to where they can work in any industry.”

His name might be on the building, but West says it’s his capable employees that make the difference. Recognized as the obile Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2019 Outstanding Entrepreneur, West says, “It’s not about me. It’s about our whole talent pool, which is part of this community. And as you raise those people, you raise everybody around you.”

top: BusinessenjoysabeautifulbackdropintheMobileBayareawithampleofficespace,magnificentconferencenues,exquisiterestaurants,andsomanymore locationsreadytohostbusinessfunctions. bottom left: BusinessesalongDauphinStreetatnight. bottom right: Anon-profit tartupincubator,InnovationPortAL helpsentrepreneurslaunchideasintohigh-growthcompanies.

CENTURY BANK

Mobile’s only locally owned bank traces its roots back to 1903 when Gregory M. Luce, a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, opened the doors to the Bank of Lucedale at 9 a.m. on a Thursday in Lucedale, Mississippi. Two years prior, the town had been incorporated and named after the entrepreneur, “who had come to the area not only with capital but with commitment and stayed to help his neighbors gain prosperity.” One hundred and seventeen years after the bank’s opening, Luce’s legacy of commitment to the prosperity of those around him still endures.

reliability and safety for your money,” he says. “And we’re truly community-focused.”

From personal to business banking, Century Bank combines the resources of a global institution with the flexibility of a homtown business to provide an enormous range of products and services for its customers. Products include automobile loans, investment services, notary services, safety deposit boxes, business loans, checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and money market accounts.

As the business grew, the Bank of Lucedale opened branches throughout Jackson County, Mississippi. In 1999, on the verge of the new millennium, the Bank of Lucedale officially chaed its name to Century Bank, both a homage to its impending 100th birthday and an affirmation of the bans commitment to embracing the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

In 2002, Century Bank expanded into Mobile County, Alabama. Branches throughout the county grew quickly with convenient locations now open in Grand Bay, Tillman’s Corner, Semmes, Springhill, and Cottage Hill. In 2019, Century Bank made the leap into Baldwin County with the opening of its Fairhope location.

Sitting in the bank’s newest branch, Century Bank President and Chief Executive Officereter vanLingen, ll reflects on what maes the company unique.

“We have a 117-year history of being a good, solid, conservatively run bank that has a record of strong customer service,

Familiar Faces, Local Decisions

“Since we’re locally owned, the decision-makers sit here,” vanLingen says. “So that’s how we can outcompete the bigger banks — by being flexible and making things happen fat.”

Century Bank’s niche, vanLingen says, is servicing the small businesses that tend to get overlooked by large financial intitutions.

“In small-town Alabama or Mississippi, that’s Main Street. That’s what makes the communities tick, those mom and pop small businesses, and we do a good job of servicing their needs quickly, efficient, and with great customer service.”

Century Bank’s core values? “The customer, the customer, the customer,” vanLingen says. “Nobody provides better customer service than us.”

Douglas T. Luce Jr., Chairman of the Board and a fourth-generation Luce banker, attributes the bank’s success to its willingness to adapt and evolve over the decades.

“Our ability to adapt to change is what’s made us last for over 100 years,” he says. Whether it was embracing electronic banking, the internet,

lefttoright,DakotaNelson,DallasJohnson,NancyGrace,ChrisJones,PetervanLingen, KimberlyHolton right:PortraitofGregoryMarstonLuce,1903founder

or the smartphone, Century Bank has managed to provide customers with up-to-date banking services throughout its venerable history. It has continued this trend with the introduction of the Century Bank mobile app.

The Century Bank leadership also realizes the importance of giving back to the communities which have allowed the family business to prosper. Whether it’s sponsoring local little league baseball teams, the Fairhope Rotary Steak Cookoff, or Rely for Life, the “involvement in extracurricular activities, fundraisers, organizations and other local events is a priority for directors, officers and empyees of Century Bank.”

“We live in this community,” vanLingen says, “and our employees live in this community.”

The heroes behind the scene, according to Luce, are 115 employees. “We have good people,” Luce says. “And the relationships they form with customers — that’s the secret to what we do.”

The bank recently threw a retirement party for an employee who had worked here for 39 years, a testament to the commitment of

the employees to their employer, and vice versa.

“It’s amazing how many current employees have worked with us for over 25 years,” vanLingen says. “I think that’s because we all treat each other like family.”

With their most recent venture into Baldwin County, Century Bank is looking to expand throughout the county in the next several years. As the fastest growing county in Alabama, Baldwin provides a tremendous opportunity for the future of Century Bank.

“Baldwin County is real-estate based, and we’re a real estate acclimated bank,” vanLingen says. “The growth of the county is the type of growth that fits in perfectly with what we d.”

Gregory M. Luce’s vision is very much alive at Century Bank, and it shows no sign of faltering any time soon.

“We’ve got a history of running a sound, stable, financiall conservative institution for 117 years,” vanLingen says, “and we plan on doing it for another 100 years. After all, it’s our heritage.”

left:Fromlefttoright–PetervanLingen,NancyGrace, MortgageandLoanOfficerandairhopeBranchManagerandChrisJones. topright:DanGarland,ChiefLending OfficerandChrisonesVice,CreditAnalystandProduction bottomright:Fromlefttoright,JacksonCountyLendingTeam:AllisonGolden,AllieLuikart,Becky Dykes,MaggieNations

left: WindowgazingalongFairhopeAvenueinFairhope. right: Mobile’shistoricDauphinStreetisrevitalizedwithnewcommercialenergyandbeautificationproject.

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“The cities of Mobile Bay are living showcases of businesses old and new, small and massive.”

AIR SPECIALTY OF SOUTH ALABAMA

Air Specialty of South Alabama Inc. was born of humble beginnings. In 1993, with $300 won from racing cars, Larry Ezell and Jerry Anderson started their two-man operation in Jerry’s backyard garage.

In 1998 they moved to their present location. From those roots grew an 18,000 square foot, two-story complex with total in-house

Based in Semmes, Alabama, the company’s work takes many paths in commercial and residential service. It includes air conditioning, heating, marine, maintenance, indoor air quality, commercial HVAC, and commercial coating.

The customer base includes homeowners, medical clinics, marinas and shipyards, college and school campuses, pulp paper and chemical plants, petroleum companies, and commercial offic,

Today Air Specialty has 37 employees and about 25 service vehicles. They meet HVAC needs from Lucedale Mississippi, along the Gulf Coast and all of Mobile and Baldwin Counties and beyond.

Still co-owners, Larry and Jerry explain Air Specialty’s success through their personal and business philosophy: “This is God’s company and we will do the right thing.” Ezell said, “We base everything on that belief and we ask our employees to do the same.”

Adding to the sentiments, Anderson noted, “We tell our guys to look out for our customers. Don’t sell unnecessary services and parts. Our people do not work on a quota system of sales. It all comes down to being honest.”

Employees are issued cards stating in bold letters, “WE CARE. It is an acronym for Wow, Efficient, Mter Craftsman, Affordable Relationships, and Ethics, Air Specialty’s creed.

Though the customer base is diverse, their requirements are the same: skilled, well-trained service and quality parts and equipment are a must. As HVAC equipment becomes more sophisticated, computerized, and complex, so does its service needs. Air Specialty’s installers and technicians are trained and certified on an onoing basis to meet those needs.

“You have to constantly train in this business to stay on top,” Ezell said. “Electronics and the mechanical are constantly changing in heating and air equipment. We have to keep our training – onsite and offsite - updated to service increasingly changing equipment ”

Technicians are confirmed y North American Technician Excellence (NATE) standards. In the HVAC industry, NATE certification is the highet level of validation in professional competency for technicians in the field

Larry has more than 50 years’ experience in the HVAC Industry and Jerry has more than 40. Several employees have 20-plus years with the company. “In our industry that has great longevity,” Larry said, about his employees’ years of service. We are fortunate

We let our people think on their own. Today our managers call many of the shots Jerry and I help when needed.”

Air Specialty is a factory authorized Carrier dealer for air conditioners, heat pumps, ductless systems, and furnaces. Products provided by the company include geothermal heat pumps, indoor air quality, packaged products, thermostats and controls, fans and evaporator coils.

The company also has an onsite protective coating operation. Our technicians are factory trained in both spray and dip processes in a state of the art coating facility — the applications range from mechanical equipment, heat exchangers, cabinets, and more. Metal fabrication, duct cleaning, controls, and design of custom air-conditioning and refrigeration systems round out the list.

“We do a lot of work in hospitals and colleges,” Larry explained. “But we also service large ships, churches, and a lot of offic complexes.” Jerry notes, “But it’s not just commercial. We do a big residential and private home service business too. Our work and customers cover a wide variety.”

Air Specialty never loses sight of how vital keeping HVAC systems running smoothly. In Mobile’s semi-tropical climate, airconditioning is more than a convenience; it is a necessity of life. Without AC, mold can generate, the elderly suffe, and property can be damaged.

Out of service refrigeration and freezer systems can cost customers thousands of dollars in lost products, food, and medicine. Air Specialty technicians are on a 24/7 emergency call. In addition to regular business hours, they are on standby every day.

The two business partners met around 1981. Larry hired Jerry as a helper in a former heating and air conditioning company. The two have worked together ever since.

“We do things a little different than mot companies,” added Larry. “We don’t allow money to be our driving force. Sure, it has its place, but decisions are not made solely on money. We match service and parts with the customer’s needs, which is important because many times customers have no idea what is wrong with their equipment or what is needed to repair or install it. We do, and I believe customers appreciate that.”

Jerry recalled, “I don’t believe we have ever had a cross word between us.”

top: ManyindependentbusinessesaroundMobileBayhavestoodthetestoftime.bottom: Shopping forallthingspurple,green,andgoldinoneofthearea’smanyMardiGrassupplyshops.

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top: Mobile’soldestrestaurant,theDewDropInn,hasbeenservingthecommunitysince1924. bottom: Naman’sdepartmentstorehasbeenaMobilelandmarkformorethan80years.

THE AMERICAN EQUITY UNDERWRITERS, INC.

The American Equity Underwriters, Inc. (AEU) is the program administrator of the American Longshore Mutual Association Ltd (ALMA). A group self-insurance fund, ALMA is authorized by the U.S. Department of Labor to provide workers’ compensation coverage for waterfront employers under the United States Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, commonly referred to as USL&H.

“Not many companies focus on specializing in this type of insurance coverage or services to support it, so that’s the need we fill” CEO Adele Hapworth says. “It’s what we grew up doing. We focus on it, we specialize in it, we consider it our niche.”

AEU was originally a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mobile’s Cooper/T. Smith Corporation, and this background gives AEU a broader understanding of a maritime company’s exposure to risk.

In 2007, AEU was purchased by Amwins Group, one of the largest and most well-respected specialty insurance distribution firms in the world.

“Employee safety is important to any business, but it’s a particularly important aspect of waterfront operations,” Hapworth explains. “Our mission is to do everything we can to prevent injuries and claims, but when a claim does occur, we focus on resolving it as quickly as possible and getting the employee back to work while doing everything we can to drive down the employer’s premium.”

What distinguishes AEU among the industry is the company’s emphasis on service and a relentless drive to challenge the status quo. “We have a very intense service model,” explains Chief Financial Officerolly Chapman. “It’s what we’re all about.”

Today, with nearly 140 employees and decades of experience in the maritime industry, AEU is the leading specialist in USL&H, providing services to members of ALMA including claims handling, loss control, underwriting, longshore consulting, and leadership training.

“Basically, any function that an insurance company performs, we do it,” Chapman says.

Shipbuilders, ship repairers, marine terminal operators, stevedores, marine contractors, and other waterfront employers may apply for ALMA membership through their insurance broker.

Many of the employers along the Mobile River benefit from AEU’s services as ALMA members. Guided by their core values of integrity, honesty, and transparency, the leadership at AEU is comfortable being on the cutting-edge of industry practices.

“We don’t say we’re just going to take a stagnant approach to longshore,” says Hapworth. “We say, ‘We need to find innvative ways to move forward.’ The Longshore Act may not change, but that doesn’t mean we don’t take a new approach.”

And the proof is in the numbers; AEU boasts a 98 percent member retention rate, proving that more than 1,400 ALMA members –representing more than $3.5 billion in payroll annually – see the value in AEU’s services and innovative approach.

“We’ve established really strong, long-lasting relationships with employers who know that we know this business better than anybody,” explains Chief Commercial Officer Winchter Thurber, IV. “So they begin to ask us, ‘What else can you do? How else can you help me with my business?’”

In 2016, the company launched AEU LEAD, a management consulting division which helps waterfront employers with leadership development of front-line managers.

AEU also launched a dedicated medical management unit to seek new ways to drive down the costs of claims through contract negotiations, provider management, and more.

“We’re trying to add value to anything surrounding the employeremployee relationship,” Thurber summarizes.

This innovation is earning the company attention – and not just from employers. “There has been a lot of great recognition over the past few years,” Hapworth says. AEU has been named to the MarineNews 100, an annual list recognizing excellence in workboat, offshore, inland, and coatal marine sectors, four times since 2017. In 2018, AEU received the coveted Hot Streak Award from Great American Insurance Companies, which signifies ecellence in underwriting and partnerships with insureds that are committed to safety. For the past three years, they have been named one of the Best Companies to Work For in Alabama. They were also named a 5-Star Program Administrator by Insurance Business America magazine in 2021.

AEU has also made community involvement one of its highest priorities, notably its pioneering work as a “Corporate Big” with Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Alabama. Today, almost 40 companies in Mobile follow this model.

Michael Lapeyrouse, who served as AEU’s CEO from 1993 until 2021, was a key driver of AEU’s involvement in BBBSA and other charitable endeavors. Lapeyrouse, who passed away from cancer in August 2021, believed strongly that AEU should play an active role in the communities in which employees live and work.

“Just by the nature of what we do — helping employees work safely, get healed if they get injured, and helping them get back to work — is an incredible contribution to the fabric of the communities we serve,” says Chapman. “Mike was passionate about making a difference and that truly is his legay.”

Looking ahead, AEU is focused on broadening the solutions it offers to cutomers. “We feel well-positioned for the future because our service-firt model has become increasingly recognized as something that provides tremendous value,” Hapworth says. “In the meantime, we’re going to continue doing everything we can to make the waterfront a safe place to work.”

top left: LossControlManagerRayRuizvisitsanALMAmembershipyardtoensurethefacilityisimplementingsoundsafetypractices. top right: Employersareassigned todedicatedaccountteamstoensuresuccess.PicturedareChiefCommercialOfficerWinchterThurberandUnderwriterNickArnold. bottom: TheviewfromAEU’s headquartersoverlookstheMobileRiver,whichishometomanyofAEU’scustomers.AEUoccupiesthe32ndand33rdfloorsoftheRSA ower.

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Mobile’s international port and world-class airports open our communities to the world.

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Spectacular convention and civic centers and top-notch venues for seminars and conferences draw businesses and professionals from across the U.S. to Alabama’s shores.

STEWART & WHATLEY BUILDERS

Tyler Whatley, co-owner of Stewart & Whatley Builders, pulls up a text message he received the previous day from a customer. “We spent our firt night in the house,” he reads aloud, “and everything was beautiful. My wife and kids are loving it. Thanks so much for your hard work.”

Whatley puts his phone down with a smile. “At the end of the day, that’s all you need to hear.”

Since starting the custom homes business in 2013, Tyler Whatley and Ben Stewart have received countless similar messages from satisfied client. After all, in that period of time, they’ve built over 100 homes on both sides of Mobile Bay. But when judging their own success, the pair recognizes that it’s not about the number of homes they’ve constructed — it’s about the process of working diligently with a client to bring their dream home from blueprint to reality.

The mission statement of Stewart & Whatley Builders “is to build custom homes in Mobile and Baldwin counties and to develop lasting relationships with our clients. We are committed to quality, customer service, and integrity when working with each client’s time and money. We believe every client can have their dream home, and our goal is to build that dream home — at your price point.”

“We work hard to completely customize a client’s home to what they need and want while simultaneously seeking different ays to cut costs,” Whatley says.

The unique, hands-on philosophy makes customers feel comfortable that they are getting exactly what they want throughout the process.

“Our honesty helps us stand out in this field” Whatley says of what makes the business unique. “Our priority is to have a good reputation and to be as transparent as possible with our clients throughout the building process. And we want that process to be not only smooth, but enjoyable.”

In addition to being made of quality materials that will last a lifetime, each Stewart and Whatley home is built to the Fortified Gold Standard, further testament to their dedication to quality and innovation. With 13 homes currently “in the dirt,” the duo has a lot to be excited about.

“Our goal for the future is to continue evolving and innovating within the market,” Whatley says. “We want to continue operating on the cutting edge of our industry while maintaining a reputable name throughout these communities we love so much.”

TRAWICK INSURANCE BROKERAGE

If it seems like Mat Trawick operates Trawick Insurance Brokerage with the personal touch of a longtime Mobile institution, that’s because he does. The business can trace its roots back fie generations, totaling more than 120 years of assisting Mobilians with their personal and business insurance needs.

The family’s original insurance agency was W.K.P. Wilson and Sons, founded in 1897 by Trawick’s great-great-grandfather.

That business having sold in the 1990s, Trawick decided, in 2017, to continue the family legacy with the founding of Trawick Insurance Brokerage. He points to a photograph of Wilson on his officeall. “I keep that picture up as a reminder of where my family came from,” he says. “It’s a great motivator.”

With the founding of his brokerage, Trawick was able to put to use his years of experience working as a claims adjuster and insurance underwriter. Services offered include full cverage options for businesses of all sizes, expert consulting and coverage for companies in the maritime industry, and coverage for home, auto, and watercraft.

“I like the feeling of getting back to the roots of the family agency and working with the people of this community,” Trawick says. The results speak for themselves. In a relatively short time, Trawick’s agency has grown rapidly and is reestablishing the customer relationships that defined his famil’s agency for more than a century.

“I love working with family-run businesses,” he says, “because I’m in a position to support their livelihood. If I’m doing my job right, I become a trusted consultant to my customers — not just a commodity.”

Trawick is available for his clients nearly 24/7 and is proud to be “ahead of the competition” when it comes to offering cuting-edge resources such as E-signature technology and instant online quotes.

“The pace of business has sped up to the point that when something needs to be done, it needs to be done now. We recognize this and pride ourselves on being able to troubleshoot our client’s challenges and questions in real-time. This allows us to spend more time on what truly matters, being there for our clients as a trusted consultant and insurance resource.”

With bold plans for the future, Trawick needs not to look further than the photos on his wall for the blueprint to success. “Focusing on people over profits is becoming a lot art. When you treat people right, you’ll succeed.”

top left: OwnerMatTrawick top right: Fromlefttoright;HeatherBennett, MatTrawickandKathrynTrawick bottom left: Originallocationoffamilyagency atthecornerofSt.Francis&St.JosephinDowntownMobile. bottom right: Groundbreakingin1952fortheconstructionofMobileInfirmaryasweknwit today.PicturedareMatTrawick’sPaternalGreatGrandfather,JohnPaulWilson (whohandledtheconstructioninsurance)andTrawick’sMaternalGreatGrandfather, MayorCharlesBaumhauer. inset: Founderoforiginalfamilyagency,W.K.P.Wilson

By ship, plane, rail, or truck, our coastal crossroads provide the perfect infrastructure for big-name warehouses and distribution centers.

top left: TheAmazonDistribution-Fulfillment enter sprawlsover362,000squarefeetina$30million investment–thefirtAmazonfacilityinAlabama. top center: TheWalmartDistributionCenterincludes a2.6-million-square-footcomplex—aboutthesizeof 45footballfield. bottom right: TheAceHardware DistributionCenterinBaldwinCounty.

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COWLES, MURPHY, GLOVER & ASSOCIATES

Gary D.E. Cowles is a native Mobilian who grew up in a family involved with Mobile’s port industry. From about age 7, the future engineer knew building and construction would be his life’s work. The dream was fulfilled in March 2000 when Cowles and David E. Murphy established Cowles and Murphy Engineering, on three building blocks: “Performance, Reliability, and Experience.”

John D. Glover joined the firm in 2002, which became Cwles, Murphy, Glover & Associates. Today with the main office i Mobile and two others - LaGrange, GA., and Memphis, TNCMG&A’s engineering projects span the United States and have a world outreach.

The company draws on a wealth of experienced engineers and support staff in three tates. With expertise in marine applications, material handling, rail design, commercial and industrial buildings, shipyard facilities, and civil site work, CMG&A takes pride in accomplishment. The firm works one-on-one with client, providing reliable design solutions with long-term maintenance in mind.

Projects include massive undertakings. “We designed and engineered work for a 204 acre Norfolk International Terminals’ (NIT) site,” Gary Cowles notes. “Thirty of NIT’s runways were automated with 60 stacking cranes in rail yards.”

Other projects include Marine/Port Facilities: the Alabama Steel

Terminal Coil Facility, McDuffie Coalerminal Dock 1 Expansion, Port Everglades, and Blakeley Boatworks.

Heavy lift/rigging work is performed on refinery twers, power generation, vessel transport, and more. CMG&A’s Industrial work undertakings also include manufacturing centers such as SSAB Steel, Boise Cascade Sawmill, AM/NS Calvert (Formerly ThyssenKrupp Steel), and many others.

A variety of other projects add to the engineering firms resume, including roads and bridges, commercial buildings, museums, churches, schools, and even statues – “the client does the artistic work; we do the framework,” says Cowles.

The future is bright. “In Mobile, our ports are a huge industry and continue to develop and expand,” Cowles adds. “In addition, many industries continue to develop on the Mobile River in North Mobile County along Highway 43. We also see aerospace as a long term investment in our area.” He added that the petroleum industry is modernizing, growing, and continuously implementing projects that enhance environmental and safety programs. CMG&A has been part of that development.

Cowles summarizes: “To me, the joy of working here is building or engineering something that makes a difference in peoples lives. We help people make a living more efficient, safely, and costeffectiely. It is a better life for everybody.”

top right: AlabamaSteelTerminal,SteelCoilHandlingFacility, Mobile,AL top left: Airbus,BargeRustyLeighapproaching unloadingdock,Mobile,AL bottom right: NorfolkInternational TerminalSouth,TerminalModernization,Norfolk,VA bottom left: AM/NS,RailInfrastructure,Calvert,AL

THOMPSON TRACTOR CO., INC.

Established in 1957, Thompson Tractor Co., Inc., is the Caterpillar dealer for Alabama and 10 counties in northwest Florida and employs more than 115 employees in the Mobile area. Thompson Tractor came to Mobile in 1987 after it acquired the Burford Equipment Company. The extensive equipment, parts and service solutions that Thompson Tractor offers support the dierse economy of the Mobile and Gulf Coast area.

Thompson is organized into four divisions: Thompson Tractor Company for earthmoving, general construction, waste handling, roadbuilding, mining, agricultural and forestry equipment; Thompson Lift Truck Company for material handling equipment; Thompson Power Systems for complete marine propulsion, power generation and on-highway truck engine applications; and The Thompson Cat Rental Store, which offers an etensive lineup of Caterpillar and allied construction and jobsite equipment. The full-service branch is located in Spanish Fort just north of I-10, while the Cat Rental Store is located just off I-65 in obile.

All divisions are supported with a broad selection of new, used and reman parts, and complete shop and field service repair and maintenance capabilities. Thompson Tractor also maintains a thorough training program to keep its current technicians upto-date on the latest developments in equipment repair, and to prepare its new employees for the challenges they will face in

their new careers. Additionally, training programs are available for customers’ service personnel and machine operators. The Power Systems division boasts an experienced engineering staff, who can plan and manage complete turnkey marine propulsion and power generation projects. Thompson Tractor Company is committed to whatever it takes to provide the most cost-effectie equipment, operating, maintenance and repair solutions to its customers.

Thompson Tractor also supports the area by investing in the Chambers of Commerce in Baldwin and Mobile counties, and the company is proud to be part of the Mobile Chamber’s Partners for Growth initiative. In addition, the company and its employees pledge annually to the United Way of Southwest Alabama and the United Way of Baldwin County. Company employees also are active in schools and organizations in their local communities.

Thompson Tractor Co., Inc., looks forward to supporting the people, businesses and industries of Mobile as the area continues to develop and grow.

From antiques to boutiques, merchants of every kind line the shaded streets. Art galleries, bookstores, local arts and crafts, clothing, souvenirs, festive Mardi Gras items, candy shops, bakeries, and cafes serving beignets and other Southern favorites attract a steady stream of locals and visitors.

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bottom left: Fairhope’screativespiritmakesitabeautifulplaceforbusiness. opposite page, top right: ThreeGeorgesCandy

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MOSLEY BUILDING SYSTEMS

When Gerald Mosley started his construction business, GM Mosley Steel, in 1968, he relied on the expertise gleaned from a career in the steel industry. He applied his experience with fabrication to the concept of building assembly, and an industry-leading company was born along the Gulf Coast.

His sons, Jason and Mitch, grew up in the business and branched off their fathe’s company to start Mosley Building Systems in 2002. MBS has thrived by integrating time-tested processes with cutting-edge technology. It allows the multi-generational business to give its customers a level of service that’s second-to-none.

“Our efficiey is what drives our business,” Jason Mosley said.

The company’s work can be seen throughout the Gulf Coast and beyond. Originally started as a general contractor, its pre-engineered buildings are used throughout industries such as distribution, shipbuilding, agriculture and aerospace. And unlike management with many contractors and subcontractors, the Mosleys can be found on their job sites nearly every single day until the project is complete.

Having spent years on the road and away from their families, selling buildings from coast to coast, the Mosleys have learned to value their employees as much as their customers. That loyalty extends to staff deelopment and training programs, which ensure there are no weak links in any facet of the company’s work.

And who better to oversee those programs than the people with the most experience within the company? Most MBS employees started as laborers and are now skilled tradesmen in prosperous careers. Its metal-building installers are also certified to do work within the industry’s stringent 20 to 25-year warranty requirements.

“We employ the best of the best when it comes to pre-engineered buildings,” Mitch Mosley said. “And because they were trained by us, they don’t know the wrong way to do things.”

Mosley Building Systems has long-standing relationships with its customers, which equates to a level of service above and beyond the assembly and erection of their buildings. The company also specializes in concrete work, site work, steel erection and insulated metal panel installation, allowing it to keep many critical aspects of construction in-house.

Each aspect serves the company’s core vision: to professionally build the infrastructure that fosters every company’s growth.

“At the end of the day, we want you happy, under your budget and ahead of your schedule with your product,” Mitch Mosley said. “Because that’s what keeps this business running.”

VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA SOUTHEAST

VOA Southeast, based in Mobile, a charter affiliate o VOA, began serving the community in 1980 under the leadership of President/CEO Wallace Davis. In addition to the organization’s ministry efforts and professional healthcare services, Davis says, “We have been in the real estate business since the early 1980s and have had one or more construction projects underway ever since.”

One major milestone, for the organization, was the development in the early 1990s of a real estate holding corporation. “That put us squarely in the real estate development business. Today, we have developed over $150 million in holdings with a focus on locations where there is a community need, and although we are providing housing for persons with low income — those with disabilities and families — we do it without labeling the people we serve,” said Davis.

To date, the organization has developed over 100 properties across Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, providing safe, secure, and affordable housing for people to raise families and to grw old. The properties range from single-family homes to 60-unit apartment complexes.

“In the past ten years, we’ve started developing housing through lowincome housing tax credits,” Davis says. “This is the best program out there. We’ve had a great run of real estate financed y the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), private bonds, and affordable housing tax credit. Those three are our main real estate vehicles.” By partnering with entities such as the Alabama and Georgia housing finance authoritie, VOA Southeast has

given a helping hand to families searching for a stable place to grow. “I would feel good about my parents or sister living at any of our residences,” Davis says. “That’s our benchmark.”

The leadership at VOA Southeast is well-aware of the key to its success. “In our employees, you’ll find passion and compassion, energy, commitment, and dedication,” says VOA Southeast’s Senior Executive Vice President Robert Rogers, “and most of that comes from a faith in Jesus that they’re living out.”

With a constant eye on the future, Davis says he wants the organization to “continue to lead in the states where we serve,” and that includes continuing to provide affordable, quality housin for families with low income.

Rogers agrees: “What makes us stand out is the quality of the services we provide. Many organizations don’t hold to that standard. We are committed to quality in everything that we do. We strive to raise the bar, and there’s no doubt that we’ll continue to do so, inspired by our faith and the constant drive to help others.”

top left: Inadditiontotheorganization’sministryeffortsandprofessionalhealthcare services,Dr.Davissays,“Wehavebeenintherealestatebusinesssincetheearly 1980sandhavehadoneormoreconstructionprojectsunderwayeversince.” “Today,wehavedevelopedover$150millioninholdingswithafocusonlocations wherethereisacommunityneed,andalthoughweareprovidinghousingfor personswithlowincome—thosewithdisabilitiesandfamilies—wedoitwithout labelingthepeopleweserve,”saidDavis. top right, bottom left and right: Todate, theorganizationhasdevelopedover100propertiesacrossAlabama,Georgia,and Mississippi,providingsafe,secure,andaffordablehousingforpeopletoraisefamilie andtogrowold.Thepropertiesrangefromsingle-familyhomesto60-unit apartmentcomplexes.“Iwouldfeelgoodaboutmyparentsorsisterlivingatany ofourresidences,”Davissays.“That’sourbenchmark.”

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

THE HILLER COMPANIES, INC.

Celebrating a Century of Safety

Founded as a single shop in 1919, Hiller began as a modest venture in New Orleans under the name of its owner Herbert S. Hiller. Initially, the company served to provide fire prtection equipment for commercial and shipyard customers. As the business (and the need for fire suppression technology) gre, Hiller relocated its headquarters to Mobile in 1988 due to the city’s central Gulf Coast location and opportunity for growth.

Today, Hiller offers fire ptection products and services that are preserving lives and property all around the world. Hiller extends its reach globally as well as locally with over 20 offices in Alabama, Arizona California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

StefanDahl|Dreamstime.com

BALDWIN COUNTY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

The Baldwin County Federal Credit Union opened in Bay Minette in 1959 as the Credit Union for the Board of Education. Today, membership is open to any person who works, worships, lives, or has children in school in Baldwin County. In 61 years, membership has expanded to 3,000 members and assets of $25 million. The main office is locate in Bay Minette with branches in Daphne and Loxley. Services include checking accounts, debit cards, savings accounts,

Christmas Club accounts, Certificates of Deposit and a full range of consumer loan products.

A credit union big enough to serve the financial needs of their member, yet small enough to deliver the personal service everyone deserves is a rare entity these days. “If you call, we answer the phone,” says CEO Gary Townsend. “We are the local hometown credit union serving only Baldwin County.”

Mobile’svibrantbusinesscommunityenergizesthecitystreets.

Baldwin County is no longer just the largest county in Alabama by physical size. It is a leader in residential and commercial real estate and development. According to the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, Baldwin County is the fastest growing county in Alabama and seventh fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States.

DavidM.Hall

CarmenK.Sisson/Cloudybright

MAMUN SIDDIQ / RE/MAX PARTNERS

Long before he became a successful Alabama Realtor, Mamun Siddiq was devoted to his community. A born “people person,” he values honesty and dedication above all, which led to Siddiq being named Ambassador of the Year by the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce. He has sold commercial and residential real estate for 14 years and relishes the opportunity to share the advantages of living and doing business in Mobile and Baldwin counties.

“We have the friendliest people you’ve ever seen in your life,” Siddiq said. “We have a healthy economy, a port, beaches, and low property taxes, too.

“It’s a great opportunity.”

MOBILE MEMORIAL GARDENS FUNERAL HOME

Mobile Memorial Gardens Funeral Home lives by a creed: “We understand every funeral is different because eery person is unique.” The company’s professionals offe expertise with care and sympathy.

The funeral home provides numerous services including burial, cremation, pre-planning and aftercare. “People have a right to choose any funeral home, and the fact they have chosen our funeral home is an honor” says Mobile Memorial Gardens Funeral Home’s General Manager, Buffy ohnston. Our staff is dedicated, compassionate; we are a family and that is how we treat the families we serve. We believe in this profession and serving others,

Johnston is also President, Alabama Funeral Directors Association, member of State Mortuary Operations Recovery Team and Certified uneral Specialist. Buffy is also knwn as “Ask Buff.”

She adds, about Mobile Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, “Knowing people call us to handle the most difficult time of life an trust us with their loved ones is priceless. It is an honor.”

THE PORT OF MOBILE: Our Coastal Crossroads

From cotton to jet planes, and vessels ranging from sail-hoisted armadas to computer-controlled maritime marvels, Mobile’s port has seen it all.

“It is an interesting process to see,” Alabama State Port Authority Director and CEO Jimmy Lyons says, in somewhat of an understatement. He refers to aircraft parts, coming into the Alabama State Port Authority docks from France. It is not just nuts and bolts.

Lyons explains the unloading procedure, “The forward fuselage was made in France, the aft fuselage constructed in Germany, the wings created in England, and the tail put together in Germany.” Those major components all come by ship and are then offload and transported to Mobile’s Airbus for final assembl. Cargo, vessels, and techniques have evolved over the years, but the port remains, serving Mobile, the state, and the nation.

Mobile is over three centuries old, and so is our port. It’s how we got here. Early indications of what was to come date back to 1711 when our original settlers moved the port from its firt location near Mt. Vernon, Alabama, to what is today’s downtown riverside. They needed better access to Mobile Bay and beyond to transport and receive goods. That need has never wavered.

In 1826, Congress granted funding for the construction of a navigable channel in Mobile Bay. Throughout the1800s — especially after the channel digging — cotton was king, providing much of the port’s export. Decades later, The State Docks Commission was officially recognized in 22 with power to establish docks, wharves, piers, grain elevators, warehouses, and rail terminals.

“Commercial ships were making the transition from sail to steam power,” Lyons added. “In the 1800s paddle wheelers pushing barges of cotton anchored nearby to offload cao to other vessels for transport to Mobile. It wasn’t a very efficientystem. Offloadingas a slow, tedious, and labor-intense process.”

Gradually maritime merchants answered their need for faster efficient docking facilities and built individual docks for fruit lumber, coal, and other commodities.

However, the port we know today came into shape between 1922-1927 when Maj. Gen. William L. Sibert was tasked with building the core of the Alabama State Docks. Established in 1926, The Alabama State Docks Commission oversaw the building of Piers A, B, and C. “Construction started in what was basically a cypress swamp,” Lyons recalls. “The three piers angled in the river, allowing docking on both sides of the river.”

The newly revised port was named and officially dedicated Th Alabama State Docks in 1928. By the 1940s, massive deliveries of bauxite were handled in-port. A component of aluminum, bauxite was used for World War II aircraft. In the 1950s, paper and pulp cargo became huge markets as Mobile became a leader in paper production.

Other notes of historical significance: cDuffie Island coa terminal opened in the 1970s as the docks became a major exporter/importer of coal. The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway opened in 1985, joining the Mobile River to the Midwest.

And in April 2000 the state created an independent body to govern the docks — the Alabama State Port Authority, which oversees the port/docks to this day.

From cotton to jet planes, and vessels ranging from sail-hoisted armadas to computer-controlled maritime marvels, Mobile’s port has seen it all. Today’s imports include aluminum, iron, steel, copper, lumber, wood pulp, plywood, fence posts, veneers, consumer goods, cement, and chemicals. Exports include heavy lift and oversized cargo, containers, frozen poultry, grain, laminate, and flooring.

The Port Authority works diligently to bring businesses to Mobile Bay like Airbus and the Walmart Distribution Center. Both corporate giants utilize the port.

At this writing, the Port Authority has 515 employees and another 2,000 workers in the area, including stevedores, contractors, tugboat companies, operators, maintenance personnel, and more. The port’s estimated economic impact in Alabama is 134,608 direct and indirect jobs and $486.9 million in direct and indirect tax impact.

The area encompasses approximately 4,000 acres including the Main Complex – 570 acres; McDuffie Island – 556; Chocw Point – 380-plus; Inland Docks – 462, and other sites – 2,098. The Alabama Port Authority is a self-sustaining entity. It receives no appropriations from the state to pay employees and other expenses. Those expenses are paid by revenues generated by the port organization.

The advantage of using Mobile’s port facility was installed by nature — proximity to water. From Mobile’s docks, a ship can be in open sea within three hours as opposed to New Orleans, which requires about 10 hours. “Ship companies look at logistics, proximity, and time” adds Jimmy Lyons. “When you factor in delivery schedules, fuel savings, and shorter destination times, we have advantages over many other ports.”

However, three centuries of shipping and cargo business does not allow for complacency. Maritime needs continue to change and are addressed to stay competitive. The Alabama State Port Authority is embarking on a massive channel deepening project to accommodate ships that are becoming bigger every year.

Other changes ahead include fuel-efficientessels. Just as wind power gave way to steam, future ships may run on hybrid batteries. Experiments are underway in other countries.

The Alabama State Port Authority and Mobile’s docks have been at every turn in The Port City’s history. “I’ve been in this industry for 21 years (as of August 2019),” Jimmy Lyons adds. “There is not a week that goes by without my discovering something I’ve never encountered before. It is a constantly changing environment.”

In Mobile, the docks and port are more than maritime commerce. They are a never-ending story.

ALABAMA STATE PORT AUTHORITY

It is an interesting process to see,” Alabama State Port Authority former Director and CEO Jimmy Lyons says in somewhat of an understatement. He refers to aircraft parts, coming into the Alabama State Port Authority docks via France. It is not just nuts and bolts.

Lyons explains the unloading procedure, “The forward fuselage was made in France, “the aft fuselage, constructed in Germany, the wings created in England, and the tail put together in Germany.” Those major components all come by ship and then are offload and transported to Mobile’s Airbus for final assembl. Cargo, vessels, and techniques have evolved over the years, but the Port remains, serving Mobile, the state, and nation.

Mobile is over three centuries old, and so is our Port. It’s how we got here. Early indications of what was to come date back to 1711 when our original settlers moved from their firt settlement near Mt. Vernon, Alabama to what is today’s downtown riverside. They needed better access to Mobile Bay and beyond to transport and receive goods. That need has never wavered.

In 1826, Congress granted funding for the construction of a navigable channel in Mobile Bay. Throughout the 1800sespecially after the channel digging - cotton was king, providing much of the Port’s export. Decades later, the State Docks Commission was officially recognized in 22 with authority to establish docks, wharves, piers, grain elevators, warehouses, and rail terminals.

“Commercial ships were making the transition from sail to steam power,” Lyons added. “In the 1800s, paddle wheelers pushing barges of cotton and anchored nearby to offload cao to other vessels for transport to Mobile. It wasn’t a very efficientystem. Offloadingas a slow, tedious, and labor-intense process.”

Gradually maritime merchants answered their need for faster efficient docking facilities and built individual docks for fruit lumber, coal, and other commodities.

But, the Port we know today came into shape during 1922-1927, when Maj. General William L. Sibert was tasked with building Piers A, B, and C. These piers would be the core of the newly planned Alabama State Docks. “Construction started in what was basically a cypress swamp,” Lyons recalls. “The three piers angled in the river, allowing docking on both sides of the pier.”

The newly revised Port was named and officially dedicated th Alabama State Docks in 1928. By the 1940s, massive deliveries of bauxite were handled in-port. Bauxite, a component of aluminum, was used for World War II aircraft. In the 1950s, paper and pulp cargo became huge markets as Mobile became a leader in paper production. Other notes of historical significance: cDuffie Island Coa Terminal opened in the 1970s as the docks became a major exporter and importer of coal. The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway opened in 1985, joining the Mobile River to the Midwest and the Tennessee River Valley. And in April 2000, the state created an independent body to govern the docks, the Alabama State Port Authority, which oversees the Port and docks to this day.

From cotton to jet planes, in vessels ranging from sail-hoisted armadas to computer-controlled maritime marvels, Mobile’s Port has seen it all. Today’s imports include aluminum, iron, steel, copper, lumber, wood pulp, automotive and aviation components, consumer goods, petroleum, steam coal, cement and chemicals. Exports include metallurgical coal, iron and steel, wood pulp, plywood, fence posts, chemicals, laminate, flooring, Kraft pape, heavy lift and oversized cargo, frozen poultry and grain.

The Port Authority works diligently to bring businesses to town like Airbus and the Walmart International Distribution Center. Both corporate giants utilize the Port

At this writing, the Port Authority has 510 employees and an estimated 2500 workers, including stevedores, contractors, tugboat companies, operators, maintenance personnel and others access the port on any given day to support commerce. The Port Authority’s estimated economic impact in Alabama alone is 150,447 direct and indirect jobs, $559.3 million in direct and indirect tax impact, generating over $25.4 billion in economic value.

The area encompasses approximately 4,000 acres, including the Main Complex - 570; McDuffie Island - 556; Chocw Point380 - plus; Inland Docks - 400, and other sites - 2,098. The Alabama Port Authority is a self-sustaining entity. It receives no appropriations from the state to pay employees and other expenses. Those expenses are paid out of revenues generated by the port organization.

The advantage of using the Port of Mobile and its facilities was

installed by nature - proximity to water. From Mobile’s docks, a ship can be in open sea within three hours as opposed to New Orleans, which requires about 10 hours. “Ship companies look at logistics, proximity, and time,” adds Jimmy Lyons. “When you factor in delivery schedules, fuel savings, and shorter destination times, we have advantages over many other ports.”

But three centuries of shipping and cargo business does not allow for complacency. Maritime needs continue to change and are addressed to stay competitive. Newer construction and investments in automation across several public terminals reduces risk, allows for resiliency and provides the port’s shippers with transportation efficiencies t seen in many of the nation’s ports. The Alabama State Port Authority continues to modernize and is currently embarking on a massive channel deepening project taking the port to – 50 feet to accommodate massive ships that are bigger every year.

On the horizon are more fuel-efficientessels. Just as wind power gave way to steam, future ships may be powered by hybrid batteries. Experiments are underway in other countries.

The Alabama State Port Authority and Mobile’s docks have been at every turn in the Port City’s history. “I’ve been in this industry for 21 years (as of August 2019),” Jimmy Lyons adds. “There is not a week that goes by without discovering something I’ve never encountered before. It is a constantly changing environment.”

In Mobile, the docks and Port are more than maritime commerce. It is a never-ending story.

TheReadingRoom/Alamy

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway opened in 1985, joining the Mobile River to the Midwest. And in April 2000 the state created an independent body to govern the docks — the Alabama State Port Authority, which oversees the port/docks to this day.

top left: An18thcenturydepictionofMobileBayinFrenchcolonialtimes. bottom left: AstatueofPierreLeMoyned’Ibervillefacesthe PortofMobilefromthebanksofCooperRiversidePark.D’Ibervillefoundedthecityin1702. bottom right: Shipshavebeencomingand goingfromourportformorethanthreecenturies,buttheportasweknowitnowwasestablishedin1928.ThePortofMobilehasgrown sincethentoencompass3,600acres.Itcontinuestoexpandtoaccommodateeconomicgrowth.

MichaelDumas

APM TERMINALS MOBILE

Brian Harold, Managing Director of APM Terminals Mobile, nods in the direction of the cargo vessel from China being unloaded by a crane just a few hundred feet away. “A lot of people are surprised to learn that a ship like that, carries twice the amount of cargo below deck as it carries above,” he says.

The same might be said of APM Terminals Mobile — a company whose “below deck” economic impact and influence on obile and the entire region is even more massive than the impressive cranes towering over the Mobile River.

Part of A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest integrator of container and ports logistics, APM Terminals operates one of the world’s most comprehensive port networks, leveraging more than a century of industry experience to design and build high-quality container terminals and to provide port and inland services. With a team of 22,000 industry professionals across 58 countries, APM Terminals operates a network of 78 terminals globally.

In 2008, the company opened APM Terminals Mobile. “We saw this as a good opportunity,” Harold says. “Mobile was an established port, but not really for containerized cargo.” What started as a 95-acre terminal with two cranes and an annual volume of fewer than 100,000 containers now boasts 135 acres, four cranes, and a volume of 230,000 containers. APM Terminals Mobile has helped the city emerge as a cost-effectie and technologically capable gateway for goods heading to and from major U.S. markets.

At APM Terminals Mobile, growth is the name of the game. “Over the past fie years,” Harold says, “we have grown faster in terms of percentage growth than any other port in North America.”

With a draft of 13.7m, a turning basin to accommodate vessels of up to 1,300 feet in length, and equipped with Super Post Panamax ship to shore cranes with a maximum reach of 22 container rows, the terminal can handle vessels up to 14,000 TEU capacity.

Auto parts are the terminal’s largest import at present, and understandably so; over 1.5 million cars and trucks are produced annually at factories within four hours of the terminal. Consumer goods make up a significant percentae of imports, thanks in large part to the 2018 opening of the Walmart international distribution center in Irvington, Alabama. APM Terminals Mobile played a vital role in drawing Walmart to the state. “We partner with all government and private stakeholders to seek out opportunities to attract additional business to the state of Alabama,” Harold says.

One of the many ways in which APM Terminals Mobile distinguishes itself is its accessibility to an extensive transportation network. Aside from its competitive 3-hour open-ocean transit time and proximity to two major interstates, the terminal is also adjacent to an intermodal rail facility that provides direct and efficien transfer of containers between vessel and rail. It is one of only two ports in the U.S. that is accessible by fie Class I railroads.

“We also very closely track our operational metrics,” Harold says. “For example, we keep an average of how many containers each crane is moving per hour. The industry average is around 28 — last year we made 38 moves per hour. That’s world-class. So when it comes to attracting new business to Mobile, it’s good to have those metrics to show that we have the highest productivity of any container terminal in the U.S.”

The terminal is also in the unique position of having room to grow. “Land availability here is very good,” Harold says. “That’s very important for us because, when we go out to talk to the next Walmart, we can show that we have the acreage to grow as the volumes dictate.”

Another distinguishing factor is APM Terminals’ industry-leading communication technology. From optical character recognition and license plate cameras to wifi-connected reach tackers and top loaders, the terminal is supported by a level of modernization that exceeds most U.S. ports.

But the leadership at APM Terminals Mobile knows the key to true success lies in fie core values: “humbleness, uprightness,

our people, our name, and constant care.” “It’s the people who make the difference in our superior performance and eceptional customer service,” Harold recognizes.

APM Terminals Mobile sees a long and bright future in the Port City. With cranes that already handle the largest vessels in the world, the terminal celebrates the approved project to deepen Mobile’s shipping channel from 45 to 50 feet, allowing it, and the state’s shippers, to reap the benefits of larer, and fully ladened vessels. The terminal’s carefully planned and managed growth, over just 12 years, signals to its customers that it is committed to the Port of Mobile, the Gulf region, and to its motto of “Lifting Global Trade” for decades to come.

CourtesyofPaulBridgesandAssociates

Throughout history, the Port of Mobile’s economic impact on Alabama and the Gulf Coast can hardly be overstated. Today, the port provides 134,608 direct and indirect jobs and $486.9 million in tax impact annually.

ThigpenPhotography,Inc.

AustralianshipbuilderAustalkeepsitsUSheadquartersandoperationsinMobile,withservicecentersinSanDiego andSingapore.ThecompanyisundercontracttomanufacturetheIndependence-variantLittoralCombatShip,the ExpeditionaryFastTransportship,theNavajo-classTowing,SalvageandRescueships,andothers.

RichardCummins/AlamyStockPhoto

MichaelDumas

Few stories illustrate the American dream better than the founding and evolution of Cooper/T. Smith, one of the country’s oldest and largest stevedoring and maritimerelated firm. Just ask David J. Cooper Sr. and Angus Cooper II, whose great-grandfather Henry H. Cooper, a Scottish immigrant, settled in Baldwin County as a pine rosin farmer in the 1860s. It was Henry’s son, Angus R. Cooper, who established in 1905 what would become a worldwide stevedoring venture.

Remembered as a diligent worker and a tough boss (known for carrying brass knuckles in his pocket), Angus also had a tender heart for his employees, quietly paying medical bills for his workers and their families during the Depression. His son, Ervin S. Cooper, became the firt college graduate of the family, and today Ervin’s two sons, David and Angus, and grandsons Angus III and Scott, lead the company.

In the last 100 years, Cooper/T. Smith has grown from its modest beginnings to a complex, multi-faceted maritime giant. Though based in Mobile, the company operates in 38 ports, employing thousands of workers on all three United States coastlines, in addition to Brazil and Mexico.

Among its many businesses, the company’s subsidiaries include ocean-going barges, mooring operations, warehouses, terminal

COOPER/T. SMITH

operations, barging, tug boats, barge fleting and floating terminal, a sawmill, and woodchip mills. With its ability to handle break bulk cargo and its efforts to tay abreast of developments in containerized shipping technology, Cooper/T. Smith remains on the cutting edge of the maritime industry.

In 1997, Cooper/T. Smith added hospitality to its long list of services with the purchase of the Ruth’s Chris Steak House franchise in Mobile. With the restaurant’s success came the opening of Felix’s Fish Camp Grill as well as the purchase of the BLUEGILL Restaurant, a Causeway staple, in 2010. Today, diners can enjoy the finet seafood in Mobile while gazing out over the very waters that inspired Angus Cooper all those years ago.

“With Angus III and Scott developing their own team of highly motivated and talented men and women the future holds more expansion and success for the entire Cooper/T. Smith family of companies,” says David Cooper.

Today, in Mobile’s Cooper Riverside Park, sits a bronze statue of Ervin S. Cooper, his eyes forever trained on the river that helped cement his family’s legacy. It’s an ironic tribute to a man who, during life, hardly ever sat still. And Mobile is much the better for it.

Fromleft:CooperRiversidePark,AngusR.CooperandErvinS.Cooper

DOCKSIDE SERVICES

The Port of Mobile is one of the largest ports in the country, and it’s growing. And at the heart of the area’s maritime economy is Dockside Services, Inc. For more than 30 years, the logistical support company has thrived near the banks of the Mobile River, with 5,000 square feet of warehouse space and an expansive delivery flet.

The business was initially created to moor and unmoor ships unloading at the port but soon expanded to include crew transport, waste removal, U.S. Custom’s cargo storage and transportation, and parts fulfillment, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We’re not a shipping agent, and we’re not a stevedore, we’re everything in-between,” said Dockside President John Hunter, Jr., whose great uncle and grandfather owned and operated international cargo ships

starting in the 1930s. One of their vessels, Racer, is pictured here in Mobile, Alabama at the old banana docks.

Dockside Services is fully bonded and licensed, and its warehouse is a way station for a wide

variety of cargo, from cabinetry purchased on Lowe’s web site to pharmaceutical products and much more. Storage and delivery turnaround times at its terminal warehouse average 24 to 48 hours. Business is good and plans are to double warehouse capacity.

PAUL BRIDGES AND ASSOCIATES

Since its 2013 founding, Paul Bridges and Associates strives to offer unparalleled experience to ports and port companies. It has to. In the maritime/ ports industry, good work is recognized fast.

“This field is ery niche-oriented and small,” says D. Ellis Bridges, PBA Vice President. “Everybody knows each other. When someone does a good job, it is known throughout the world.”

The Mobile-based company with branch locations in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Shanghai, China provides:

• Consulting/Engineering: Professional engineering services, project management, and consulting services to the maritime industry worldwide. PBA specializes in container and bulk handling equipment and waterfront facilities.

• Inspection/Quality Assurance: Company inspectors travel around the

world providing port owner/operators engineering and inspection services.

• Maintenance: Daily equipment service, emergency repairs, and on-call troubleshooting ensure reliable operations for vital equipment.

• Asset Management: PBA’s organizational skills include procurement, planning, directing daily activities, employee training and certification, and auditing of equipmen assets.

With projects throughout the globe, the ‘hometown’ company chooses to remain in Mobile. “The city has played a big part in our history,” Bridges adds. “Mobile is an international city and is considered by many to be the cradle of containerization. There is a lot of expertise here because of that.”

In Mobile, the docks and port are more than maritime commerce. They are a never-ending story.

MichaelDumas

opposite page, bottom right: Mobile’sAIDTMaritime TrainingCentereducatesandtrainsstudentsina multitudeofindustrialmaritimetechnologies.

CourtesyofSeabulkTowing

MichaelDumas

SEABULK TOWING

Seabulk Towing, a SEACOR Holdings Inc. company, is recognized by the towing industry as an established leader in harbor ship assist operations and offshore twing services. Founded on the basic principles of safety and service excellence, Seabulk Towing assists deep sea and coastal vessels during port calls, providing services along the Gulf Coast and Southeastern seaboard port system from Port Arthur, Texas to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

For over 60 years, Seabulk has provided the maritime community with innovative and firt of their kind vessels such as the SDM (Ship Docking Module) and Rotortug®, both of which call the Port of Mobile home. Seabulk strives to set the industry standard for safe operations all while growing and maintaining the youngest Jones Act flet in harbor service.

Our ultimate goal as One Company is to foster an environment of growth in each area we call home whether that be with personnel, equipment or a new service, Seabulk is always ready to serve the Port of Mobile and their shareholders.

BELL & COMPANY

Bell & Company is a manufacturer’s representative and distributor that has been selling and supporting engineered products to the industrial and marine industries along the Gulf Coast since 1955. We work with field technician, engineers, project managers, purchasing agents, and everyone in between to assist them in all areas of product capabilities and education, use cases, selection, sales, and support.

We provide solutions to our customers through product knowledge, experience, and available resources while utilizing best in class technology to assist ourselves and customers in obtaining the information and support in the most efficient manne available.

Our goal is to make our customers successful.

left: ANorwegiancargoshipisdockedatthe PortofMobile,May2021.

CarmenSisson/Cloudybright

top: TheAlabamaCruiseTerminalopenedasahomeportforCarnivalCaribbeancruisesin2001. bottom: MobileiscurrentlythehomeportfortheCarnivalSensationcruise ship,whichofferstrvelerseasyandquicktripsacrosstheGulftoMexicoandtheCaribbean. right: TheAlabamaStatePortAuthorityandMobile’sdockshavebeenatevery turninThePortCity’shistory.

CarmenSisson/Cloudybright

CarmenSisson/Cloudybright

“From Mobile’s docks, a ship can be in open sea within three hours as opposed to New Orleans, which requires about 10 hours. Proximity to the sea translates to faster delivery schedules, fuel savings, and shorter destination times, giving the Port of Mobile a significant advantage.”

CONNECTIVITY:

Staying Linked in Fast-Paced Times

Mobile Bay is known for its connectivity. By air, land, or sea, getting from one location to another is convenient and easy. And that’s a big draw for technology companies. We have over 150 of them, employing some 4,000 individuals in IT careers.

We’ve got connections around Mobile Bay on land, air, sea, and internet. The bay area has over 150 technology companies with 4,000–plus employed in IT careers, keeping us walking in a wireless wonderland. But traditional connectivity venues remain vital too.

Good connections start with great proximity.

By automobile from Mobile, New Orleans is less than three hours away. Add another fie and you’re in Houston. Thirty years ago, traveling to coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, and Northern Florida could take days. Now in many cases, it’s a one-day trip.

From its Mobile County starting point, Interstate 65 offers an expedient drive up four states, without a traffic light ortop sign, almost to Chicago. Running East to West (Jacksonville, Florida to Los Angeles, California) Interstate 10 is a fast-lane link to Florida on the east and New Orleans, Texas, and beyond out west.

But our connections are not terra firm exclusive. In 2019 the Mobile Downtown Airport opened at Brookley Field. It became the Gulf Coast’s newest airport terminal. A significant addition to the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, the complex offers non-top flights to Dever and Chicago.

Only minutes from Downtown Mobile, the facility operates 24/7. It provides closer access for Baldwin County customers and is the gateway to global markets, business customers, and leisure tourists’ travel.

On the west end of town is the Mobile Regional Airport. Airport Boulevard’s namesake and the firt airport in the nation with a frequent flyer program had may names. Former titles include Bates Field and the Mobile Municipal Airport. “Regional” was added in January 1991.

Speaking to reporters in the same year, explaining the new moniker, then Director of Aviation Monty Burgess noted, “While we have long been known as Mobile Municipal Airport or simply Bates Field, we feel the new name more accurately reflects the vat region of the Gulf Coast we serve.” His words were correct then and now.

Mobile Regional is a large modern facility with a touch of home. It offers free WiFi, 30-minute free parking, and rocking chair seating.

But connectivity is more than asphalt roads and airplane tarmacs. It is networking, sharing resources where possible, learning and linking with and from each other.

Based in downtown Mobile, Innovation PortAL is one such link. A non-profit tartup incubator, it helps entrepreneurs launch ideas into high-growth companies. Innovation PortAL’s mission is accomplished by a variety of business support services yielding successful firmsthat will leave the program financiallyviable and with a strong foundation in the Southwest Alabama community.

As the name implies, it is a “portal” for entrepreneurs to access expertise, resources, and funding, allowing them to rapidly scale their ventures to regional, national, and international markets.

In addition, academic, private, and public sectors are sharing resources with emerging businesses. Area universities are sharing through centers and research parks. University resources are made available to students, startups and entrepreneurs.

A component of the University of South Alabama, USA Technology and Research Park is a major economic initiative established to foster opportunities for collaboration between the business sector and the university. The Park houses over 350 employees of both public and private enterprises representing industries from the

medical, technology, bio-research, and financial fields — all wit the intent of connecting the University’s resources. The USA Technology and Research Park also encourages the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation through its onsite business incubator, the Coastal Innovation Hub.

In total, the Park’s components combine to foster a physical environment with a shared vision focused on innovation driving measurable economic development successes in the surrounding region.

From the interstate to the internet, Mobile Bay’s regions are linked to community, wired for success, and connected for progress.

opposite page: AfreighttrainpassestheAlabamaStateDocksatthePortofMobile. top: TheGeorgeWallaceTunnelonI-10runsundertheMobileRiver,connectingthe mainlandtoBlakelyIsland. bottom: InsidetheGeorgeWallaceTunneltraversingtheMobileRiver

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MOBILE AREA WATER & SEWER SYSTEM

In west Mobile County, the 3,600-acre Big Creek Lake, also known as J.B. Converse Reservoir, glistens in the sun. Constructed in 1952, the reservoir holds 17 billion gallons of water and is continually fed by streams, creeks, and groundwater. With a variety of wildlife inhabiting its waters and shores, some might be surprised to learn that the lake is more than just a picturesque setting. In fact, it is from this reservoir that the Mobile Area Water & Sewer System (MAWSS) provides safe drinking water for more than 225,000 people in the Mobile metropolitan area.

“Big Creek Lake has been a wonderful treasure and a source of abundant, clean drinking water for this community for all those years, and the capacity is there to serve the area well into the future,” says MAWSS Water and Sewer Director Charles Hyland.

The Mobile Water Service System came into being in 1952, partly in response to Mobile’s population boom during the shipbuilding years of World War II. In the nearly seven decades since, MAWSS has established itself as an indispensable cornerstone of Mobile’s industry and the day-to-day lives of its citizens.

MAWSS operates under a stated mission to “protect and enhance the health, safety, and economic wellbeing of our community through the responsible management of water resources while

providing superior customer service.” From providing exemplary drinking water and treating wastewater to repairing and installing water and sewage lines, the 395 employees at MAWSS turn that mission statement into a daily reality.

MAWSS has also made environmental protection a top priority. To protect the lands surrounding Big Lake Creek from development, the company owns and manages 9,000 acres surrounding the reservoir, affording MWSS control over the lake’s perimeter, as well as an opportunity to protect threatened species; working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MAWSS created the firt gopher tortoise reserve in America. In addition, the company’s two water treatment facilities have been recognized as Optimized Plants by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

Of course, a significant aspect of the compay’s environmental focus is the prevention of sanitary sewage overflws (SSOs). “One of the biggest issues that nearly all cities are facing right now is aging infrastructure,” Hyland says. In a place like Mobile, celebrated for its age and notorious for its rainfall, severe weather events can quickly overwhelm the city’s subterranean infrastructure. To put the situation in perspective, there are 3,000 miles of sewer lines beneath the city, 40 percent of which are 50 years old or older.

To combat the problem, MAWSS has taken a proactive approach by seeking out potential overflws during rain events and working to correct those issues while communicating closely with environmental groups. A significant advancement in its figh against aging infrastructure is the completion of its “master plan,” a report that evaluated the entire water and sewer system prioritized capital projects.

“The master plan will be the blueprint moving forward in the next 15 to 20 years by helping us identify the most critical assets that have the best possibility of failure and the worst consequence of failure, so we can move those to the top of our priorities,” Hyland says. The plan was completed in 2019.

While planning for the long term, MAWSS has focused much attention on capital projects to address SSOs in the short term. In addition to its continued maintenance of sewer lines and lift stations, the company is in the process of building several severe weather attenuation tanks throughout the service area and has recently completed a $26-million upgrade to the Williams Wastewater Treatment Plant on McDuffie Island

From a customer service perspective, MAWSS has made several exciting upgrades, including the development of an app through

which customers can pay bills, as well as the installation of 24hour kiosks at payment centers. “We want to make sure there are different venues for customers to interact with us,” Hyland says. The company is also in the process of replacing its water meters with an automated meter infrastructure system. This system will allow customers to track water usage better and set usage alerts. “We are always looking at ways to better ourselves,” Hyland says. “We believe in continuous improvement.”

MAWSS is also making strides in better educating the public on its mission; an upgraded website allows customers to track the progress of capital projects, a recently developed citizens water academy educates Mobilians and MAWSS employees, and the company participates in numerous environmental and educational events.

Moving forward, Hyland says MAWSS will play an essential role in promoting the city as a whole. “We understand that we don’t operate in a vacuum,” Hyland says. “When Mobile is out recruiting industry, we want to make sure we can provide excellent services to those businesses when they do come here.”

And all the while, they’ll continue taking care of the city beneath our city to keep water working.

left:L-RCharlesHyland,Director,BudMcCrory,Asst.DirectorAdministration,DougCote,Asst.DirectorOperations center:Underconstruction,$17MThreeMile CreekSevereAttenuationTankshelpwithsanitaryseweroverflws right:MyersWTP,oneoftwointhesystem,combinedtreatsanaverageof43Mgallonsdaily

Mobile is an ideal location for businesses that need to move products in and out quickly and conveniently. Our infrastructure links us to the world by air, highway, railroad, and sea.

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clockwise from top left: TheDauphinIslandBridge top center:I-10acrossMobileBay top right: The“DollyParton”BridgeonI-65 bottom right: Railsystemscarry freighttrainseverydirectionbutsouth.bottom center: AdivergingdiamondinterchangeinBaldwinCounty bottom left: SettingoutintothebluewatersoftheGulf

ALABAMA POWER COMPANY

More than 100 years ago, William Patrick Lay, a Gadsden steamboat captain, envisioned a better Alabama, and the path to that vision was found in Alabama’s rivers and shoals. On Dec. 4, 1906, Lay founded Alabama Power Company and began plans to build a dam on the Coosa River between Chilton and Coosa counties.

Like many innovators, Lay’s idea wasn’t without obstacles. He found that investment capital in the state and interest by investors on Wall Street was hard to come by. In 1911, James Mitchell, a Massachusetts engineer, visited a proposed dam site on the Tallapoosa River. He reached out to Thomas Martin, a Montgomery attorney familiar with the state’s dam laws. Mitchell had connections with a London investment company that had allowed him the resources to purchase several companies formed to build dams but short on the capital to complete the projects.

One of these companies was Alabama Power Company. On May 1, 1912, Lay transferred ownership of the company to Mitchell and associates. “I now commit to you the good name and destiny of Alabama Power Company. May it be developed for the service of Alabama,” Lay said. Today, Alabama Power serves more than 1.4 million homes across the state and 205,000 customers in the Mobile Division.

Over a century has passed since the company’s inception, but its mission remains the same - to make Alabama better. “A commitment to elevating our state has guided Alabama Power for more than 110 years, and remains strong today,” said Chairman, President and CEO Mark Crosswhite. “Providing reliable electricity, partnering to drive economic development and being active members of the communities we serve are the foundations of our business.”

The Alabama Power Foundation supports a wide spectrum of nonprofit organizations throughout the tate, and Alabama Power employees and retirees volunteer their time and resources to support communities through the Alabama Power Service Organization and the Energizers retiree service organization. In Mobile, these organizations served more than 22,000 hours in the community in 2018.

Alabama Power employees also provide leadership in conservation and environmental protection in communities across the state by working with nonprofit groups focused on tewardship. Recent partnerships with The Nature Conservancy and the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program have helped preserve marine habitats,

Fromleft:WilliamPatrickLay,ThomasMartinandJamesMitchell

restore shorelines and help minimize the impacts of flooding in low-lying coastal areas.

In today’s world of rapidly changing technology, the spirit of innovation that Lay brought to the early days of Alabama Power continues to shine brightly. The company is focused on developing innovative products and services that help customers use energy more easily and efficient. The company partners with federal, state and local organizations and nonprofits on evironmental education, stewardship and conservation initiatives.

Nick Sellers, Mobile Division vice-president, said the company is committed to partnering with the communities throughout the Mobile area as the region continues to grow and advance.

“Alabama Power is proud to partner with communities throughout the Mobile area and along the Gulf Coast. We not only work to deliver clean, safe, reliable, and affordableelectricity,” Sellers said, “we also help our customers capitalize on innovative technology, work to promote economic development and invest in initiatives that help make our communities better for everyone. For more than 100 years, Alabama Power has been lighting the way for our state and we look forward to being a dependable community partner for the next century.”

Working to build a better Alabama is the heart of our mission, and we are honored to partner with our communities and citizens as we all work to elevate Alabama.

MichaelDumas

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opposite page; top: MobileRegionalisalargemodernfacilitywithatouchofhome.ItoffersfreeWiFi,30-minutefreeparking,androckingchairseating. center: Mobile AeroplexatBrookleyFieldisamixed-useindustrialcomplexcombiningrail,roadandwaterwithgeneralaviation.ItishometoMobileInternationalAirport,formerly knownMobileDowntownAirport. bottom: Mobile’sworld-classairportsareagatewayfortensofthousandsofbusinessandleisuretravelerseveryyear. above: Mobile’s airportsarefirt-rategatewaystotheworld,withdirectservicetoAtlanta,Charlotte,Dallas,Houston,andmostrecently,ChicagoandDenver.Perhapsthebestthing aboutflyingtoandfrom obileistheconvenienceofasmallairportwithoutsacrificingbigairportamenitie.

THE WATERWORKS & SEWER BOARD OF THE CITY OF PRICHARD

Utilities form the backbone of thriving communities, and The Water Works and Sewer Board of The City of Prichard offers a quality of service may of its customers haven’t experienced since it began operation in 1943. Serving nearly 10,000 in Prichard and nearby Chickasaw, “Prichard Water,” as it’s known locally, is led by professionals who not only grew up in this north Mobile County town but live here still.

“Prichard made me the person I am,” said Nia Bradley, water & sewer operations manager. “It instilled in me integrity and a desire to help my fellow citizens.”

Bradley grew up within the Prichard Water system, accompanying her grandfather throughout the community and even assisting him as he worked under people’s homes. A founding employee of the system, Sam Evans helped build its treatment plants and exemplified community service, Bradley aid. He was known and revered everywhere he went in Prichard.

The same is now true for Evans’s granddaughter. Bradley started her career with Prichard Water as an apprentice in 2000, pulling out of nursing school to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps. She would eventually go through management training and, in 2018, take over as operations manager.

Bradley serves at the pleasure of The Water Works and Sewer Board of The City of Prichard’s fie-person board of directors. Bradley’s goal, and that of the board, is to continually improve the public’s perception of Prichard Water and its outreach within the community, and that starts on the front lines. Customers who visit the main office arearmly greeted as soon as they walk in the

door, and the building’s interior is freshly painted and extremely clean. The staff taes particular care of the elderly.

In 2018, Bradley instituted customer appreciation days, where the employees feed the community at large and assist them with any issues. She regularly visits the local elementary and high schools to assess their needs, which led to Prichard Water sponsoring a community day at nearly Prichard Stadium, where students received school uniforms and book bags. “We want to let people know we’re here and what we do,” Bradley said.

Thanks to the board’s vision, there are some significant improvements in the works at Prichard Water. By 2021, the system will have installed automated meters for its 6,000 customers in Prichard, and 3,000 in Chickasaw. A huge step forward, the meters are 99 percent error-proof, Bradley said. This will result in less-complicated customer interactions, as will as a new billing system being implemented.

Prichard Water maintains two treatment plants. The Carlos A. Morris facility is an activated sludge plant that processes 4 million gallons per day or MGD. The smaller Stanley Brooks plant handles 1.5 MGD via the trickling filter mthod. Twenty-nine lift stations send water and sewage to the treatment plants from residential and commercial properties.

A major point of pride for all at Prichard Water, the system will soon begin producing its own water again. Since 1998, the system has purchased its water from the nearby Mobile Area Water and Sewer System. However, over the next three years, it will bring four wells online in service of its entire customer base.

Bradley credits her 39 employees with making all of these strides possible. Having worked at utilities for most of her life, she realized most of them recruit employees from similar organizations. So, she took a different approach, hiring people from the private sector and training them to fit Prichard ater’s high standards.

That’s how she staffed the newly created Human Resources department lead by Taiecha Tucker, which led to the hiring of Randy Burden, head of the collection and distribution division, handing sewer and water functions.

Bradley calls that division’s workforce “our firt responders,” who maintain lift stations, hydrants, water lines, and “anything

that goes wrong.” Collection and distribution are staffed 4 hours a day, seven days a week.

“You can go longer without food than you can without water,” she said. “And if you can’t flush or et water, you’re in a bad state.”

The Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Prichard is dedicated to improving the quality of people’s lives and providing the resources necessary for the city’s economic growth and stability. It’s as much a part of the community as the individuals it serves, and those it employs.

“All I’ve ever known is Prichard Water,” Bradley said. “And I love my community.”

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Fromtheinterstatetotheinternet,MobileBay’sregionsarelinkedtocommunity,wiredforsuccess,andconnectedforprogress.TheMobileBayareahasmorethan150 technologycompanieswith4,000-pluspeopleemployedinITcareers.TheUSATechnologyandResearchParkaccommodateshundredsofprofessionalsinthemedical, technology,bioresearch,andfinancialfiel.And,ourincubatorprogramshostdozensofentrepreneursandsmallbusiness,givingthemalegupontheladderofsuccess.

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THE SSI GROUP

No matter how far we expand our footprint, we’ll always be proud to call Mobile home.

Our humble beginnings were set in a small building on Old Shell Road with just a handful of employees and one product offering. In 2018, we celebrated our 30th anniversary with nearly 400 associates, a full suite of products, and a long list of clients across the country. Over the decades, many of our associates have grown up at The SSI Group, and SSI has grown right along with the city.

Over the course of our thirty-plus years, we’ve earned a place as a leader in the healthcare financial performance industry. We partner with health systems and health plans to optimize revenue,

reduce costs and increase visibility into enterprise operations. Our people-firt and proven revenue cycle, claims management and analytics solutions provide clients with the foundation necessary for financial health while allowing them the flexibility to adapt to industry changes and requirements.

Our southern hospitality extends beyond our walls with a personal approach to business that’s hard to find elsewhere. e’re known for high-touch customer service and a support team dedicated to clients’ needs firt. We pour into the community by remaining active in community initiatives and local charitable organizations. Whatever your connection to us, we treat you like family. It’s the SSI — and Mobile — way.

Connectivity is more than asphalt roads and airplane tarmacs. It is networking, sharing resources where possible, learning and linking with and from each other.

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“From the interstate to the internet, Mobile Bay’s regions are linked to community, wired for success, and connected for progress.”

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HARPER TECHNOLOGIES

Today’s company, repairing tomorrow’s technology,” is the slogan that best describes Harper Technologies’ focus and stance in the IT Industry. As a concierge-culture IT solutions provider, Harper Tech focuses on the health and well-being of your network so that you can focus on the mission of your organization. The company’s values state in part, “Our mission at Harper Technologies is to offer honet, professional I.T. services and solutions, of excellent quality, in a courteous and efficient mann.”

Good words indeed, and Harper Tech backs it up.

Harper Technologies provides an array of services to resolve and protect against a wide range of IT issues, so companies can focus on what they do best. Their service offerings encompass a broad spectrum; however, most fall under three core areas:

Managed Services: Monitoring and management of your network PCs and appliances. This service offering includes real-time monitoring and reporting, anti-virus protection, hardware life-cycle reporting, and remote remediation.

Network Infrastructure: Copper, Fiber, and Wireless are the foundation and nervous system for an efficiently operatin organization. Harper Tech offers services ranging from ntwork planning and cabling to network installation and management.

Data Services: The real key to recovery is being protected before disaster strikes. Harper Technologies offers Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solutions to protect your data integrity, and to keep you functioning.

Harper Technologies knows that a smooth-running, reliable, and secure IT foundation is not just key to your business. It is your business.

ENVELOC

Long before computer system files were backed up to “the cloud,” Enveloc, Inc. was providing fullservice offsite data backup and torage through its servers in south Alabama and Los Angeles. President William Oppenheimer, a software engineer, started the company as a diversification from hi family’s farm equipment concern, OPICO.

Twenty-fie years later, Enveloc protects the data of thousands of clients nationwide through proprietary protocols, including industry-standard AES encryption.

“We give a very individualized and customized service to people because we monitor the backups,” Oppenheimer said. “And when you call us for support, you never reach a machine. You get a human being that will help you with whatever you need.”

Innovation PortAL is a non-profit tartup incubator that helps entrepreneurs turn ideas into companies. As the name implies, it is a ‘portal’ for accessing expertise, resources, and funding, allowing entrepreneurs to rapidly scale their ventures to regional, national, and international markets.

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MADE IN MOBILE:

Manufacturing and Industry in the Mobile Bay Area

Before 2015, no commercial aircraft was produced in Mobile. Today with Airbus’s A320 and A220 aircraft lines, Mobile becomes the fourth largest commercial aviation site in the world.

We make it big – like giant jet aircraft literally flyin off production lines to waiting customers. We make it great – such as mighty state of the art U.S. Navy vessels loaded with tomorrow’s technology, today. And we make it happen – producing on-time deliveries by air land and sea for worldwide customers.

Even the story of Mobile Bay’s manufacturing evolvement is pretty big. At times it seems almost fictional. It is nt. History and manufacturing bond on an assembly line of milestones.

Who would have thought:

• That in a secret room of a downtown church in 1863, Mobilians,who had never seen an underwater military vessel and were in good company because no one else in the world had either, built earth’s firt war submarine — the H.L. Hunley. It torpedoed and sank an enemy ship.

• Workers from all sides of the bay became masters of shipbuilding, today producing everything from commercial shrimping boats to highly classified .S. Navy vessels of the future.

• Hundreds of everyday people were company trained in-house to produce fully assembled jet aircraft that, once completed, depart Mobile for customers all over the world.

Time after time across the Bay area, manufacturing’s mission impossible was proven not just doable, but done. More such endeavors are coming to which locals say “bring it on.”

Because down here, “some assembly required,” is more than instructions, it is opportunity.

Productivity is a cornerstone, innovation, a just cause, and a ‘Can Do’ attitude, the way of life on Mobile Bay. The resume is impressive.

Mobile’s aerospace industry is young but by no means unproven. Aircraft and related supply companies range from smaller establishments with one product line to commercial airline passenger jets.

Before 2015, no commercial aircraft was produced in Mobile. Today with Airbus’s A320 and A220 aircraft lines, Mobile will become the fourth largest commercial aviation site in the world.

Training for such specialized skills is a must, and companies like Airbus train workers starting in high school. Airbus’ Flightpath 9 is a nine-month program of basic training students attend after school. Graduates are eligible for the company’s ‘Fast Track Program, a more intense training for Airbus’ new hires.

Additional avionic training opportunities starting at high school are supplied in Baldwin County by The Academy at the Fairhope Airport. The $2.5 million complex is a joint offering between the Baldwin County Board of Education, Faulkner State Community College, and Enterprise State. Courses include airframe technology, electrical instrumentation, millwright, and welding.

We never forget our roots are in water. Since founding days, cities such as Mobile, Chickasaw, and Bayou La Batre have answered the call of maritime commerce great and small. For centuries our workers riveted hulls, welded iron, and crafted ocean-going vessels. They still do.

Renowned shipyards of Mobile with decades, even centuries of experience, transform cold raw metal into seaworthy flets.

Through the years, shipyards great and small have flourished in Bayou La Batre, the Port of Chickasaw, and Mobile. From a history of master craftsmen hewing everything from shrimp boats to cargo ships comes today’s Austal USA in Mobile. In 2017 the U.S. Navy awarded it with a contract to build the flet’s latest Littoral Combat ship with a price cap of $584 million.

Our other shipbuilding-related industries include barge flets, vessel and container repairs, heavy lift and salvaging, stevedoring, and towing line the Mobile Bay and River. Shipping companies and watercraft enjoy access to 15,000 miles of inland waters. Products can be on the open sea in about three hours.

With approximately 26 chemical companies throughout Mobile County, production plants make a vast array of products for diverse customer needs. Chemical plants operate 24/7 to meet demand.

A dozen-plus such factories line the northern Mobile County corridor from Creola to Macintosh. In Southwest Mobile’s Theodore community, Evonik Corporation employs about 700 workers in one of the fastest-growing chemical businesses in the area.

All manufacturers enjoy a pipeline–carrier system with decades of experience in trucking, rail, and sea.

In February 2018, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey toured a Mobile County steel mill. She was impressed. “This is a world-class facility, making world-class products,” she told 600 employees of SSAB, which in 2019 moved its American headquarters from Chicago to Mobile.

The governor was correct. Based in North Mobile County, SSAB produces 1.25 million tons of steel annually. It is one of several companies that are “world-class, making world-class products,” locally.

Further up the road, 1,600 employees report to AM/NS Calvert. The mammoth plant has the capacity to produce 5.2 million metric tons of steel for the NAFTA auto and energy industries. Finland-based Outokumpu Stainless can produce over 1 million metric tons of stainless steel annually with over 900 workers. The Eastern Shore and beyond is also a center of industry and manufacturing such as Foley’s Vulcan Inc., producer of aluminum signs used in traffic control andther applications.

Legions of products made by Mobile Bay’s many other creators are put to use locally and across the planet. Some are home-based products, like leather goods, clothing, gears, machinery, and telescopes.

What comes to mind for most of us when speaking of manufacturing are bustling mills, production plants, textile centers, and factory fortresses. Yes, the bay has all of that. But it includes smaller businesses, artisans, and inventors as well.

An entrepreneur’s handbags, featured on Good Morning America, were made in Baldwin County. Fairhope telescopes allow visitors to view Sydney Harbor in Australia. They are also planted on top of Chicago’s Sears (Willis) Tower, the Smoky Mountains, and in 60 additional countries. The Super Soaker water gun, one of the best-selling toys ever created, was invented by Mobilian Dr. Lonnie Johnson. Those are but a few. I.T./High Tech, Logistics/Distribution, Maritime, Oil and Gas, steel, and large and foreign-based companies tell their stories in other chapters. Collectively, they are all the Mobile Bay Region’s manufacturing and industry clusters, making it big and great, and making a difference

We have many other advantages. Workers are trained and our resources are abundant. For example, examine these assets, compiled by and courtesy of David Rogers, Vice President Economic Development, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce:

- Five Class I railroads and Interstates 10 and 65 lead to major U.S. markets

- Mobile Downtown Airport and Mobile Regional Airport

- The 9th largest port by tonnage in the U.S.

- Skilled workforce in a right-to-work state

- AIDT – a national leader in training and workforce development programs

- Robust foreign investment presence, including more than 40 companies representing more than 20 countries

- 1,650 acre center for aviation and logistics – Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley

- 1.6 million people with a median age of 38 living within 60 miles

- Low cost of living and doing business

The Mobile area has become a national leader in the aerospace industry with 20 aerospace engineering, production, and support companies.

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AIRBUS AMERICAS, INC.

The story of Airbus in Mobile began more than 50 years ago - in France. It was in 1969 when Jean Chamant, the French Minister of Transport, and Karl Schiller, the German Minister of Economic Affair, signed an agreement at the Paris Air Show, which launched the joint-development of the firt Airbus aircraft — the A300. Today, their notable decision allowed us to celebrate not only the milestone of Airbus’ 50th anniversary in 2019, but also the more than decade long presence of Airbus in Mobile.

Airbus firt came to Mobile in 2005 when it established a Defense and Space Military Aircraft maintenance facility near the Mobile Regional Airport. Today, the facility is the C212 aircraft worldwide center of competency, offering complte maintenance, repair, overhaul, engineering support and material services. In addition to the C212, their services reach medium and light military aircraft, including the CN235, C295, and the HC-144 flet of the United States Coast Guard.

In 2007, Airbus grew its presence in Mobile by introducing the Airbus Americas’ Engineering Center. Today the facility, which is located at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, employs more than 220 engineers and staff. The team focuses on the design an

installation of cabins, cabin equipment, modules, seats, and cargo systems for all Airbus commercial aircraft products.

The success of these facilities, and the support from the local community, were key drivers in the decision to select Mobile as the city where Airbus would build its firt U.S.-based commercial aircraft manufacturing facility. In 2012, Airbus announced it would build the A320 Family of aircraft (A319, A320, A321) for U.S. based customers in Mobile. The $600 million facility was completed in 2015. In 2017, Airbus announced it would also build a second production line in Mobile for its A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft. The $300 million facility sits adjacent to the A320 facility and brings an additional 400 jobs to the city. Production of the firt A220 aircraft in Mobile began in August 2019 and delivered to Delta Air Lines in 2020.

In 2021, Airbus employed nearly 1,600 people who are proud to call Mobile home. With the hard work and dedication of all Airbus employees, by the middle of the decade, Mobile could be the 4th largest city for commercial aircraft production in the world (behind Seattle, WA, Hamburg, Germany and Toulouse, France); and the 2nd largest city for commercial aircraft production in the U.S.

CourtesyofAirbus

MichaelDumas

The port and a highly skilled workforce have allowed Mobile to grow into an incredibly global business community. More than 80 foreign-based businesses have operations in and around the city.

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“Made in Fairhope, Alabama,” proclaim the nameplates of telescopic viewers and coin-operated binoculars made by SeaCoast Manufacturing, whose products are used locally and installed in scenic locations across the world.

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MichaelDumas

HILL & BROOKS COFFEE AND TEA COMPANY

From day one, Hill & Brooks Coffee and ea Company operated under the belief that the hard work of dedicated employees, quality service and excellent products make everything else fall into place. Thus, from humble beginnings rose the coffee compay summarized in three words printed on every product: “Heritage, Authenticity, Taste.”

HERITAGE: YESTERDAY AND TODAY.

The heritage began over 60 years ago as a one-truck operation in a small block building. Coffee as roasted, packed, and delivered to customers in Mobile and beyond. The diminutive structure is still there, on 2278 Halls Mill Road, Mobile. It is almost unnoticeable, but across the street is a different tory, one of amazing growth.

Employees call it “The Mothership,” a 72,000 square foot administrative headquarters/roaster facility/warehousing operation that oversees 60-plus employees in fie states. Today, Hill & Brooks’ drivers, roasters, buyers, inspectors, administration and warehouse workers make the company a major contender in regional coffee production. Lie a good cup of Joe, the company’s heritage is also rich.

In 1953, company founder Leroy Hill started work for Georgia’s Belford Company. Three years later, he opened a Belford location in Mobile under subcontract as the L. Roy Hill Company. Through

Celebrating 60 Years

the years, several name changes occurred until the current one was settled: Hill & Brooks Coffee and ea Company, Inc.

In 2019, Hill & Brooks was purchased by Lighthouse Coffee Compay. Today the roasting and production facility is called Light on a Hill Roasters. It is now home to both Hill & Brooks and Lighthouse Coffee & ea brands and continues to add new customers.

In addition to housing administration, the “Mothership” of Mobile Bay is coffee central. or here, the magic happens. High-quality green coffee beans become coffee and otic leaves become tea.

Shipments, fresh from farms, plantations and mountainsides around the world are received at the Mobile site. The prime ingredient of good-tasting java is meticulously tested and inspected as if it were gold because to coffee driners, it is. Tea, lemonade and other products receive the same scrutiny.

When all coffee inspections hve been satisfied, the process o transforming humble green coffee beans into the jy of drinkable coffee begin. “Depending on the order, we typically can roast about 600 pounds of coffee in 4 minutes,” notes Jimmy New, Light on a Hill’s production manager. “After a batch is completed, equipment must be cooled and cleaned properly. Then we start again in a continuing process until the order is filled”

Product is roasted, packed, and shipped to many distribution centers over 7 states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Washington. The one truck delivery is now a flet, including tractor-trailers, route delivery trucks, service tech vans, and sales vehicles. Each driver is DOT Certified and must attend monthly driver safety programs to stay qualified for driving company-owned vehicles.

Employees are scattered across the service area throughout the south. They live where they work, making every Distribution Center a local company. There has been minimal employee turnover, with most workers having been with the company for decades.

“I think our employee loyalty is due to our culture,” officialsay, explaining Hill & Brooks’ employee longevity. “People genuinely enjoy working here. They fill may roles: roasters, buyers, inspectors, truck drivers, officetaff, and may more. Our people are very good at what they do.”

Officials explain that Hill & Brooks is a unique busine. “You aren’t putting widgets together or sitting in a cubical on the phone all day. Many people will not start their day without a cup of coffee We make that cup.”

“Cup” is a company’s unit of measurement. The coffee product lineup includes Azalea City, Front Porch, Jackson Creek, Live Oak Decaf, Way-Way Tenango, Full Boar, Columbian, Jubilee, and Midnight Espresso.

Coming in strong for Hill & Brooks’ battle of beverages is the company’s line of teas. “Tea counts for about 40 percent of our business,” officialsay. “It is especially a favorite of millennials and ever-growing in popularity.”

Premium tea leaves are sourced from across the globe, including Argentina and Vietnam. The same rigorous testing and standards Hill & Brooks applies to its coffees is performed on its teas before it ever meets ice cubes.

The product lineup for Hill & Brooks’ tea categories includes Black, Herbal, Decaffeinated, Southern Style, and Traditiona Open Brew Teas. Collectively, the categories produce 24 tea products, ranging from traditional to mint, peach, flvored, and a southern favorite - sweet tea.

Rounding up the product line and a strong contender, especially in summer, is Hill & Brooks’ lemonade made with real lemons and pure sugar.

Officialsay, “Coffee driners know no season. They have it yearround. But during the winter months, our coffee productio increases significantly because of cutomers who only drink hot beverages in cold weather. The same holds for the hot months. During summer, our tea and lemonade sales increase tremendously.”

AUTHENTICITY: MAKING IT REAL.

Every business strives for quality. At Hill & Brooks, authentic quality is more than a goal. Hill & Brooks understands their customers’ expectations. They strive to create something special that people love. Their standards for excellence were set very high from day one.

Leroy Hill believed in sparing no expense in buying the absolute best equipment and finet coffee beans on the maret. He did not cut corners then, and Hill & Brooks doesn’t cut corners now. That philosophy has served Hill & Brooks well.

Company officials add, “If we areoing to stay alive and competitive with the big boys, we must make a product that is beyond ‘just good.’ When people try our products we want them to always say, ‘now that was an awesome cup of coffee’ or ‘that as a great glass of tea.’ We must, and we do, take pride in what we do here and rely on each other to make the very best coffee and tea product.”

Employees agree that the bottom line in the coffee business is simple and straightforward, yet speaks volumes. “It’s all about the bean,” they say, “We buy the best you can get your hands on. And hands-on is key.”

For its signature product, Hill & Brooks’ buyers travel the globe sourcing coffee beans from Guatemala, onduras, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Vietnam, and other world growers. The higher the elevation, where the coffee plants grw, the better the beans’ quality. Testing and inspections are performed every step of the way from the farm, mountainside or plantation to the Halls Mill Road facility and its distribution centers.

Samples are shipped to Mobile for testing before an entire lot of beans arrive at the facility. The teams make sure the samples are right before the complete order arrives.

Experts check bean samples and tea leaves for cleanliness, defections, proper size, weight, and health. Buyers can scoop a bag of beans in their hands and almost by touch tell if it is good or not. Extensive laboratory testing is performed as well.

Hill & Brooks has always maintained good relationships with growers and importers from around the world. High expectations have been set for many years between importers and Hill & Brooks. All involved know the qualifications and high tandards the company strives for.

TASTE: THE ULTIMATE TEST.

It is one thing for coffee to tate good. That’s a given. To many customers, Hill & Brooks is more than a coffee. It is coffes other name. Loyal fans do not pour cups of robust java or glasses of sweet tea. They drink a cup of Hill & Brooks. For them, the name and the beverage are synonymous. A long-time employee says, “It’s a good feeling when people tell me they start the day with a cup of Hill & Brooks.”

The company emphatically states products must taste good consistently. Brands must be uniform with the same flvor, cup after cup, day after day. Officials te, “If a customer had a great cup of our Azalea City coffee in a htel and six months later orders it at a restaurant, it better taste the same as what they remembered. If it doesn’t, the customer will be disappointed. We must meet customer expectations based on their previous experiences with Hill & Brooks brands.”

Over the years, Hill & Brooks has developed into one of the top regional coffeeand tea brands in the Southeast. All green coffeebeans imported into the Hill & Brooks facility are carefully monitored during the roasting process ensuring the great taste is always consistent.

For centuries, coffee has been considered as more than a beerage; it is human fuel, and countries have gone to war over tea, but the business is evolving.

Company officials explain that Millennia, in particular, have changed the coffee busines. “They want different thing, and frankly, we find that chane refreshing,” explain the officia. “We embrace it, and we are already into it. Customers are demanding more flvored coffee, cold brews, and an assortment of teas. You will always have coffee purits, but you will soon see many more varieties to choose from.”

The future draws on the past for Hill & Brooks Coffee and ea Company, which at one time printed on every coffee can and bag, “Neither time, trouble, nor expense were spared in creating this unique, rare, and full-bodied coffee” It is the company’s message today just as it was in a small block building on Halls Mill Road, decades earlier with a one truck delivery system.

As Leroy Hill once said in a company slogan, “Good Taste is Everything. It’ll Get Cha Goin.”

“Made in Mobile” doesn’t just apply to bustling mills, production plants, textile centers, and factory fortresses. It’s the hallmark of myriad artisan-made products from across the Mobile Bay Area.

RebekahBurgess

Seventyfourimages/Dreamstime

AMERICAN TANK & VESSEL, INC.

Since its founding in 1982, American Tank & Vessel, Inc. (AT&V) has grown into one of the most successful companies of its kind in the country. Under the leadership of CEO William J. Cutts, AT&V was created with a mission to be the best at design, fabrication, and erection of steel containment structures. In 1989, son W. T. Cutts opened the company’s firt regional offic in Houston, Texas, opening the door to the vital Houston Ship Channel. In its 38-year history, AT&V has attained international reach, with a consortium of partners helping deliver a complete product line to any location on the globe.

From its Government Street office, the htoric Landmark Hall, renovated by Cutts, AT&V carries out its mission of being a full-service tank and vessel contractor providing design, fabrication, transportation, and field erection services to a wide variety of users in the Gulf South, the United States and the world. The company’s range of construction capabilities includes spheres, towers, digesters (continuous and batch), stacks, silos, pressure vessels (horizontal or vertical), LNG tanks, above-ground storage tanks, and cryogenic low-temperature tanks. Equipment is either shop-built for final deliery or shipped in pieces to the project

and repairs of the same products.

AT&V owns its facilities and the properties where they are located, including the 70-acre central fabrication facility near Lucedale, Mississippi, the 20-acre quayside fabrication facility in Moss Point, Mississippi, both of which are managed by Vice President of Construction James W. Davidson, and the 30-acre support facility in North Channelview, Texas. From these locations, AT&V can create products for an astounding range of industries, including chemical, power, pulp and paper, energy, pharmaceutical, and marine.

“We work for refinerie, oil terminals, the aerospace industry and branches of the U.S. military,” Cutts continues, noting that AT&V helps government customers with the construction and transportation of full-scale space-grade rocket test facilities. “We’ve also worked overseas,” he adds, “in places such as the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, the list goes on.” The company’s state-of-the-art ASME and API shop facilities contain some of the world’s most advanced capabilities for tank and vessel fabrication, as well as large-scale infrastructure projects. Furthermore, AT&V is pioneering sophisticated designs in the storage of LNG, CNG, LIN/LOX and other cryogenic and refrigerated applications.

its 38-year history. In the company’s own words, “Our performance standards and goals are dictated by safety, unsurpassed quality, and maintaining schedules that are significantly btter than industry-available timeframes.”

“When you’re looked at by the oil companies and terminals, the firt thing they’re going to check is your safety record, and we have an excellent safety program here,” Cutts says. “We strive to maintain our excellent record,” the company website explains, “realizing that our employees are the true wealth of our industry.”

AT&V achieved a total recorded incident rate (TRIR) of zero in 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 at all customer locations. “Of course, after safety, it’s all about the quality of your work, and we do this better than anybody.”

While AT&V has completed over 3,500 projects in the U.S. and around the world, Cutts acknowledges the real key to success is focusing on the quality, not the quantity, of the work. “Where we distinguish ourselves within the industry is by providing the highest quality equipment, and our customers recognize that,” Cutts says. Another key to success is the completion of projects on or before the contracted completion dates. From replacing a bottom to building a whole terminal, AT&V has established a standard for schedules that holds many records.

program and a work culture that treats employees like family.

As community partners, the leadership of AT&V has taken it upon themselves to support an array of local charities and nonprofit, including the Barton Academy Foundation and Mobile Baykeeper. In addition to the company’s Government Street office, Cts has renovated several properties along the street in addition to Landmark Hall, including The Pillars.

In short, solving customer challenges is what AT&V is built to do — and they do it well. Whether it’s design, schedule, emissions, or safety, the Mobile-based company delivers industry-leading answers to both domestic and international clients. Having added two construction bays to its Lucedale facility within the past three years, the company always keeps one eye on the future and hopes that a renewed emphasis on sales will help usher this landmark of Mobile industry into a new decade. By reinvesting profits back into the company, Cutts and his team are helping to secure AT&V’s future for years to come.

above: FromitsGovernmentStreetoffice,thehtoricLandmarkHall,renovated byCEOWilliamJ.Cutts,AT&Vcarriesoutitsmissionofbeingafull-servicetank andvesselcontractorprovidingdesign,fabrication,transportation,andfielderectio servicestoawidevarietyofusersintheGulfSouth,theUnitedStatesandtheworld.

BRIGGS EQUIPMENT

At Briggs Equipment, material handling is just easier. After all, with more than 120 years of service and the resources of an international company, Briggs has seen your material handling problem — and knows how to fix it

The origins of Briggs Equipment can be traced back to 1896 when two men, J.C. Weaver and C.H. Briggs, had a single vision to create a successful industrial service company. That company was Briggs-Weaver Machinery Company in Dallas, providing service for pump installations, lift trucks, and material handling. Destined to become an industry leader, they quickly gained a reputation for delivering the best industrial equipment and services to industries throughout the southwest.

Charles Sammons acquired the company in 1952, and in 1996, Briggs Equipment became a separate working operation of Sammons Enterprises, Inc. The company made a name for itself by offering its cutomers a full range of high-quality services. In 2007, Briggs International was formed to oversee the profitability and trategic growth of the entire Sammons Enterprises’ equipment distribution sector, which includes Briggs Equipment Mexico and Briggs Equipment UK.

Today, Briggs Equipment US is one of the oldest and most trusted material handling companies in the country. With 33 locations in 8 states, Briggs Equipment US sells, rents, provides service and parts, and flet management for material-handling and other industrial equipment. Briggs US customers include the automotive, aeronautic, beverage, manufacturing, pulp and paper, seafood, steel, and technology industries, among countless others.

The company provides a comprehensive range of material handling and contractor rental solutions, thanks to its robust partnerships with leading equipment manufacturers. Briggs rents, sells, and services Yale-brand and Hyster-brand equipment from 30 locations. The company offers an etensive parts inventory, maintenance services, safety training and integrative solutions for customers’ material handling needs. Through its Mobile location, local customers have access to the extensive Briggs network.

“When companies move to Mobile, they want to know that they’re dealing with an equipment company that’s large enough to support what they want to do,” says Jason Burce, district sales manager. “What’s great about Briggs Equipment’s Mobile location is customers find that homtown relationship and service, but also a comfort level that comes from knowing they’re dealing with a company with an international reach.”

In 2012, Briggs Equipment expanded its footprint in the United States when it acquired 15 new offices in the South and Southet, making it the largest dealer of industrial and construction equipment in North America.

“What we provide is applicable across the whole spectrum of industry,” Burce says. From the sale of new and used equipment (including forklifts, railcar movers, and trailer spotters) as well as more than 5 million parts for all makes, Briggs Equipment is your one-stop-shop for all things material handling. By providing rentals, 24/7 emergency breakdown service, and solutions, Briggs is there for all of your equipment needs.

“Our core values are safety, fun, family, integrity and success,” Burce says. “And we live by those principles. We have 28 employees at the Mobile location, and they’re the difference in what we d.”

As an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) company, there’s a unique sense of responsibility towards profitability and a “one for all, all for one” attitude towards teamwork. “Our sales team will sell the firt piece of equipment,” Burce says, “but the people in this building, providing service and support, will sell the rest of them.”

Briggs Equipment operates on the cutting-edge of its industry, equipping technicians with the latest in on-site, smartphone technology, and acting as an industry pioneer in net promoter scores (NPS). Using data from survey emails sent to customers, Briggs has been able to increase efficiey and sustain healthy customer relationships better than ever before.

At Briggs, workplace safety is paramount. “Safety is intentional,”

Burce says. “The rule is, any time three or more people meet, they have a ‘safety moment,’ which makes safety a mentality around here.” By offering operator afety training, Briggs also works to ensure its customers approach material handling in a way that’s responsible and safety conscious.

The company has also seized upon its role as a community leader. Culture committees at each Briggs location seek to fill a need within the local community. The Mobile office regularly work to advance the missions of the Ronald McDonald House and the Child Advocacy Center. Furthermore, if an employee raises $50 or more for a charitable cause, Sammons Enterprises pledges to match the amount, times two.

Providing customers with smart solutions has ensured the company’s growth since Charles A. Sammons acquired the business more than 60 years ago. Extensive industry knowledge positions the Briggs Equipment brand for continued global expansion during the next 60 years.

EVONIK CORPORATION

Few companies can claim to create products with implications as far-reaching as Evonik Corporation. Chances are, without even realizing it, you use several products made by Evonik every day.

Founded in 2007 as part of the renaming of RAG-Beteiligungs-AG, Evonik is one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies. Headquartered in Essen, Germany, the company operates in over 100 countries across six continents, with 32,000 employees united by the understanding that no product is so perfect that you can’t make it better.

Located in south Mobile County’s Theodore Industrial Park is the campus of Evonik’s largest production facility in North America. This 1,700-acre site is where some of the world’s most advanced chemical additives are produced. In the company’s own words, “We don’t produce car tires, mattresses, tablets, or animal feed. However, these end products contain Evonik products. Often, it’s just a small amount that we contribute, but that’s exactly what makes the difference. This is hw Evonik makes tires more fuel-efficient, mtresses bouncier, tablets more effectie, and animal nutrition healthier. That’s specialty chemicals. And we are one of the best in the world.”

In 1974, two Evonik predecessor companies independently chose to build production process plants at the current location in south Mobile County. From small beginnings, steady and robust growth

has transformed the site into Evonik’s flagship North American location, where roughly 1,100 on-site employees produce hydrogen peroxide, fumed silica, and the animal feed additive methionine, among many other specialty chemicals.

“Our plant does not make final products here” explains Kel Boisvert, vice president and site manager. “We enhance our raw materials and change them into another chemical. These products are then sold to another manufacturer who ultimately uses them in high end electronics, automotive applications, bonding agents, construction materials, pharmaceuticals coatings, water purificatio chemistry — just a variety of chemical enhancements. We make a lot of in use products better.”

Evonik’s Mobile facility has access to six national railroads, two interstate highways, 50 trucking companies, a regional airport, air cargo providers, port container facilities and direct access to waterways leading to the Gulf of Mexico.

“It’s a pretty attractive location in the sense that we’re in a designated industrial park that has room to grow,” Boisvert says. “We have three non-Evonik companies located here as well, in what we call our co-location concept.” The site, with its highperformance work systems, range of specialty chemicals, transportation advantages, land availability, and access to raw materials and markets, has proven ideal for third-party chemical producers who are reluctant to build a new plant on a greenfield site “And we’ve had a long history of operating these facilities in a safe way,” Boisvert says. “A fully equipped and experienced emergency team provides 24/7 fire, HAZMT, and medical response at the facility. Evonik’s Environmental, Health, Safety, Security and Quality group oversees programs that ensure the safety and health of employees, and the 24-hour staffingy registered nurses and medical technicians provides immediate on-site treatment. “Safety is a commitment that we take seriously every day,” Boisvert says.

“The nature of our unique specialty chemistry is what sets us apart,” Boisvert continues. Whether it’s creating hydrogen peroxide that will be used in water treatment or helping to create lightweight core foams for the aircraft and space program, Evonik is a company that thrives on the cutting-edge. This is thanks, in large part, to employees who are as dedicated to the work as they are valued by the company. With average employment of more than 14 years at the Mobile site, Boisvert celebrates the fact that “people come here to work and don’t leave.”

“As community partners, Evonik works tirelessly in support of local organizations and environmental stewardship,” explains Randy Rogers, director of site communications and governmental affair. “Through contributions and sponsorships, the company has supported the missions of countless charitable organizations, including the Gulf Coast Exploreum & Science Center, Ronald McDonald House of Mobile, the Environmental Studies Center, and United Way,” Rogers says. “Evonik is also fully committed to strict compliance with environmental regulations, sustainable development, and to the worldwide Responsible Care initiative of the chemical industry.”

Having experienced tremendous growth over the past six years, Evonik’s Mobile facility is well-situated for the future. In 2016, chemicals were the second largest export in Alabama, totaling $2.2 billion. This fact, paired with a strong local workforce and enviable transportation network, bodes well for Evonik’s Mobile facility and for other chemical producers who choose to take advantage of the site’s existing infrastructure. Another focus and commitment, Boisvert says, is to stay actively engaged with the surrounding community and local chambers of commerce. “We maintain on open door policy to our community and local leaders. We like giving the community a chance to see the impact our chemistry has on the world.”

opposite page: HeadquarteredinEssen,Germany,thecompanyoperatesinover100countriesacrosssixcontinents,with32,000employeesunitedbytheunderstanding thatnoproductissoperfectthatyoucan’tmakeitbetter. above: LocatedinsouthMobileCounty’sTheodoreIndustrialParkisthecampusofEvonik’slargestproduction facilityinNorthAmerica.This1,700-acresiteiswheresomeoftheworld’smostadvancedchemicaladditivesareproduced.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Chemical Corridor stretches 60 miles throughout the Mobile area. Chemicals rank as Alabama’s second largest export category, behind automobiles and auto products.

CourtesyEvonik

CourtesyEvonik

GWIN’S COMMERCIAL PRINTING

At one o’clock in the afternoon, an event planner phoned Michael Payne, president and CEO of Gwin’s Commercial Printing, with a problem. Their gala event was planned to begin in four hours, but the signage on the speaker’s podium was producing a terrible glare. Without a moment to spare, Payne sped downtown, measured the sign, had his designers create an identical version, and hand-delivered the glare-free substitute — just in the nick of time.

“You just do what you’ve got to do,” Payne says. “I like helping people. When someone’s in a bind, nothing gets my heart racing like when I’m able to solve a difficult proble”

Started by H.P. Gwin in 1913, Gwin’s Commercial Printing is a true Mobile original. “They did the social stationery for all of the Mardi Gras organizations and Mobile’s finet social events,” Payne says of the company’s long history. His family, which founded Copy Graphics in 1973, purchased Gwin’s in 1989.

Though undeniably woven into the fabric of old Mobile, Gwin’s Commercial Printing has nevertheless progressed to become one of the most technologically advanced commercial printers on the Gulf Coast. Offering cutomized, comprehensive solutions for the most demanding print projects, Gwin’s is large enough to provide the services their clients need, but still small enough to give them the personal attention they deserve.

In 2006, the company moved to Spring Hill Avenue and converted the building into a state-of-the-art, full-service print shop. Located near Broad Street, the 30,000-square-foot facility is run by 20 employees.

Gwin’s operates under a written mission statement to “always exercise the sum of our knowledge, experience, and creativity to help all of our clients achieve their communication goals promptly and professionally.” Payne summarizes succinctly, “We help our clients communicate.”

above from left to right: backrow:DavidRichardson,JennyPelham,KristalLee,MaryAnnRichardson,DanaPressley,MarnieWebb,TammyWallace frontrow:ErinWalters,TravisBailey,ToddGraves,ChristopherBerry,JohnEiland,SteveHall,KatyPayneCannon,MikePayne,LoriBertagnolli,BuddyEllis Notpictured:RandyOsmon,JanOsmon,MarissaMiller-Peevy,JoelArthur

The company is a full-service commercial printer featuring raised printing, engraving, foil stamping, embossing, die-cutting, a sixcolor automated press with aqueous coating and more. Graphic design services, typesetting, and high-speed digital printers are available, as well as large-format display printing up to 120 inches wide.

“We print signs, letterheads, notepads, calendars, envelopes, business cards, books — we do it all,” Payne says. Gwin’s also performs mailing services, with a little help from equipment that can print 25,000 envelopes in one hour. “When it’s really going, that machine sounds like a Gatling gun,” he says.

The team takes immense pleasure in seeing a print job evolve within the facility. “By providing mailing services, that means we’re able to take care of a project from start to finish” Payne says. “From the initial concept all the way to the client’s mailbox.”

In an industry that has experienced tremendous technological change, Gwin’s is proud that its tradition of firt-class customer service has survived the century intact. “Our goal is to solve the client’s problem,” Payne says. “And if we can’t do it, we will try to find somebody who can”

Among the company’s core values, Payne lists “care for the customer, and care for our team members. If our employees are happy, they’ll take good care of the clients.”

One way in which Gwin’s distinguishes itself among competitors in the industry is its employment of three full-time designers, whose job is to develop a client’s vision from a project’s earliest stage. “That’s a nice little niche that makes a big difference in our world Everybody wants a problem solved. If we can offer a client desig and print capabilities in one location, that’s one less place they need to go.”

With a client list that’s 90 percent local, Gwin’s Commercial Printing services some of the most recognizable businesses in the area. A visitor to the printing facility might find room ey holders created for the Grand Hotel, print collateral for Airbus, AM/NS Calvert, Outokumpu, Austal, Evonik or embossed invitations for Cooper/T.Smith.

As a community partner, Gwin’s finds itself in a ood position to support many charitable causes and organizations in the form of sponsorship or donated printing services. “We try to help a lot of folks,” Payne says, noting the company’s support for organizations such as the Child Advocacy Center, the Kyser Miree Fishing Tournament, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Victory Health Partners, Goodwill Easter Seals, Lions Club of Mobile, and the Rotary Club of Mobile.

For Payne, the path forward for Mobile’s premier printer is relatively straightforward.

“The design aspect we provide is important,” he says, “so we want to continue down that path to allow us to better serve our clients in print and other media. Other than that, we are just going to keep trying to do what we do better. We will continue to improve our processes and do even more to help people solve their problems. Because in the end, that’s what it’s all about.”

CourtesyCanforSouthernPine

Alabama is one of the most densely forested states in the U.S., so it’s no surprise that forestry products have been vital to the state’s economy for generations. Today, Mobile is the headquarters for Canfor Southern Pine, a division of the Canada-based Canfor Corporation, a leading producer in sustainable forestry products.

CourtesyCanforSouthernPine

CANFOR SOUTHERN PINE

When Canadian forest product company, Canfor, began looking to expand into the southern United States in 2006, it not only sought out successful sawmills steeped in family history but also ones that shared its commitment to quality products and superior customer service. That began with the purchase of New South Companies, which included mills in Camden and Conway, South Carolina, and Graham, North Carolina. In 2013, Canfor set its sights on Mobile.

Fred Stimpson, President of Canfor Southern Pine, was CEO of Mobile’s Scotch Gulf Lumber when Canfor approached the familyowned business in 2013.

“Our family had been in the sawmill business and selling quality southern yellow pine products for decades,” he says. “We had a long list of qualities for potential partners, and Canfor more than met them. We have maintained our legacy of wood products manufacturing in the US south and are benefiting from Canfor’s global markets and expertise.”

Since then, Canfor has expanded throughout the South, purchasing mills in Georgia, Mississippi, and Arkansas, and establishing its Canfor Southern Pine (CSP) US headquarters in Mobile.

Today, Canfor Corporation, is one of the world’s largest producers of sustainable lumber, pulp, paper and green energy, with over 50 production facilities and offices in eight countries and more tha 7,000 employees.

“I firmly beliee the forest products industry has a very exciting future, with the most potential and greatest opportunities,” says Don Kayne, Canfor president and chief executive offic. This certainly rings true with Canfor’s operations in the US South; Canfor Southern Pine now operates 12 sawmills, 2 Glulam plants and 1 finer-joint plant in the southeastern United States. It has an annual production capacity of 1.7 billion board feet, more than 2,000 employees, and is focused on diversification, in terms of bth markets and products, and innovation throughout the business.

From the renovated Van Antwerp building on Royal Street in downtown Mobile, 60 employees work diligently to maintain Canfor Southern Pine’s network of mills across six states; all focused on efficiently producing the hight quality southern yellow pine lumber.

“We have a fully integrated system that ties all of our mills together, so we can provide customers with a multitude of products and schedule on-time shipping — all under one invoice,” Stimpson says. Canfor Southern Pine’s Alabama mills are located in Mobile, Jackson and Fulton. One hundred and thirty dedicated employees work at the Mobile mill.

With a vision statement to be “the most innovative and sustainable global resource company delivering the highest value to our customers,” Canfor has found success through fie values: Safety comes firt. We succeed when our customers succeed. We are resilient and resourceful. We are a good neighbor in our communities and a responsible steward of the environment. We demonstrate integrity by doing what we say we are going to do.

A significant factor in the success of Canfor Southern Pine is its careful approach to capital improvements. In an industry that has grown increasingly technical, CSP has recognized that the modernization of its facilities and adoption of new technology is foundational to its growth, allowing it to meet customer needs efficient. In addition to capital improvements at mills across the South, the establishment of its EDGE system allows a customer to see all product lines, order, schedule delivery and receive invoices, all from one system.

When it comes to sustainability, CSP proactively reports on its environmental goals and performance, while ensuring that all of its mills are SFI-certified. urthermore, independent third-party certification of its foret management activities provides customers and stakeholders with an assurance of sustainability.

But the real secret to Canfor Southern Pine’s success isn’t much of a secret to Stimpson.

“Our most valuable asset is our people,” Stimpson says. “We are committed to investing in our folks. That investment starts with our pledge to put safety firt, provide a top-of-the-line benefits packae, and offer trong in-house technical training and leadership development, along with opportunities to advance within the company.”

If there’s any doubt about CSP’s optimism for the future, look no further than its acquisitions in the past several years and its goal for the future — to increase its production from 1.7 billion board feet to 2 billion board feet by 2021. Fulfilling its value to be a ood neighbor and community supporter, CSP, and its vision of growth, will benefit rural communities and prvide opportunities for existing employees. CSP also partners with local technical schools to meet its growing demand for skilled workers.

“In short,” Stimpson says, “I believe the lumber industry here in the South has a bright future as long as we take care of our people, our customers and our forests — three aspects that are of great value to Canfor today and in the future.”

QUINCY COMPRESSOR

You might be surprised to learn that almost every object you’ve encountered today was created, in part, using compressed air: the glass on your watch face, the coffee mug on your desk, even the clothes on your back. You might be even more surprised to learn that some of the world’s finet air compressors, used across an enormous range of industries, are manufactured in peaceful Bay Minette, Alabama, at Quincy Compressor.

“The world knows it operates off of electricit, gas, and water, but there’s a fourth essential utility — compressed air,” says Brad Camp, Operations Manager of Quincy’s Piston Technology Center.

Quincy Compressor’s roots can be traced back almost 100 years to downtown Quincy, Illinois, where George Gille, John Kathe, and George Wall founded the Wall Pump and Compressor Company. In 1924, the company expanded its product line beyond vacuum pumps designed for milking cows and changed its name to Quincy Compressor. The company grew with the increasing demand for compressed air, and in 1937, Quincy Compressor introduced the Quincy QR-25, a reciprocating air compressor that has become an industry symbol of quality.

In 1980, Quincy Compressor opened its Bay Minette plant, where it manufactures the world’s finet rotary screw and reciprocating air compressors, engineered to last for decades of heavy use and manufactured with reliability and durability in mind. Today, 225 employees at the Bay Minette facility continue the Quincy mission

of delivering uncompromising reliability and performance, customized for the most demanding applications. An industrial air compressor is essentially a “larger than life bicycle pump,” President Tim Last explains. “You can use the energy in that compressed air for many things — whether it’s blowing up tires or activating mechanical devices.”

Quincy compressors are used for everything from building Naval warships at Austal, bottling beer at Fairhope Brewing Company, supplying lifesaving vacuum and compressed air at medical facilities, and countless other applications. The products have an edge, Last explains, in part because of the company’s focus on domestic industry.

“We’re an American company whose design is almost exclusively for America,” Last says. “We only design for this market, which means our products are much more finely tuned to the things that you find in the .S., whether it’s the climate, the voltage, the kind of industry, the user.”

Quincy Compressor offers a wide rane of products from rotary (5 hp to 300 hp) and reciprocating air compressors (1 hp to 30 hp) to ancillary products from dryers to filter. “Applications range from home use to large industrial use,” says Marketing and Communications Manager Ashley Oberkirch. Quincy also backs its products with the industry’s best-extended warranties and 24-hour service via an extensive network of authorized dealers.

Quincy Compressor operates under three core values: reliability, courage, and resilience. “Those are things that we live by every day,” Last says. “It’s not just corporate jargon — it’s part of who we are.” Safety, says Vice President of Manufacturing John Daw, is another word that looms large. “We have a great safety record,” Daw says. “At our daily meetings, employee safety is always the firt topic of conversation.”

Community involvement is also a priority at Quincy Compressor. The company regularly sponsors Chamber of Commerce functions and even hosts its own events, such as Quincy Compressor Family Day where employees, their families, community members, and local businesses are invited to participate in fun activities and a factory viewing.

“Being involved with so many local events helps ensure the city of Bay Minette knows that there’s strong industry here to support the community and its economic growth,” says Parts and Pricing Manager Elizabeth Byrd. Quincy is also proud to have donated compressors to local fire tations as well as to the North Baldwin Center for Technology trade school.

But Quincy Compressor’s positive effect on the community doesn’t stop there. “If you look at the growth that we create as we expand our market and build more machines,” Camp says, “we start bringing companies and jobs into our supplier network and help businesses in Mobile and Baldwin Counties land here and get stabilized to support us, so there’s a scope that’s a lot bigger than this piece of property or the name on the outside of this building.”

Despite a long tradition of success, the brains at Quincy know that continuous innovation is key, whether that means continually developing their products, enhancing the customer experience, or constantly re-evaluating its safety protocol.

“We try to innovate in a lot of different direction,” Last says. Moving forward, one particular area of focus is the expansion of their customer base. “Ninety percent of our business is from repeat customers, which is amazing, but we also want to be more visible for new customers,” Last says.

To President Tim Last, the solution is simple: “Our legacy and our future is reliability.”

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Seafood along the Alabama coast is a vital industry, a source of recreation, and a staple of our restaurants, kitchens, and backyard cookouts.

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WARD INTERNATIONAL TRUCKS

The Ward Family has a history with the trucking industry that spans decades. Ward International Trucks, a full line International, Isuzu, and IC Bus dealership, has been serving the Mobile market since its founding by Bill Ward in 1985. In 1986, the company extended the boundaries of its operation to include Pensacola. Having an opportunity to expand the dealership network base even farther, the company acquired a third dealership in Tallahassee in 2003, allowing Ward International Trucks to serve trucking needs all along the Gulf Coast from Mississippi to I-75 in Florida.

From its strategic location on I-10 in the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, Ward’s Mobile facility provides new and used truck sales, truck leasing and rental, parts, service, and body repair, as well as serving as a school bus and commercial bus dealer for IC Corporation. Their three-acre facility boasts 18 service bays, six body shop bays, and a paint booth.

“We’re a local family, we live here,” says Leigh Ward Breal, Ward International Trucks’ Dealer Principal. “We do business as if we’re repairing and selling our own personal trucks.” Daughter of founder Bill Ward, Breal began working at the company in 1995, working her way through the ranks before being named Dealer Principal in 2012.

With new truck sales, Ward provides a full line of International and Isuzu trucks and IC school buses, including medium-duty, heavy-duty, and severe service. The dealership’s wide selection of

models is the most advanced product line on the market, featuring application-based design, Telematics, International 360, and other innovations designed to make your truck the most costefficient town and operate. Ward’s Used Truck Center offers a wide selection of day cabs, sleepers, and straight trucks, as well as a team of resale experts at the ready to explore your truck and financing otions.

Ward’s highly trained and factory-certified technicians mae full use of advanced tooling and diagnostic software to ensure less downtime and reduced labor bills. International, Cummins, and Isuzu certified technician, Ward can provide preventative maintenance, Department of Transportation inspections, and free quick check inspections with any preventative maintenance service.

Ward’s body shop is run by factory-trained collision repair specialists fluent in all maes and models. With the industry’s best turnaround times, Ward’s repair specialists guarantee minimal downtime but maximal professionalism.

The company’s clients run the gamut of industry; from construction companies to retailers, government agencies to beverage dealers, Ward is equipped to jump any trucking hurdle.

“We’ve always tried to be fair with our customers,” says Bill Ward. “It’s kind of a three-way street; the product, the dealer, and the customer all go together. And if you’re not satisfying one of those three, you’re not satisfying any of them.”

Throughout its history, Ward International Trucks has stood out among the competition by cultivating solid customer relationships. “We are friends with our customers, they are like family,” Breal says, “we want to fix the truck right the fit time and get it back on the road. Trucks move the world, and I’m proud to be a part of this industry.” The secret, her father says, isn’t all that complicated. “You need to listen to the customer twice, not just once,” Ward explains. “Because if you don’t have repeat business, you’re going to be out of business.”

“That all starts with hiring the right people,” Breal says and creating a culture in which Ward’s 150 employees can excel.

“I don’t like to call anyone an employee — they’re coworkers,” Breal says. “We’re all a family, we work together, and they make me proud every day.” Breal places emphasis on promoting from within, proudly telling the stories of managers working their way up from entry-level positions.

The proof is in the recognition; Bill Ward has won numerous

accolades, including the American Truck Dealers Association “Truck Dealer of the Year” Award in 2001, a momentous award in the trucking industry. International’s Circle of Excellence Award, honoring the top International Truck Dealers in the country. Isuzu’s Ichiban Award and the IC Bus Pursuit of Excellence Award. The Alabama Trucking Association also honored Bill Ward with its 2017 H. Chester Webb Award for outstanding service and commitment to the Alabama Trucking Association.

With an eye on the future, Ward International has embraced industry technology, equipping service technicians with the latest computer software and preparing for the industry’s future. One thing that won’t change is mutual respect between Ward International and its customers.

“Our customers know they can trust us,” Breal says. “Bill has built so many valuable friendships, and now I’m building those friendships with the next generation of those companies. We’re structured to be successful,” Breal continues. “We’re here to serve our customers and our community.”

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AM/NS CALVERT

Thirty-fie miles north of Mobile sits one of the most advanced steel finishing facilities in the world, but yo could be easily deceived when visiting the AM/NS Calvert campus. The 3,600-acre-property features a family of resident geese, acres of managed timber, and a pollinator garden to support the insects and plant species on the site.

“I think our campus really reflects the compay’s values as a whole,” says Communications Manager Brooke Dolbare. “We’re constantly looking at ways to utilize our property in a way that’s responsible and innovative — and we take the same approach when it comes to steelmaking.”

AM/NS Calvert is a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC). Purchased by ArcelorMittal and NSC in 2014, the plant has served the North American market since 2010 with the capacity to produce 5.3 million metric tons of flat-rolled carbon teel products annually. The cutting-edge facility includes a river terminal, hot strip mill, cold rolling mill, three hot-dip galvanizing lines, a rail yard, and supporting infrastructure.

The products created at the Calvert facility serve many industries including automotive, energy, construction, pipe and tube, service center, and appliance / HVAC industries, with an impressive portfolio of steel grades for high-value applications including hot rolled bands, hot rolled pickled and oiled, cold-rolled, and advanced coated products. AM/NS Calvert helps its parent companies, ArcelorMittal and NSC, to meet the increasing

demand for advanced high-strength steels that are needed to produce lighter-weight, more fuel-efficientehicles.

AM/NS Calvert operates under fie core values: safety, teamwork, accountability, relationships, and sustainability. Developed after gathering feedback from the company’s team members, the values put into writing what it means to be an AM/NS Calvert team member: from “promoting the health and wellness of each other and our families with a commitment to safety,” to “doing the right thing especially when no one is watching.”

One thing is certain — the leadership at AM/NS Calvert recognizes the value of a good team member. “People are our most valuable asset and are the key to our strength,” reads the company’s Purposes & Values statement. “Our interactions are based on transparency and mutual respect. Integrity, credibility, reliability, and consistency define eerything we do. Employee health and workplace safety have top priority.”

One of the many ways AM/NS Calvert has distinguished itself within the industry is by providing innovative and forward-thinking solutions. Within the company’s mission statement is a commitment to “use innovative technology to provide solutions for high-quality steel applications that consistently meet or exceed our customers’ expectations.”

“Our two parent companies are two of the most innovative and technologically advanced in the steel industry, thus keeping us ahead of the competition,” Dolbare adds.

As community leaders, AM/NS Calvert is second to none, having formed investment partnerships with organizations such as the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center, the Mobile Area Education Foundation, Mobile Baykeeper, Project Lead the Way, and the Wildlife Habitat Council. The company recognizes the importance of the Mobile area watersheds and the need to raise awareness about the role they play in the health of our local rivers, deltas and bays. To support this effort, AM/NS Calert has provided grants to Mobile Baykeeper to fund their creation of the Strategic Watershed Awareness and Monitoring Program (SWAMP).

In 2019, the company achieved the Wildlife Habitat Council’s Conservation Certification, demontrating a commitment to

environmental stewardship. The certification program is the onl voluntary sustainability standard designed for habitat enhancement and conservation education activities on corporate lands.

With one eye on the future, Dolbare says AM/NS Calvert looks to continue fulfilling its commitment to ecellence while exploring the changing landscape of steelmaking. The Company is committed to creating a sustainable future for generations to come through transformation and focusing on rapidly changing the way we work.

“We’re always looking at opportunities for growth and improvement,” Dolbare says.

U.S. AMINES

Exploring the 300 acres that make up the U.S. Amines property in North Mobile County, it would be easy to forget that the facility is one of North America’s largest producers of alkyl amines, chemical compounds that serve a variety of uses. Azaleas greet visitors at the entrance, Canada Geese lay their yearly eggs, and deer, turkeys, and wild hogs make regular appearances.

Beyond the picturesque is the practical. The Bucks, Alabama facility, in its 18th year of operation, employs 60 workers at its location in the LeMoyne Industrial Park off Higway 43. The privately held company produces chemical intermediates used to manufacture pharmaceuticals, corrosion inhibitors, and herbicides. Their product isopropylamine is a solvent for glyphosate herbicide, used in the familiar brand name Roundup. The herbicide is used by farmers on corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, and other genetically formulated crops. It effectiely kills harmful weeds while preserving the valuable crop all without polluting groundwater and is classifie as safe for use by the EPA.

In addition to the Mobile County plant, U.S. Amines has a second facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, as well as a subsidiary called African Amines in Newcastle, South Africa. The Bucks facility is international in its own right, shipping 75 million pounds of

amines annually throughout the U.S as well as Canada, Europe, South America, Japan, China, and Australia.

At U.S. Amines, safety has always been a top priority. All employees have the authority to shut down any process in order to maintain safe operations, and all plant equipment is subjected to mechanical integrity inspections. Safety devices, such as pressure relief valves and shutdown systems, are inspected and tested regularly.

Furthermore, all plant operators are trained in emergency response, firefighting, and mt pass a physical agility test. In addition to an extensive fire-fightingystem, the plant also has a portable emergency command vehicle complete with air monitoring equipment, radio and cellular phone systems, emergency response, and decontamination materials.

“I have enjoyed living in North Mobile County for over 40 years,” says Plant Manager Eldon Burr. “It’s been a great place to live, work, and raise a family, and I plan to help keep it that way. We enjoy meeting with our neighbors at the Lemoyne Industrial Park Community Advisory Panel meetings, where we demonstrate we run a clean and environmentally safe facility.” The abundant wildlife on the property is an indication it is a job well done.

STEINER SHIPYARD

In Bayou La Batre, the name Steiner has been synonymous with quality shipbuilding and repair for almost 70 years.

It all started three generations ago when Clarence Steiner, a determined man with a knack for construction, purchased a small shipyard in the “Seafood Capital of Alabama” with dreams of making his mark. Clarence came from a resourceful, hardworking family with marine know-how; in fact, as a young man, he and his brothers constructed two family shrimp boats, the Eagle and the Seagull, one of which still operates in Texas.

Clarence purchased the shipyard in 1954 and quickly established a solid reputation for wooden-boat repair that would endure for the next 15 years. In 1969, Clarence’s son Russell purchased the yard with a goal to grow the shipyard’s footprint and capabilities; soon, the Steiner family was not just repairing wooden boats but constructing steel and aluminum vessels. In the early days of his operation, Russell focused much of his attention on custom shrimp boats, but over the years he would expand his shipbuilding capabilities, constructing everything from passenger and cargo ferries, to ocean-going tugs, push boats and offshore supply essels.

While fostering Steiner’s growing reputation for shipbuilding, Russell was also known for cooking up big meals for clients and visitors to the shipyard, a personal touch that assured customers

that this family-owned business operated with an appreciation for the smallest detail and care.

The Steiner name even found itself on the biggest stage of all when Hollywood came calling in the early 2000s. The Black Pearl, the legendary pirate ship for the Walt Disney blockbuster film “The Pirates of the Caribbean,” was outfited at the family shipyard, a surreal experience that is described as one of the most interesting projects in the company’s history.

Family legacies, like well-constructed ships, tend to stick around for a while. From Father to son and now to his grandchildrenRussell’s daughter Tara Steiner Marshall, who was her dad’s VP for over 30 years has continued the original business. She is now owner and President of Steiner Shipyard. Russell’s son, Russell T. “Bubba” Steiner started Steiner Construction Company Inc. in 2010. Other grandchildren also work at both yards and are integral parts of the operations of the businesses.

“What makes Steiner Shipyard unique is that when people visit, they feel welcome,” Marshall says. “We provide southern hospitality in addition to building quality vessels.” A Steiner-run shipyard is more than a boat construction company — it’s a family legacy built into the very fabric of Bayou La Batre. In this way, Clarence Steiner’s business, like that early hand-built shrimp boat, lives on.

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ALABAMA ROLL PRODUCTS

The story of Alabama Roll Products (ARP), a diversified fabrication and heavy plate rolling company in Theodore, actually begins in 1960s Cuba. When the country’s communist government seized control of Gilbert Diaz’s fabrication company, the young man boarded a 12-foot skiff in search of a better life. After a full week on the water, Diaz and his fellow refugees were rescued off the coat of Key West, and soon he secured a job at a foundry in Miami.

Diaz would spend more than 30 years in the fabrication industry, mostly in Louisiana, before incorporating Alabama Roll Products in 1989. Today, his son Gilbert Diaz Jr. is taking his father’s legacy into the future.

In its 65,000-square-foot facility, ARP performs heavy fabrication and plate rolling to create products across an array of industries. The company manufactures lift boat legs, jacking towers, crane pedestals, and bow thruster tubes for the marine oil industry, as well as debarking drums and cement kilns for the industrial paper and construction industries. In 2006, ARP went international, constructing the legs and jacking towers for six lift boats in Vietnam. ARP is conveniently located just 3 miles from the Port of Theodore.

“After years of experience, we’ve mastered the art of doing this,” Diaz Jr. says. “Anything we put out the door must have our stamp of approval — meaning superior quality and reliability.” That word, reliability, is especially important, Diaz Jr. says, as 150 workers might someday be working on a lift boat whose legs were created by ARP.

ARP also prides itself on its punctual deliveries (as they know that delays can cost clients heavily) and its “untouchable” safety record. Weekly safety meetings ensure that employee protection is a top priority.

As for the future of ARP, Diaz Jr. hopes to expand the company’s capabilities into previously uncharted territory. Diaz Jr. is intrigued by the opportunities afforded y green energy, particularly offshore wind twers, and says he has “put our name out there for wind tower fabrication.”

ARP has also branched into the fabrication of large crosses, thanks to their well-publicized construction of a 218-foot-tall steel cross, now on display in Branson, Missouri. The success of that project has “opened up other opportunities,” and ARP is in the mix for three similar projects — further proof that the ARP story is far from complete.

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MARINE EXHAUST SYSTEMS OF ALABAMA INC.

Mark Coulson, president of Marine Exhaust Systems of Alabama Inc. (MESA), points to a collection of brand new, built on site exhaust products on the floor of his Fairhope facility. “These are bound for Colombia,” he says of one stack. “Those are going to Kansas. Those to Bolivia — no, Equador. And these are going to Italy.”

The client list is mind-boggling for the small facility on Nichols Avenue in Fairhope. Founded in 1982, MESA has a worldwide reputation for manufacturing a wide variety of components, from marine manifolds to heat exchangers to custom components with nothing to do with the marine industry. Its client list has included entities such as Caterpillar Engine Co., Cummins Engine Co., the U.S. Navy, Army, and Coast Guard.

Coulson, a longtime employee, purchased the company in 2016. “We custom fabricate and duplicate parts daily,” MESA’s website explains. “If you have an old part you want duplicated exactly, or if you have an off-thewall idea that you want to bring to life, we can help you. We can also design what you need, given your chosen specification. If we don’t make it, send in the sample, and we can!”

“We make equipment used across almost every industry,” Coulson says. “From irrigation to power generation, pumping stations to Disney rides — we’re building exhaust products for the majority of diesel engines out there.”

The company, with its 20 full-time employees, prides itself on its craftsmanship and ingenuity, so much so that a one-year warranty backs all of its products. “There is no limit to the quality and durability of any machine part we manufacture,” Coulson says. Reliability and customer service are hallmarks of MESA. “We bend over backward for our clients,” Coulson says. “We also take good care of our team. We’re truly a family around here, so that’s why we don’t have a lot of turnover. We’re big believers that if you take care of your team, they’ll take care of you.”

One focus for the future, Coulson explains, is to grow the company’s local client base. Karen Simmons, treasurer and CFO, adds, “We believe in this company so much. In 10 years, we’d like to double our business, both in size and scale, and I think we can do that. Because what we’re really selling to clients is a relationship, and once you do that, your potential for growth is unlimited.”

Steel production and fabrication play a major role in the local economy. Easy access to shipping by sea and rail make the Mobile Bay Area a logical choice for steel company operations.

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HYDRO TECHNOLOGIES

According to Ward Muller, president and owner of Hydro Technologies, the company’s vision is simple. “To stay committed to our people and our mission and to be community-minded and strive for excellence in everything that we do.”

Founded in 1984 in Mobile, Alabama, Hydro Technologies was purchased by Muller in 2018. Since its founding, the company’s mission has been to provide the Gulf Coast region with the highest quality services and products through partnerships with over 40 major manufacturers of hydronic HVAC, plumbing, process and fire prtection products for the industrial, institutional, and commercial building markets. With over 100 years of combined experience, Hydro’s expertise and professionalism has enabled it to represent the finet manufacturers.

“Our product line is top-notch,” Muller says. The company is also well-equipped, with approximately a half-million dollars of inventory at any given time. With over 10,000 square feet of warehouse and assembly space, Hydro has the capabilities for quick delivery of equipment and parts and is the area’s most extensive inventory of pumps, motors, boilers, tanks, piping accessories, motor variable frequency drives, motor starters and fire prtection equipment.

The company also employs a dedicated service staff that can troubleshoot, test and maintain the equipment it sells. “We have

a service manager and fie service technicians who we can send out to support everything we sell,” Muller says. “So, that’s a huge differentiator for u.”

With its team of 16 employees, Hydro provides expert sales and services to engineers, contractors and building owners in Alabama, Northwest Florida, and Mississippi. The company’s sales team offers decades of combined experience, but the job does nt end with the order commitment. Hydro’s employees regularly visit job sites and answer emergency-based calls after-hours.

“It’s extremely important to us that our technicians are welltrained,” Muller says, “because our customers are relying on us to do the right thing for them.”

Those working at Hydro are part of a family, Muller says. “There’s hardly anybody here who’s worked for Hydro for less than fie years — most of them 10,” he says. “We really are a family, and at the end of the day, we’re having fun working together towards the same goals.”

With the launch of modern software and a new website in 2019, Muller looks to cement Hydro’s position as a Mobile mainstay for years to come. “Just like it has been for the last 35 years.”

BASF

In 2009, the largest chemical company in the world acquired the manufacturing facility in McIntosh, Alabama. BASF Corporation purchased Washington County’s Ciba-Geigy site, a local fiture since 1952. Production continues, making ingredients for vibrant colors, engine lubricants, product durability, and many more applications for today and into the future.

“North America’s plastic additives business is growing,” says BASF’s Interim Site Director, Bob Mulholland. “Our business grows with that trend and the North American shale oil boom. We streamlined our processes to most effectiely meet the growth.”

which take in damaging UV light that attacks automotive finishes to preserve the shine. It is also used in photographic inks to keep colors vivid and in stains to protect wood finishe.

At BASF’s facility in McIntosh, needs are met in a two-unit factory of about 600 workers, including 300 employees and 300 contractors.

Mulholland explains, “Basically, all types of plastics have antioxidants in them to make the product last longer. BASF’s antioxidant (AO) unit produces a group of products that counteract the effects of heat and time in plastics.” The end result is exceptional color, higher durability and greater purity for food contact packaging.

In addition, another AO product produced at BASF McIntosh is added to industrial lubricants, engine oils and transmission fluids for equipment and motor protection from deposit formation. The other McIntosh manufacturing base is the Light Stabilizers unit with two main product families: tinuvin and hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS). Tinuvin products are light absorbers,

HALS products improve stability, preventing polymer degradation caused by UV rays. They are also used in other products including milk jugs, outdoor furniture, carpet, automotive coatings and yogurt containers.

Making it all happen is a 24/7 job at BASF. Ironically, this local branch of a megacorporation has a home and community atmosphere. “Many workers transferred to BASF when it purchased the Ciba site,” adds Mulholland. “We have a lot of long-term employees.”

“We have good benefit, pay and excellent opportunities for advancement,” Mulholland notes. BASF is also active in the community and is involved in corporate giving throughout the Gulf Coast area.

The company’s economic impact includes an annual payroll of $40 million, payment of more than $1.5 million in local and state taxes, and a capital expenditure range of $10-25 million annually as of 2019.

BASF Corporation has a slogan, “We create chemistry.” BASF’s chemistry is created in almost every country in the world, the U.S., and McIntosh, Alabama.

ASHTON AND COMPANY

Leslie Bryan acknowledges that her path to the industrial arena was not a typical journey. After losing her husband and brother in an automobile accident, Bryan shelved her plans of becoming a teacher and instead gained valuable experience in her family’s construction business. In 2015, she established Ashton and Company, a union contractor with a concentration in both industrial and specialty contracting services. The company excels in structural and mechanical services, as well as equipment installation, and provides direct-hire performance of heavy rigging, steel erection, piping fabrication, piping erection and millwright installations. Strategically located in Mobile County, the woman-owned business has access to two waterfront yards with roll-off capability and ver 100,000 square feet of shop space.

Ashton and Company is well-positioned to support an array of industries, including power & utility, oil & gas, chemical & petrochemical, the metals industry, pulp & paper, and heavy industrial (automotive, commercial buildings, food industry, warehousing). With a goal to match world-class craft labor with world-class customers, the company is committed to being fully transparent and ethical inside a framework that utilizes the many years of experience its organizational leadership encompasses. But the real secret to success, Bryan says, isn’t all that secret.

“The keys to Ashton and Company’s success will always be the employees and our ability to establish relationships with our customer base,” Bryan says.

At Ashton and Company, a safe project is built on the three principles of knowledge, training and audit. Safety awareness starts in the estimating phase and continues throughout the project until demobilization is complete. Its 300 employees are fully trained and perform their tasks to a defined tandard.

“The goal for our safety department is 100 percent for zero,” the company states. “If we can get 100 percent of our workforce to have the knowledge and implement that knowledge, the result of zero accidents is obtainable.”

As community partners, Ashton and Company supports many local programs, such as People for Care and Learning, FCA, the YMCA, Whatever Ministry and also partners with local schools to help with the future workforce. “We also continue to give back by offering quality emplyment in an environment where an employee can grow and excel,” Bryan says. “We are excited about the future of Ashton and Company and want to balance the growth and opportunities in a manner that allows our performance to maintain its quality and personal touch.”

MOBILE COCA-COLA

Since 1886, the recipe for Coca-Cola has remained unchanged; however, the Mobile Coca-Cola franchise has experienced many changes since the firt 565 gallons of syrup were shipped to the city in 1902.

Mobile Coca-Cola has been an integral part of the daily life and community history of Alabama’s port city for more than 115 years. The territory, initially owned by Crawford Johnson Sr. of Birmingham, Alabama, was purchased by brothers Walter and Will Bellingrath in September of 1903. The new business sold 1,800 cases in the firt year.

The success of Mobile Coca-Cola, and the continued community engagement by the Bellingrath Family, led to the establishment of Bellingrath Gardens, considered one of Alabama’s top tourist attractions, and America’s Junior Miss program which began in Mobile.

In 1972, construction began on a new state-of-the-art plant at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Highway 90. The firt bottles were produced in 1974 at the facility that is still the home to Mobile Coca-Cola today.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Fredrick in 1979, the Mobile franchise experienced a series of transitions that saw a change in ownership from a family business to a regional bottler operated by Coca-Cola Consolidated in 1985.

Some of product innovations during the next 30 years would include the introduction of Fresca, the production of 20-ounce recyclable plastic bottles, the placing of 12-pack cans into cardboard containers, the addition of Minute Maid juices and the acquisition of Dr Pepper.

In October of 2017, Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc., headquartered in Birmingham, acquired the Mobile territory, which included a production facility and three sales centers in Mobile, Leroy and Robertsdale. Coca-Cola UNITED is the second largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler in North America and the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the U.S. Coca-Cola UNITED was founded in Birmingham by Crawford Johnson, Sr. the same individual from whom the Bellingraths purchased the Mobile franchise in 1903.

Today, Mobile Coca-Cola employs 285 associates and operates three bottling lines that produces 5,857 cases per hour. The company produces 13 million cases annually for Mobile and the southeast.

The community commitment of Mobile Coca-Cola continues by playing key roles with The Senior Bowl, The Mobile, Alabama Bowl, and The Gulf Coast Exploreum.

Coca-Cola Bottling UNITED today has approximately 10,000 associates located in more than 60 facilities across six southeastern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee).

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Through the centuries, shipyards great and small have flourished in Bayou La Batre, the Port of Chickasaw, and Mobile. From a history of master craftsmen hewing everything from shrimp boats to cargo ships, comes today’s Austal USA in Mobile, which builds Littoral Combat ships for the Navy.

AustalUSA

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WOERNER FARMS

The Woerner family’s roots are deep in rural, southern Alabama. Thanks to more than a century in the agriculture business, Woerner Farms products continue to enrich communities throughout the intercontinental United States. In such a challenging industry, the fundamental principle is that resiliency leads to sustainability, something the Woerners have known for generations.

What began as a produce company in the early 20th century pivoted to sod farming in the 1970s. The sod crop proved to be far more resistant to the perils of weather and market fluctuation than traditional commodities such as grain, soybeans and potatoes. Woerner Farms’ transition to sod — and the company’s subsequent expansion, which includes farms and retail centers in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Colorado and Hawaii — speaks of management’s forward-thinking philosophy.

“Some of the greatest accomplishments we’ve ever had came from adversity,” said CEO George Woerner. “That’s when innovation comes in.”

On the forefront of agricultural science, Woerner Farms developed its signature Woerner’s Classic St. Augustine grass to resist disease and insects, and require half as much water as traditional St. Augustine sod, while still retaining its lush dark green hue. At its peak, about 10 percent of all St. Augustine planted in Florida was Woerner’s Classic, making it one of the most popular sod types in Florida.

George Woerner is especially proud of how his company’s products prevent erosion and need less and less chemical fertilizer than other products on the market, a result of his company’s belief in the necessity of being good stewards of the environment.

“Agriculture has always been about protecting the land and the environment because that’s how we make our living,” he said. “If we mistreat it, then it doesn’t produce.”

Woerner Farms has always been a family company, and that tradition continues today. George’s son Allen, is the managing partner, overseeing the sod farms; his oldest daughter Angela, handles product development for four retail centers; and younger daughter Christina, has created an affiliate ofoerner Farms called SoilKit by AgriTech Corp., which her father feels will play a significant role in the family business mving forward.

SoilKit provides state-of-the-art soil analysis and is an example of what Woerner calls “precision agriculture,” which includes the company’s use of GPS-equipped autonomous mowers and autostack harvesters. Advancements in precision agriculture are why Woerner Farms is moving forward as an industry leader and gathering team members that want to move agriculture into the next generation.

“Our contribution, beyond the environment, is our people,” Woerner said. “All the things we’re doing right now are to give them a livelihood, sustainable living and continue the legacy of the family farming business.”

Seasonal produce for sale at McKenzie Farm Market in Fairhope, Alabama

ColbyLysne|Dreamstime

EricaEssick|Dreamstime

CORPORATE SPONSOR INDEX

3Circle Church

10274 State Hwy. 104 Fairhope, AL 36532 (251) 990-3112

3circlechurch.com

pg. 106

Air Specialty of South Alabama 4440 McCrary Road Semmes, AL 36575-4440 (251) 649-0701

air-specialty.com

pp. 190-191

Airbus Americas, Inc.

1801 South Broad St. Mobile, AL 36615 (251) 434-7200

airbus.com

pp. 270-271

Alabama Power Company

150 St. Joseph St. Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 694-2361

alabamapower.com

pp. 248-249

Alabama Roll Products

5350 Laurendine Road Theodore, AL 36582 (251) 973-0120

alabamarollproducts.com

pg. 310

Alabama State Port Authority

250 N. Water St. Mobile, AL 36633 (251) 751-3497

alports.com

pp. 220-221

AltaPointe Health

5750-A Southland Dr. Mobile, AL 36693 (251) 406-0363

altapointe.org

pg. 151

AM/NS Calvert

1 AM/NS Way Calvert, AL 36513 (251) 289-4185

northamerica.arcelormittal.com/our-operations/ am-ns-calvert

pp. 302-303

American Tank & Vessel, Inc.

1005 Government Street Mobile, AL 36603 (251) 432-8265

at-v.com

pp. 280-281

APM Terminals Mobile 901 Ezra Trice Blvd. Mobile, AL 36603 (908) 966-1841

apmterminals.com

pp. 224-225

Ashton and Company

1200 B Radcliff Rd Saraland, AL 36507 (251) 680-4903

ashtonandco.com

pg. 316

Baldwin County Federal Credit Union 2509 N. Hand Bay Minette, AL 36507 (251) 937-0334 baldwincountyfcu.com

pg. 211

BASF

1379 Ciba Rd. McIntosh, AL 36553 (251) 242-9090

basf.com

pg. 315

Bayou La Batre Area Chamber of Commerce 12701 Padgett Switch Rd. Irvington, AL 36544 (251) 824-1043

bayoulabatreareachamber.org

pg. 58

Bell & Company

765 S. Conception Street Mobile, AL 36618 (251) 533-3334

bellandco.net

pg. 235

Bishop State Community College 351 North Broad Street Mobile, AL 36603-5898 (251) 405-7135

bishop.edu

pp. 124-125

Briggs Equipment Company

1301 W. I-65 Service Road M. Mobile, AL 36618 (251) 404-2445

www.briggsequipment.us

pp. 282-283

Canfor Southern Pine

101 Dauphin Street, Suite 600 Mobile, AL 36602 (559) 940-0982

canfor.com

pp. 292-293

Cardio-Thoracic & Vascular Surgical Associates, P.C. 1855 Springhill Avenue Mobile, AL 36607 (251) 643-1837

infirmaryhealth.orglocations/cardio-thoracic-vascular-surgical-associates/ pp. 140-143

Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce 23150 AL-59 Robertsdale, AL 36567 (251) 947-2626

centralbaldwin.com

pg. 66

Century Bank

127 West I-65 Service Road, N Mobile, AL 36608 (251) 380-8470

centurybank.net pp. 186-187

City of Chickasaw Chamber of Commerce 224 N. Craft Highway Chickasaw, AL 36611 (251) 452-6450

chickashachamber.com pg. 51

Coastal Alabama Business Chamber 3150 Gulf Shores Parkway Gulf Shores, AL 36542 (251) 968-7200

mygulfcoastchamber.com pg. 70

Coastal Alabama Community College 1900 Highway 31 South Mobile, AL 36507 (251) 580-2281

coastalalabama.edu

pp. 130-131

Condé-Charlotte Museum 104 Theatre Street Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 327-0451

condecharlotte.com pg. 108

Cooper/T. Smith

118 N. Royal Street Mobile, AL 36633 (251) 554-5417

coopertsmith.com pg. 229

Cowles, Murphy, Glover & Associates

457 St. Michael Street Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 433-1611

cmg-a.com pg. 202

CPSI

6600 Wall Street

Mobile, AL 36695 (612) 927-3363

cpsi.com

pg. 155

Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce

P.O. Box 5

Dauphin Island, AL 36528 (251) 861-5524

dauphinislandchamberofcommerce.com pg. 59

Doc’s Seafood

P.O. Box 916

Gulf Shores, AL 36547 (251) 974-5000 docsseafoodshack.com

pg. 103

Dockside Services

500 Beauregard Street

Mobile, AL 36601 (251) 490-6842

dockside-services.com

pg. 230

Drug Education Council

3000 Television Avenue Mobile, AL 36606 (251) 751-3665

drugeducation.org

pg. 173

Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce

327 Fairhope Avenue

Fairhope, AL 36532 (251) 928-6387 eschamber.com

pg. 62

Enveloc

775 N. University Boulevard, Suite 110 Mobile, AL 26608-4545 (251) 510-0677

enveloc.com

pg. 259

Evonik Corporation 4201 Evonik Road

Theodore, AL 36538 (251) 443-4236

corporate.evonik.com

pp. 284-285

Exceptional Foundation Gulf Coast 28788 N. Main Street

Daphne, AL 36526 (251) 509-4913

exceptionalfoundationgc.org

pg. 172

G.A. West & Company

1200 Radcliff Roa Creola, AL 36525 (251) 679-1965

gawest.com

pp. 182-183

Gigi & Jay’s

400 Fairhope Avenue Fairhope, AL 36532 (251) 463-4436

gigiandjays.com

pg. 110

Gulf Rebel Charter Fishing 4680 Burkhart Lane Orange Beach, AL 36561 (251) 981-3119

gulfrebelcharters.com

pp. 86-87

Gulf State Park

20115 State Highway 135 Gulf Shores, AL 36542 (251) 540-4000 mygulfstatepark.com

pp. 82-83

Gwin’s Commercial Printing

957 Springhill Avenue Mobile, AL 36604 (251) 438-2226

gwinsprinting.com

pp. 288-289

Harper Technologies

50 N. Broad Street Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 690-9029

harpertechnologies.com

pg. 258

Hill & Brooks Coffee and Tea Company

3278 Halls Mill Road Mobile, AL 36606 (251) 476-1234

hillandbrooks.com

pp. 274-277

Hydro Technologies

1047 Sledge Drive Mobile, AL 366316 (251) 680-8986

hydrotechnologies.com

pg. 314

Infirmary Health

1 Mobile Infirmary Circle, Suite 30 Mobile, AL 36607 (228) 234-4455

infirmaryhealth.or

pg. 150

Islanders Restaurant 1504 Bienville Boulevard Dauphin Island, AL 36528 (251) 861-2225

facebook.com/islandersrestaurantbar pg. 113

Mamun Siddiq Re/Max Partners

7221 Grelot Road, Suite B Mobile, AL 36695 (251) 391-2047

remax.net

pg. 214

Marine Exhaust Systems of Alabama Inc. 757 Nichols Avenue Fairhope, AL 36532 (251) 928-1234

mesamarine.com

pg. 311

Mobile Chamber of Commerce

451 Government Street Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 433-6951

mobilechamber.com

pp. 46-47

Mobile Area Water & Sewer System 4725 Mofftt Road Mobile, AL 36618-0249 (251) 422-3998

mawss.com pp. 244-245

Mobile Coca-Cola 5300 Coca-Cola Road Mobile, AL 36619 (251) 665-3271

cocacolaunited.com pg. 317

Mobile County Commission 205 Government Street Mobile, AL 36644 (251) 574-5088

mobilecountyal.gov pp. 42-43

Mobile Memorial Gardens Funeral Home 6040 Three Notch Road Mobile, AL 36619 (251) 661-7700

legacyfuneralgroup.com pg. 215

Mosley Building Systems 7245 Arden Road Chunchula, AL 36521 (251) 675-4411

mosleybuildingsystems.com pg. 206

North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce

301 McMeans Avenue Bay Minette, AL 36507 (251) 937-5665

northbaldwinchamber.com pg. 63

Paul Bridges and Associates

156 St. Anthony Street Mobile, AL 36603 (251) 445-2974

pbacorp.com pg. 231

Quincy Compressor

701 N. Dobson Avenue Bay Minette, AL 36507 (251) 937-5900

quincycompressor.com pp. 294-295

CORPORATE SPONSOR INDEX

Reney’s Honey Butter

11708 Jeff Hamilton Roa Mobile, AL 36695 (251) 545-3840

reneyshoneybutter.com

pg. 112

Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce 939 Saraland Boulevard South Saraland, AL 36571 (251) 675-4444

saralandchamber.com

pg. 50

Sassy Bass 4715 Millhouse Road

Gulf Shores, AL 36542 (251) 968-8487

sassybass.com

pg. 109

Seabulk Towing 1303 Alabama State Docks Boulevard Mobile, AL 36603 (251) 802-1274

seabulkgroup.com

pg. 234

Semmes Chamber of Commerce 8740 Mofftt Road Semmes, AL 36575 (251) 660-4808

semmeschamber.org

pg. 54

South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce 200 N. Alston Street Foley, AL 36536 (251) 943-3291

southbaldwinchamber.com

pg. 67

SouthWest Mobile County Chamber of Commerce 5055 Carol Plantation Road Mobile, AL 36619 (251) 666-2488

swmcchamber.com

pg. 55

Steiner Shipyard 8640 Hemley Street Bayou La Batre, AL 36509 (251) 680-6102

steinershipyard.com

pg. 307

Stewart & Whatley Builders 440 Azalea Road Mobile, AL 36691 (251) 776-2888

stewartandwhatley.com

pg. 198

The American Equity Underwriters, Inc. 11 North Water Street, 32nd Floor Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 690-4238

amequity.com

pp. 194-195

The Flora-Bama Lounge and Package 17401 Perdido Key Drive Perdido Key, FL 32507 (251) 236-1765

florabama.co

pg. 102

The Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa 1 Grand Boulevard Point Clear, AL 36564-0639 (251) 990-6322 grand1847.com

pg. 91

The Hiller Companies, Inc. 3751 Joy Spring Drive Mobile, AL 36691-1508 (404) 840-7138

lagniappebranding.com

pg. 210

The Lodge at Gulf State Park 21196 East Beach Boulevard Gulf Shores, AL 36542 (251) 923-2909

lodgeatgulfstatepark.com

pg. 99

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians 5811 Jack Springs Road Atmore, AL 36502 (251) 359-1785

pci-nsn.gov

pp. 76-79

The SSI Group 4721 Morrison Drive Mobile, AL 36609 (251) 991-4395

thessigroup.com

pg. 256

The Stewart Lodges at Steelwood 32311 Waterview Drive East Loxley, AL 36551 (251) 602-1300

stewartlodgeatsteelwood.com

pg. 95

The United Way of Southwest Alabama 218 St. Francis Street Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 599-3311

uwswa.org

pg. 169

The Waterworks & Sewer Board of the City of Prichard 125 East Clark Avenue Prichard, AL 36610 (251) 457-3396

prichardwater.com pp. 252-253

Thompson Tractor Co., Inc 30950 State Highway 181 Spanish Fort, AL 36527 (251) 377-0167

thompsontractor.com pg. 203

Three Georges Candy Shop 558 S. Broad Street Mobile, AL 36603 (251) 786-0775

3georges.com

pg. 90

Trawick Insurance Brokerage 858 Butler Drive, Suite. B Mobile, AL 36693 (251) 509-7280

trawickinsurance.com

pg. 199

U.S. Amines 14086 U.S. Highway 43 N. Axis, AL 36512 (251) 829-3757

usamines.com pg. 306

University of South Alabama 307 University Boulevard N., Suite AD 280 Mobile, AL 36688-0002 (251) 460-6211

southalabama.edu pp. 118-119

USA Health 2451 Fillingim Street Mobile, AL 36617-2293 (251) 471-7000

southalabama.edu/aboutusa/usahealth.html pg. 146-147

Visit Mobile 1 South Water Street Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 208-2003

mobile.org pg. 98

Volunteers of America Southeast 1204 Hillcrest Road Mobile, AL 36695 (251) 338-1252

voase.org pg. 154, pp. 164-165, pg. 207

Ward International Trucks

2101 Perimeter Road

Mobile, AL 36615 (228) 617-3061

wardintltrucks.com

pp. 298-299

Wilmer Hall

3811 Old Shell Road

Mobile, AL 36608 (251) 342-4931

wilmerhall.org

Pg. 168

Wintzell’s Oyster House

5418 Old Shell Road

Mobile, AL 36608 (251) 422-9781

wintzellsoysterhouse.com

pg. 94

Woerner Farms

110 E. Azalea Avenue

Foley, AL 36535 (251) 923-6345

woerner.com

pg. 320

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Airbus