Multiple Pell City expansions mean new investments and jobs for region
A pair of expansion announcements in Pell City in recent months underscore the upward trend for economic development in St. Clair. They represent new investments of nearly $35 million, creating more than 50 new jobs, and the continuation of the county’s economic momentum in 2024 and beyond.
Douglas Manufacturing, acquired in early 2023 by Rulmeca Holdings, has already begun the $11.7 million expansion of its production facility, which will add four production lines. The $23.2 million expansion by Ford Meter Box Company Inc. includes construction of a 60,000 square foot building and manufacturing equipment to enhance production.
Douglas Rulmeca and Ford Meter Box are located in Pell City’s industrial park.
Douglas Rulmeca breaks ground
At a groundbreaking ceremony in February, Fabio Ghisalberti, executive vice president and managing director for Rulmeca, called it “a new great day for Rulmeca. When the acquisition of Douglas was announced last year on April 20, we declared that investments would have been realized in Pell City increasing manufacturing capacity and product line. Now, just 10 months later, we are proud to keep the promise, celebrating this first significant step towards a brilliant future for Douglas.”
Noting the location, he added, “I am pleased this takes place in Pell City, St. Clair County, where we are looking forward to contribute to the prosperity of the local community aiming to add great value to our customers thanks to a significant investment plan both in manufacturing space and high-tech equipment.”
Douglas Rulmeca is a leader and innovator in the conveyor industry.
“We are excited to break ground on our new idler plant, which will enable us to meet the growing demand for our idler product line and keep our customers moving ahead,” said Paul Ross, president and CEO of Douglas Manufacturing. “This project is not only an investment in our company, but also in our community. We are proud to be part of the economic growth and development of Pell City, St. Clair County and Alabama.”
Ross thanked local and state leaders for “their support of this significant investment by Rulmeca.”
The new idler plant will feature the latest equipment and automation technologies. It will adopt the premium Rulmeca PSV idler design, offering improved sealing, stability and durability, officials said.
Project completion is expected by the end of 2024, enabling the company to significantly increase its production capacity for key components such as pulleys, lagging, idlers, magnetics, impact beds and take-ups.
As a member of the Rulmeca Group, Douglas is one of 18 global manufacturing and sales companies with 1,200 team members and customers in over 85 countries.
The expansion is expected to create more than 50 jobs over a two-year period with an average annual salary of about $45,000, according to the Alabama Department of Commerce.
“We are excited that Douglas Manufacturing has decided to expand their footprint in Pell City,” said St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon. Douglas was founded in 1978. “The combination of Douglas with Rulmeca will allow for continued growth and success of the company, and we are honored to see them growing here in St. Clair County.”
Ford Meter Box expanding in Pell City
Ford Meter Box expands … again
Ford Meter Box Company, Inc., a manufacturer of underground waterworks products, is upping its investment in the county, a move it has made multiple times in the past.
Headquartered in Wabash, Indiana, it is expanding its Pell City facility with a $23.2 million expansion that allows fabrication of large-diameter steel components and increased production capacity in the 60,000 square foot new construction.
Noting that the Ford Meter Box Company has had a presence in Pell City since 1982, Senior Vice President and General Manager Zachary J. Gentile Jr. said, “We are grateful for the continued support we have received from Pell City, the Pell City Industrial Development Board, St. Clair County and the St. Clair County EDC.”
“St. Clair County always welcomes new investment and quality jobs to our community,” said Batemon. “We are happy to be able to work with the City of Pell City to encourage growth among the companies in St. Clair County. This investment opens doors for new opportunities for our citizens now and in the future.”
With a nod toward the company’s history of expansions and investments in the county, Commissioner Tommy Bowers said, “We are excited that Ford Meter Box continues to grow their presence in Pell City and St. Clair County. They are a long-standing member of our business community who have always been great corporate citizens. We are excited about this latest project and wish Ford Meter Box continued success.”
Pell City Mayor Bill Pruitt echoed the sentiment. “The City of Pell City is proud to see the continued growth and success at Ford Meter Box’s Pell City facility. New investment and job growth will stimulate the local economy and highlight the fact that Pell City is a great place for business. We congratulate Ford Meter Box on their success and wish them nothing but success going forward.”
The Ford Meter Box Company, Inc. is a manufacturer of water meter setting and testing equipment, service line valves and fittings, and pipeline coupling, repair, and restraint products for the waterworks industry and ancillary markets.
Story by Carol Pappas Photos by David Smith Discover Archives photos
It’s called a tipping point – that moment when an idea catches a spark and spreads – much like the momentum of a wildfire.
It is exactly that point where St. Clair County found itself 25 years ago with nothing more than an idea of how economic development could work for the future. This was the crossroads question: Do it the way it’s always been done or venture outside the box and bring an entire county together toward a common goal?
At Saks signing, from left, seated: Steele Mayor Alfred Lackey; Chairman Stan Batemon; Walter Scott, Saks Inc. Standing, Wendy Cornett, Saks attorney; Charles Robinson, Steele attorney; Pat Coffee, Steele clerk; Kenny Coleman, Metropolitan Development Board; John Wilcox, Steele IDB chairman; Warren Matthews, Saks attorney; Bill Weathington, county attorney; Lyman Lovejoy, owner; Ed Gardner Sr., EDC director; Tommy Bowers, EDC chairman; Elwyn Thomas, owner.
Lucky for St. Clair County, officials chose the latter, it took hold, and it’s been spreading like wildfire ever since.
You might say it was luck when the St. Clair Economic Development Council was created, but those who were there at those historic crossroads know differently. Those groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings that have become virtually a weekly routine around these parts today did not happen by accident.
Like laying a foundation brick by brick, a group of visionaries carefully transformed an idea into what St. Clair Countians may take for granted these days. But it was all part of a strategically laid plan.
For years, Pell City Realtor Ed Ash assumed responsibility for economic development and by all accounts is owed a debt of gratitude. Many of the early industries were recruited and the projects landed because of Ash’s efforts.
In about 1998, he decided to retire from industry recruiting, and officials faced a decision. What do we do next?
“We figured we needed a full-time recruiter,” said Bob Barnett, who serves as chairman of the Pell City Industrial Development Board, a post he still holds. But they wanted to take it a step further – make that several steps – and develop it as a countywide effort. “It was an idea that just started taking wings. Everyone saw the need.”
Barnett and then commission chairman, the late Roy Banks, are credited with giving the idea those wings early on.
They enlisted the counsel of Circuit Judge Bill Weathington, who was county attorney and Moody city attorney at the time, and he skillfully set up the framework of what would become the EDC. Municipalities came on board, and the idea was in motion.
“One thing we realized was in order to get economic projects, we needed to incentivize differently to compete with surrounding counties and larger municipalities,” Weathington said. “We determined that together, we could compete.”
“Together” is a recurring theme throughout this 25-year success story. Up to that time, municipalities operated from their own silos, sometimes competing with each other.
Former Gov. Don Siegelman and EDC Executive Director Ed Gardner Sr. with Yachiyo executives at groundbreaking
The new concept meant they could compete effectively with others outside the county rather than battling among themselves. What was good for one was good for all.
“We could do things we could not do individually, and if we helped each other, we could help the county have a better chance of landing some of these things,” Weathington said.
With over 8,000 new jobs and $1.7 billion in new investments to its credit since that time, Weathington concluded, “it turned out pretty well for us.”
Banks was a driving force early in the planning, urging Weathington to structure it so that it would be “fair for everybody,” he said. As history would have it, Banks was defeated that year for the chairmanship by Stan Batemon.
But Batemon, recognizing the importance of the effort, not only kept it going in his administration, he and the commission appointed Banks as a member of the first EDC Board of Directors. The structure of the board was critical to the ‘together’ plan. Representation on the five-member board was spread around the county, and no elected official was allowed to serve, a move aimed at keeping politics out of the process.
The charter board was Tommy Bowers, Pell City, chairman; Terry Stewart, Ashville; Joe Kelly, Moody; Lyman Lovejoy, Odenville; and Banks, Pell City. The county commission gave the first $100,000 to fund it, and each municipality invested based on a percentage of their population.
The structure of the board has remained the same. “It still functions like it was set up,” Weathington said. “It speaks well” that the boards, mayors, council and county worked together across administrations to ensure the continuity of mission. “You don’t find that everywhere,” he said.
Weathington noted that Barnett was involved in bringing the idea to the table and played an instrumental role in “making this happen.” Banks, he said, guided the process. And Batemon was the “salesman, made us look good and sold a lot of people on St. Clair County.”
Sibling rivalry thwarted
The biggest fear at the beginning was that the first major project would go to Pell City rather than another municipality and endanger the concept of working together. But it went to the tiny town of Steele in the northern tip of St. Clair County, which landed a Saks Fifth Avenue distribution center.
In fact, the second project went to Steele, too – Yachiyo, an automotive supplier.
Former Pell City Mayor Guin Robinson followed the late Mayor Mack Abercrombie into office in the early goings of the EDC. Recognizing that locating the first industry outside Pell City would actually help the overall, long-term success, he recalled telling former Executive Director Ed Gardner Sr. that it would not hurt his feelings if the first project landed elsewhere.
When the second project went to Steele, he told Gardner in jest, “Hey, Ed, I didn’t mean they all had to be outside Pell City.”
Robinson’s tenure eventually saw plenty of growth. The expansive Walmart development, Jefferson State Community College and a host of other industrial, commercial and institutional projects dotted the landscape.
Chairman Batemon at the podium
Now Dean of Economic Development at Jefferson State Community College, Robinson has a rare vantage point as councilman, mayor and college official. The EDC is headquartered on the third floor of Jefferson State. “At that time, the community recognized the importance of the future of the EDC, and Jeff State recognized that as well.”
During the late Jefferson State President Judy Merritt’s term, the college expressed its desire to locate EDC there if space was available. “Judy Merritt and her team, which included current President Keith Brown, embraced the idea. Making that decision before the building was even built says a lot about the importance of EDC and its future.”
Robinson referred to the college’s mission of economic development and workforce development as a “natural fit” with EDC’s own mission and what would become a solid partnership.
Other areas of the county found natural fits, too, because of the strong foundation EDC was building. Moody saw Red Diamond, a global coffee and tea manufacturer pull up its 100 year-old roots in Jefferson County and head to St. Clair County, building a stunning facility there and making sizable initial and subsequent investments in expansions and generating significant job growth.
In its 25 years, every area of the county has benefited from new or expanding industry investment as well as commercial ventures, a testament to their working together philosophy.
First hire
The EDC Board’s first decision set the course. Maybe the stars were aligned just right, as they say, or more probably, it was the vision shared by those who made it happen.
Ed Gardner Sr. was serving as head of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs in Gov. Fob James’ administration and was leaving office. He previously served as assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development in Washington D.C.
His contacts and relationships in business and government circles were legendary. “If we could get him,” Lovejoy recalled, it would make all the difference. They hired him, and it did make all the difference.
When Gardner was honored by EDC in 2018 with its Chairman’s Award, Robinson remarked, “You can have all the necessary things for success, but it takes a leader. And it takes someone who can put all the ingredients together. You can call him an architect. You can call him a builder, but Ed put it together. … We all knew we had those things, but we needed someone to put it together. I’m forever thankful and forever grateful that that person was Ed Gardner.”
“Boy, did we hit a homerun,” Lovejoy said. Gardner had a working relationship with Metropolitan Development Board in Birmingham. He knew people to contact, not just in the state but around the country. He made the wheels turn. We were at a running gallop right off.”
Directors lineage
That gallop never seemed to let up. When Gardner retired, the board hired his son, Ed Gardner Jr., who was deputy director for economic development for the City of Auburn. At the time, Auburn was viewed by many as the pinnacle of economic development in the state.
He stepped into the role, and more successes followed. The first German industry – Eissmann Automotive put its first North American plant in Pell City. That led to VST Keller Oerlikon. Gardner, Jason Goodgame of Goodgame Company and Batemon traveled to Germany to help swing the deal. That led to WKW locating in Pell City as well. Today, Eissmann and WKW are St. Clair County’s largest employers.
Before he left, the wheels were in motion for the other two components of a trifecta for institutional growth in Pell City – Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair and Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home joined Jefferson State Community College – on the sprawling site fronting Interstate 20.
Gardner would oversee tremendous growth in the county over his five-and-a-half-year tenure.
During those years, he guided a fundraising campaign that saw the EDC budget grow from $200,000 a year to $2.5 million over five years. He hired an assistant director, Don Smith, and a retail specialist, Candice Hill, so that EDC could focus fully on all facets of economic development.
Smith was a former colleague from Auburn. When Gardner left the City of Auburn, he said he told Smith, “Hang out here and learn a little bit, and I’ll come back and get you.”
Fortunately for him and St. Clair County, he did. Smith became assistant director for the EDC and later executive director. Gardner Jr. left in 2010 for the Birmingham Business Alliance and later Power South, and Smith ascended to the role he has held ever since.
“It was the best decision of my career,” Smith said. At EDC, he worked as assistant with Gardner Jr. for one and a half years and then served as interim director for six months before being named executive director.
Groundbreakings for the hospital and the veterans home came at the beginning of his taking the helm. Scores of industrial and commercial developments have followed, and they show no signs of slowing.
His innovative and strategic thinking have given birth to new initiatives – Tourism, led by Coordinator Blair Goodgame, and Leadership St. Clair County and a newly created Grant Resource Center, led by Candice Hill, director of Grants and Leadership. He named Jason Roberts director of Industry and Workforce Development.
“Don is forward thinking,” said former EDC Chairman Tommy Bowers. “He has a great team.”
Looking to the future from the lofty position of $233 million in new annual wages announced to date, Smith and his team are poised to announce 1,200 new jobs and $350 million in new investment over the next five years. It is a target they are already on track to exceed.
Lovejoy’s assessment was right. EDC hit a home run indeed.
The sign above the coffee pot reads, “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.” That quote by author and playwright Victor Hugo is as much a part of the blueprint of Ashville’s newest business as is the smell of coffee that wafts through the cozy space. The story belongs to Holli Smith and Heather Warren, the sisters who own Lala’s. It’s a story of family, of love and loss, but it doesn’t end there.
The sign outside the building reads “Lala’s,” and a hot cup of coffee is just the beginning of their offerings. This place, located in the Ashville Historic District on the city’s courthouse square, is a bookstore with a bar where one can order hot and cold beverages, including various beers and wines. They also offer hot food options, with their stone-hearth oven pizza being a crowd favorite.
They just opened in December, but the owners’ plans include trivia nights, wine and beer tastings and live music. Heather and Holli’s grandmother’s piano sits against the wall just waiting to be played. The promise of a song is echoed by a nearby guitar.
The music stopped for the Smith and Warren families just over five years ago when Warren’s 19-year-old daughter, Haleigh, died from a pulmonary embolism. Haleigh’s nickname was Lala, a name given to her by her cousin, Smith’s son, Zander. “She loved reading, trivia, music and food, all the things we’ve decided to do here,” says Smith. “That quote over the bar is symbolic of our journey, coming out of that darkness.”
The bar itself is the handiwork of Smith’s husband, Merrell. It is crafted from red oak plywood and whiskey barrels. Tin tiles from the building’s former ceiling add character to the bar’s front wall.
More of the building’s history is evident throughout the business. The restroom door, a remnant from the days the space was used during the 2014 renovation of the courthouse across the street, reads, “Office of the Tax Collector.”
A large group table in the back is a refinished glass cutting table from the time when the space was used as storage for the adjacent Teague Mercantile business.
“During the renovation, we kept as much of the original structure as we could,” adds Smith. It was important to them to preserve the historical integrity of the building as much as possible. Smith’s son, Zander, is currently researching the building’s history for his fourth-grade history fair project.
The sisters both graduated from Ashville High School and now teach at that same school. Holli teaches Honors and AP English, while Heather teaches Honors and AP Science. Their love of travel is evidenced in the décor, maps, and pictures of many different countries hanging on the walls of Lala’s. “We’ve always talked about doing something like this,” says Smith. “We’d be traveling and visit a place like this and talk about how we could have our own coffee shop and bookstore.”
Their biggest blessing so far, the sisters say, has been the support of community. “We have been overwhelmed by the support of business neighbors and city leaders as well,” says Smith. “The soft openings were crazy! We weren’t prepared for the number of people who came out to support us.”
Reawakening ‘the square’
Just across the street, business neighbors Chad and Esther Smith agree that the community has been amazingly supportive of their clothing and gift store. They’ve just celebrated their first anniversary of business for Farm Wife and Company. Their hope is that more businesses will join them and create more foot traffic in the downtown square.
Chad calls it a “wild dream,” that plan that he and his wife, Esther, began to talk about a few short years ago. The couple, steeped in the farming community in St. Clair County, had talked about one day opening a small retail shop of some sort in Ashville.
Ice cream at Farm Wife & Co.
They were already woven into the community as owners, with his brother and sister of nearby Smith Tomato LLC. The tomato farm, located in Steele, has a retail side where customers can visit the farm to purchase fresh produce and farm-branded products.
The two were busy helping to run the farm and the retail side of that business, but Esther and Chad Smith kept dreaming of opening their own retail shop. “Chad said I have that special touch for fashion and design,” says Esther. “We wanted to open a shop, but we didn’t want it to be a boutique. We wanted to be able to offer something for all ages.”
Their 1,800-square-foot storefront, Farm Wife and Company, is in court square in the heart of Ashville and is packed with a variety of unique giftware for all occasions and clothing for all ages. From wedding and baby gifts to special small-batch lotions made in Mooresville, Alabama, the inventory is unique and tasteful. There is even a men’s clothing and giftware section specifically designed by Chad.
He and Esther bought the old storefront before Thanksgiving in 2021 and began renovating it themselves, while also working on the farm. It was a labor of love that spanned a full year, before the store opened in December of 2022, just a month after Ashville’s bicentennial celebration.
The farm motif is interwoven throughout the store, from the farmer-specific quote behind the checkout desk to the barn façade that leads into the ice cream shop in the back of the store. “We see couples or people with kids come in and one person shops and the other comes to the back and sits down for ice cream or a cup of coffee,” says Chad.
The name Farm Wife and Company tells the story of their lives. Even her license plate says, “farm wife.” “We’ve always been in farming,” explains Esther. “We met on the farmland we now live on. My mother and both of my grandmothers were farmer’s wives, and Chad’s mother, too.
“We could have gone to a larger city, but we didn’t want to,” adds Esther. “Ashville needed it, and we wanted to open our store here.” They’ve just celebrated their first anniversary as a business. After initially intending to rent the space, they had the opportunity to buy it and jumped on it. “I think it was just God’s plan for us,” Esther says. “Everything just kind of fell into place. We had wanted to be on the square because it’s so visible and because the courthouse is so beautiful!”
Ashville Mayor Derrick Mostella is grateful for this small business and others who have brought the downtown area back to life.
“It’s those family businesses, like Farm Wife and Company, Lala’s, GNX and Little Art Tree, that represent us so well,” says Mostella. “They are the ones that set the tone for shopping local and keeping people invested in our town.”
Meanwhile, the city is doing its part, working on several projects to improve sidewalks, adding to the functionality of the downtown area. “We’ve got several projects in the works,” says Mostella. “We’re really sprucing up our park and recreation department and would love to be able to build a recreation center. We’re also looking at developing our land out near the interstate.”
Mostella campaigned prior to his election in 2016 on a promise to promote a downtown renaissance. “Business in downtown had gotten pretty bleak for a while,” he admits. “We always had those anchor businesses like Kell Realty, Charlie Robinson Law Offices, Sew Nice and Teague Mercantile. Then Dr. Labbe with Ashville Dental Center renovated the old pharmacy and relocated his business to the downtown. He was the first to realize the value of these old buildings.” Others soon followed.
GNX Gun Exchange opened in September of 2021 in an old bank building on the square. “It’s not your typical gun shop,” says co-owner Misty Thomas. “Since it was an old bank, we still have the vaults.” When she and her husband, Shane, went looking for a place to open their store, the bank building became available.
GNX Gun Exchange
“We love being downtown,” adds Thomas. “It’s not a huge town, but they’re amazingly supportive. Events downtown are great. We always have a great turnout.” Events are held in the square for July 4th, Halloween, and Christmas, which promote foot traffic around the square, which encourages shopping at local merchants.
For Esther at Farm Wife and Company, being in the heart of downtown is part of the dream. She hopes that the growth of her store and others will help to make Ashville a place where people will want to come to spend time. “That would also allow us to do more and give back to the community,” she says. “We want to continue to serve others.”
Keeping the family atmosphere of a small town while promoting business development is a tricky balance for city leaders. Mayor Mostella says Ashville is handling that growth by simply remembering who they are.
“We are looking for growth, not for the sake of growth, but for growth that works with who we want to be,” he says. “We want to be able to offer different amenities, while still not outgrowing our small-town feel. It’s a balance.”
Springville’s place for sewing, quilting and learning
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Richard Rybka
Kathy Hymer drives up from McCalla to Springville for computer classes. Sheila Lankford drives down from Attalla for quilting classes. Both say it’s worth the miles for what they learn at the Sewing Machine Mart, a relatively recent addition to the Springville Station strip shopping mall.
“I’ve taken jelly roll race-quilt classes (so-called because the quilts work up quickly), crazy-quilt classes and a three-yard quilt class there,” says Lankford. “I love the Sewing Machine Mart.”
Hymer echoes the sentiment. “They’re great. I can’t say enough about them. I’ve taken (sewing machine) computer classes and quilting classes. Every machine I own has been purchased there.”
Shawn and Heidi
The Sewing Machine Mart originated in Tarrant in 1950, then moved to Homewood, where it remained for almost 30 years. Shawn Jackson, who owns the store with his wife, Heidi, started there in 1994, while he was working as a Birmingham firefighter. “I went there as a technician,” Shawn says. “I knew nothing about working on sewing machines but had always been a Mr. FixIt.” When the original owners retired In 2002, he bought the store.
About five years ago, the Jacksons moved to Gallant, and drove back and forth to their store in Homewood. “I pay attention to things and kept my eyes open for a place for the shop after we moved up here,” Jackson says. Then they got word that the building they rented had been sold and was to be torn down to make way for a restaurant.
So, in January 2022, they moved their store to Springville. “My wife shopped at stores in this mall, and we ate in restaurants around here, and one day we spotted this place,” Shawn says. “It’s where the old ABC store used to be.”
Rows and rows of liquor bottles have been replaced by rows and rows of sewing machines that do everything but talk. And some may soon do that. There are more than 40 on display, including a long-arm quilting machine and a couple of multi-needle embroidery machines.
Prices for the four brands they carry — Pfaff, Husqvarna Viking, Baby Lock and Singer —- range from $180 to $24,000. At least one machine is wi-fi enabled, so you can buy a design online and download it to the machine. It also has a built-in electronic tablet on one side.
“It’s amazing what technology is doing with sewing machines these days,” Shawn says. “I can remember when the first embroidery machine came out. It could do a 4 x 4-inch piece of fabric, and now we have machines that can do a 14 x14-inch piece. One of our Pfaffs has Artificial Intelligence. I’m not sure what that will mean, but I anticipate the customer being able to add new features to it, and AI will learn them. That machine also has a camera and built-in wi-fi.”
He doesn’t wince at some of the high prices, comparing them to the cost of hobbies such as golf and fishing. Women sometimes come in and tell him, “My husband just spent $50,000 on a boat, I think I can spend $20,000 on a sewing machine.” He does, however, advise potential customers to have a budget in mind before they come in. “We’ll help you find the most for your money,” he says. “You may still wind up with more than you can use, but you will grow into it.”
Most of the store’s customers are hobbyists that Jackson describes as “memory makers,” turning shirts, pants, ties and tees into quilts, for example. “Probably 20 to 25 percent of our customers, though, have some type of sewing or embroidery business, often in their homes.”
He believes sewing is more than a hobby now. It’s an art form. “It’s not just about making clothes for your kids,” he says. “Your imagination is your only limitation. We have some Cosplay customers, people who dress up in costumes to play video games and do other role playing.They’ll sometimes buy clothes at the thrift store and go home, take them apart and re-make them into a costume for Comicon.”
The Sewing Mart had no space for fabric in Homewood but started carrying some when it moved to Springville. They also carry storage cabinets, sewing machine tables, cutting tables made by a local man and notions (scissors, thread, needles, etc.). “We service all makes and models of sewing machines, with a one or two-day turn-around on repair jobs,” Jackson says. “We sharpen scissors, too.”
Some of their classes are machine or software specific, so a customer can get the most out of a new purchase. They offer several quilting and sewing classes that usually take four to seven hours on the same day, and cost from $25-$150. Some come with kits, others require a customer to bring her own materials. They offer summer classes for youth when there is a demand for them, although they didn’t materialize the summer of 2023 due to scheduling problems.
Courtnay’s quilt top
While Shawn teaches the get-to-know-your-machine classes, most others are taught by customers. Students make tote bags and cosmetic bags, learn how to bind quilts and how to do alterations. “We’re always looking for new teachers with new techniques,” Jackson says.
Customers come from all over Alabama, including Prattville, Auburn, Wetumpka, north Alabama, and from the surrounding states of Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. “Some lived near Homewood, but moved away, while others heard by word of mouth that we work on machines,” he says.
Kathy Hymer of Bessemer bought a 10-needle embroidery machine, a serger and a Pfaff Icon from the Sewing Machine Mart. The Pfaff Icon has a built-in computer and computer tablet. “I can send patterns over the Internet directly or through my laptop, or I can use a USB stick to transfer patterns to the machine,” Hymer says.”
She uses a program called mySewnet that she purchased from Shawn and Heidi to turn designs into patterns for embroidery machines. “I’m in an RV club, and I’ve taken pictures of my friends’ RVs, put them into this program and turned them into embroidery designs that I put on garden flags for them,” Hymer says.
The three-yard quilting class was especially fun for Hymer. “We picked out three yards of fabric we liked, and the Jacksons did the cutting beforehand,” she says. “You use the same pattern as the other people in the class, but depending upon the fabric, each quilt turns out completely different. We did a quilt top, we held them up and compared them when we finished. It’s a lot of fun to see what each person has done.” Hymer traded with The Sewing Machine Mart when it was in Homewood and doesn’t mind the drive to Springville. “I keep going because they’ve added fabric and because there’s so much more going on since they moved out there,” she says.
Lankford has made at least 10 jelly roll race quilts since taking the same class as Hymer. “I call them comfort quilts because I make them for friends and relatives who are sick,” she says. “They are about the size of a twin-bed quilt. I’ve also taken binding classes to learn how to bind a quilt after I put it together. “
A crazy-quilt class resulted in Lankford making a table runner, which her granddaughter is now enjoying while studying at the University of Alabama. “I’ve taken what’s called a three-yard quilt class, and I’ve made three of those. I’ve made jelly roll quilts for all my grandchildren, and I’ve just finished one for a friend who is special to me because he’s awaiting heart surgery. He’s a veteran, so I made it in red, white and blue and embroidered on it, ‘God Bless America.’ He told his wife it was his Linus quilt. It will be with him in the hospital.” Also, She worked on one for a giveaway on Attalla Heritage Day to benefit the Museum of Attalla.
She credits Shawn for taking care of her machines and Heidi for selling her beautiful fabric. “Sometimes Shawn tells me there’s nothing wrong with my machine, just with the ears of the operator.”
Mandy and son, Corbie, share a moment on a tractor
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Mandy Baughn
If you Google “poppies,” you’ll learn that poppies aren’t recommended for growing in this area (Zone 8), poppies don’t do well with root disruption, and poppies typically don’t bloom the first year they are planted.
Mandy Baughn’s poppy experiment defied all the odds and confirmed her idea to develop a flower shop by the side of the road.
That experiment began with a seed packet she picked up at a dollar store, planted in trays on her kitchen table, then transplanted into a garden bed. They survived transplantation, sent their roots deep during the winter of 2022-23, then bloomed beautifully their first season.
“I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to grow poppies to sell for many reasons, but for me, that first brave, pink poppy bloom was a sign and a confirmation that this is what I’m meant to do,” she says.
Seed + Sun Blooms, the name she gave her new flower business, involves growing a large variety of colorful flowers, arranging them into bouquets, placing them in Mason jars and selling them on the honor system in a little stand next to her house on Mays Bend Road. She charges from $5 to $40 for a bouquet, and purchasers leave the money in a lock box.
“They can take the flower jars home with them and keep or return them,” Baughn says. “Most folks return them, and some even bring me extra jars.”
She presented the idea for a flower stand to her husband, Scott, this past April. They had been on their 10-acre homestead for two years and had been tossing around ways to have it make some money. “I’ve always loved growing things,” Baughn says. “I come from a long line of green thumbs.”
She came up with this honor system, which, as she points out, isn’t the first in St. Clair County. “There are several in this area, including the Wadsworth Farm that sells blueberries and others who sell veggies. I’m a dreamer – it was my idea – my husband is the logical one. To my surprise, he said, ‘Let’s do it!’ ”
They had no tiller, no tractor and no experience in flowering farming. Then a friend explained the no-till method, where you lay a tarp down, and it kills the vegetation underneath, decomposing it and putting the nutrients back into the soil. So that’s what they did.
A workshop using pumpkins as vase
This growing season, the flower beds are covered with landscaping fabric, and she’s trying a gardening concept called the Cool Flower Method that a woman in Virginia named Lisa Mason Ziegler came up with. “You plant hardy annuals in the Fall, they over-winter, and do their thing in the Spring,” Baughn says. “Their roots are stronger because they survived the winter.”
In addition to the poppies, she grew sunflowers, zinnias, celosia, gomphrena, strawflowers, cosmos, marigolds, lots of Black-eyed Susans, Bachelor Buttons and more – all easy to grow, according to Baughn. “We hope to add tulips and daffodils this year,” she says. “We have 1,000 tulip bulbs and almost 500 daffodils already in the ground. We planted them during the first week of December.”
The “we” includes her husband and their two children. Son Corbie, 11, and daughter, Ellery, 9, help with the digging, planting and harvesting. “I have my own seed business, too,” Corbie says. They purchased a used tractor last November, which should help with developing the garden bed.
The whole affair has been trial and error, but has turned out even better than they had expected. “I have always grown things, but never from seeds,” she says. “I have been very surprised. I pictured people coming here just to get flowers, a destination, so to speak. But to my surprise, people in the neighborhood and passersby stop, some on their way home.”
Last year, after a late start, the stand opened in early July and closed in mid-December. Baughn estimates they sold 300-400 bouquets during that time. “Whew, that’s hard to think through and just a guess,” she says. They plan to open this year as soon as the bulbs start blooming, which could be as early as mid-February, weather permitting. “We’re hoping to have flowers at least through the end of October and maybe into November,” she says. Maybe we’ll establish a U-Pick patch with sunflowers and zinnias this summer. Obviously, everything is based on the weather.”
Mandy’s daughter, Ellery, takes her pick of flowers
The family wants to make enough money off the flower stand this year to fence their property. Then they can get some horses, sheep and chickens. “We love horses,” she says. “For three years, I taught riding lessons two days a week at RaeAnn Ranch in Moody. The kids, who are homeschooled, would go with me and had a ball roaming the ranch and taking riding lessons.”
She plans to set up a picnic table near the stand, a place for people to hang out, have a picnic, relax and enjoy the Spring and Summer breezes. “Our goal is to nurture community by building more of a community atmosphere so people can connect,” she says. “Young people are always on their phones, and older ones like to socialize. I want people to pass by and say, ‘How cute, let’s stop and sip our coffee at that picnic table.’ We may even offer coffee later. There’s a little bistro table out there now.”
It thrills her when people message her and say, “Someone gave me your flowers, and they made me feel so good. They cheered me up.” That cheers Baughn up, too.
“Flowers are a miracle of God, the way everything comes together to make them grow,” she says. “I go to the garden and know this is not a coincidence, and it strengthens my faith.” l
Town and Country Ford’s massive Pell City expansion means jobs, improved service and cutting-edge technology
Story by Paul South Photos by David Smith and submitted
“Businesses that grow by development and improvement do not die.”
— Henry Ford
Henry Ford, the innovator who brought us the assembly line process that produced automobiles in large numbers, knew a thing or two about development and improvement. Over the years, the company that bears his name brought America the Model A, the Mustang and the wildly popular pickup truck.
That spirit of innovation is now at work close to home at Pell City’s Town & Country Ford. A new customization facility, electric vehicle charging stations and an expanded service presence of 48 service bays mean a multimillion-dollar investment in the local economy, with more growth on the way.
In short, Town & Country – with locations in Pell City and Bessemer – has the pedal to the metal, with a new 36,000-square-foot building soon to be online.
Town & Country Dealer Principal and CEO Steve Watts calls the new facility, a customization operation and two EV charging stations, “the verification of our dream.”
Ford truck customized all around
He and his partner, Bill Sain, brought Pell City Ford Lincoln Mercury in December 2009. It was something of a risk. The American economy was in the tank. But Watts saw something in the dealership, then in a 9,150-square-foot building.
“It was my vision that it one day could really become something. It had a lot of potential being off the interstate (I-20),” Watts said. “You know, back in 2009, the economy was going to hell in a handbasket, and we were glad that we could step in and purchase the business.”
The dealership had 19 employees back then and rented its property. Today, Town & Country has a staff of 71 in its state-of-the art headquarters and now owns 13 acres on the blossoming Interstate 20/59 corridor.
“We’re planning to double our size and capacity and the number of people employed there in the coming weeks and months, once this new building comes online,” Watts said.
Customer demand fueled the new building, Watts said.
“Right now, we can’t get the work out,” Watts said. “Currently, we’ve got 22 service bays for our customers. When we get this thing completed by November, 2024, we’ll have 48 service bays … more than double the capacity of service.”
The customization facility will serve both electric, gasoline-powered and hybrid vehicles.
“This building is going to be a (Ford) Bronco building. It’s going to be an accessory and customization shop showroom, and it’s going to do everything commercial for emergency vehicles. It’s going to be for (internal combustion) vehicles and electric vehicles.
“I really believe Ford’s strategy for EV is appropriate because we’re not giving up on internal combustion vehicles. We’re going to continue to produce those, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.”
However, Watts is also sold on EVs. He drives a Lightning F-150, which he calls, ‘the best driving vehicle I’ve ever ridden in.”
The dealership is investing “seven figures” in dollars to construct two Level 3 EV charging stations, with more to come in order to accommodate the growing fleet of electric and hybrid cars and trucks on the nation’s highways.
These stations – with 24-hour, seven-day access – will be the first such facilities in Pell City and St. Clair County, Watts said.
The state and federal governments are providing funding to grow the number of charging stations around the country. In November 2023, for example, the state provided funding for the construction of three stations near Coosa Landing in Gadsden. Bipartisan infrastructure legislation passed by Congress provided $7.5 billion to construct more charging stations.
The new Pell City stations are expected to provide an additional economic boost to restaurants and other businesses eager to serve travelers and locals alike. The two stations were expected to go online this month (February), with plans to expand to as many as eight stations.
“If (motorists) stop to buy electricity, or stop to eat or spend the night, it drives more tax dollars. That’s a thing we’re really excited about,” Watts said. “It’s an opportunity, not only for my business and our associates, but also for the city and the county.”
And just as Ford’s founder was an innovation pioneer at a global level, Town & Country is innovating locally, in the spirit of Henry Ford.
“We have a choice to invest in EV or not,” Watts said. “I think the strategy is going to include those as well as ICE (internal combustion engines), and I think you’re going to see a lot more hybrid.”
Aerial view of Town & Country’s campus
But even with the growth of EVs, Watts says they’re not for everybody.
“The more infrastructure we get – because people don’t have ‘range anxiety,’ they have ‘charging anxiety’ – the better it is. But you’d be surprised at the number of local people who’ve bought electric vehicles and love them.”
At the end of the day, even with the land, the sparkling new facility and its amenities, that’s not what’s most important, Watts said. He reflected on those early days in 2009.
“The most important thing is not the land. It’s not the building. It’s the people,” Watts said. “I’m just so honored that we’ve been able to go from 19 people to 71 and being able to double that by November of 2024,” Watts says. “That just creates a lot of opportunity for the people. We’re desperately looking for people in all areas.”
The dealership has an Asset Training Program to grow the number of automotive repair technicians. Four local high school graduates are currently enrolled in the program at Lawson State Community College. A fully trained, experienced certified technician can earn up to $45 an hour.
“It’s really a great career path,” Watts said. “You have to work and you have to have the desire to get you there.”
He should know. The Alabama native began his automotive career as a high school student working on the assembly line at the Ford plant in Wayne, Mich., installing heater cords on Ford Granadas and moved on to auto finance and then to ownership. Two uncles owned dealerships in Talladega and Pensacola, Fla.
But Watts emphasized, it’s not about dollars or buildings or charging stations.
“My biggest and best investment is the people,” he said. “Every day, we’ve got 180 people in Bessemer and 71 in Pell City that clock out and go home. And I’m praying that they come back the next day, because without good people, we have nothing.”
Editor’s Note: For more information about Town & Country Ford, its Asset Training Program, inventory, service and employment opportunities, visit them online pellcityford.com and also visit tccustoms.com and on YouTube.
