Opportunity 2024: Day 1

OPPORTUNITY: DAY 1

Saturday, February 17, 2024 Section G

Future in focus

Entrepreneurs like the Fite brothers (below) and members of Generation Next give local communities a dynamic outlook

G2 Saturday, February 17, 2024

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The Decatur Daily

OPPORTUNITY 2024 ENTREPRENEUR: DEXTER ELLIOTT

Chance encounter led to ownership Punctuality, ‘being classy’ keys in funeral home business

By Deangelo McDaniel For The Decatur Daily

Dexter Elliott didn’t grow up with plans of owning a funeral home.

“No way,” he chuckled.

“I didn’t want to go there.”

A chance meeting with the late Jewett Gamlin Reynolds Cowan, however, put him on the path of becoming owner of Reynolds Funeral Home, which is in its 95th year of service.

Elliott, a former Decatur school teacher and police officer, purchased the funeral home on Jan. 25, 2012.

Author and historian Peggy Towns said the funeral home is the oldest ongoing Black-owned business in Decatur and Morgan County.

Elliott, 55, was a Decatur police officer when Cowan requested his presence at the funeral of an alleged gang member because she thought “there would be trouble.”

The funeral happened with no problem and Elliott received a job offer from Cowan in 1991. He worked

Dexter Elliott was working as a police officer when he got a part-time job at Reynolds Funeral Home.

He purchased the business in 2012.

said he learned a lot from Cowan about running the business.

“She was about appearance, punctuality and being classy,” he said. “She taught me to pay attention to what a family wants and make sure their needs are met.”

Family needs in the funeral business have Dexter Elliott purchased Reynolds Funeral Home in 2012. [PHOTOS changed, especially since

BY DEANGELO MCDANIEL/FOR THE DECATUR DAILY] COVID hit in early 2020.

Elliott said the busias part-time manager until graduate, who has degrees ness was already moving Cowan employed him full from Athens State Univer- away from what he called time in 2006. sity and the University of “churchy funerals” to more The 1986 Austin High Alabama at Birmingham, cremations and graveside

services.

“I grew up in the era when funerals were in a church,” he said. “We rarely had graveside services when I started, but now it’s common because this is what families want.”

Elliott said COVID was challenging for the funeral home business and created a “situation I’ll never forget.” He said he was with his mother at the emergency room in Decatur when a cousin who was doing fine came in as they were leaving.

“He got sick during

COVID and 10 days after he went in the hospital, I was picking his body up,” Elliott said. “COVID took a lot of people I knew, but we were committed to providing comfort to families during a difficult time. This is what Reynolds Funeral Home has done for a long time.”

The funeral home has ties to a general merchandise store Edward Doctor Reynolds opened after he settled in Lawrence County from Louisiana.

SEE ELLIOTT, G3

GENERATION NEXT: MARLEY SCHMID

Jobs, volunteering create connection to hometown Love for community grows after getting involved

By Bruce McLellan For The Decatur Daily

Marley Schmid had season passes to Point Mallard Water Park while growing up in Southwest Decatur, and not much could stop her from enjoying the attraction.

“I broke both my arms when I was little, and even with two casts on we went to Point Mallard,” Schmid said.

Mom Cathy taped large food storage bags over her 4-year-old daughter’s red cast on one arm and purple cast on the other arm.

“I got to get in the swimming pool,” Schmid said. “I did end up falling in and getting them soaked and cried.”

Despite the brief tears at 4, visits to the water park remain one of Schmid’s fondest memories of growing up in Decatur.

“We would meet friends there,” she said. “It was just the place we could go and play and get our wiggles out. That was just our summer tradition. We would always go if it wasn’t raining or storming.”

Now 34, Schmid still embraces her hometown. Connections made to the community as an adult have been both a byproduct of her jobs and a molder of her career.

After graduating from Auburn University in 2013 with a degree in hotel and restaurant management, she spent roughly a year in sales and catering at the Doubletree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront. She then worked at Decatur Morgan Tourism from 2015-22 before taking her current job as project manager for the Morgan County Economic Development Association.

“It was kind of each job I got a little more plugged in” to the community, she

said. “When I was at Doubletree, I found out about Jaycees. I said, ‘OK, let me get plugged in here.’

So I met some of my best friends, realized there are young people in the area. We did fundraisers, helped with Habitat for Humanity.

“So I was giving back while having fun with friends.”

Her job also made her aware of the role tourism plays in Decatur.

“People come and visit.

They want to do weekend trips here. There are sports. They learn about the river. It was kind of like in my different jobs I was learning more things about Decatur. … It’s not like I didn’t know them growing up, but I just didn’t experience them.”

During her tenure with Decatur Morgan Tourism, she became a member of the Decatur Downtown Redevelopment Authority board before Rick Paler retired as the agency’s director. Schmid has remained on the board of new Director Kelly Thomas.

“I joined the board when (Rick) was still there, so kind of got to be plugged in and a part of Decatur growing and changing.”

downtown wasn’t great.

We didn’t have apartments and things.

“But now, if you look at all the construction downtown, we’ve got the new hotel, new restaurants coming, the apartments coming on Bank Street.

It’s fun, it’s walkable. … I live downtown.”

The McGhee Square town homes are new in the Old Decatur neighborhood, and the Bank Street Station Apartments are planned nearby.

A Fairfield Inn opened in January downtown, and the municipal parking deck adjacent to the hotel also will open this year.

Schmid said she enjoys the downtown amenities.

“I can walk my dog around my neighborhood.

I could go to a show at the Princess (Theatre). I got milk the other day at Don’s Mercantile because I needed milk for my coffee.

So on the way to work, you know, it’s all right there. I can walk to it, I can drive to it within five minutes.

“It’s starting to thrive.

We’ve got a music scene, a food scene, arts and entertainment district. I’m on the urban arts committee that just helped redo the alley behind Railyard that we call Sonny Side (after the late Sonny Craig). So we’re doing big projects like that with murals and revitalization.”

Coming home Schmid’s family doesn’t have longtime ties to the Decatur area. Her father, Brian, is from Michigan and her mom grew up in Illinois. Brian and Cathy met as students at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. They moved here for Brian’s job at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.

Marley attended Decatur Heritage Christian Academy and had her mom as her fourth grade teacher. Marley was active in the school’s sports program.

“It was 1A (in size classification) so if you didn’t play multiple things they didn’t have enough on the team,” she said. “So I cheered and did volleyball. Those were my main

Prepared for future

Marley Schmid’s Dalmatian Griff is named after the Griff hook, which is a tool used by firefighters.

[TRISTAN HOLMES/FOR THE DECATUR DAILY]

things. But I also played softball, played a little bit of basketball. I think that’s all we had at the time. If they had track, I probably would’ve done it.”

When she finished her degree at Auburn, she wasn’t sure she’d come back to her hometown.

She had done an internship in Bluffton, South Carolina, and considered starting her career there.

“I never thought ‘I’m

coming back to Decatur’ or ‘I’m not coming back to Decatur.’ But the way it worked out I thought I’ll just try it. Apply for jobs, see what happens, whether it be here or somewhere else.”

But once she began making connections while at the Doubletree, she was sold.

“Just the way I started getting plugged in through that, I was like ‘I don’t

want to leave. I like this.

I like being part of my hometown. I’ve made a community, I’m making a difference, and … this is home. This is what I want to do.’”

A little more than 10 years after beginning a career in her hometown, Schmid acknowledged it has changed, and says it’s for the better.

She said in 2013 “there wasn’t much to do. The

Jeremy Nails, president of the Morgan County EDA, said Schmid’s varied background is a plus “She understands what it takes to market a community, and she’s been a great asset to our office,” he said.

As project manager at Morgan County EDA, Schmid helps recruit new industries. She also meets with managers at existing industries to see if they have expansion plans or needs in terms of training, infrastructure and access to qualified workers.

“I’ve got like a SEE SCHMID, G3

The Decatur Daily

| Saturday, February 17, 2024 G3

OPPORTUNITY 2024 ABOUT THIS SECTION

T

he Future in Focus sections that begin today as part ofOpportunity 2024will tell the stories of entrepreneurs and young residents.

Those two groups keep our communities vibrant and poised for a promising future.

The sections today, Wednesday and Thursday will explore entrepreneurs’ motivations and the methods they used to build their businesses locally.

We’ll also introduce several members of Generation Next and show the impact they have on local communities and what attracted them to live here.

On the cover Brothers Bob Fite, left, and Jack Fite helped Fite Building Co. grow with north Alabama over the past 48 years. The company co-founded by Bob and now led by Jack changed the look of Decatur.

Projects that Fite Building has been involved with downtown include, clockwise from top left: a new Fairfield Inn, construction of the Cook Museum of Natural Science, Renasant Bank Decatur Gateway, the new municipal parking deck and both phases of the Alabama Center for the Arts. The story on how Fite Building Co. grew begins on page G10.

Marley Schmid says living near downtown Decatur puts her near her job, offers a place where she can walk her Dalmatian Griff and is close to entertainment and dining options. She and Griff are walking along Bank Street above. [TRISTAN HOLMES/FOR THE DECATUR DAILY]

SCHMID From Page G2

questionnaire I go down the line with them. What their truck activity is like … a whole how’s your business doing. The economic health of the area is important to us and that means their business success, too. So we want to check in with them and make sure things are going well and see if we can assist with anything.”

Nails said Schmid is “the connection between our office and a lot of the” manufacturers in the area.

He said having young professionals such as Schmid is vital for a community.

“We always think it’s important in our profession to bring younger people into our profession so we can develop them for the next generation of leaders,” he said.

The EDA has sent Schmid to courses at the

Government and Economic Development Institute at Auburn University, and she’s part of the Alabama Leadership Initiative, which has a series of seminars throughout a year.

“We put a lot of emphasis on training and investing in our employees,” Nails said.

When not working, Schmid attends a Community Bible Study and Decatur Presbyterian Church, joins her boyfriend Shawn Diehl on his boat when he’s fishing and tends to a herd of seven cattle and grows/sells cut flowers on about 250 acres she leases near Falkville.

She said she can envision someday moving out of the city to a more rural part of Morgan County for her agricultural pursuits, but for now she’s happy living in Decatur and has no plans to leave the community.

“The thought of driving to and from anywhere

but Decatur and working here, I couldn’t fathom it. … Then my jobs have kind of been an investment in the community so I’m like I want to live in the community that I’m investing in and that I’m involved in. And now I’m spoiled.

I’m about half a mile from my job and I have been for several years. And I’m like you can’t beat that. Why would I live anywhere else?

“For me, the thing that kept me here versus going to a bigger city … (is) the options that are available for younger people to be involved. I thought being on boards and the people that got to decide what mural was painted or what show was … at the local theater was such a far reach away from me.

But … there are so many opportunities for young people and Decatur’s very open to saying we need that new young blood involved in helping to kind of shape the future.”

Dexter Elliott was working as a police officer when he got a part-time job at Reynolds Funeral Home.

He purchased the business in 2012. [DEANGELO MCDANIEL/FOR THE DECATUR DAILY]

ELLIOTT

From Page G2

He operated a general merchandise store in Hillsboro and at one point established a Reynolds bottling company.

Ed Reynolds and his wife had 13 children, including son George Henry Reynolds who opened Reynolds Funeral Home in Decatur in 1929 at the age of 25.

According to research by local historian Wylheme Ragland, the first funeral home was in a room George Reynolds leased from Eva Sterrs in the

Cottage Home Infirmary near Vine and Washington streets.

As the business grew, so did demand for space, and the entire infirmary eventually became a funeral home.

George Reynolds died in 1977, and his daughter moved back to Decatur to run the business.

Elliott said a “mysterious” fire destroyed the funeral home and all its records in 1980. Cowan operated in an old gas station near McCartney and Vine streets until Reynolds Funeral Home was rebuilt at its present location on Moulton Street.

She operated the business until her death Oct. 14. 2012.

Elliott purchased the funeral home from Cowan’s son Christopher Cowan of Washington, D.C. He said Chris never lived in Decatur, and he had no interest in running the funeral home.

Elliott said his challenge from day one has been to “keep going what the Reynolds family created,” something he said his faith in God helps him to do.

“You have to care for people,” Elliott said. “You can’t provide the compassion people need if you’re in this for the money.”

87 YEARS 5

Congratulations

Bob Sherrod Salesman of the Year

GENERATIONS

We’re proud to recognize Bob Sherrod as our Salesman of the Year for 2023. He wants to thank his many friends and repeat customers who have made this achievement possible. Their confidence in him and Lynn Layton Chevrolet continues to grow as they purchase their vehicles from him and recommend both Bob and the dealership to their friends and family.

Our goal has never changed - top quality, great prices, and excellent service are what drive us.

We are in our 4th generation of ownership with a 5th generation working at the store. We have exceptional sales and delivery teams.

Bob would welcome the opportunity to help you select your next new vehicle.

We would like to thank all of our great customers for their loyalty. We look forward to serving the area for many more years to come!

“WHERE PEOPLE MAKE THE DIFFERENCE”

HWY 31S AT 67 INTERSECTION • 353-5531

Closed Wednesday & Sunday

581069-1

www.lynnlaytonchevrolet.com

2119 6th Ave SE, Decatur • 256-355-0632

shumakefurniture.net 581276-1

G4 Saturday, February 17, 2024

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The Decatur Daily

Honor Roll of Business 2024

112 YEARS

The firms and organizations listed on this Honor Roll of Business have all contributed to the continuing progress of the Tennessee Valley.

Through their efforts in providing quality products and services, our area has grown and prospered and has become a better place for all its citizens. We are proud to display these firms and organizations showing the number of years each has been a partner in our area’s progress.

202 YEARS

102 YEARS

194 YEARS • Celebrating Life •

99 YEARS

96 YEARS

A Family Tradition ition

95 YEARS

PECK FUNERAL HOME

Call us for catering.

1715 6th Avee SE Decatur 256-350-6969 Open 7 days 9:30a-8:30p

95 YEARS

Hartselle, AL

579665-1

579715-1

www.bigbobgibson.com

Family Owned and Operated Since 1929 578317-1

2520 Danville Rd SW, Decatur 256-350-0404 Open Mon-Sat 9:30a-8:30p

579662-1

1200 E Forrest St, Athens • 235-232-1515 dignitymemorial.com

579731-1

Mcconnell Funeral HoMe 579747-1

No matter how you began your college education, Athens State is the ideal place to finish your degree.

We are one of the few upper division universities in the nation.

578307-1

We Salute You!

85 YEARS

87 YEARS

Talley, Mauldin & Peete, P. C. Accounting and Business Consulting

77 YEARS

71 YEARS

70 YEARS

256-3 353-8 8801

Custom molders and designers of packaging, components and dunnage

53 YEARS

59 YEARS

66 YEARS

Holaway’s Foodland

1102 Brooks St., Decatur 256-353-0476 • 800-621-2033

579316-1

www.jandmsigns.com

579658-1

256-306-2500 - www.calhoun.edu

256-353-1421

EFP, LLC

579711-1

A Tradition of Excellence Building a Foundation for the Future

FREE DELIVERY | FREE SET-UP | FREE FINANCING www.shumakefurniture.net

579734-1

579750-1

256-353-6602

906 Wilson St NE, Decatur

2119 6th Ave SE, Decatur | 256-355-0632 9AM - 5:30PM - Closed Sunday and Wednesday

579729-1

Providing a Service with a “Spirit of Excellence” Since 1929

Since 1957

POOLS & SPAS

Where you always get a better deal on home furnishings

BLK

Shelton Funeral Home

411 6th St. SE • Decatur (256) 353-2596

Every life deserves a special time of honoring and celebrating.

579710-1

Brooks Lock & Key

Serving our area for over 50 years

MAIN OFFICE: 1107 14th Avenue, SE, Decatur, AL 256-350-0362 HARTSELLE OFFICE: 615 Mynatt Street, SW Suite B, Hartselle, AL 256-286-0640 docorthopaedic.com

579709-1

50 YEARS

Allen’s Paint & Body Shop Complete Body Work

Repair - Frame Straightening Free Estimates - Insurance Work

581017-1

Your #1 Source for Top of the Line Products

Robert Allen - Owner 1408 Central Parkway

256-355-1147

Athens, AL (256) 232-8811

579732-1

“Our Family Serving Yours”

Wendye, Sandra, Lonnie, Trai, and Dawn

578299-1

R E A LT Y www.weaverrealty.net

579718-1

50 YEARS

52 YEARS

256-355-3410

(256) 353-1620 • 2105 Beltline Rd. SW, Decatur

52 YEARS

579721-1

53 YEARS

Plum Tree Shopping Center Beltline Road

579725-1

53 YEARS BLK

256-355-5630

579712-1

21652 Beltline Road SW, Decatur 256-351-4264

256-355-7522

The Decatur Daily

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Saturday, February 17, 2024 G5

Honor Roll of Business 2024

579649-1

48 YEARS

48 YEARS

Cricket Creek

GOSS ELECTRIC INC.

by the

Fine Women’s Apparel

46 YEARS

256-353-8751 • 137 Woodall Rd. (At Hwy 20 West)

579317-1

FULL SERVICE ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS 579727-1

1517 Sixth Ave SE • 256-350-9963 Mon-Fri 10-6 • Sat 10-5:30

47 YEARS

725 Beltline Road, Suite E, Decatur 256-350-0211 www.thealfonsospizza.com Mon-Thurs: 11 AM - 9 PM, Fri-Sat: 11 AM - 10 PM, Sun: Closed 579733-1

46 YEARS

45 YEARS

Since 1978

44 YEARS

Highway 67 Auto Salvage

579730-1

8719 Highway 53, Toney, AL 256-420-4454 • 256-859-5682

579726-1

Heating & Cooling - Sales, Service & Installation 2113 Veterans Drive SE, Decatur Office: 256-355-9062 Cell 256-214-2064 Cert# AL-09197

579739-1

Cathcart Service, Inc.

41 YEARS

40 YEARS

(256) 355-5 5625

12647 Hwy. 72 • Rogersville, AL 35652

We Sell Used Parts • We Install What We Sell

39 YEARS

• Inground & Above ground Pools • Service • Chemicals • Liner Replacement

2535 Gordon Terry Pkwy., Decatur, AL 35601

256-389-8181 • pettushvac.com AL HVAC #02198 • AL REFRIG #50574

38 YEARS

579737-1

4 Miles East Of I-65 - Somerville Monday-Friday 8-5 Jim Pannier, Owner

579717-1

256-355-9092

579720-1

Open Monday thru Friday 8am-5pm

36 YEARS

Iverson’s

Monster tIres AU UTO SERVICE & TIRE CO.

1735 6th Avenue, SE

Celebrating

Corner of 6th Avenue & 14th Street, Decatur (256) 351-9988 • superiorcarpetala.com

of Your Trust

First southern Financial

Pat Winsett Enrolled Agent Pat@winsettfinancial.com

tel 256.350.6777 ext 105 fax 256.350.3335

256-751-9909

“Neighbors Helping Neighbors” 1307 Hwy. 31 N • Suite B Next to Little Caesar’s

27 YEARS

579722-1

31 YEARS

470 Alabama 67, Decatur 256.355.5412 www.pricevillefoodland.com

8 Professional Preparers to Serve The Area!

33 Years

Ceramic Tile • Hardwood • LVP • Carpet & More 579736-1

Design Center

FS F

579719-1

Voted Best Hardwood & Carpet

Where we treat you like family

31 YEARS

33 YEARS

25 YEARS

(256) 355-2686

25 YEARS

1201 13th Ave SE Decatur 256-350-7779

24 YEARS

19 YEARS

Best of the Best Winner 2019, 2020, 2021 & 2022

Lew B. Sample

2114 Central Parkway, Suite A Decatur, Alabama 35601

DMD, MS, PC

REALTOR®, ABR, SRS, BCG, MRP, GRI, CHME (256) 250-6009 Office (256) 466-0824 Direct Email: shawn@marmac.us

1107 BELTLINE ROAD • SUITE D 256-355-6065 in the Kroger Shopping Center

13 YEARS

579735-1

HARTSELLE 220 Karl Prince Drive (256) 773-8613

Shawn D. Garth 579728-1

DECATUR 2014 Danville Park SW (256) 355-5255

579740-1

36 YEARS

579738-1

256-353-1768

579746-1

35

579656-1

www.iversongulfservice.com

256-350-2992 www.morganpricecandy.com

579714-1

Corner of 6th and Moulton

579724-1

Monday-Friday 10-5:30

Prices so low, they will scare you!

13 YEARS

579757-1

HTTP://SHAWNGARTH.VALLEYMLS.COM

18 YEARS

BROWN’S ALUMINUM & CATALYTIC CONVERTER SCRAP YARD Your Go-To Scrap Yard in Somerville, AL

NMLS#1597142

Owners: Connie Terry and Shirley Hollis M-F 10 -5:30; Sat 10 -4 21232 Alabama Hwy 24 Trinity, Alabama 35673

256-974-0110

579723-1

110 Main Street W., Hartselle, AL 35640 (256) 502-9800 • Fax (256) 502-9907

580842-1

256-778-8785

579744-1

Angela Brown, Owner

Ladies Boutique - Clothing Shoes & Much More Babies & Children’s Clothing & Shoes • Baby & Bridal Registry

G6 Saturday, February 17, 2024

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The Decatur Daily

OPPORTUNITY 2024 ENTREPRENEUR: AMY THRASHER

Father’s example fuels business ownership dream Leap of faith at age 50 working out

By Deangelo McDaniel For The Decatur Daily

MOULTON — Amy Thrasher didn’t hesitate when asked about her business ambitions.

“I was always daddy’s little girl,” she said as tears flowed down her face.

“He’s my hero and has always been my hero.”

Her father, the late Charles Henderson, owned a logging business and is the “big reason” she opened APEX Real Estate in 2016.

“It had always been my dream to own my business and it’s because of him,” she said about her father’s influence on her.

Thrasher — with the support of her husband Brad and lifelong friend Kathy Graham— borrowed money and put herself in an industry whose leaders had historically been males.

“I was 50 and my husband told me if not now I may never do it,” she said.

Thrasher also had Graham whispering in her ear. At the time, the two worked at the Gordon Agency, a Moulton-based real estate company.

“I told her I was gonna kick her in the you-knowwhat if she didn’t go for her dream,” Graham recalled.

“She’s fair and honest and a great person, and I told her I was going with her.”

The biggest influence on her decision, however, was her father, who died in 2002.

“I wanted to be like him,”

Amy Thrasher received encouragement from her husband and a friend to start her own business.

Amy Thrasher of Moulton started her real estate business in 2016. She’s slated to become president of the Morgan County Association of Realtors in 2025. [PHOTOS BY DEANGELO MCDANIEL/FOR THE DECATUR DAILY]

said Thrasher, who was the youngest of three children born to Charles and Sue Henderson.

“Daddy worked hard, never made a lot of money but I don’t ever remember being hungry or going without,” she said.

Thrasher’s journey to business ownership didn’t start immediately after she graduated from Lawrence County High in 1985. She attended the University

of North Alabama and earned a degree in human resources and marketing in 1989.

Thrasher married in 1989 and worked primarily in sales and marketing until she went to work for the Gordon Agency and earned her real estate license. By 2009, Graham had also started working in real estate.

Thrasher said former Gordon Agency owner

Bruce Gordon taught her a lot about the profession.

“He was detailed and I still use a lot of what he used in his business,” she said.

Now her Moulton-based agency has listings across north Alabama.

Teresa Terry selected APEX to sell her business property in Moulton. She said working with Thrasher was a joy.

“She was always

available, day or night, to answer questions,” Terry said. “Within five months, she had me a buyer. ... She goes above and beyond.”

The U.S. economy was in a recession and housing crisis in 2009 when Thrasher started selling real estate.

“I needed to work,” she said, adding that her job in marketing was fading because companies were cutting their marketing

departments during the recession.

Thrasher was overwhelmed, but sold her first home, a foreclosure in Spruce Pine, to a couple from Michigan.

She also had a tough time getting her company’s name out when she left the Gordon Agency, so Thrasher decided to use the real estate platform Zillow for listings.

Thrasher said she targeted Hartselle because the community had a new high school, and although it was expensive, she said the decisions “and the grace of God got us on the map.”

She’s slated to become president of the Morgan County Association of Realtors in 2025 and remains thankful for her father and the example he set for her.

“I think he would be proud of me,” Thrasher said.

“He would,” Graham said.

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The Decatur Daily

| Saturday, February 17, 2024 G7

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579138-1

Learn more about Bunge at bunge.com | Contact us: 256-301-4027

G8 Saturday, February 17, 2024

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The Decatur Daily

OPPORTUNITY 2024 GENERATION NEXT: KOURTNEY ENNIS

Emergency Department director drawn to nursing Ennis resides in Morgan County and works at Athens-Limestone Hospital

By Erica Smith Staff Writer

Athens-Limestone Hospital Emergency Department Director Kourtney Ennis always wanted to be a nurse so she could help people the way she was helped by a nurse when she was a child.

“I wanted to be a nurse since I was a kid,” Ennis said, even in first grade.

“You know they always ask you what you want to be when you grow up and mine was, I wanted to be a doctor, or I wanted to be a nurse. Medical school being what it is, I chose nursing.”

Ennis, 33, from Decatur, said she was inspired to be a nurse.

“I wanted to help people,” she said. “When I was a kid, I had a nurse during a surgical procedure, and she really impacted how I felt, and she really put me at ease with the surgical procedure that I had. That always kind of stuck with me and I always thought, man, it’d be nice to be able to do that for other people, just to kind of make whatever they’re going through a little bit easier, even in the smallest way.

“Small gestures, big gestures, whatever they are.

Just to positively impact someone. That’s what kind of drew me to nursing.”

Ennis received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2012.

She received her master’s in

Only 33, Kourtney Ennis is the director of Athens-Limestone Hospital Emergency Department.

[PHOTOS BY JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]

nursing from UAH in 2023.

Ennis started her nursing career at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children in 2012 in the mother/baby unit. She has worked for Athens-Limestone Hospital for 11 years but has been the Emergency Department director for over a year.

“I would like to think I impacted somebody in my time as a nurse,” Ennis said. “Because I don’t do patient care now, I’m not at the bedside like I used to be. I’ve taken that desire to positively impact my patients now and have put that toward, ‘How can I positively impact my staff so that then they can go out and be a positive influence for outpatients?’”

Bret McGill, AthensLimestone Hospital service line director over emergency services, has worked with Ennis since October 2022.

“She has a heart to take care of patients and wants her department to be the best and really works hard at trying to encourage employees and follow up on things when we have issues with patients and just make sure we treat the patients right and everything was done correctly,” he said.

“She really believes in her mission as a nurse but then also Athens Hospital’s mission about excellence and being a difference; she really embraces that.”

Ennis moved to the Mud Tavern area of Morgan

County six years ago where she still lives with her husband Richard and their four children. She said her husband has family in Decatur, which sparked the move, and they do not plan to move away from their 2 acres anytime soon.

“We just have a really great community out there and my husband’s the chief of the volunteer fire department,” she said. “I lived in Madison for a while, and I guess just the traffic and it’s overcrowded. ... I was looking to raise my kids in more of a smaller community. We have some land out where we live so we’re able to have some chickens and a garden and things like that. Being able to have that

Kourtney Ennis said she pursued a career in nursing because of the way a nurse put her at ease as a child.

Athens-Limestone Hospital Emergency Department Director Kourtney Ennis, right, works with nurse Megan Travis.

experience for my kids is really important to us.”

Ennis said the growth around the Decatur area has opened opportunities for people her age.

“I never would have thought at my age that I would be director of a department,” she said. “I SEE ENNIS, G9

GENERATION NEXT: VICTORIA FELGAR & DAVID MEDINA

Best & Brightest attracted couple to Decatur Hospitality, river keep them here

By Deborah Storey For The Decatur Daily

As part Eskimo, Victoria Felgar never expected to find herself living in steamy Alabama.

When she received an offer for an internship in this area, she thought, “You can’t tell me there’s Eskimos in Alabama! It’s a hot place,” she recalled with a laugh.

Felgar and her fiancé have been in north Alabama more than a decade and are successes in Decatur’s Best & Brightest program.

The city helps fund the Best & Brightest Initiative, which recruits young professionals to the city. John Joseph, executive director of the Decatur-Morgan County Entrepreneurial Center, administers the program that pays down student loans of professionals in STEM fields up to $3,000 per year or a maximum of $15,000 if they live in Decatur for five years.

“The whole goal of Best & Brightest is to bring young professionals to the city of Decatur,” said Felgar, 32.

Many city leaders believe the program pays for itself through increased sales tax and property tax revenue, and invigorates the area with a fresh infusion of well-educated young workers.

Felgar and fiancé David Medina have participated in the Best & Brightest program since it began in 2016.

Medina applied when the couple lived in Huntsville.

If one member of a couple receives Best & Brightest’s help with student loans, both members can participate in the program’s events.

They had both moved from Tacoma, Washington, near Seattle, in 2013 and lived in an apartment.

Victoria Felgar, right, and her fiancé David Medina moved to Decatur because of the Best & Brightest program. They relocated to north Alabama from Tacoma, Wash. They are shown in May in Atlanta getting ready to watch the Braves play the Seattle Mariners. [COURTESY PHOTOS]

Medina was attending Athens State University.

“When we moved here I had to finish up school,” said Medina, 37.

An instructor there mentioned Best & Brightest. Medina learned that the program would pay toward college loans for new Decatur residents who studied science, technology, engineering or math.

As a biology student, he was immediately interested and applied.

“One of the requirements was that you had to be living in the city of Decatur,” said Felgar.

“Because of that, that’s when we started looking for homes. We were already looking for homes somewhere.

“We made a drive over to Decatur, and oh my gosh,” she said. “The first thing we loved was that it’s situated on the river, because the water is what reminds us of home.”

The area doesn’t have the mountains of their home state, she said, but the Tennessee River setting reminds them of the waters of Puget Sound.

They thought, she said, “This already kind of feels like home in a way.”

Proximity to river The couple bought a home in Decatur roughly six minutes from the water.

“One of the things we love about living here — and it’s so close — is that we can just go right down to the Tennessee River and go fishing,” Felgar said.

“That’s similar stuff to what we would be doing if we were in Washington State, which is known for a lot of outdoor activities.”

Growing up in Washington, “I never in my wildest dreams thought I would end up in Alabama,” Felgar said. She had planned to move elsewhere someday, though, just to experience something new.

Felgar graduated from the University of Washington in 2013 with a degree in social work. An Alaska native-owned corporation called Calista contacted her shortly after graduation.

“The reason I got the email is because I am part Eskimo. I am a shareholder of Calista corporation. My grandma was from a mountain village in Alaska,” she explained.

One Calista subsidiary is aviation and defense company Yulista in Huntsville.

Felgar qualified for an

David Medina, Victoria Felgar and other participants in the Best & Brightest program had a paint night in March at the Carnegie Visual Arts Center.

internship.

“It said if you got selected for this internship over the summer, we will either send you to Anchorage, Alaska, or Huntsville, Alabama,” she recalled.

Seeking adventure, she came to Huntsville for a 10-week internship at Yulista. Felgar and five others — most from Alaska— stayed in a dorm at the University of Alabama in Huntsville during that time.

She originally intended to use her degree to become a marriage and family therapist. After five days of traveling to move here, she settled into a position as aide to a vice president. Yulista later offered her a full-time position as a junior program analyst, “totally opening my eyes to another industry I knew nothing about.”

She soon transitioned to foreign military sales and

stayed with Yulista for eight years. Incidentally, Felgar was the only native Alaskan shareholder locally.

Meanwhile, Medina moved here, finished his degree and took an internship with the Army Corps of Engineers in Decatur.

“I was a wetlands biologist for the Army Corps of Engineers for almost eight years,” he said. “As of November, I left government and took a contractor position” with Axient supporting the U.S. Space and Missile Defense Command.

“We oversee the Reagan test site on the Marshall Islands,” said Medina. They study any impact on coral from heavy metals from missile tests in the South Pacific island nation.

Felgar later took her current position with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command as a foreign

military sales program analyst for the United Kingdom, specializing in Chinook helicopters.

Southern hospitality They found a house they like near Decatur Mall and moved in April of 2017. They like being close to Beltline Road Southwest shopping and restaurants.

“The nicest thing about Decatur for me is being close to the water,” Felgar said.

Unlike Tacoma, “everything you need is down the street,” she said.

“Decatur is big enough,” added Medina. “It’s not too big. I don’t like big cities, one-way streets and stuff like that.” Their visiting friends from the Northwest have realized “it’s actually a really nice place.”

Before they settled here, SEE COUPLE, G9

The Decatur Daily

| Saturday, February 17, 2024

G9

OPPORTUNITY 2024 GENERATION NEXT: RYAN AND KELLI BOWERMAN

Moulton’s lure: Family, small-town atmosphere Educators want to influence children where they grew up

By Deangelo McDaniel For The Decatur Daily

Ryan and Kelli Bowerman said one of the reasons they decided to stay in Lawrence County was to keep their children close to grandparents.

Ryan and Kelli Bowerman have spent the majority of their educational careers in Lawrence County. [PHOTOS BY DEANGELO MCDANIEL/FOR THE DECATUR DAILY]

Facing adversity The first happened on May 21, 2000, when Kelli was in high school and in a car accident. She broke her neck, severed her liver and had to have her gall bladder and appendix removed.

Kelli was clinging to life in Huntsville Hospital and spent much of her monthlong stay in a coma.

Letson still gets emotional when he talks about the accident that happened on a Sunday night. He was at work when a co-worker saw his parents outside the gate on a security camera.

“I knew it was something bad and my parents told me I had to go to Huntsville Hospital,” Letson said.

He was at the hospital when the helicopter carrying Kelli landed.

“I still remember every little detail,” Letson recalled. “The first time I

saw her she was hooked up to everything. After two or three days, doctors told us she wouldn’t make it.”

The accident happened almost two months after Kelli won her second state championship as a basketball player at Lawrence County High.

Almost a year after the accident, she started dating her future husband.

“I asked him to the prom,” she chuckled. “We were just friends.”

Ryan, who is one year younger, said he initially accepted the invitation because it gave him a chance to “hang out” with some of his classmates. But he asked her out on a date before the prom “because we needed to get to know each other. The rest is history.”

They dated through college, and a second life experience after they

married reinforced the importance of family. Kelli was home alone in Madison with their 1-month-old child when a mile-wide EF-4 tornado came across northern Alabama.

She was in Madison because she was an elementary teacher at Columbia Elementary. Ryan was in Athens because he worked in banking at the time. The grandparents they both wanted in their children’s lives were in Lawrence County.

The tornado damaged their home in Madison and the Bowermans were displaced. Ryan said he couldn’t do his banking job because power was out so he decided to reevaluate what was he was doing professionally.

“My priorities were out of line and I was missing a lot of family life,” he said.

Ryan said the people who made a difference in his life were coaches and teachers.

The former University of Alabama Huntsville baseball player, who had a bachelor’s degree in accounting, decided to enter education.

He got an emergency teaching certificate and became the head baseball coach at Arab before coming home to Lawrence County in 2013.

Small-town feel A year later, Kelli, who has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of North Alabama and master’s degree from the University of West Alabama, became the library media specialist at East Lawrence.

“We wanted our kids to be close to the family and I love the small-town feel,” Kelly said about her decision to turn down jobs in other school systems.

She worked three years at East Lawrence before coming to Moulton Elementary where she attended school. Kelli is currently the instructional coach at

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MOULTON — Opportunities to leave Lawrence County for better-paying jobs have been plentiful for Ryan and Kelli Bowerman.

The high school sweethearts and educators, however, have made Moulton home “because this is where family is,” specifically the grandparents of their three children, Ryan said.

“We’ve always said when we had kids, our No. 1 job would be to do what is best for them,” he said. “Kellie andItalkedearlyinourmarriage and we both wanted to make sure our kids grew up with their grandparents.”

Why? “Because it takes more than Kelli and I to give our kids what they need spiritually and emotionally,” Ryan said.

The Bowermans have three children — Anna Ryan, 12, Jase, 10, and Ava, 8. They all play sports year round and sometimes games are scheduled at different venues at the same time.

Kelli said she can’t remember a game when at least one grandparent wasn’t there.

“Thankful,” she said about grandparents.

Kevin Letson is Kelli’s father. He said one week last summer he attended nine games in five days.

“Yes, we do get tired, but I love it,” Letson said about attending his grandchildren’s athletic events. “It’s just different when it’s your grandchildren.”

In addition to grandparents, two life experiences have taught the Bowermans “to live every day for God” and to not take anything for granted, they said.

Moulton Middle School.

“The people here are down-to-earth and we have the same core values,” she said. “We want what’s best for our kids and that’s why we are here.”

Ryan, who has a master’s degree in instructional leadership from West Alabama, served four years as East Lawrence’s baseball coach and business teacher before coming to Lawrence County High in 2017. He entered administration as an assistant principal at Moulton Elementary in 2021 and is currently principal at Speake School.

In addition to having his children close to grandparents, Ryan said his mission is to influence children in the community where he grew up.

“This community poured into me and I want to give some of that back,” he said.

Kelli, who has been a youth league coach for years and is the assistant girls basketball coach at Moulton Middle, shares his sentiment.

“This is a good place to raise a family and we’re thankful to be here,” she said.

ENNIS From Page G8

just think that because so many companies and different places are coming and looking at Decatur and Huntsville wanting to get in that market that it’s just given a lot of opportunity for career growth and upward mobility.”

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.

Athens-Limestone Hospital Emergency Department Director Kourtney Ennis, left, talks with nurses Megan Travis, right, and Krysten Foust, center. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]

COUPLE From Page G8

David Medina and Victoria Felgar are shown in March after he proposed to her in front of the Best & Brightest group. [COURTESY PHOTO]

“We would never have that in Tacoma.”

The Best & Brightest group, too, gets together monthly for a speaker and socializing.

In their spare time, the two like shopping at local businesses, visiting Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge and taking hikes on nearby trails.

“Those whooping cranes

— it’s something special,” she said of Wheeler.

“We do a lot of weekend road trips,” she said.

The one downside is that the commute to jobs in Huntsville has gotten much worse since 2017, they said.

Still, they plan to stay in Decatur indefinitely.

“Everybody’s so welcoming,” Felgar said. “That’s my best way to put it.”

CONTINUING THE LEGACY Excellent Care. Close to Home.

Close to You.

581278-1

neither one had ever even visited Alabama. Felgar’s family was “shocked” when she decided to stay, she said, but came around in a big way.

You could say the two are recruiting others. Felgar’s mother bought 6 acres in the Athens area in 2019. She’s saving to move here, build a house and raise horses.

A friend from college visited, “fell in love with the area” and moved here, too, in 2023.

The Southern hospitality has been a big attraction for the young couple who moved to Alabama from across the country. When they bought their home on a cul-de-sac in 2013, neighbors introduced themselves right away and offered to answer any questions about the area.

“They’re just so welcoming,” Felgar said.

Yard sales have been a great way to meet people.

“We’ve made friends with people who come to yard sales,” said Felgar.

G10 Saturday, February 17, 2024

|

The Decatur Daily

OPPORTUNITY 2024 ENTREPRENEURS: BOB AND JACK FITE

Brothers help build company and modern Decatur

By Bruce McLellan

For The Decatur Daily

If not for a slippery, reptilian house guest in Hartselle, Fite Building Co. in Decatur might never have become a business that generated close to $180 million in revenue in 2023.

It might not have almost 200 direct and contract employees. It might not have been co-founded by Bob Fite and Bill Hendrix before being led today by Jack Fite.

And Fite Building might never have helped shape the look of Decatur’s riverfront and downtown by serving as general contractor for the Ingalls Harbor Pavilion, Cook Museum of Natural Science, Renasant Bank Decatur Gateway and Alabama Center for the Arts.

Give some of the credit for Fite Building Co.’s accomplishments to a snake that slithered into the kitchen of a home shortly after its completion in the mid-1970s by a business then called Bob Fite Construction.

“A lady called me up and she was telling me awful things, like my mother and daddy weren’t married and I was a sorry no-count,” Bob Fite recalled. “Somehow or another, a snake had gotten in and crawled up on her kitchen countertop and greeted her at the coffee maker one morning, and somehow that was my fault.

“I have no idea how that snake got in that house or what happened to the snake. It was not a big snake, but it didn’t have to be. … It got me in a whole lot of trouble with that lady and it made me realize that ‘I don’t know that I really want to be in the housebuilding business.’”

The novice home builder also dealt with other complications such as slow sales of the first homes built in a new subdivision and pricing misunderstandings at a closing.

It all prepared him to listen when a former college roommate called about a construction project in Cullman.

Hendrix & Fite Bob Fite and Hendrix met at Auburn and spent the summer after their junior years working together in Panama City, Florida, for Burns, Kirkley and Williams Construction Co. They dreamed of one day going into business together.

But after graduation in 1973 they took separate paths. Bob briefly worked for his father and uncles at Gobble-Fite Lumber Co. in Decatur before he “realized I really missed construction.”

That led him to start his home-building business in 1974, but the challenges in that venture quickly mounted. Then in 1975 he received a call from Hendrix, who was by then working in Cullman for Burns, Kirkley and

Bob Fite, left, helped found a Decatur construction company that his brother, Jack Fite, leads today. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]

Williams.

What is now Cullman Regional Medical Center was building a 90-footlong underground tunnel to connect to a future doctor’s office.

“He says, ‘We ought to bid on this tunnel,’” Bob recalled.

To comply with a state contractor licensing regulation, they had to do work for less than $20,000, according to Bob. “So our bid was $19,999, and we got the job.”

After completion of the tunnel, the time for a partnership had arrived. Hendrix moved to Hartselle, and Hendrix & Fite Inc. was formed in 1976.

The new company built a florist’s shop in Southeast Decatur and an insurance office that’s since been remodeled into a pet grooming business at the corner of Somerville Road Southeast and Magnolia Street.

Hendrix & Fite also got its feet wet with industrial projects for 3M and other manufacturers. A contractor getting out of construction gave his business with Decatur Transit to Hendrix & Fite.

One project demonstrated to Bob Fite that even the construction business offered insights into the nation’s history of discrimination.

He had to study dusty blueprints that had been produced by the federal government in the early 1930s to construct a shop for producing barges used in building Wheeler Dam. Bob was transforming the old federal government shop into offices that

In 1990 Jack Fite, third from right, went over plans for a new First American Bank (now PNC) branch off Beltline Road Southwest and Danville Road near Decatur Mall. From left are Tommy Daniels, Dan David, Bill Sexton, Fite, Tracy Tubbs and Jimmy Smith. [DECATUR DAILY FILE]

would be used by what was then Decatur Transit.

“These were federal plans,” Bob said. “It was the first time I’d ever been confronted with just seeing it, throwing it in my face, where it had men, women and colored (restrooms), and I just thought that was so bad.

“People that deny part of our history are just denying the facts, and I’m glad it’s all turned the other way now.”

Both Bob Fite and Hendrix wore several hats in their company’s first decade. They might be both project managers and

Fite Building Co. completed Ingalls Harbor Pavilion in 2011. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]

on-site superintendents for buildings. The staff was small and the size of projects limited as the young company avoided the risks of a larger payroll and larger construction jobs where the general contractor bears the financial risks if the project has long delays or cost overruns.

The company’s philosophy would change in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

might work together one day.

“In the building science program at Auburn you do a thesis,” Jack said. “In that thesis you have a hypothetical company. And you go through the incorporation of that company.

And then you go and bid a project and get the project and then you schedule it and build it out. … My company that I formed in my thesis was Fite Brothers Another Fite arrives Construction Co. So that Jack Fite is 12½ years was kind of a dream from younger than his brother a long time ago.”

Bob, but even in 1984-85 After graduation in 1985, when he was a student at Jack didn’t immediately Auburn, he thought they return to Decatur. Instead

he worked with Brasfield and Gorrie in Birmingham, gaining knowledge at the bigger company that would later help him contribute to growth at Hendrix & Fite.

Bob didn’t let his younger brother stay at Brasfield and Gorrie long before recruiting him to Hendrix & Fite in 1987 as a project manager.

“I saw something that I liked,” Bob said. “... No. 1, I absolutely didn’t want him as a competitor. And although we were not in the same league as Brasfield & Gorrie, we were in SEE FITE, G11

The Decatur Daily

| Saturday, February 17, 2024 G11

OPPORTUNITY 2024

The Sexton Building has become a landmark on Decatur’s riverfront since its completion in 2001. [BRUCE MCLELLAN/FOR THE DECATUR DAILY]

Notable Fite Building Co. projects Standing in front of a shelf of company awards in the Fite Building office in Decatur, Jack Fite looks at an honor received for the construction of Ardent Preschool & Daycare of Clift Farm in Madison County. [BRUCE MCLELLAN/DECATUR DAILY]

FITE

From Page G10

the same industry.”

Now president and CEO of Fite Building Co., Jack had a drive that his brother appreciated.

“He just had a lot of fire in his belly type thing,” Bob said. “You could just tell that if it could be done, he was going to do whatever it took to get it done. … Jack had a much bigger job idea. It’s not that I didn’t have. Heck, I hired him. But I saw that he had a desire to do that.”

By the early 1990s, Hendrix & Fite had its first projects worth more than $1 million — serving as a general contractor for a new Champion paper mill warehouse in Lawrence County and for a Decatur Walmart that opened in 1992 and was later remodeled as a Publix at Beltline Road Southwest and Glenn Street.

In 1994, Jack bought Hendrix’s interest in the company, becoming 50-50 owner with his brother. The business was renamed Fite Building Co. and the brothers became more intentional about its growth.

By 1996, Fite Building Co. had a contract worth more than $3 million to build at least 50,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space at what was then Trico Steel (now Nucor Corp.).

In 1997, the company celebrated sales of nearly $15 million, and that figure increased more than tenfold by last year, although Jack pointed out that inflation had a substantial role in financial totals.

The company had around 40 employees in 1997 compared to about 130 direct employees and as many as 70 contract workers today.

“Jack’s vision was there to really help scale the company into growth and taking on larger projects and more of those larger projects,” said J. Robert Fite, Bob’s son and a company vice president and group leader.

The company is currently working on the biggest contract in its history, a Nucor Towers and Structures project valued at $92 million. It has done business with companies such as Blue Origin, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Jack bought his brother’s share of the company in 2007, allowing Bob, now 73, to pursue other interests. Jack, 61, has since allowed several others in the company to get ownership stakes. He said that after graduating from Auburn he had friends that were successful in big companies and that “was just driving me to want to come back to north Alabama and do the same thing. I always wanted to be a good citizen and a good community person, and to do so you need to grow your business, you need to employ people, you need to treat them the way they deserve to be treated and be able to give back to your community.

“For me personally, I did not want to fail. … Bob had already established his company. It was just a natural thing to come in and grow it. The worst thing you could do would be to come back and just status quo something.”

Reshaping Decatur

his dad and him pointing out structures the company had built.

“Fast forward and I’ve got my own kids,” J. Robert said.

“We’re riding around town and pointing out buildings that I got to build or my brother (Winston) got to build or somebody else in our company was fortunate enough to be able to build.

“It really means a lot that we’re able to have a positive impact on our community.”

Fite Building Co. was the contractor for the Waterfront at Rhodes Ferry, which has offices and condominiums, and the Sexton Building on the Tennessee River’s south bank. It has added to its projects downtown by recently completing a Fairfield Inn by Marriott on Second Avenue, and it is finishing work on the municipal parking deck adjacent to the hotel.

Jack Fite said he is proud of the projects in his hometown.

“I can’t tell you how many times I go get a sandwich and just drive downtown to check on the parking deck or the hotel and (it was) the same way when the (ACA) and the Cook Museum were going on,” he said. “It just means the world to me to be involved with things in Decatur.”

One of the downtown projects, Renasant Bank, opened last year, putting an eye-catching, modern building in a highvisibility area of the city. Tim Lovelace, Renasant’s Northwest Alabama Division president, said Fite Building was a good fit for the project.

“From day one, it felt like a Fite project because I knew of Jack’s commitment to Decatur and all of the things he had served in,” Lovelace said. “Of course we looked at several contractors, but they stood out.

Working with Jack and his team, it was great and they were very involved in every part of the process.”

The contractor even took an extra step to get the bank open in May. “Because of supply chain issues, we had some delays in getting our second-floor HVAC in,” Lovelace said. “They went out and rented one on their own, got it on their own and put it in temporarily so we could get open on time. Not every contractor would have done that.”

The permanent unit was later installed.

Satisfying customers to earn repeat business has played an important role for the company.

For instance, it developed a relationship in the 1990s with Trico Steel, whose facilities were later purchased by Nucor, but Fite Building never quit providing services at the site. Fite has a group of employees at Nucor all the time for ongoing projects, in addition to the Towers and Structures construction.

Similarly a relationship developed with Feralloy Corp. in Decatur led to building a steel processing facility for the company in Sinton, Texas.

“That was about a $30 million job, the project with them,” said J. Robert Fite, “and it’s led to some other opportunities with other projects” including one in Kentucky.

J. Robert Fite said he can The future remember as a youngster riding Handling more projects outaround Decatur in the car with side of north Alabama is part of

the company’s strategy for the future. In the past, the company handled projects mostly in north Alabama so employees could return home daily. Jack Fite said that strategy may have limited the company’s growth in the short run but now could be a plus.

“A lot of construction companies that have grown faster than us would tie into a market sector, like big box retail or medical, and travel all over the country doing those types of jobs,” Jack said. “We did not do that. We’re doing some of that now.

“We do institutional work, public works. We do industrial work. We do high-tech office buildings. We do utility work.

We do hospitality, we do multifamily. We do medical work.

Because of that, now we’re able to grow in a better way because we’re not dependent on one market sector. So I feel really good about where we are and how we’ve been able to attract people.”

One new area for the company is to increase efforts in construction management, a role it will play with Decatur’s new municipal recreation center planned for Wilson Morgan Park. Essentially the construction manager is a liaison between the project owner and others involved in building it.

“We’re working with the architect right now and the owner in developing the (rec center) plans with the architect and making sure the owner’s expectations are met. And then the project will be bid out and then we will act as the owner’s agent working with the general contractor.”

For public projects, a construction manager can’t bid for work on projects it’s overseeing.

Jack Fite also think his company has an advantage because it doesn’t have to employ subcontractors for all parts of its general contracting projects.

“We’re a little bit better positioned than most general contractors in that we can selfperform our own site work.

We can self-perform our own concrete work. We can selfperform our own steel erection and metal building erection, metal roofing, and carpentry and things like that; whereas, a lot of general contractors just subcontract 100% of the work out,” Jack said. “That gives us a competitive advantage price wise but it also gives us the skill level to have people on the job that are builders and not just contract managers.

“Not only do we feel like we can build better but we can solve problems. We’ve never built a perfect building and an architect’s never designed a perfect set of drawings. So problems always come up on jobs and how you can add value to the team (is) by being a problem solver.”

He remains upbeat that the company can keep growing.

“A ship that never sails and stays just in one place is not real exciting. You want to keep it moving. And yeah, there are going to be rough seas when you do that. There’s uncertainty, but there’s also the peripheral advantages of growing that are so good. You attract the kind of people that help you grow when you’re growing.”

This is a small sample of proj- Academy ects completed or in progress • Morgan County Health with Fite Building Co. of Decatur Department on U.S. 31 serving as the general contractor • Renovated four buildings at or part of a design-build team.

Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind campus on old Wallace Downtown Decatur Center property and company • Renasant Bank Decatur won a bid in January to build a Gateway new structure at the site.

• Cook Museum of Natural • (The company will serve as Science project manager for Decatur’s $53 •Alabama Center for the Arts, million recreation center planned phases 1 and 2 at Wilson Morgan Park.)

• Fairfield Inn & Suites By Elsewhere in north Alabama Marriott •Municipal parking deck •System Software Engineering • Renovation of River Bank & Annex at Redstone Arsenal Trust •Redstone Village in Huntsville •Huntsville Utilities operating Elsewhere in Morgan County facility •Ingalls Harbor Pavilion • The Goldton at Athens (for•Sexton Building merly The Traditions) for senior • The Waterfront at Rhodes living Ferry condominium and office • Built an air-cargo building space and hangar at Huntsville Inter•Medical office building phase national Airport and currently II for Decatur Morgan Hospital building another air-cargo facility •Building of the Nucor Towers •Radiance Technologies head& Structures facility is in prog- quarters, Cummings Research ress. In the 1990s, Fite Building Park, and an additional phase for constructed 50,000 square feet the company of office and support space that •Lofts at Dallas Mill, Huntsville became part of what is now •Homewood Suites in progress Nucor’s operation. Fite Building near Toyota Field in Madison has completed numerous projects • AEgis Technologies office, for Nucor over the years.

Cummings Research Park •Completed original Indepen•Alabama A&M dormitory dence Tube facility (now part of •UAH classrooms, office space Nucor Tubular Products) in 2010 and laboratory and rebuilt it in seven months •Lindsay Lane Baptist Church, (Phoenix project) after it was Athens destroyed by a tornado April 27, •Heritage in Madison, assisted 2011. living and memory care • The Terrace at Priceville •Twickenham Medical (Huntssenior living community ville Hospital) • Decatur Heritage Christian •Wellstone wellness facility

Fite Building Co.’s core values hang on a wall in the company’s Decatur office.

[BRUCE MCLELLAN/FOR THE DECATUR DAILY]

Good employees a key, Fites say Building a successful business requires more than having an idea and motivation. People and a shared vision are vital, according to two executives at Fite Building Co. in Decatur.

“You’ve got your project managers and superintendents that have been here from just a couple of years to people who’ve been here 30-plus years that have been the difference makers,” said J. Robert Fite, son of company cofounder Bob Fite and a senior vice president. “We’re so fortunate to have the talented people in our company that have really made it what it is.”

The company has about 130 direct employees and as many as 70 contract employees.

Jack Fite, company president and chief executive officer, started his career with Birmingham-based Brasfield & Gorrie and was influenced by Miller Gorrie.

“Mr Gorrie told me that when I left him ... hire people smarter than you are and let them do their job. I wish I had felt like I was able to do that earlier in my career.”

Around 2010, Jack became concerned over how the company would fare if something happened to him. That led to a meeting with a consultant whose solution was

to make sure the company had shared values. The company developed its Fite Plus One philosophy as a result.

“He said the first thing you got to do is articulate or define who y’all are and what’s important to you,” Jack said. “And then once you get that, then you know who you are and so when you bring people in they will know what this company’s all about. That’s how we started Fite Plus One.” The bottom line principle of Fite Plus One is to get 1% better every day. Company core values are excellence, drive, safety, trust and attitude.

Company officials said some of the valuable employees have included Harry James, the first non-owner project manager hired; Marty Blackwood, chief operating officer; Mike Brown, Ben Sanderson, Jake Way and Michael Garber, vice presidents; John Grasty, general superintendent and senior project manager; Lain Littleton, controller; Jackson Fite, Jack’s son and a senior project manager in charge of the Huntsville office; and Winston Fite, a senior project manager and Bob’s son.

— Bruce McLellan

G12 Saturday, February 17, 2024

|

The Decatur Daily

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DON’T MISS THESE EVE VENTS… E March 9th Spring Open House and Sidewalk Sale April through October from 5 to 8 pm Second Saturday Car Show July 13th Serve Day July 19th - 20th Summer Daze Friday Night Pub Crawl, Saturday Shopping and Dog Parade September 21st Depot Days November 9th Veterans Parade November 1st - December 31st Hartselle For the Holidays, Christmas Open House, Tree Lighting in Earth Park.

Kiwanis Christmas Parade, Cookie Walk, and Christmas Eve Eve Block Party

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We specialize in decentralized wastewater technologies that allow dense development in growing areas that are unsewered by conventional means.

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Traeger Grill

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