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Publisher's Comments
New Era Cap is working on a $2 million expansion at its plant in North Jackson. New Era's expansion will move several functions that are now being done in Mobile to the local facility and add about 40 jobs to the 360 already employed there. New Era has proven to be a great addition to our industry base in the few years it has been in Jackson and Alabama. The plant manufactures baseball caps for the Major and Minor leagues as well as others. It is also good to see the old Boise Sawmill (known to most "old-timers" as the M. W. Smith Sawmill plant) preparing to reopen. The Stimpson family that owns Gulf Lumber Company in Mobile is reopening the mill as Gulf Lumber- Jackson, LLC. The Stimpsons know our area as they have extensive property holdings in south Clarke and spend a lot of time here. Their operation of the mill is a natural fit and we appreciate their efforts. Some 75 to 80 jobs will be created by the reopening of the mill. Evergreen Trucking has announced that it will build a terminal on Highway 43 that will employ about 55 people. Walter Poole, a well-known name in the trucking business, is the owner and freight trucks will serve several area plants out of the terminal. The sale of Vanity Fair Intimates to Fruit of the Loom is a historic transaction and hopefully a good one for Jackson's oldest continuing industry. Vanity Fair came to south Alabama and Jackson in the late 1930s and at one time employed hundreds locally. The sewing plant (where New Era is now) closed years ago but the original 1939 plant continues as a knitting facility and employs just fewer than 100 people. We all are familiar with the Fruit of the Loom brand and most of us know billionaire Warren Buffett's reputation for success. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. owns Fruit of the Loom. Local Vanity Fair managers said they were told it would be "business as usual" under the new ownership and that is good news. Things are also looking good on the retail front in the Pine City. Walgreens' plans for a new pharmacy where the old armory and nearby shopping complex are located on College Avenue were finalized last week. I don't know how many jobs the new retailer will create but I am sure it will be substantial. There's a lot of construction going on in the area too. Ground has been broken for a new police complex in Jackson. New county health departments are being built in Chatom and Grove Hill. A new lunchroom was just completed at Jackson Middle School and work continues on a new Clarke County High School in Grove Hill. Work is also progressing on the new courthouse annex in Grove Hill. Growth continues in northern Clarke too. A significant announcement in Thomasville in the last couple of weeks is a new $8 million plastic injection molding plant for the city's new South Industrial Park. Toddtown native Richard Pugh, a successful California businessman, is the CEO of the new venture and the plant is expected to employ 75 to 100 people. A formal groundbreaking is expected soon. Work continues on the new $215 million Louisiana Pacific oriented strand board (OSB) plant just south of Thomasville that will create another 130 jobs. It is slated to open this fall.
The list goes on and on. I salute our municipal and county leaders-elected, appointed and volunteers. Clarke County and southwest Alabama are doing well and I only expect things to get better as 2007 progresses!
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