2013 Faces and Places: Homegrown

HOMEGROWN The Faces and Places that make Franklin County

A special publication of the Franklin County Times

July 2013

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his summer we chose to take a look at some of the industries that are the lifeblood of Franklin County.

These folks build products that serve people all over the world and in doing so, insure a stable workforce that helps our county’s residents and our economy.

Of course, not all of the great industries that serve our community were able to be included in this

Tiffin Motorhomes

CNC Woodcrafters

FACES & PLACES

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Clark Pulley

G&G Steel

Career/ tech

22 Roadgear

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— Jonathan Willis, Publisher

Distinctive Designs

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ing. There are many things that we should be proud of in Franklin County and one of those is the benefit of having many stable companies that, in many cases, were founded right here at home by local people.

We would like to thank and salute the many fine companies and businesses that call Franklin County home.

B&B Roadway

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7 Alabama Stone Co.

special issue of Faces and Places.

Different circumstances dictated which companies we were able to profile, so it is important to note that there are countless others who mean so much to Franklin County as well.

I hope you enjoy flipping through these pages and learning a little more about some of the great faces and places of Franklin County.

We hope you will find this to be informative as well as entertain-

25 Our farmers

28 Our poultry farmers

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Teamwork 3

Certified Federal DOT Testing

Wooten Chiropractic & Pre-Employment P.C. Department of Transportation Physicals with Medical Card On Site Drug Testing Breath Alcohol 256-331-0208 • Jackson Ave., Russellville

Publisher Jonathan Willis Editorial Kellie Singleton, Hannah Mask and J.R. Tidwell Sales Peggy Hyde, Nicole Pell and Emily Pendley www.franklincountytimes.com P.O. Box 1088 • Russellville, AL 35653 Composing Karen McAfee 256-332-1881 • fax: 256-332-1883 www.franklincountytimes.com

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FACES & PLACES

BUILT BY:

Tiffin Motorhomes

W

hen Bob Tiffin founded Tiffin Motorhomes in Red Bay in 1972, he was 30 years old.

“We built five units in 1972,” Tiffin recalled in his office, where he serves as chairman and president of the board of the company that is now in its 41st model year. “But they were the 1973 model.”

In Red Bay and the nearby Mississippi communities in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, motorhome businesses made up a fair portion of the economy. The Commodore Co., which was based in Red Bay, closed its doors in 1968, and the two Mississippi companies, STORY BY Sunliner and Safari, HANNAH MASK closed soon after.

“I’d sold (the three motorhome companies) supplies from Tiffin Supply Co., and I’d gotten acquainted with the RV business,” Tiffin said. “When they went broke, I told my dad, ‘That would be a good business for us to get into.’”

Though to some, getting into the same business venture that had just bankrupted three others might seem ill-advised, the main thing Tiffin said he kept in mind was simply getting the product sold.

“I knew, in the very beginning, if I could get the motorhomes sold, I could figure the rest out,” he said. “The motorhomes got us started, but we’ve carried the business with service.”

Of the four or five employees that comprised the Tiffin Motorhome payroll in 1972, Tiffin said Johnny Hargett, who worked as a salesman for 11 years before taking another job, was instrumental in getting the business off the ground.

“I’d worked with Commodore, and then Sunliner when they bought (Commodore) out,” Hargett said. “I knew dealers all over the country.”

For liability reasons, motorhome manufacturers cannot sell directly to the public and must instead distribute their products directly to dealerships.

Despite his connections, Hargett said because Tiffin Motorhomes was a startup company, he had to try to make a sell from a parking lot outside of an arena where motorhomes were being featured for dealerships.

“We were in Louisville, Ky., in a parking lot in December,” he laughed. “When you were brand new, you couldn’t get in the show. (The show’s organizers) tried to run

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us off, but they couldn’t.”

Still, Hargett said he was able to sell 10 or 12 of the 1973 models Tiffin Motorhomes was producing.

By the time that year came, Tiffin said the company was producing a unit per day.

“We were able to hire people who knew what they were doing,” he said.

“Commodore alone had 200 employees, so they could come on and start building right out of the gate.”

Tiffin Motorhomes now produces 12 units per day, 50 days per year. It is one of six companies left in the industry that are able to produce at that level, Tiffin said.

The processes for building the various models Tiffin Motorhomes offers, such as the Allegro Red, the Phaeton and the Zephyr, are similar, said Mark Richardson, systems applications and products functional analyst.

Some of the supporting framework, or chassis, is purchased from makers such as Ford, but supporting framework for Allegro Buses and Allegro Breezes are built by Tiffin Motorhomes employees, Richardson said.

“We begin with the bare chassis, make modifications and additions at the

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welding shop, then send it up the production line to be produced,” he said.

Once a motorhome is completely constructed, it is sent to a Tiffin Motorhome location in Belmont, Miss., for “final finish,” Richardson said.

“The completed, painted unit leaves from Belmont to be delivered,” he added.

The method of delivery depends upon where the units are going, and as the 1,250-employee company has not yet stopped broadening its horizons, units could always go somewhere new.

For example, Richardson said in the past few months, Tiffin Motorhomes has expanded to include distributions to dealerships in Japan and China, which meant units were loaded onto freighters for distribution.

Though nothing has been finalized, a company in Australia has also expressed interest in forming a partnership.

No matter how large the company has become or may eventually be, Tiffin said there has never been a doubt in his mind that the company should continue to be based in Red Bay. “There’s a lot of benefit to being in Red Bay,” he said.

“When I graduated high school in 1960, a lot of the boys left town. You could catch the Seminole train at 10 p.m. and be in Chicago at 4 a.m. I said, ‘Someday, we need to have industry in Red Bay.’” Tiffin said Red Bay’s location on a map is ideal. For example, by drawing a circle over Red Bay with a radius of 850 or 900 miles, 75 percent of the population of the U.S. is covered.

“We have just as good an opportunity to delivery from here as anywhere else,” he said. “And our people have a good work ethic. I knew their parents, and their grandparents — you can’t beat that.”

That’s more than true in his case, where his sons, Tim, Lex and Van now help manage and run the business.

But he also pointed out that many of the people he employs have been with him for nearly all of the 41 years Tiffin Motorhomes has been in business, including a secretary who was in the group of four or five employees hired in 1972.

“We’ve been able to have the best record of service after the sell and the men and ladies who work here are responsible for that,” he said.

FACES & PLACES

BUILT BY:

Distinctive Designs

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alking into the showroom at Distinctive Designs International Inc., a person will soon realize that the Russellville-based business has just about everything needed to transform a drab living space into a beautifully decorated room that anyone could be proud of.

Distinctive Designs, which has bolstered the local economy as a top-performing business for more than 30 years, is a unique importer, designer and manufacturer of décor products that beautify homes, hotels, resorts, STORY BY retirement communities, office complexes KELLIE SINGLETON and government facilities throughout North America and overseas.

Even though the company has a wideranging market area, the roots of Distinctive Designs run deep in the Russellville community.

Emma Hoffmann, the president, chief designer and driving force of the company, learned the flower business growing up and working in her mother and father’s company that many will remember as FlowerCraft, Inc.

FACES & PLACES

FlowerCraft served Russellville as a fresh flower florist and also sold artificial floral arrangements and funeral decorations around the country.

After graduating from Stephens College with a degree in interior design, Emma married Tom Hoffmann and returned to Russellville to help run FlowerCraft, but as with any creative person, she already had ideas about how she could expand the company by making artificial arrangements that were both lifelike and fashionable and developing more high-end home décor to suit a variety of needs.

Distinctive Designs was originally developed in 1978 as a high-end home furnishings product line of FlowerCraft, and since the Hoffmanns incorporated Distinctive Designs International Inc. (DDI) as a separate company in 1981, the company has been growing extensively ever since.

“What I have tried to do is basically re-invent fashion, just like any fashion designer would do,” Hoffmann said.

“The result is that I have a job that is never dull, never boring, and it is something that I love doing.”

Emma said when she first got started in the business, the

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technology at the time limited the way arrangements were made, but as technology advanced, so did the Distinctive Design products.

“I am constantly working with the newest technology to make sure our products are the best quality available,” Hoffmann said.

Dick Hoffmann, sales management and channel development for Distinctive Designs, said Emma’s keen eye and creativity have actually played a major role in floral design all over the world.

“Emma was a very big part of redesigning and helping this industry evolve over the years,” he said.

“She makes trips overseas to personally design the components that go into our arrangements so our customers know they are getting something that has been carefully crafted to be the best quality and have the best appearance.

“It’s quite impressive that someone from right here in Russellville has made such a large impact on this industry.”

With more than 3,000 individual products in seven extensive product lines of artificial floral arrangements, plants and greenery, trees, coordinated decorative accessories and seasonal holiday items, it’s easy to find items that will match any taste, style and budget.

Many in the area associate Distinctive Designs with their wholesale business that deals with international sourcing and import of components, product design, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution to the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

But Dick Hoffman said they have a spacious showroom located at their facilities in the Russellville Industrial Park that is open to the public and highlights the unique product line for shoppers that the company attracts from throughout Northern Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

“Our showroom serves two purposes – it is available for our dealers to get an idea of what they want or need, and it is also available to our local customers who may be looking for that certain item to go in their home, office, or other space,” he said.

“While we offer products year-round, the holidays are a very busy time for us and a time when many local shoppers are looking for unique wreaths, garland, swags, and Christmas trees to decorate their homes.”

Distinctive Designs employs more than forty people who handle the functions of product design, manufacturing, packaging and distribution in the 120,000 sq. ft. facility.

“One of the strengths of Distinctive Designs is its ability to innovate in the design, development and delivery of products to meet demand nationwide,” Dick Hoffmann said.

“The talented people of Distinctive Designs basically take a piece of creative and delicate art, transform it into a massproduced, assembly-line product, package it for careful shipment and distribute it all over North America.”

Because of the high quality of their products, Distinctive Designs is a six-time winner of the prestigious ARTS “Manufacturer of the Year” award and was inducted into ARTS Award Hall of Fame in 2002.

But company officials say that all of those award-winning qualities that make the company what it is can be traced right back to its people, many of which who have been with the company for 20 years or more.

“We have wonderful people here who are dedicated to their work and to creating a quality product,” Emma Hoffman said.

“Many of the employees have lived and worked in this community for many years and that is something we are proud of.”

To find out more about the products available at Distinctive Designs, visit their website at www.distinctivedesigns.com.

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FACES & PLACES

BUILT BY:

Alabama Stone Company

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ot far from Highway 43 lies the community of Rockwood.

The origins of the town lie with Alabama Limestone Company, which is mentioned in many issues of the Franklin County Times during the first half of the 1960s due to the ongoing workers’ strike.

Violence was reported on several occasions, including shots from high-powered rifles being fired into the plant and at workers and equipment.

A two-story office building was even blown up during this trying time for the company. This incident was reported to have been over a dispute between management and workers over a single cent an hour in pay.

However, hostilities eventually ceased.

Fast forward to 2013 and the company is now known as Alabama Stone Company, and the limeSTORY BY stone manufacturing operation is as large J.R. TIDWELL as it has ever been in the small community of Rockwood.

The following information comes from source materials gathered by Tracye Harrison, the general manager of the company.

FACES & PLACES

Alabama Stone Company has been producing Alabama Shadow Vein stone since 1885. The company started as T.L. Fossick Company. When Mr. Fossick found this limestone deposit, it was the largest in the area. The Fossick family named the area Rockwood from the stone, or rocks, that would be quarried, and the land’s original owner was the Wood family.

When the railroad was built and came through Russellville, the T.L. Fossick Company built Fossick Branch line from the Birmingham, Sheffield and Tennessee River Railroad at Isbell to their quarry at Rockwood some two miles west. This was done at the Fossick’s own expense.

They also built a town for the company employees, including the county’s first Roman Catholic Church. The Fossick family sold the company when T.L. Fossick, Sr., died in 1908, whereupon his son sold the company to a Nashville firm.

During World War II (in 1941) the company postponed the fabrication of stone to help with the shortage of shells and other high-powered ammunition. The shells produced were stamped with Rockwood Alabama and shipped to Germany.

Since the company’s founding it has changed owners several times, but Vetter Stone Company, Inc., from Mankato, Minn.,

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has been the owner since 1998.

The operation is now known as the Alabama Stone Company.

Major modernization has been made to the fabricating facility where the stone is cut, including remodeling the entire building starting in the fall of 1999.

The Rockwood Quarry tunnel goes back about 2,000 feet and is about 2,400 feet wide and about 35 feet high.

Stone is shipped all around the United States and the world, including Montana, Michigan, New York, California, Canada and Argentina.

“I started in drafting in the late ‘80s for this company, but for different owners,” Harrison said.

“I left here to work for another company for a short time, but otherwise I’ve been here since then. I’m the general manager.

“I do invoicing, lining out production and I make sure everything is running safely.

“We fabricate limestone for all kinds of buildings, like courthouses. The University of Alabama has a lot of our stone. We ship all over, but mostly in the United States.”

Several large slabs of limestone are currently being cut to speck for a fountain project for the University of Alabama.

The final product will be included in the fountain project at UA, but it takes a lot of hard work by company employees before the finished pieces will ever reach the Capstone.

“We have an underground quarry,

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so everything starts there,” Harrison said. “We have to cut the stone out of the ground.

“We then bring it to the plant. We start with a set of architectural plans from the drafting department, and then they will send drawings out for approval once we get the contract.”

The stone then goes through a series of equipment that cuts the stone to whatever specifications needed for the order.

Both water and mechanical blade cutting methods are used to shape the stone into the final product.

The amount of time this procedure takes varies based on the design.

“We keep a certain amount of product on hand for the actual fabrication, but the amount of time it takes usually differs based on the order; usually six to eight weeks,” Harrison said.

“Going through the shop-drawn approval process, that might be another three months.”

The company started out small, with only a number of workers that numbered in the single digits or low teens.

Now Alabama Stone Company has a workforce that numbers in the 30s, all with the fabrication of limestone products in mind.

“We have a nice atmosphere,” Harrison said. “We are pretty small, and most of the people have worked here for years and years.

“There’s not a big turnover, it’s more of a family atmosphere.”

Safety is always a big concern at

such an operation, but it has been over 1,300 days since Alabama Stone Company has had an incident that resulted in lost time, a fact proudly displayed on the front door of the office building.

According to Harrison, work conditions within the quarry have improved since the new owners took over in the late ‘90s.

Workers used to use water to cut stone blocks from the quarry walls, but now mechanical floor and wall saws allow a cleaner way to get the product out, as the wet-cutting technique meant constant water and mud within the quarry.

Workers cutting stone do not even require dust masks, as the powder, according to Harrison, thrown up contains no harmful silica.

Anyone who enters the quarry must go through a short procedure where the use of an emergency respirator is covered in the unlikely event that a gas pocket is found, but this is only a precaution mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The use of a hard hat is also required throughout the quarry and fabrication facility, but again incidents are rare.

Many people around Franklin County may not even be aware of the operation, its underground quarry and the customers that have projects built from limestone mine in Rockwood.

Still, the company continues filling orders for endeavors around the United States and the world.

FACES & PLACES

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FACES & PLACES

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BUILT BY: Clark Pulley

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hen Clark Consolidated Industries decided to expand their plant in Salem, Ohio, and open a new facility in 1979, company officials set their sights about 700 miles south and chose Russellville, Ala., to be the new home of Clark Pulley Industries, Inc., which has flourished in the area ever since.

Terry Moore, president of Clark Pulley since 2002, said the Russellville plant was constructed in 1979 and opened in 1980 with the goal of becoming the leading manufacturer of steel pulleys for outdoor equipment and the agricultural business – a goal they soon accomSTORY BY plished.

KELLIE SINGLETON In 1989, Clark Pulley was sold to AgriFab Incorporated, which is a lawn and garden manufacturer.

Moore said since the acquisition was made, Clark Pulley has seen continuous growth in the outdoor power industry as a major supplier of stamped, split and spun steel pulleys for big brand names such as MTD, Husqvarna, Snapper,

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Briggs & Stratton, Ariens and Club Car. And while Clark Pulley is mainly known for supplying lawn and garden manufacturers, the company also supplies Dura Automotive, servicing GM models, and MIG, servicing Mercedes vehicles built in Alabama, with their Autophoretic finishing system.

The company has gone through three expansions since its establishment in Russellville and now boats a 141,500 sq. ft. facility that ships products to the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe.

“Our company has seen tremendous growth over the years and one thing that we are known for is our consistency,” Moore said.

“Just like many other companies, we are seasonal and we have months that are, by nature, slower than others.

“Since we work primarily on pulleys for outdoor and lawn and garden equipment, our busiest times are in the fall and winter getting prepared for the spring and summer months when that type of equipment is used.

“But even though the summer months are slower in terms

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of volume, we maintain a consistent workload and actually work ahead on parts that won’t be shipped until the fall.”

In 2012, the company produced 6.3 million pulleys for their various customers but Moore said they’ve been known to produce as many as 12 million pulleys in one year.

“I don’t think people realize the sheer number of parts we produce here,” Moore said.

“To be a smaller company, we produce a large volume, and that’s something we couldn’t do without our dedicated employees.”

Moore said Clark Pulley currently employs 49 people, 11 of which have been with the company for 25 years or more and 26 who have been with the company 15 years or more.

“We really are like a family around here, and that’s one of the great things about working here,” Moore said.

“When one person is going through a tough situation, we’re all there to support that person. If they are celebrating something great that has happened, we celebrate with them, too.

“We all stick together and it makes me proud to be part of a company that has such great employees.”

Moore said that many of the Clark Pulley employees also live and shop right here in the county and support the local economy.

“Our company is dedicated to being a productive part of this community,” Moore said.

“We purchase over 10 million pounds of steel each year, but beyond that, we try to buy locally and support the economy that way as well.

“Many of us have lived here and raised families here, so we want to do what we can to keep this area going.”

More than two years ago, the officials at Clark Pulley proved they really are more than just a company that operates in Franklin County.

When the devastating EF-5 tornado tore through Phil Campbell and East Franklin on April 27, 2011, Clark Pulley stepped in and cleaned out 30,000 sq. ft. in one of their warehouses to serve as a distribution center for people to come and donate supplies for the hundreds and hundreds across the county who had lost everything they had. “[Russellville Police] Chief Chris Hargett came to me looking for a place where people could drop off food and clothes and other supplies that all those affected by the tornado were going to be needing in the days and months to come,” Moore said.

“We had some employees who had lost their homes, and when we got the request to serve as a distribution center, we knew we wanted to do what we could to help not only our employees but our community as a whole.

“We were glad to have the opportunity to offer the warehouse space, loading docks and forklifts to aid in that situation.”

As they move through the summer months and get ready for one of their busier times of year, Moore said Clark Pulley was proud to be producing products here in Franklin County.

“This area has been good to our company and we are glad to be part of the industrial community here.”

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FACES & PLACES

BUILT BY:

CNC Woodcrafters/Stonecrafters

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he Tidwell family trade that comprises a three-pronged business endeavor began when David Tidwell quit his job at a now-defunct Russellville fiberglass company to start building cabinets in the late 1970’s.

The funny thing was, he said, he was still in the process of learning just how to build them.

“I worked swing shifts (at Celoplex) every day for a year, and then I got into building furniture,” Tidwell said. “Furniture came natural — I don’t know why.

STORY BY HANNAH MASK My mother’s daddy was a handy man, so that’s what I wound up being, really. I learned everything on my own.”

After months of long hours at Celoplex, Tidwell said he was beginning to get depressed, and his wife began to notice.

“She told me, ‘David, do something’,” he said.

When he told her he wanted to quit his job to start Tidwell Cabinets in Phil Campbell, which his daughter Angie Farley and her husband Tim took over in 2004 and still run today, she supported him completely, Tidwell said.

“She said to go for it,” he said. “She was with me 100 percent.”

For the first year and a half in business, Tidwell Cabinets was mainly comprised of David Tidwell, a handmade sander and a six-month wait list for cabinets, but that didn’t stop customers from coming.

“I could tell a person within five days of those six months what time their cabinets would be ready,” Tidwell said. “I had a very set routine. I wouldn’t work on two or three jobs at a time, and each job was completed before I started another one.

That was the only way I could see to do something and do it right.

“I worked six days a week, but I never worked on Sundays,” he said. “Back then, when I was doing everything by myself, it took me a week to do a set of cabinets, but when I got all the machines I needed and all of the sets

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of hands (hired), I got it to two or three sets a week.”

In 1992, Frankie Tidwell, David Tidwell’s brother and business partner, was living in Kentucky but missing Alabama. He knew how well David Tidwell was doing with cabinets, and he saw an opportunity to get into the wood crafting business.

By this time, Farley said, she was 21, fresh out of college, and she had been working in her father’s shop every summer since the ninth grade.

“David’s was a small shop, and (Farley and I) had an opportunity to buy a (CNC) router that could run 300 cabinet doors a day,” Frankie Tidwell said.

A CNC router is a machine that shapes cabinet doors.

The business, CNC Woodcrafters, is run by Frankie and David Tidwell today, since Farley and her husband have taken charge of Tidwell Cabinets. CNC Woodcrafters differs from Tidwell Cabinets in that Tidwell Cabinets makes custom cabinets for homes only, and CNC Woodcrafters makes custom-made cabinet doors for individual cabinet shops, Farley said. Additionally, CNC Woodcrafters offers specialty work, such as picture frames and rosettes, she said.

Frankie Tidwell and Farley both laughed upon remembering the first year of operation for CNC Woodcrafters, especially since Frankie Tidwell’s work experience was 22 years in automotive exhaust.

“We worked ourselves to death,” Farley said. “It was an experience.”

In order to make the two-person business work, Frankie Tidwell said the pair quickly learned how to divide the labor.

“We both ventured into something we’d never done,” he said.

“Angie would program orders and I would deliver. When we first started the business, we told people if they ordered by noon today, their doors would be ready the next day. If they had a $300 order, they had free delivery, and that’s for running a 130-mile radius of here.”

In 2005, as the housing market fell and, with that, the sales of cabinet doors, Frankie Tidwell said he began to look for another endeavor to fill in the gaps in business. That’s how CNC Stonecrafters, run

by Frankie and David Tidwell, came to sit on the same plot of land that Tidwell Cabinets and CNC Woodcrafters share.

Frankie Tidwell said because he has contractor friends who refer their clients to him for cabinet doors, he asked them whether they might refer their clients to him for granite countertops, as well.

“That’s how I got my foot in the door for CNC Stonecrafters,” he said. “When I’m at a site measuring for cabinets, I can go ahead and measure the countertops, too, and it saves me a lot of legwork that way.”

Even with three businesses, the employee list has stayed small. Overall, there are 14 employees, though each business’ employees are separate, and now everyone has a very specific job, Farley said.

First and foremost, though, the Tidwells are a family who love and care about each other, their employees and their customers, and it’s been that way since David Tidwell was running Tidwell Cabinets on his own.

“I always treated all my hands just like they were my own family,” David Tidwell said. “I was raised up that way, and I try to keep it that way. When I (did business) with somebody, before I left I said ‘Bye, I love you, and I’ll pray for you.’ I reckon God’s blessed me with everything.”

Though some families may tire of each other after a few hours, Farley said her family does much more than just work together.

“We eat and do everything else together,” she laughed.

And what started out as a career switch for David Tidwell has turned out to be a family passion.

“We’re a close-knit family, I have seven brothers and one sister, and if I had known 20 years prior that the field I was going to be working in was going to be this, I would have been raised up in it,” Frankie Tidwell said. “I love it. We all get to see each other every day, I get to see my grandkids every day, and we all have a great working relationship.”

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FACES & PLACES

BUILT BY:

G&G Steel/ Franklin Manufacturing

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hen someone thinks about industry in Russellville, it’s hard to overlook G&G Steel, Inc., which has been a solid part of the local economy since 1975.

The successful company, which is one of the largest steel fabricators in the USA, is the result of years of hard work, dedication, and innovative ideas

by Russellville resident Danny Gist, the president of STORY BY the company, who, KELLIE SINGLETON along with other members of his family, built the booming business from the ground up.

Bret Gist, vice-president of the company and Danny’s son, said his father is a true American success story who put in the hours to make his dreams a reality.

“He was a laborer before he started G&G and was able to do all this without a college education, just by having great ideas and finding a way to make them work,” Bret Gist said.

“Not many people can do what he’s done in the timeframe he has, and it’s just because he looks at things as an opportunity rather than a challenge.”

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Danny Gist got his start in the business working for his father at Franklin Machine Works for many years.

In 1975, Bret Gist said his father purchased the land where the G&G Steel plant would be located in the Russellville Industrial Park and built the first building to house the business.

“The company first started out as a machine and fabrication shop utilizing CNC machinery and the latest technology in fabrication,” Bret Gist said.

After the company began to take off, Bret Gist said G&G Steel began to handle all fabrications and his father developed Franklin Manufacturing, Inc., in 1977 as a separate company that handled all the responsibilities of the machine shop, which has its own product line.

G&G Steel has made a name for itself within its field as providing a superior product at a competitive price, which has led to the company’s rapid growth.

G&G Steel handles all types of steel fabrication and specializes in the fabrication of such things as industrial furnaces for the aluminum and steel industries, grinding mills and kilns for the cement, gold mine and lime industries, components for the pre-fab metal building industry, and various types of lock and dam steel structures and heavy movable bridge structures for

the Army Corps of Engineers, which is one of G&G Steel’s biggest customers.

“We utilize the inland waterway system to transport many of the components that are made for the Corps of Engineers because many of the steel structures created for locks and dams are too large to transport by truck,” Bret Gist said.

“In 2004, we also made the decision to venture into the mobile bridge industry and we have been going strong in that area ever since.

“We are able to provide the mechanical components – such as the lifts, the gearing, the shafts – as well as the bridge itself, and that’s one thing that has set us apart from most of our competitors in that area – being able to provide the components as well as the actual bridge.”

The company does a lot of this work at their home office’s 27-acre facility in the Russellville Industrial Park, which includes a 421,500 sq. ft. state-of-theart plant and the 60,350 sq. ft. machine shop – all of which give the company the invaluable combination of fabrication, machining, blasting, and painting all in one place, which is an advantage for their customers.

“We have a very wide market area with most of our customers coming from across the United States and some,

IN BUSINESS SINCE 1975

www.ggsteel.com 18

mainly for the mining industry, coming from overseas,” Bret Gist said.

The company also has a wide-range of jobs that provide employment opportunities for many people throughout the county.

Bret Gist said between the two companies, they employ 275-280 people as machine operators, fitters, welders, painters, machinists, assembly techs, engineers, draftsmen, accountants, maintenance personnel and general labor workers.

“We really try to hire local people so we can support our local economy,” Bret Gist said.

“This is truly a family company. We were born and raised here and, even though there were those of us that went off for college, we’ve come back and made a commitment to supporting this company and our community.”

Gist said they do most of their promoting from within and try to make G&G Steel and Franklin Manufacturing a great place to work.

“Even though we are a fairly large company, we still try to have that personal touch and get in there and work alongside the employees and be involved in what’s taking place,” Bret Gist said.

“We’re just one big family and we look forward to being a part of this community for many years to come.”

Building Heavy Movable Structures for the Bridge industry, Steel Industry, Mining Industry and Inland Waterway Systems 15825 Hwy. 243 Industrial Park Russellville, AL 35653-0179 Phone: 256-332-6652 FACES & PLACES

BUILT BY: B&B Roadway

ust before you reach Russellville Airport on Highway 243 lays B&B Roadway, a company that provides necessary products for a small market.

“We’re a small manufacturing firm,” said general manager Mark Lyon.

“We’ve been in business since 1925. We manufacture signaling equipment for movable bridges.

“Any bridge that by design swings, STORY BY draws or lifts has to have certain J.R. TIDWELL identification and navigation lights and warning gates.

“That’s the kind of equipment that we manufacture. We also design and engineer the products as well.”

B&B Roadway may only occupy a small corner of Russellville, but its products are shipped to buyers across the country.

“Most of our product is shipped to Florida and the

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northeast,” Lyon said. “We do have some projects in Alabama.

“Alabama purchases mostly navigation lights from us.

The Alabama Department of Transportation has purchased from us directly.

“The Army corps of Engineers has purchased from us directly. They’ll use navigation lights sometimes on locks.”

Many motorists or boatists who pass by products manufactured by B&B Roadway will likely not think much about them, but these are the kind of products that are only noticed when missing or malfunctioning, and hopefully that does not happen.

“If a bridge doesn’t have warning gates, barriers or navigation lights, then that bridge doesn’t operate,” Lyon said. “So our products are important.

“Navigation lighting is important to boat traffic.

Waterway traffic needs some type of signal.

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“If a light burns out, is vandalized or is broken by a boat hitting it or something like that, what will happen is the Coast Guard will call the bridge owner and say you have 30 days to fix it.

“Then we’ll get a call asking if we can put up a replacement light, and we can usually build a replacement navigation light in just a couple of days.

“We carry everything in stock.”

The products may not get much publicity when working properly, but the projects that B&B has worked on and built products for are well known around the country.

“We had a huge project for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which is I-95 going into [Washington] D.C.,” Lyon said.

“It’s one of the biggest bascule span bridges (a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or “leaf,” throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic) in the world.

“The arm lengths and the size of the housings were just huge. That was three or four years ago.

“More recently we worked on Congress Parkway in Illinois. We had some huge barriers that went in on it.

“This year we are working on some fairly big projects in Florida.”

With many products shipping to the Gulf Coast and the northeast, several customers have had problems after weather events like Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina.

“We had customers that called us needing repair or replacement parts for things that had been damaged,” Lyon said.

“We have similar constraints when hurricanes go through Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. We’ll have customers say ‘I have a bridge that was 16 feet under water. What can we do to fix it?’

“For the bridges in New Orleans they sent the operators back here and we refurbished them. We gutted the electrical system because it was shot.

“Amazingly the transmissions that we use, we just had to drain them, clean them, put new oil in them and put new electrical systems in the housings, and we sent them back to New Orleans. “ Our products last a long time if maintained properly. It’s not unheard of to have them last 40 or 50 years. We do a lot of repair and replacement parts.”

Although the market B&B works in is a specific area, business has been growing for the company since it came to Russellville.

“If I remember correctly we moved here in ’95 or ’96,” Lyon said.

“Business has grown quite a bit since then. We’ve added onto the building

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two or three times, and we built the machine shop.

“We’re currently at 35 or so employees.

We’re currently building a lot more than we ever have.

“We’re more secure financially, and we do offer what I consider good benefits to our employees. It makes it good for us as a business and it’s good for the employees.”

Speaking of employees, people from several different backgrounds work for B&B Roadway.

One thing some of the workers do have in common is a background in engineering, a trade or some other related

to design, and they’ll ask what kind of products do you have that will fit into this project we want to build,” Lyon said.

“A lot of times we’ll work with design engineers up front, but after that process is finished a lot of times we’ll have a construction firm that is bidding on a project come to us and say these are the constraints, can you give us a quotation on four barriers, a set of navigation lights and flood gates.

“We’ll work up a quotation for the project, and then send an engineering packet to them. The engineer of record will tell us whether or not what we’ve

field.

“Almost everyone in the office has some type of scientific degree,” Lyon said.

“We currently have three mechanical engineers on staff.

“As far as in production, it takes some type of welding or electrical certificate.

We do have a machine shop as well. It goes al the way from labor all the way up to a degreed professional.

“Our business is very engineering-centric. Movable bridges have a lot of engineering and design work in them.

“There are probably half a dozen notable businesses that do that type of engineering work. We work in conjunction with those firms.”

Although no two jobs are the same, the process, from inception to completion, usually follows a certain path.

“An engineering firm will come to us and say we have this particular type of bridge that our customer wants us

submitted will work on the bridge.

“Sometimes it will go around a couple of times, typically once or twice. Then we’ll get a purchase order, build the product and ship it. “ It can happen as quick as four weeks or it can happen in four to five years. It can be a long or short process depending on what stage the customer is at. Typical projects last eight to 12 months.”

Building these pieces of equipment may be a bit of a thankless job as far as the public is concerned, but that does not diminish how important these products are for projects across the country.

“We support the infrastructure of the United States,” Lyon said. “It’s a niche part of that infrastructure, but it’s something that has to be done.

“We make products that guarantee the safety of the motoring and marine public.”

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BUILT BY: Our students

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ucked away behind Belgreen High School lies a valuable resource that many people are unaware of or that they simply don’t think of as an attribute to the community.

The Franklin County Career Technical Center (FCCTC), which is located beside Belgreen High School, is a separate school dedicated to teaching the county’s youth many important trades that will help them in their future careers.

STORY BY Director Herbert KELLIE SINGLETON Trulove said the FCCTC is probably one of the best kept secrets in the county even though it is part of the county school system and many of the county’s high school students attend classes there each day.

“Most of the time, people just see us as a place where students go for elective classes, but we are so much more than that,” Trulove said.

“These students are learning valuable

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skills that prepare them for the workforce, so we’re really a center for workforce development.”

Having a place right in the county where young people can be trained to serve in positions that most of the county’s industries utilize is an invaluable asset because adequate workforce development is an important key in obtaining new industry and maintaining existing industry.

The FCCTC offers six different programs for students who are looking for jobs in career technical fields including building construction technology, business education, collision repair technology, healthcare science and power equipment technology.

The FCCTC is also proud to offer a welding program that is actually a dual enrollment class where students can receive both high school credit and college credit through Northwest-Shoals Community College.

The center’s welding instructor, Jim

Hulsizer, who retired after 35 years in the welding business with Reynolds, said he knows the benefits of a welding program like the one offered at FCCTC. “The first welding class I ever took was through my school’s ag department and it’s what got me started in a career I had all my life,” Hulsizer said.

“The students in my program are learning valuable skills and information that will help them get ahead in the future and be more prepared for their own careers.

“And the students are ready to learn. I’ll show them what to do and they’ll watch every move I make. When they finally figure out how to do it on their own, it’s like watching them open up a present at Christmas.

“They’re excited and proud and it doesn’t get any better than to see them enjoying something that could make them a living and support them for the rest of their lives.”

Hulsizer said the students in the weld-

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ing program are 10th, 11th and 12th graders from Belgreen, Phil Campbell, Tharptown and Red Bay high schools.

They learn all the basics of welding, safety procedures in the welding shop, how to operate the machinery and technology and different welding procedures.

“They won’t necessarily be ready for an entry-level job when they graduate high school but they will only lack a few courses at Northwest’s program to be completely ready,” Hulsizer said. “That’s a huge advantage to someone who wasn’t given this type of an opportunity in high school and ultimately makes Franklin County students more prepared for life after school.”

Israel Reza, an upcoming senior at Belgreen, completed his first year of the program during the 2012-2013 school year.

“Welding is what I want to do so this is preparing me for my future,” he said.

Chris Bogus, a recent Belgreen graduate and two-year welding student, agreed.

“This course prepares you for the outside world,” he said. “When you get done, you’ll have a lot of experience for life after graduation.”

But the program isn’t strictly for students who are aspiring to welding careers.

Will Barnwell, a rising senior at Belgreen, said he took the course as a fall-back to other career plans.

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“Even if I don’t end up being a welder, I feel like I have learned certain life skills that will help me later on in life,” he said.

Steve Watts, who teaches the collision repair technology classes, said the students in his program go over every aspect of collision repair and have a wealth of knowledge before they even graduate from high school.

He said that 97 percent of his students are placed in a college program or receive a job straight out of high school.

“At one point in time, 72 percent of the workers at the paint shop at Tiffin Motorhomes came through this program,” Watts said. “I don’t know what the number is now, but it’s still on up there.

“We have smart kids who do a great job and preparing them for the workforce right here in the county is a valuable asset to industry that is already here and industry that might be looking to locate here. They are well-trained in a skill and are ready to work.”

Trulove said the advantages to career technical education courses are numerous, and workforce development is just one of those advantages.

“About 65 to 70 percent of the students in Alabama will wind up pursuing career technical jobs,” Trulove said.

“We are dedicated to giving the students in our county the best resources we can to prepare them for their future.”

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BUILT BY: Roadgear

A

ccording to statistics compiled by the American Trucking Association in 2010, the U.S. trucking industry is comprised of over 227,930 for-hire carriers and more than 282,485 private carriers; 96 percent with less than 20 trucks.

The trucking industry employs 7.3 million people employed throughout the economy in jobs that relate to trucking activity in 2008, excluding self-employed.

In tonnage, trucks carried 68.8 percent of all STORY BY freight – 10.2 billion tons in 2008.

J.R. TIDWELL In 2007, trucks hauled over $8.3 trillion worth of merchandise.

There are 3.39 million truck drivers employed in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The average daily run for a long haul, over-the-road truck driver is nearly 500 miles.

A majority of long haul, over-the-road truck drivers will drive, on average, 100,000 to 110,000 miles per year.

Commercial Class 8 trucks logged 128.4 billion miles in 2007, the equivalent of making over 136,301 cross-country trips per day.

The average Class 8 unit (vehicles weighing over 33,001 lbs.) travel more than 45,000 miles per year, the equivalent of driver nearly two times around the world.

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In 2007, commercial trucks consumed nearly 55.1 billion gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline.

The trucking industry is responsible for shipping cargo across the country, and the numbers shown here prove how prevalent and important of a job it is to the United States in terms of shipping and the spread of merchandise.

Since truck drivers spend so much time in their rigs each trip, certain luxuries can be made accessible to them to make their lives just a little bit easier while on the road.

In order for truck drivers to have access to such items, a company must first manufacture them, a company like Road Gear in Russellville.

“Road Gear is a company that manufactures Class A truck accessories and toolboxes for flatbed trailers,” said Anthony Mayberry, the sales manager for the company.

“We do anywhere from 25-30 jobs a day.”

Mayberry is no stranger to Franklin County or the trucking accessories business.

“I grew up in Phil Campbell,” he said. “I went to Northwest for two years, and I worked some odd jobs until I found a home here. I’ve been here 15 years now.

“This actual company has been here for 18 years. Fontaine started the company in ’95 to the best of my knowledge.

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“It was sold in 2003, and is now owned by G & G Steel. I’m the sales manager. I do all of the sales inside and outside.

“I do all of the scheduling in production and for the shipping. I work five to six trucks shows a year. We’re there to show our current products and anything new.”

Since the truck-driving industry in the United States is so large, it is no surprise that many drivers like to purchase accessories for their trucks that make their jobs a little bit easier.

“We make what is called Road Gear Racks,” Mayberry said. “They go on the back of Class 8 trucks to hold chains and binders, things like that.

“Our toolboxes go under flatbed trailers for storage of tarps or storage of any type for what haulers need. We usually ship 25-50 LTL skids a day.

“They are important from a storage standpoint. These products are more of an extra, not a necessity.

“But if you want to keep your stuff dry and safe, you definitely need to go with our product.”

These storage units can hold any type of equipment necessary for the owner, but as most truck drivers haul pallets of merchandise or some form of heavy equipment, tie-down straps are a must.

Most truck drivers have various straps in various lengths to choose from, and having a secure, dry place to house such equipment always makes the job easier.

Road Gear may be based out of Russellville, but the products made right here in Franklin County can be found across the country.

“Our products are sold nationwide,” Mayberry said. “Our products are distributed through dealers, truck dealerships like the Mac place in Muscle Shoals and Tri-City Truck Parts.

“Trailer dealers like in Birmingham will carry our products as well.”

Since truck driving is such a large industry, there will always be demand for quality accessories for big rigs. This means good news for companies like Road Gear.

“Just as a ballpark, in the last 10 years we’ve probably grown 15-25 percent,” Mayberry said.

“There was a downturn in 2009, but it started getting better last year. It has gotten at least 50 percent better.”

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BUILT BY: Our farmers

N

estled in the eastern corner of Russellville on Hwy 243 is Northwest Alabama Livestock Auction, a place where cattle farmers and buyers get together to conduct business.

The head of the auction is Jim Martin, a man who is no stranger to the cattle business.

“Northwest Livestock Auction has been in business since STORY BY 1977 in this facility,” he said. “Before that J.R. TIDWELL there was an old stockyard on 43 north.

“There have been stockyards in Alabama for years, and that’s the standard way for a farmer to dispose of his cattle.

“The auction market is designed for the seller to get the most from his livestock. We’ve got buyers from several states here today: Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama that are purchas-

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ing cattle.

“We serve Winston County, Morgan County, some of Cullman, Colbert, Lauderdale, Franklin, Lawrence and Walker County as our general area.

“We have buyers come from as far away as Montgomery that travel 200 miles to buy good quality cattle.

“We’re a stockholder-owned company by local farmers from six surrounding counties. That’s how this auction was founded and built.

“I’ve been here for 10 years. My duties are to get the farmers here, the cattle here and the buyers here.

“Normally if you get the buyers the cattle are going to show up, if you treat people right. We get the cattle here for the buyers to come for.”

Since starting out in 1977 the company has purchased anoth-

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er site in Lawrence County.

“Northwest Livestock purchased the Moulton facility three years ago, so we’ve been operating in Moulton and in Russellville,” Martin said.

“Our average between both auctions will be 800-1,000 head of cattle a week.”

One of the biggest challenges at a livestock auction is getting the product to the venue so buyers can see what animals are available.

Because of this, the company can help out local livestock farmers with getting their cattle to market.

“We provide trucking if people don’t have the trucks and trailers to get cattle here,” Martin said. “We have employees that have trucks and trailers that will transport the cattle here.

“Once the cattle are here we tag them in under the owners’ name so we can keep up with the cattle and know who to pay after the sale. That’s why they’re tagged.”

Once the cattle are brought to the auction house, then potential buyers can see what’s for sale, and the bidding begins. Prices vary per head depending on a few variables.

“Quality plays a big factor in it,” Martin said. “A good-quality weight cow that’s going to slaughter will bring 75-80 cents a pound.

“Some of these cows weigh 1,300 pounds. You can get over $1,000 for what’s basically a cull cow, so that’s pretty good return for the farmer.

“They can get 10 years use out of the cow and still get $1,000 in return.

“Good calves will bring somewhere between $1.40 and $1.50 a pound. Cattle are selling good now, but they’re

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not quite where they need to be because of all the costs a farmer incurs.”

Once a head of cattle has been purchased, next comes the destination for the purchase. Some animals will be shipped off to become part of a meal, while others are sent to farms across the country.

“We have cattle that are shipped from here and sent to sorting places in Mississippi,” Martin said.

“They put together like-type cattle before sending them to feed lots in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and places like that. A lot of cattle that go through here go directly to feed lots.”

Due to his experience in the industry, Martin knows not only a thing or two about cattle, but what it takes to raise livestock.

“I’ve been [a cattle farmer] all my life, so I don’t know what it’s like not to be one,” he said. I was showing livestock in 4-H when I was in school.

“You have to take care of your cattle and tend to them on a daily basis. It takes mending fences and buying or growing hay in the summertime.

“That’s a pretty big job, especially if you don’t have a lot of help.

“If you catch a sick cow you have to doctor it immediately, you can’t put it off.

“It can be a big job, especially if you’re not fixed to handle them.”

No matter where a buyer or seller comes from, the Northwest Livestock Auction right here in Franklin County is available for those who have cattle to sell or the need to buy them.

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256-332-2115

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BUILT BY:

Our poultry farmers

P

ilgrim’s Pride is one of the many nationwide industries that has a presence here in Franklin County.

According to the company website, Pilgrim’s is the second-largest chicken producer in the world, with operations in the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Pilgrim’s is ranked among the world’s largest protein compaSTORY BY nies, with net sales totaling $8.1 billion in J.R. TIDWELL fiscal 2012.

Approximately 3,900 contract growers supply poultry for the company’s operations.

Pilgrim’s products are sold to foodservice, retail and frozen entrée customers. The company’s primary distribution is through retailers, foodservice distributors and restaurants throughout the United States and Puerto Rico and in the

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Northern and Central regions of Mexico.

The company currently operates in 12 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Mexico. These states include Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Pilgrim’s operates 25 fresh processing plants and eight prepared foods cook plants in the U.S. Pilgrim’s also operates three fresh processing plants in Mexico and one in Puerto Rico.

Pilgrim’s has 26 feed mills and 30 hatcheries supporting the plants and operates 13 distribution centers.

The company exports chicken products to customers in approximately 105 countries, including Mexico.

One of the local contract growers for the Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Russellville is Floyd Willingham. of Belgreen, a veteran

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when in comes to the world of poultry farming.

“I’ve always lived in Belgreen,” he said. “I went to school here.

“I worked at Martin Industry for 35 years. Well, I liked one month from 35 years. The president of the company found out I was retiring and told them to give me one more month to make it an even 35 years.

“Then I just decided to get in the business and start raising chickens. The oldest boy of mine had been working in another man’s chicken houses, so he already knew something about the business.

“All of the boys wanted to get into the business, so we went. They all helped with it.

“We put chickens in these houses for the first time in August of 1990. I’ve been raising them since then.”

Raising chickens takes a lot of work, most of which is part of a daily routine. However, no day is never the exact same as the day before when it comes to raising livestock.

“You’ve got to work them every day,” Willingham said. “You have to keep them culled, pick up the dead ones, make sure you keep the drinkers and feeders full and you have to keep the right amount of air on them.

“On an average day I go through and pick up the dead ones, cull the ones that need to be culled and raise the drinkers and feeders. You have to keep those adjusted.

“Most times you’ll find a problem somewhere. Then you have to go back and work on that.

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“It doesn’t take but about an hour and a half to two hours to pick up. All the other stuff takes more time. You have to keep everything up, order feed at least once a week and fill the bins.”

Raising chickens for Pilgrim’s can be done at any time, but there are a certain number of batches given to farmers like Willingham by the company.

“You can raise chickens all year,” he said. “During the year you get four batches.

“This summer we had 12,400 to the house. That’s what we averaged, and we have four houses.

“They don’t bring them here until they hatch. Most of the time they bring the chicks the same day they hatch.

We keep them around nine weeks. Then they go to Russellville to the Pilgrim’s Pride processing plant. From there it goes everywhere.”

Willingham now has almost 23 years working in the poultry business, and plans may be in the works for the farmer to turn over the rains to the next generation, but it will still be a family-run operation.

“I’m thinking about getting to where I can turn it over to my sons and see if I can rest,” he said.

“I’ve already retired twice, and it’s about time to retire again. After I retired from Martin I drove a school bus for 10 years and four months.

“I retired from that. I’m trying to get the grandkids and the boys ready to take this over.”

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BUILT BY: Teamwork

ith five industrial parks to its name and two spec buildings, since October 2012 Franklin County has played host to at least 15 or 20 companies who were in need of a home, said Mitch Mays, executive director of the Franklin County Economic Development Authority.

“We’ve missed out on some pretty big deals, but we’re still in the running for some others,” he said. “The trick (when you miss a deal) is to always bring some others to close.”

Mays said he’s been pleased with the interest generated by the two Russellville parks, Russellville Industrial Park and the MG Industrial Park, as well as the parks in Phil Campbell and Vina and the West Franklin Regional Industrial Park, which is in STORY BY Red Bay and recently gained advantage site HANNAH MASK designation. “(Advantage site designation) basically proves that the site is ‘shovel ready,’” Mays said. “It shows that we’ve completed all due diligence and the site is ready to go. Companies today don’t want to wait on anything — they want to know that all uncertainty is removed.”

In a matter of months, he said, industries including steel, fabrication, automotive, manufactured housing and steel dust recycling have toured the parks.

“One of the companies we unfortunately missed out on was Yokohama Tires,” Mays said. “They wound up going to Columbus, Miss., but they were looking at MG Industrial Park.

I was pleased that we made it as far as we did in the process, but the site was a little smaller than what they wanted.”

In September 2012, Franklin County’s second spec building was constructed in Vina. The other is spec building is in Russellville.

“Having available buildings is very important to our industrial recruitment,” Mays said. “Unfortunately, we have not had anybody purchase or lease those buildings yet.”

However, with the project to turn Highway 24 from two lanes into four lanes nearing completion, more companies could be drawn to Franklin County.

“Highway infrastructure, workforce and incentives have become more and more important to companies looking (to settle) in any given area,” Mays said. “For rural parts of Alabama, highway infrastructure is always one of the most

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important parts lacking in the recruiting picture.”

But for Franklin County, he added, the biggest thing lacking could be incentives, such as the half-cent sales tax the Shoals has in place. “(The Shoals) has used that fund to put them over the top in the recruiting industry,” he said. “They’ve used that very effectively to help them with companies that are expanding or in recruiting new companies. We don’t have that extra incentive money to help recruit industry.

“The good news is, we’re getting a lot of looks, but in some cases, we’re put out because we don’t have the extra incentives to put us over the top,” Mays said.

Probate Judge and Franklin County Commission Chairman Barry Moore said the idea of a half-cent sales tax has been brought up once or twice, but he said he wasn’t sure whether the economic development board might take charge of proposing the tax.

“The economic development board has not brought that to us,” Moore said. “Before you put a tax to anybody, though, I think you need to let the people have a say about it.”

He also emphasized the importance of recognizing the competition in the current economic climate, regardless of incentives.

“It’s a very competitive market out there, and everybody is trying to get companies to come to their county or city,” Moore said. “Companies are looking for more than just tax abatements.

“I think we’re all just trying to do what’s best for the cities and for the county,” he said.

Mays said he’s remaining optimistic.

“I think we will have some positive developments in regard to industry in Franklin County this year and possibly next year, as well,” he said. “I’m very optimistic about the level of activity that we’ve had.”

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