WIDE OPEN SPACES
Dothan Celebrates Opening Of New, Expanded Facility
The dock doors have increased from 12 to 33, we have about five times the dock space compared to the former facility, and Dothan associates now enjoy a much larger break room and at least twice the office space. Additionally, we’ve added a shower and a conference room, and there will soon be two fuel pumps – the previous facility had none. We’ve also enhanced security in Dothan, with electronic gates for associates and the yard, an electrified fence and a state-of-the-art camera system. “There’s nothing more exciting to me than to see their pride in the ownership,” Dothan Service Center Director ALAN JIMMERSON says of his team. “They’re really excited about the facility. They know we have a space to grow in that we didn’t have before. The general response I’ve gotten from everybody is, ‘Man, this is really nice. They must really appreciate us because they did this right.’ I tell them, ‘Yes, Averitt has a lot of faith in the Dothan facility, and they wanted to make it nice for us.’” FIRSTHAND LOOK Region 3 Vice President of Operations DAVID MCGONAGILL and Region 3 Vice President of Sales MATT SMITH got a firsthand look at the appreciation during the facility's first week of operation and our grand opening festivities in January. Dothan features 36 associates, and nearly 150 people attended the family day cookout. “You could see the swagger in their walk when they came across the parking lot that first week we were up and operating,” David recalls. “You could tell they were very appreciative. They’re very thankful to have what they have to work out of.” Matt adds, “Having been in the previous building for 36 years, they were definitely ready for this. I could see the excitement and the smiles. The grand opening was definitely an eye-opener for how positive our associates are for the building.” The words “excitement” and “appreciative” are common among our Dothan associates these days, and there’s a good reason. We recently celebrated the grand opening of a new facility there, and the benefits are obvious.
BUILT FOR THE FUTURE With more space to operate, great things are around the corner in southeast Alabama. “I think the biggest impact is we’re now able to grow our business,” Alan explains. “Before, we had a really small dock. When we got busy, we were way over capacity. Now, we have plenty of space to do the things that we had to turn down in the past because we just didn’t have the space. So we’ll be going after some business.” To that end, Matt says we have customers who are now interested in transloading services over the dock in Dothan out of Port Panama City. “Not many people think about Panama City Beach having much port activity, but there is a pretty good-sized port there,” Matt explains. “And this new dock could help us tap into that. I do think it will allow us to have growth and expansion in that market.” Additionally, our new security features have caught the eye of one of our customers, Swedish Match. “Swedish Match is very interested in coming to see all our security features,” Alan says. “They want to make sure the carriers they’re doing business with are up to speed with security, and I think this will very much play in our favor.” David points out that the brand-new facility will have another long-term effect – attracting more high-quality associates. “We’re even more visible now,” he says. “We’ve had a lot of people express how much it means for them to have what we have in the community. We’re extremely proud of it. We feel that as we continue to grow, it’s going to attract a lot of good people our way.” A FAMILIAR QUOTE David, Matt and Alan are proud of what our team was able to accomplish that created the need for a new service center. But they’re also eagerly looking toward the future. “To quote Mr. Sasser, we’re proud of our past and very excited about our future,” Alan says. “Our new facility will allow us to be more productive and grow our business. Things are looking really bright in Dothan, Alabama.” "That’s all we want to do is grow, baby, grow,” Matt adds with a laugh. T m Dothan associates recently celebrated the grand opening of their new service center with a family day cookout and tour of the new facility. The service center features greatly increased dock doors and dock space, a much larger break room and at least twice the office space.
Michael Benton Mercedes Lyman Bowling Compass Manufacturing Frank Burke Bowling Green Melody Green Charlotte Robert Green Houston Joe Peebles Mercedes Robert Thomas Cracker Barrel Jeremy Ward Raleigh OVER 20 TEAM We’re proud to add members to our Over 20 Team! The following associates joined our team in March 2005:
35 YEARS Jerry Meadows Lorenzo Pearsall 30 YEARS Clarence Carter Randy Freels 25 YEARS Andrew Franklin Jeffery Guillory Pete Huffman Jr. Eddie McDaniel
Daryll Ragsdale John Scruggs 20 YEARS Terry Morgan 15 YEARS Greg Glusing Alexander Jasso Larry Stephens Michael Williams Francisco Valdovinos Jerome Whigham
Columbia Atlanta West
For a list of March milestone service awards, including the newest members of our Over 20 Team, visit InsideAveritt.com . SAFETY AWARDS For a complete list of Safety Award winners, including five- and 10-year recipients, visit InsideAveritt.com.
Opelika Gadsden
Atlanta West
Roanoke Knoxville
Dallas
Dallas
Memphis Baton Rouge Roanoke Bowling Green
Cookeville Raleigh
40 YEARS Burnell Jones
Memphis
Bowling Green
Orlando
COMMUNITY CHALLENGE matters
vol. 2 2 0 2 5
4
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter