Category: St. Clair Business

Pumpkin Paradise

Another Chandler Mountain natural wonder

Story by Carol Pappas
Photography by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

She jokingly refers to herself with the moniker, “the pumpkin lady.” If someone gets lost atop Chandler Mountain and can’t find her house, just tell the neighbors you’re looking for the pumpkin lady, she said. That’s the easiest way to reach your destination point.

It’s not difficult to get the connection. From the front gate to the house’s wrap-around porch to outside structures, they are filled with pumpkin displays — a collage of colors, sizes and varieties.

Out back and down the hill a bit, you’ll find the origin of them all —13 rows — at least 50 yards long — of more than 40 kinds of pumpkins. Cinderella (pumpkin, that is) hides beneath massive green leaves and vines. So does Fairy Tale. After all, those two started it all for Melinda Smith. But there’s plenty more, and the varying colors, sizes and looks are nothing short of amazing.

This is her 14th year of growing pumpkins, a tradition that started because a friend picked up some unusual heirloom pumpkins in Georgia — Cinderella and Fairy Tale — and gave her the seeds. Cinderella gets her name from the uncanny resemblance to Cinderella’s carriage, a similarity you immediately recognize. “It’s fun to watch them grow,” Smith said.

She could grow some to 50 pounds or more, but she likes to pick them from the field herself, so she opts for smaller versions during her growing season from the end of June to late August. “I save seeds every year,” and she orders more.

Husband Phillip is a third generation commercial tomato grower, and she shares some of the land for his crop to grow hers. She started small but the harvest seems to grow bigger each year.

Take a stroll around her yard, and you’ll find a cornucopia of color. An open air shed displays all kinds of pumpkins — large and small and in between — on shelves fashioned from old wooden tomato crates of her husband’s family business. They have names like Goosebumps Super Freak because of their bumpy exterior or Peanut Pumpkins, whose bumps resemble peanut shells.

An iron chandelier hangs from the center of the shed’s ceiling, each prong supporting a tiny orange pumpkin to give the illusion of lights. Just outside, you’ll find a display of all white pumpkins, a cotton plant acting as perfect complement.

On the other side, a shelf of pumpkins are set beneath the letters f-a-l-l, spelled out in twigs against an orange block background. It all overlooks a pond and tomato fields just beyond.

A storage building nearby isn’t your typical construction either. It looks more like a miniature home, and it, too, is filled with pumpkin displays. Its features, like the semi-rusted, corrugated metal rear wall, a fireplace mantel and the wood it took to build it are items she has saved over the years. “I’m into reusing stuff. I save old wood. I might use it one day.”

When told it’s called ‘repurposing’ these days, she laughs and says, “Of course, my husband has another name for it.”

No matter what you call it, it’s a paradise of pumpkins cleverly displayed and hinting at the discriminating, designing eye of the harvester.

And each year in the fall, she shares it all — her bounty and her talent. She holds a pumpkin patch party where people can come and buy pumpkins, enjoy the outdoors, have a few refreshments and bring the kids to play among the fruits of their parents’ finds. “We have smaller pumpkins for the kids to decorate,” she said. They even have their own table.

The party seems to have grown with the pace of her crop. Her mailing list has topped the 200-mark, and she has had more than 150 attend in years past. This year is her first weekend event, which is planned for Oct. 3-4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Oct. 5 from noon to 2.

She is expecting a big crowd to peruse the grounds for just the right color, texture and size for seasonal decorating. And if not decorating, all the pumpkins she grows are edible, she added.

“I tell them to bring a friend,” she said. And they apparently do. Once they find the pumpkin lady, word spreads.

Features

Louie’s Pickles

Authentic Philly food comes to St. Clair

Story by Graham Hadley
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

For much of his life Lou Consoli was a professional fisherman.

His trade often took him to Alabama, which he loved, but there was one thing he said he could never find here.

“A good New-York-deli-style pickle,” he said.

He grew up in a traditional Italian-American family up North, but after meeting his fiancé, Alabamian Becky Pate, he saw a marketing opportunity here he could not pass up.

“We said, ‘Lets see if we can open a pickle business in Alabama.’”

And that’s exactly what the couple did, realizing their dream with Louie’s Pickles on U.S. 411 in Odenville.

They claim on their website, louiespickles.com, “We sell the best pickles you’ll ever eat.”

And their customers agree. Business at the small storefront has been so successful, Louie’s is looking to expand, providing seating for people to come in and enjoy, not just pickles, but other classic Italian and Philly traditional favorites, including, of course, a steak sandwich.

“I am from a Philly suburb. Up in the North it is easy to find a good New-York-style deli pickle, a good kosher pickle. We just grew up with that,” Lou said.

“Growing up Italian, my grandmother, my aunt, my mother — they always cooked. We learned to cook the old Italian way. We made some pickle products at home — and we ended up with something like 30 flavors.”

Because Southerners like so many pickled foods, like okra, Lou saw his products as a natural fit.

Lou and Becky started out focusing on pickles and other specialty items, often selling pickles at vendor stalls at events like carnivals, craft shows and similar gatherings. They sold all sorts of varieties of pickles. People could even buy a pickle on a stick — a favorite with children.

Once they got a taste of Lou’s products, they would return to buy more from the store or place an online order.

“What we do is we set up concessions — gun shows, craft shows — anywhere there is a big event. People buy a pint or quart, then they come back and order online or drive over,” he said.

But Lou introduced the people in the region to more than pickles, much, much more.

“We also brought our Italian cooking, things like Philly cheesesteak, real Philly cheesesteak, and people have been asking for that. We bring in everything from Philly, it’s extremely authentic,” he said, clarifying that a traditional Philadelphia cheese steak sandwich does not have peppers in it, as it is often served in other parts of the country.

Lou says the key to their continued success is that everything is authentic and everything is fresh.

“We bring in real Italian bread from Philly and other products like salami from all over. All our products are fresh — always cooked fresh, no microwaving or anything processed, and it makes a difference,” he said. “Freshness is the key. When you make something fresh, and people can see you making it, it is a huge deal.”

Lou admitted that some of their products are not as cheap as what you might find in a supermarket, but points out that there is a big difference between canned or bottled olives and ones he has ordered from Italy and personally driven hundreds of miles to pick up.

“We started out as a pickle business. Now we offer a wide variety of things, including sandwiches. We have a line of hot sauces … a chicken-wing sauce which is phenomenal.”

Because of his focus on freshness, Lou will sometimes buy different products based on availability, and as a result, what they have in the store, aside from pickles, varies from one day to the next. He encourages customers to keep up with those changes on Louie’s Pickles Facebook page, which also lists any store specials they may have.

That is going to be even more important in the near future. Lou is shifting the layout of the store around to allow room for dine-in seating, in addition to their take-out offerings.

“We are looking to add some tables and some seating so customers can sit and eat,” he said.

Lou has been amazed, not only at the success of their business, but in the welcome he has received in what he calls a great example of that “famous Southern hospitality.”

“Our customers are our friends,” he said, making special mention of Harvey, Lynn and Joel — three of those customers who came in at the start of the business and now help out around the store.

“There are great people here — lots of customer loyalty. It’s a phenomenal group. It has never ceased to surprise me.”

Phoenix Energy

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Leading the Way in emerging industry

By Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Give Matt Hyde a few minutes, and he’ll likely convert you to the positives of alternative energy as easily as his company converts cars and trucks into using natural gas.

It’s not just a job to him. It’s his passion. “It makes it easier when you love what you do,” he said, just days after Phoenix Energy cut the ribbon on its new home in Pell City. An Alabama leader in converting vehicles to run on compressed natural gas, the company moved its headquarters and 13 employees from Jefferson County to St. Clair with an eye toward the future.

St. Clair Economic Development Council officials “were there from step one. They really wanted us to come. They were a great liaison,” he said.

“Phoenix Energy, as a leader in the alternative fuel industry, is a company with great growth potential,” according to Jason Roberts, Project Manager for the EDC. “We are happy to have them as part of St. Clair County’s industrial community.”

Now settled into its 14,400-square-foot building on Lewis Lake Road, Phoenix Energy is moving toward that growth potential. As Hyde, the company’s operations director, points out, at $2 a gallon, “every time you fill up, it’s a return on your investment.”

Phoenix Energy was created in 2004, and it has come a long way in a short time. Hyde’s father, Ken, became majority owner of the company after he retired from Alabama Gas Co. It was a natural fit. He had been working with Alabama Gas’ fleet of natural gas vehicles since 1978.

Today, Phoenix has grown from two employees to 13 and works with customers throughout the Southeast, converting vehicles to compressed natural gas usage.

The up-front cost to convert a vehicle is between $6,000 and $12,000, depending on driving habits. Over a 10-year period, he estimated the savings in gasoline and oil changes alone can amount to $40,000. On top of savings, it is cleaner energy, so the vehicle lasts longer, and the resale value is better, he said.

The barriers to growth of this emerging industry are convenience — there are only seven natural gas fueling stations in Alabama, for instance — and getting companies comfortable with the idea. Frito Lay and Waste Management are two of the more recognizable names who are not only comfortable with the concept of using compressed natural gas as their fuel source, they have embraced it.

This past summer, Frito Lay opened its first compressed natural gas refueling station in Wisconsin and is expected to build seven others across the country. In a statement from the company about the fleet conversion, Frito Lay officials said its 208 compressed natural gas vehicles will translate into the elimination of 7,863 metric tons of carbon emissions, which is equal to 1,125 cars annually. It is a viable alternative for other fleets of large companies, municipalities and school districts. But refueling stations are needed along major corridors so that they can have access to natural gas, Hyde said.

Phoenix will have its own refueling station open to the public within the next year, Hyde said. “It’s a logical fuel source for America right now. It’s abundant, and it’s cheap.”

America imports $1.7 billion a day worth of petroleum. By his figures, America could have paid off the national debt in seven years by converting to natural gas as an alternative fuel.

The natural gas cylinder can be mounted in the bed of a pick-up truck, under its rear frame or in the trunk of a car. A “brain box” is located in the engine that tells which fuel is in the fuel tank — gas or natural gas — and it can switch between fuels without interruption.

Personal compressor units are available at an investment of $4,900 to $7,100, so the user can refuel at home as well.

When he sits in traffic, his own truck converted to natural gas, “I feel like I’m doing my part — doing something good for my country. I have the power to do something good for this country, and it’s natural gas,” he said.

“It functions like gas. It’s 85 percent cleaner for the environment, and you’re saving money. It’s a win-win.”

While it will take time for universal acceptance, Hyde likens it to another automobile visionary. “Henry Ford didn’t build the first car based on gas stations.”

CEFA: Learning to Earn

Program aims at training people, filling job needs

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg

In a classroom turned board room on the eastern edge of Birmingham, a dozen or so construction-industry executives from around the state gathered on a Tuesday morning to discuss their future.

It is a future that looks a bit bleak for them right now, but bright for prospective employees — if they only knew, understood and embraced what could lie ahead for them.

That’s the mission of Construction Education Foundation of Alabama — to not only raise awareness about rewarding careers in fields like electrical, HVAC, carpentry, plumbing, pipefitting and welding, but to provide the training to get students into those careers.

It was with that idea in mind that Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama, Alabama Associated General Contractors and the Alabama Concrete Industries Association, the state’s three largest construction trade organizations, came together to found CEFA to offer nationally certified education opportunities to reverse the trend of a dwindling trained workforce.

It is a chronic problem faced by companies across Alabama, including that of CEFA board Chairman John Garrison, president and CEO of Pell City-based Garrison Steel. He knows the problem firsthand. He sees it every day in a pool of applicants — or lack of them — at his own company.

The CEFA board of directors gathered around him on this particular day to share his concern. They see it as a growing threat to the future of their industries, and they are finding ways to turn this harmful trend around.

They see CEFA as a viable bridge between a potential workforce and a good-paying career through intensive training, using nationally accredited curriculum. “When a student gets out of it, he knows what he’s doing,” Garrison said. The plus is that the certification is mobile. He can take that certification earned in Alabama and put it to work for him in the marketplace anywhere in the country.

Byron McCain, president of CEFA, explained that for too long, education in Alabama had a mantra: “College, college, college. Now, they’re saying college and careers.”

He uses charts and graphs to illustrate, but the net result over decades has been a workforce gap where too many students headed down a path toward a four-year college when the majority of jobs simply require advanced training.

In 1950, 20 percent of the jobs required a four-year degree. In 2000, a four-year degree requirement was still at 20 percent. In that same time frame, though, the need for skilled labor more than tripled from 20 percent to 65 percent.

With odds like those, it should be easy to envision that the quickest way to a $50,000 salary just might run through CEFA.

Recognizing the needs and the rewards, public education is beginning to move in the same direction. In its Plan 2020, the focus is “Every Child a Graduate — Every Graduate Prepared for College/Work/Adulthood in the 21st Century.”

And McCain sees that as a good sign for the industries he represents. “There are unbelievable careers that don’t come with college debt,” McCain said. “It is critical we get to the counselors. We’re losing a lot of people at 18 starting down a college path. The industry isn’t as generational as it used to be.”

The aim is to help give people “meaningful employment,” said Garrison. Through its training program, CEFA can put them on the path to that goal with good-paying careers awaiting them when they finish. Scholarships are available, as is assistance with job placement. They can even go to work early if they have the potential. “If they have the right desire, if they’re the real deal and are serious about getting through the program,” Garrison said companies can go ahead and hire them while going through the program. They can earn their way toward a career.

For example, McCain said, “There are opportunities for a 50-year-old to get a job and train at the same time.” And companies are looking for young people out of high school in whom they can invest for the long term.

Twenty weeks of training are required before CEFA can refer them to a company. The full training is 58 weeks.

“We’re at 70 percent capacity,” said Evans Dunn of Dunn Construction, who does asphalt paving. “We’ve got to get demand there. We struggle to get good people.”

“It’s a struggle every day,” said John Payne of Brasfield & Gorrie. “We’re suffering a labor shortage.”

But a good wage rate and benefits equals opportunity, he said.

“Consistent growth allows us to invest in a kid,” added Allen McCain of Bright Future Electric.

And that’s why these industry leaders are coming together and getting involved in getting the message out about initiatives like Go Build Alabama and using CEFA as a site for craft and apprenticeship training.

They know the benefits. Journeyman electricians can earn between $42,000 and $72,000 annually. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning, HVAC, professionals in an entry-level apprentice or technician position start out at $10 to $12 per hour and advance with their skill sets. An experienced professional can earn more than $65,000 per year. A welder can make $40,000 to $60,000 a year with the right knowledge and experience.

Average annual wage for an experienced carpenter is more than $45,000. An experienced plumber can earn $47,750 plus.

The higher the training and experience, the higher the salary can go, which is a win-win for all involved, these leaders say. And they’re not the only ones. “When you get serious about supporting yourself and your family,” said student Chris Rodgers, “CEFA offers the fastest way I know to learn how to earn.”

Features

For Their Service

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New veterans home goes above and beyond expectations

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Jerry Martin

It may be an overused cliché when a sight is so mesmerizing, so impressive that it takes your breath away. But just inside the grand entrance to the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home is a sight that … well … takes your breath away.

There is no institutional setting here — no hospital-like rooms lining the hallways, no dark corridors where the only light comes from an occasional window or door.

Step inside, and you think you are in a mall or strolling along a quaint downtown street. Vintage signs hang from the tops of a series of storefronts enclosed mainly in glass, not walls. Barber shop, pharmacy, beauty shop, library, chapel, Stars and Stripes Café. They line the stone-tiled corridor, beckoning one and all to come inside and have a look.

Once within, the light streaming through windowed walls overlooking an expanse of lush, green courtyards and meandering paths lets you know immediately this is indeed a special place.

“If you ask veterans where they would rather be, their answer would be, ‘I’d rather be at home.’ ” said Rear Adm. Clyde Marsh, commissioner of the Alabama Veterans Administration. “We tried to create a home they would like to go to and enjoy. We think the veterans will be happy here.”

Filling all of its 27 acres just north of Interstate 20 in Pell City, this sprawling town, as it could be known, has a main street, a town center, neighborhoods and homes all under roof.

Outside are courtyard gardens, and homes have classic back porches complete with rocking chairs.

The neighborhoods come together in what is called Town Center, a huge room with a towering stone fireplace heading upward to a skylight and pine cathedral ceilings. It has the look and feel of a Colorado ski lodge with fireplaces opening on two sides and cabinetry and large-screen televisions on the other two.

Floor-to-ceiling windows bathe the room in a warm glow — the kind of place where people will naturally gather. It can be used to hold events for the veterans as well, said Manda Mountain, who is the Alabama Department of Veteran’s Affairs director for the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home.

From the town center are three neighborhoods with names like Victory Way, Liberty Lane and Patriot Place with three homes in each, enough room to accommodate 126 veterans.

Architects get marching orders

“Putting it in perspective, it’s a new design concept for state nursing homes for veterans,” Marsh said. Williams Blackstock Architects of Birmingham designed it “from the ground up.” There was no blueprint or model, just an admiral’s order to create a home worthy of veterans’ service and sacrifice, not an institution.

“We wanted it built with dignity, the comforts of home, serenity — all that in mind,” Marsh said. “We wanted a warm environment so people could enjoy it.”

That was no easy feat for 240,000 square feet on one level alone, said architect Joel Blackstock, principal-in-charge on the project. “Admiral Marsh really pushed us to make it state-of-the-art, not like any other.”

The concept was “ to provide a sense of community throughout for the residents because it really is like a small town or village,” he said. Lead architect Sean Whitt worked full-time on the site to oversee the construction process.

Existing facilities of this type are typically institutional in character, with nurses’ stations and rooms. Not here. It is divided into neighborhoods with three homes — each housing 14 veterans in their own private rooms. Once inside the home, instead of narrow hallways with rooms on each side, the centers are wide open and contain a full kitchen, a dining room and living room, with bedrooms on both sides — just like a home.

Meals are prepared in the main kitchen, but prepped in each home’s own spacious kitchen with all the amenities, so veterans can actually see and smell what is cooking before it is served in an adjoining dining room — all right there in their own home.

Each house has a living room, dining room and kitchen shared by a small group of residents. Three houses form a neighborhood with its own lobby, and there are private “family rooms” for out-of-the-way visits and overflow visitors. “The neighborhoods surround a town center, complete with a main street, similar to the small towns many of us grew up in,” Blackstock said.

Williams Blackstock interior designer Jennifer Tillman’s attention to detail is apparent — from the blend of aesthetic and patriotic paintings to a mix of leather and cloth sofas and chairs. They are the perfect complement to their homey surroundings. Private rooms feature tall wooden shelves with room for a large-screen television — all residents will have one — books, framed photos and other personal items. A stylish armoire holds a wardrobe.

While beds are equipped to move up and down like the hospital variety, headboards and footboards are made of wood, not metal, giving it more of a home-like look and feel.

Bathrooms are spacious — built for easy access — and huge walk-in showers are examples of the latest trends in home design. Every room has its own window with an exterior view.

A stroll down main street

Acting as tour guide on a walk down the building’s ‘main street,’ Marsh talks of how the Veterans Home got its name. Col. Robert L. Howard was an Alabama Army veteran, Medal of Honor winner and the most decorated soldier in history.

A glass display case built into the wall is dedicated to Howard’s life as a soldier. Five more cases line both sides of the main tiled avenue leading to the town center. They represent each branch of the service — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, and all the cases will have memorabilia commemorating their service to country.

Kim Justice, executive director of state Veterans Homes, points out features along the way. And there are plenty of them.

The first feature that dominates a stop inside any of the ‘shops’ is oversized windows that frame a courtyard scene. “Each courtyard is unique with a wandering path that gives it a different look and feel,” she said.

Just down the way a bit is the Stars and Stripes Café, a sports bar where veterans can gather for pool, cards, checkers and other games. They can watch events on a big-screen TV and be served their favorite soft drink or “mocktail,” Justice said. “It’s a place to gather and enjoy each other.”

Just across the way is Eagle’s Landing, the main dining room. Both the café and the dining room open out into the town center, the focal point of the complex with walls of stone custom cut onsite to fit.

From the wood-beam ceilings to skylights to an imposing stacked-stone fireplace, the concept is “a resort town center. We were trying to capture it all,” Marsh said. It was a challenge to have a building this big meet the needs but still achieve the atmosphere it obviously conveys. “We are one of the first in the nation to have a home of this size, style and of this concept.”

From the town center, you can head in any of three directions to the neighborhoods. Along the way are multi-purpose rooms, conference rooms and whirlpool bathing suites.

On both sides of a grand lobby in the entrance to the building are a two-story domiciliary wing for more independent living in small apartments called Freedom Court and an Alzheimer’s/Dementia unit called American Harbor. This independent living area is the only one of its kind in Alabama veterans homes.

It is a veterans home of comprehensive care, the first of its kind in the state and a sharp departure from traditional veterans homes across the nation.

Partnerships fuel progress

The $50 million project’s location in Pell City did not happen by accident. Some pretty enticing variables came together at just the right time that made the decision an easier one for Alabama’s fourth veterans home.

St. Vincent’s St. Clair, the county’s new hospital, located just across the street. Jefferson State Community College, known for its nursing program, is just down the block on the same campus.

The three have become partners in a win-win-win for all involved. Specialists from the hospital can be utilized by the Veterans Home. If a veteran needs hospitalization or emergency care, the proximity is ideal and the resources immeasurable.

Jefferson State not only gives the entire area a college-campus atmosphere, plans call for students from its nursing school to be involved in rotations at the veterans home, giving them real-life work experience. There will be opportunities for internships, volunteering and permanent employment.

It was a “perfect fit,” said Justice.

Along the way, the partnerships with the hospital and college along with the support of City of Pell City, the mayor, County Commission and Chairman Stan Batemon, and St. Clair Economic Development Council “tipped the scales” in Pell City’s favor, Marsh said. “They would do anything they could to help us build this home.”

And later this fall, veterans will be welcomed to a special place created just for them.

“Admiral Marsh wanted something of the highest quality — extra special,” Blackstock said. “It has been very rewarding. It is nice to see the Veterans Administration putting so much care and effort to see that it is a state-of-the-art facility, not only for the health of veterans, but just as importantly their quality of life. I don’t think there is anything exactly like it.”

Features

Go Build Alabama

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Garrison Steel owner hopes he and his workers can open career doors for others

Story by GiGi Hood
Photos by Jerry Martin

If you looked on a map for the road to success, the most prevalent highway would seem to be the one that leads to and goes through most institutions of higher learning. Attending college and earning a degree have long been touted as the “Main Street” to the world of success.

But there are other maps, with other routes, that can lead to the same destination point. John Garrison, owner and founder of Pell City’s Garrison Steel, will quickly tell you that he has a PhD, but not in the traditional sense. His came from “the School of Hard Knocks.”

“My grandfather lived through the depression, and the hardships he endured, along with the lessons he learned about living within your meager means, were passed along to my dad,” Garrison explained. “And as a result, they were passed on to me. When I got out of high school, my dad told me he had done all the raising of me he was going to do and that it was time for me to make my own way. So, when I graduated from Hewitt- Trussville High School in 1969, I entered the workforce.”

While other friends went on to college, Garrison began cutting his teeth in the steel erection business and traveling the Southeast to do it.

“I was just a kid, but I loved what I was doing,” he said. “I never stopped to think about this becoming my life’s work. I just showed up each day, was dependable, worked hard and thought it was great that daily, I was getting paid to exercise. When I started, I joined the union, and they taught and guided me as I worked my way up the ladder from an apprentice to a journeyman.”

Today, 43 years later, Garrison marvels at how his first job evolved into his life career. He owns his own highly successful steel erection and fabrication business in Pell City with job sites all over the country, and he is sharing his own success story through Go Build Alabama in hopes of raising awareness and understanding among young people that skilled labor can be their ticket to success.

At this point in his life and career, it would be easy to say it is complete. The fairy-tale version would say: “After Garrison attained such great success, he then retired and lived happily ever after.” But that is far from the truth. Today, Garrison is driven by a new initiative called Go Build Alabama. And it is his hope that this vision will produce results much greater than any other with which he has been involved.

Just as he had made is mark on the steel end of the construction business, now he hopes to leave his mark on today’s younger generation. He hopes to help educate them, make them aware that there are plenty of opportunities to earn a good living while obtaining a great on-the-job educational experience.

He wants them to know that skilled laborers like heavy equipment operators, carpenters and electricians start their earnings at an average of $18-$22 an hour. That’s up to $43,000 a year. In 2010, statistics showed that college graduates’ starting salary was in the same range and not significantly higher.

Other skilled positions like boilermaker starts at an average of $27 an hour or $56,000 a year. A certified welder? Starting salary is at $22 an hour with the ability to go into six figures in some arenas, according to statistics provided by Go Build Alabama.

“My interest in this was piqued as I looked back over the last 43 years and realized my employees were getting older just as I was, and there was no evidence of young, skilled workers applying for jobs. It dawned on me that while I had learned, grown and built a business by being a sweat of the brow tradesman, skilled worker positions were not being filled because skilled workers were no longer plentiful.”

Realizing that the lack of skilled workers in today’s industry cannot only cause a slow down, but a complete collapse, he began to think about what could be done. Reflecting on his past, he thought about how he and many others in his generation would not have made it in the workforce without a skilled trade.

He reflected on unemployment levels in our country — especially among the young — and what could be done on that front. Research shows today’s generation Y is 92 million strong.

So, just as he had built his own businesses by working, thinking, dreaming, he put his shoulder again to the wheel and is investing his energy into the Go Build Alabama program. He realized that he wanted to teach the Gen Y’ers that there is absolutely no harm or shame in going to work clean and coming home dirty. His dream is to help them see they can have a successful and bright future, just as he had as a Baby Boomer.

“The time right now is a tough time, in many ways similar to the years during the Great Depression,” Garrison said. “Unemployment is high, and everyone is very aware of that. But the truth of the matter is high unemployment can and does now co-exist with a shortage of skilled tradesman. Currently there are more than 200,000 skilled labor jobs that are not just available right now but are in desperate need of being filled.”

In his day, the job was considered to be hard and dangerous work. “Back then, blue-collar jobs were synonymous with dirty factories and back-breaking work. And while factory jobs are still considered blue-collar work, today’s modern and highly technical plants enable the worker to replace just plain, raw muscle with brain power added to just a little muscle.”

Garrison knows he has worked hard, been successful and been filled with blessings galore. He knows he has built buildings that will outlive him by a very long time. But now he wants to give back a portion of what his industry has given him. He knows he left his mark on changed landscapes with high-rise buildings, and now he wants to work on leaving a legacy for a new generation of workers.

His vision includes a public-awareness campaign that inspires and guides young adults to pick up a shovel and get busy — to seek a trade that is worthwhile and to build their futures as he did, one day at a time, one skill at a time, one dream at a time. He wants to get the word out and let Generation Y know that hope and prosperity are well within its grasp and that futures can be as bright as any past generation’s.

Garrison believes that instead of giving up on another generation, community leaders and past and present business and trades people need to come together, offer a hand, and shine the light into the darkness as mentors. They need to prepare these young people to carry on the industrial future. “They are not just employable, but sorely needed building blocks in our world,” Garrison said.

“My goal with Go Build Alabama is that the Gen Y’ers will come to the realization that their presence, their knowledge, their thoughts and their dreams are desperately needed in the today’s world.

“They need to be taught the fact that they can be successful. They can face the future with the certainty of knowing that they have the skills they need to carry the industry today and that they will also be needed to teach the generation of tomorrow.”