MOBILE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DECEMBER 2020 / JANUARY 2021 GUIDE TO MOBILE HILLER ADDS 400 JOBS CITY UNVEILS HOUSING INITIATIVE GUIDE TO MOBILE 1 DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 What it takes to win. The best minds in the game know. Dominating the competition means staying two steps ahead of it. Let C Spire Business provide you with the solutions you need to take on any challenge. Find the right VoIP phones, business internet and cloud services for your organization. cspire.com/business ©2020 C Spire. All rights reserved. austalusa.com BUSINESS VIEW 3 IN THE ISSUE 5 News from Threaded Fasteners, City of MOBILE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DECEMBER 2020 / JANUARY 2021 Mobile, JJPR and Hiller Companies 11 Small Business of the Month: Oyster Shell Strategy 14 Mobile's Manufacturer of the Year: AM/NS Calvert 11 15 Mobile's Innovator of the Year: Airbus 18 Chamber at Work 21 Investor Focus: Volkert Inc. 22 Executive Profile: Diana Allen, The SSI Group 14 25 Board of Advisors 28 Calendar 31 Member News 34 New Members 1 ON THE COVER: Located in downtown Mobile, Cooper Special Section: Guide to Mobile – Riverside Park is a great escape for anyone A great place to live, play and grow wanting an up-close view of the Port of 18 a business Mobile. Learn more about this park, and get to know your city better by reading the Guide to Mobile, included in this issue. Photo by Dawn Finch. ABOUT THE MAGAZINE FROM THE EDITOR: BUSINESS VIEW (USPS 952-700) is published 10 times a year, monthly, except for the June/July A YEAR WE WON’T FORGET and December/January issues, by the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce. Leigh Perry-Herndon 451 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602 251.433.6951 • mobilechamber.com Remember the excitement of celebrating bringing it to your mailbox and inbox your child’s first birthday? That’s how every month. POSTMASTER send address changes to Attn: Finance Department BUSINESS VIEW we feel here at the Mobile Area Chamber Our incredibly talented photographers Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce after launching the new Business View have blown us away, as have our P.O. Box 2187, Mobile, AL 36652-2187 one year ago. I have to think hard when committed writing, editing, designing © or email [email protected] 2020 remembering the trepidation our staff felt and printing teams. Publishing a magazine in advance of that issue hitting the street. Publisher William B. Sisson in today’s market is no easy feat. If it Executive Editor Leigh Perry-Herndon Would our readers enjoy it? Would the weren't for our members who continue Managing Editor Jennifer Jenkins photos stand out? How many advertisers to financially support it by advertising, Copy Editor Michelle Irvin would support us in the coming year? we would not be here today, ready to Additional Writers and Editors We never could have imagined that a tackle some terrific topics in 2021. Please Mike Herndon, Ashley Horn, Susan Rak-Blanchard pandemic would threaten the magazine support our advertisers. Without them, and Carolyn Wilson before it really got off the ground. the Business View would not exist. Printing Services: Panaprint Inc. (Thankfully, that didn’t happen!) On a separate note, it’s soon time for Graphic Design: Wise Design Inc. I’m proud of our work this year, and all of us to reset and recharge. Have a Advertising Account Executive: everyone involved in the magazine has blessed holiday season surrounded by René Eiland • 251.431.8635 put in their fair share of sweat and tears those you love the most! We are excited [email protected] about what's to come in 2021. 4 DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 THREADED FASTENERS ANNOUNCES NEWS $1.7M EXPANSION IN SEMMES Less than two years ago, Threaded Fasteners put the finishing touches on a new galvanizing facility. Recently, company officials announced another expansion of the 41-year-old, Mobile-headquartered business. Threaded Fasteners purchased 14.5 acres on a site adjacent to its manufacturing center in Semmes. Plans are to build a 30,000-square-foot building to house new specialized equipment, bringing the investment to $1.7 million, and hire 15 additional employees. The new facility will be used to fabricate, assemble and package the company’s large anchor bolts, ranging from two feet to 20 feet in diameter, used by utility and construction companies to anchor highway directional signs, cell phone towers and commercial buildings. Driving the company’s expansion is the activity in the construction industry and repairs caused by numerous storms and hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. “A long-standing corporate partner in our community, Threaded Fasteners continually reinvests in its operations and provides competitive wages to its employees,” says David Rodgers, the Mobile Area Chamber’s vice president of economic development. Billy Duren, the company’s president, says the continuous expansion and investment is all part of Envision 2030, a long-term plan written in 2016. “It is a roadmap for not only where we wanted to go but who we wanted to be as a company. “We knew that expanding our manufacturing capabilities in large-scale production was the clear next step. Our mission is to create value in and for the people we serve. This expansion will allow us to expand our product offering and capacity, both nationally and internationally,” Duren says. Outside of Mobile, Threaded Fasteners has seven other U.S. offices in Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee. AT-A-GLANCE THREADED FASTENERS Threaded Fasteners announced a $1.7 million expansion to build a facility to HEADQUARTERS: Mobile house fabrication, assembling and packaging of large anchor bolts such as these, pictured above. FOUNDED: 1979 NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 185 NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN MOBILE COUNTY: 111 BUSINESS VIEW 5 A trusted nancial partner. “Having the right nancial partner means everything. Doug knows us personally, understands our unique business needs, and offers custom nancial solutions that save us time and money. River Bank & Trust has earned our trust with their personalized approach to doing business.” Sylvia Smith and Ephraim Kadish, owners of Local and Company Restaurant, with Doug Thomas, Coastal Region President, River Bank & Trust, NMLS 775537 DAPHNE MOBILE 27900 N Main St. 4630 Bit and Spur Rd. 251.626.7790 251.338.8770 RIVERBANKANDTRUST.COM To see more follow us on and 6Equal DECEMBER Housing Lender 2020/JANUARY | Member FDIC 2021 CITY OF MOBILE HOUSING PLANS NEWS TO CREATE AND PRESERVE HOMES n early November, City of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson Funding comes from a variety of sources, including grants I announced details of a plan to create or preserve 1,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, homes by 2026. Stimpson first unveiled the program during public-private partnerships and $300,000 from Mobile City the Mobile Area Chamber’s State of the City and County event Council President Levon Manzie’s annual capital projects earlier this year. budget. Through the $15 million initiative, city officials have a goal to Led by the city’s neighborhood development department, this repair 550 owner-occupied homes, rehabilitate 100 blighted or new project expands on work already completed or in progress. abandoned homes, construct or rehabilitate 275 rental units, build 30 new single-family homes and assist 200 first-time ‘The hope is to grow the population home buyers with down payments. According to Stimpson, the focus is east of I-65 and addresses of the City of Mobile by improving our blight and enhances affordable and workforce housing options housing stock but also to reverse the in some of the city’s oldest communities that have been historically underserved. trends and challenges that go along “It can be hard to fully convey the multifaceted problems with blight.’ caused by blight. An abandoned house is more than an Sandy Stimpson, eyesore. If left unchecked, blight can easily spread throughout a Mayor, City of Mobile community. When you have a blighted neighborhood, it drives down property values and can lead to higher rates of crime. “The hope is to grow the population of the City of Mobile by With fewer working families, there are fewer children, which can improving our housing stock but also to reverse the trends and lead to school closures and consolidations,” said Stimpson. challenges that go along with blight,” said Stimpson. BUSINESS VIEW 7 JJPR TAKES NATIONAL WIN NEWS Jennifer Jenkins, owner of JJPR, waited patiently with her husband, Jerry, and team members on a virtual announcement of U.S. Chamber award winners. Upon hearing JJPR was a winner, it took no time at all to pop some champagne and celebrate. n mid-October, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce honored Each year, the U.S. Chamber names three finalists in eight I JJPR Agency with its Woman-Owned Business Achievement different categories for its Small Business of the Year program: Award, recognizing the agency’s growth and contributions to the small business of the year; community support and leadership; economy. emerging business achievement; green/sustainable business The Daphne-based firm with 10 employees was the only Alabama achievement; minority-owned business achievement; company to make the top 24 list in the country and to be a winner veteran-owned business achievement; woman-owned of the U.S. Chamber’s Dream Big Small Business program. business achievement; and young entrepreneur achievement. The Mobile Area Chamber nominated JJPR for the award. Founder and President Jennifer Jenkins, who opened the ‘We are so proud of Jennifer and JJPR. agency as a sole practitioner in 2010, expressed appreciation for This is the highest honor awarded by the her staff.