Published 12:04am Wednesday, December 22, 2010
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News
Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson stressed this week that River Falls Street is closed to through-traffic, but open to those who live, work, or need to do business there.
A couple of weeks ago, Andalusia Police Chief Wilbur Williams announced his department would ticket drivers who used the yet-to-be-completed street as a through-street. Williams stated at the time that the action would be taken to protect those working on the project designed to improve the street.
But what many people heard was a different message: Simply that the street was closed. And that’s made some River Falls Street business owners complain loudly. One even put an angry message on the sign out front: “Mayor and APD: You are killing business on River Falls Street. Do you care?”
The answer is that they care very much.
“We want to make sure people understand that River Falls Street is closed to through-traffic, not to people who work there, live there or are doing business there.
“If you’re going to Ophelia’s and eat dinner and you get stopped, tell the police officer why,” Johnson said. “If you tell an obvious lie about that, you may get called on it.
“The point is we don’t want to shut those businesses there,” Johnson said. “We ask drivers to be careful, aware and cognizant of workers out there,” he said. “What has happened is, because a pretty good portion of the street is done, people think they can get on there and go. That’s not permissible.”
Johnson told council members Monday night that the project is at its approximate half-way point.
Long before construction began, announcements about the project included statements about it being a year-long project. Work began last summer.
Published 12:02am Tuesday, December 21, 2010
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News
The shooting that occurred at a Bay County (Fla.) school board meeting last week has led Andalusia Police Chief Wilbur Williams to assign a uniformed sergeant to attend local city council meetings.
Willliams, who rarely misses a council meeting himself, told council members last night that Sgt. Jason Curry has been assigned to provide additional security for their meetings.
Williams said some concern was expressed locally after a gunman showed up at the Bay County school board meeting and shot at the superintendent and each board member before being shot and eventually taking his own life.
“We are doing this out of an abundance of caution,” Williams said.
He also encouraged council members to let him know about potential problems.
“These things don’t happen all of a sudden,” he said. “Usually, they fester.”
The council also:
• agreed to establish a $2 million line of credit at CCB Community Bank. The credit line will be used in the management of ongoing road projects that require the city to pay contractors and provide cancelled checks before being reimbursed by state and federal agencies. The terms require the note to be “paid off” for at least 30 days each year.
• approved first quarter funding for outside agencies, including the American Red Cross, Andalusia Chamber of Commerce, Andalusia Kiwanis Foundation, Covington Area Transit System, Covington County Economic Development Commission, Covington County Emergency Management System, Covington County Health Department, Covington County Soil and Water Conservation, Covington Historical Society, Impact of Covington County, LBW College, Organized Community Action, and South Central Mental Health.
Council members asked to receive information about how the funding is used by each agency.
• approved the transfer of a retail beer license for Food Giants Supermarkets (Cost Plus).
• Reappointed Ashton Wells to the city Utilities Board.
• Approved the state’s planned resurfacing of the West Bypass and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway beginning in the spring.
• Renewed a contract with the county to accept stray animals at the city’s animal shelter. The county will pay $10,000 per year.
Published 12:00am Friday, December 17, 2010
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News
CEO John P. Zoltak, center, with Opp Mayor H.D. Edgar and Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson. Voltak said he hopes the new
company soars, just as its logo suggestsJohn P. Zoltak has done his homework.
When the founder and CEO of Support Systems Associates, Inc., the parent company of the new Support Systems Andalusia Alabama, spoke at a reception for the company held at South Alabama Regional Airport yesterday, he knew more about the Andalusia community than many folks who live here.
Zoltak, who said he and his wife both grew up in mining communities in northeast Pennsylvania, talked about the community’s history, and noted several things he really likes.
“I love that you started this program with a Christian invocation,” he said.
Before yesterday, he had had a “windshield tour” of Andalusia, but had been sent photographs of the city’s Christmas decorations and of local manger scenes. He loved them.
He knew that that local Catholic church is “Christ the King Catholic Church” and considers it a good omen: when his son was born, he was christened at another Catholic church named Christ the King.
“Your community still fosters the beliefs of the founding fathers,” Zoltak said. “And we are very proud to be a part of this community.”
Zoltak seemed equally eager to have the community get to know him.
“I started working when I was 7 years old as a laborer,” he said, adding that he held jobs in farming and construction before earning a degree in electrical engineering. The now 71-year-old is a proud father of two and grandfather of six, and also shared photos of his family, and his Christmas tree with the approximately 100 people who attended the reception.
He said his company “couldn’t find a more welcoming community or better home for our new business,” and said it’s a “great place to enable us to foster a new industry, achieve our goals and help raise young families.”
Action far outweighs words, Zoltak said, asking local residents to be patient as they get the new business off the ground. Corporate officials are busy getting all of the required certifications in place so that SSAA can bid on government contract work. Officials said they hope to see C-130s at the SARA by March.
Published 12:02am Saturday, December 18, 2010
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News
John P. Zoltak, founder and CEO of Support Systems Associates, Inc. which is launching Support Systems Andalusia Alabama (SSAA) at the South Alabama Regional Airport has one concern.
He’s worried about being able to find enough employees with the necessary certifications to work in the newborn company he’s looking forward to nurturing to adulthood.
SSAA is designed to do maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) on C-130 aircraft.
The new general manager of SSAA, John Herman, said the type work to be done here will require employees certified in airframe and powerplant certification; airframe certification; sheet metal/machinists and electrical/avionics specialists.
It’s the same certification needed to work across the way at Vector Aerospace, where the focus is on rotary wing aircraft, or helicopters. At present, Vector employs approximately 100 and is finalizing expansion plans that will create an additional 100 jobs over the next two years.
Training for these certifications is available through the state’s two-year college system, specifically Enterprise State Community College’s Ozark-based aviation school, which operates a campus in Andalusia. Both high school and adult students can begin earning aviation credits in the school’s classroom at the South Alabama Regional Airport.
Zoltak envisions the new company as one that nurtures young families. Toward that end, he wants to hire local residents. He sees getting people trained as the company’s largest obstacle.
“We need help from all of you,” he told a crowd of about 100 gathered for a reception Thursday afternoon.
Toward that end, he’s hired a “young goodwill ambassador” whose job it is to visit local “bars, pool halls and churches” and spread the word about opportunities with the company, he said.
Published 12:00am Friday, December 17, 2010
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News
John Herman, who will lead local operations, talks with Alabama Power’s Vann Bradshaw
Both local leaders and the founder of the company who yesterday formally announced a new business for the South Alabama Regional Airport said the announcement is a great Christmas present for Covington County.
Support Systems Andalusia Alabama, LLC will be a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MR) organization. The company plans to hire approximately 50 employees to work in a previously vacant hangar at South Alabama Regional Airport.
A U.S. Department of Labor wage determination chart circulated by the company yesterday shows that the minimum pay will range from $12.37 per hour for an aircraft mechanic helper to $23.93 per hour for an electronics technician maintenance III.
“This is a day we’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson said. “It is a wonderful Christmas present for the people of Covington County.
“There is nothing you can do better than give people the opportunity of good jobs like those SSAI will provide here at South Alabama Regional Airport.”
SSAI is the parent company of SSAA, and was founded by John P. Zoltak in 1969. It has 12 other locations. (See box)
“This ain’t his first rodeo,” Johnson said of Zoltak.
Tucson Roberts, president and CEO of the Covington County Economic Development Commission, said SSAI is “a first-class business” that will provide high-wage, high-demand jobs for local residents.
Zoltak had high praise for the community.
“This is one of the finest aviation facilities in the United States,” he said of the facility SSAA will occupy. “You have everything here a company such as us could possibly want.
“Thank you to the leadership of the community and the citizens who have contributed their tax dollars to the bonds to build these facilities,” he said. You’ve done a great job and I think you for that.”
Zoltak said both the facility and the fact that all of Covington County is a HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone) made locating the new business here attractive.
HUBZone is a designation used by the federal government in awarding contracts. To qualify, 35 percent of a company’s employees must reside in a HUBZone.
Zoltak said his company’s prime contractor is the federal government and its largest customer is the Air Force Special Operations Forces located at Hurlbert Field.
