A service where our engineers are able to fix 70% of faults remotely. A telephone maintenance services are able to rectify faults quickly without the time and admin associated with an onsite repair. The need for telephone maintenance is defined through understanding the cost to your business while your phone system is not operational. To appreciate the value, consider the immediate lost sales, the future loss of return business, and the brand damage.
Members of the Cedar Creek Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors Club welcomed Shannon and Mitch Rose/The Telephone Connection back to the chamber at a ribbon cutting last Friday. Contact The Telephone Connection at 903.778. 2694 or [email protected].
Ryan Bell of KART Construction, Chris Kelsey of Long Cove, Josh Ellis of Long Cove and Nancy Phillips of Team Phillips. (LONG COVE FACEBOOK PAGE)
By Michael V. Hannigan
This is cool … Long Cove has broken ground on Phase II.
Long Cove is the resort-style development going up on the shoreline of Cedar Creek Lake, just northeast of Malakoff. It is a Don McNamara project, a Malakoff resident whose other developments include Cityplace and West Village in Dallas.
Long Cove broke ground last April on Phase I, which included 33 properties (22 houses, 11 lots).
The properties are projected to be mostly weekend homes for families from Dallas, and will be from three to six bedrooms and from 1,950 to 3,000 square feet. When complete, the development could include up to 400 homes.
(AMA stands for “Ask Michael Anything,” and is our readers’ chance to ask reporter Michael V. Hannigan questions about Henderson County.)
QUESTION: Through our Facebook page, Scott Brooks of Athens asked what the Athens Economic Development Corporation was doing to bring jobs to the city, as opposed to all the restaurants currently going up around town.
ANSWER: Malone was quick to agree regarding the AEDC’s true goal.
“We definitely agree that having good jobs for people to be employed at is our main purpose,” he said.
If those retail/restaurant businesses approach the EDC, the board is going to listen and try and help, said Malone, but he added, “The retail development is a secondary function. Our main purpose still will be job creation and marketing existing industry.”
Generating jobs is one of those things “easier said than done” however, and Athens is in competition with thousands of communities around the country for those jobs.
To try and get an edge, the AEDC went through a strategic planning process with TIP Strategies of Austin last year. Several times during our discussion, Malone referenced things “the community told us,” or strengths and weaknesses learned during the study.
To encourage that, the AEDC joined with the Trinity Valley Community College Small Business Development Center to offer a six-week course on going into business. The project started this month and at the end of the course, one business is going to earn a $30,000 grant. A business plan is a written description of the future of your business and more importantly, how you are going to get there. It is a document that explains what you are going to do to make your company profitable and how you are going to achieve this. It defines both your business model and your strategies to make this business model work and more importantly profitable. Normally when a business idea arises, you know what resources and capabilities you have at the start of your business and where you want to go in a certain period, usually in 3 or 5 years. But what is the way to reach that goal? Where to start? How to arouse investor interest? Even, how to get your business off the ground? Everything seems so easy when you have the great money winning idea and concept. It is how you are going to achieve these dreams and get enough money to keep the business going for many years to come. You can check here for more about the Business Corporate Planning.
Malone said there are three main ways to build economic growth: entrepreneurship, working with existing industry, and recruiting new industry.
1. Entrepreneurship: Malone said one of the things to come out of the focus groups that were part of last year’s study was the need to help local people start new businesses.
2. Existing Industry: “We have many wonderful companies already here, when you get right down to it,” Malone said. “We work with those guys to identify opportunities to help them expand.”
That could include new equipment or buildings, or expansion programs.
As an example, Malone pointed to programs with Schneider Electric, where the EDC board agreed to help the company based on jobs created, or OTE International, where the board provided a low interest loan and employment incentives.
In the past, the board has helped Argon with its roof.
“That helps keep that business here,” Malone said.
“Investing in those businesses is something that we’ll look at,” he added.
3. Recruiting: “Everybody loves recruiting, but it is also one of the hardest things to do,” Malone said.
Athens is not only going against other communities in the region or state, but the entire country.
“It is a very competitive situation,” Malone said.
Malone has been to California three times in the past year trying to lure business to the city, twice as part of a delegation from the Northeast Texas Economic Alliance.
“You have to be active in terms of trying to create a pipeline of projects, and that’s really what we are trying to do,” he said.
One real drawback for Athens, which was pointed out in the study, is a lack of developed sites.
“What I mean is, if you go to Sulphur Springs they’ve got four or five industrial parks, 300-400 acres. If you go to Kilgore, they have 500 acres. If you go to Commerce, they have about 115,” Malone said. “Athens has nine acres. That is a competitive disadvantage that we have.”
That doesn’t mean Athens can’t succeed. Extreme Engineering is a company relocating to Athens, and the sports recreation equipment manufacturer expects to bring 33 jobs to the city.
“We are going to look at trying to capitalize on our strengths. We are going to really look at different ways we can visit at medical device companies because we have a good niche there, and see how we can expand that,” Malone said. “Right now there’s good traction for us to do that and that’s something we are going to continue to work on.”
While the interview was with AEDC President Brian Malone, he is certainly not the only one involved in making decisions. The board includes: Chairman Robert Gould, David Holdredge, Kelly Smith, Tere Lawyer, Jess Laird, Maurice Cox, and Joe Masso. (Athens Mayor Jerry Don Vaught and City Administrator Pam Burton are ex-officio members of the board.)
Bill Hunt of Texas Ragtime Inc. (left) was named the Athens Chamber of Commerce 2012 Citizen of the Year. He is pictured with incoming Chamber Chairman Mark Allen.
(UPDATED WITH NOMINATION LETTER – JAN. 22)
Bill Hunt of Texas Ragtime Inc. was named the Athens Chamber of Commerce 2012 Citizen of the Year Friday night at the annual chamber banquet.
The award was presented by last year’s Citizen of the Year, Judith McGilvray.
Outgoing Chamber Chairman Tony Kalawe stepped down and welcomed new chairman, Mark Allen.
We proudly nominate Dr. Arch William (Bill) Hunt for Athens Citizen of the Year 2012.
Bill is an outstanding individual who exemplifies a strong leader grounded in good
morals, sound judgment and consistent drive. He arrived in Athens in 1996 and has
been deeply involved in community affairs for the past 16 years. His background as
a college professor (University of Texas-Austin), a restaurant
entrepreneur (Fuddrucker’s start-up) and as a trained physicist has allowed him to
excel on many fronts. Some of his accomplishments that we feel have been important to Athens are as follows:
1. He brought to Athens an international company (Texas Ragtime) which consistently
employs approximately 50 people and adds about $1,000,000 each year to the Athens
economy. This was done without the aid of incentives or tax abatements. He took
all the risks and now owns a very successful company.
2. He has served on numerous community boards, including committees to better our
public schools (speaking out for passage of school bonds and improved standards)
and is currently very active as a member of the Cain Center Board (has supplied
very innovative ideas to the Board, and has seen some of them successfully executed).
As a member of the Board of the Athens Country Club his ideas precipitated changes
which have been permanently adopted and are generally acknowledged to be good.
It is evident that if Bill is on a board, he is going to be an active contributor.
3. He served as President of the Athens Rotary Club and on its Board.
4. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Athens and has served on several
committees with distinction.
5. He has been generous in his financial contributions to the needs of Athens.
For these and other accomplishments that may be overlooked, we feel Bill Hunt would be a worthy Athens Citizen of the Year 2012.
Five dollars can go a long way for a family in need right now at Brookshire’s in Athens.
The company is taking part in the Souper Bowl of Caring, and a bag of groceries is being given to the Athens Food Pantry for every $5 donation by a customer. The opportunity runs through Feb. 3.
Above, Brookshire’s Manager Charles Beasley adds another bag to the cart after a customer donated $5 Friday morning. (MICHAEL V. HANNIGAN PHOTO)
For more information about the Souper Bowl of Caring, click here. For more about Brookeshire’s, call 903-675-6680.
