Latest news with #Decatur-MorganCountyChamberof
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Three win small business awards at annual Chamber event in Decatur
May 15—Larry Little, Kyle Pike and Megan Schwindling were all winners of small business awards Wednesday from the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce. Little is the founder, CEO and executive coach for Eagle Consulting, which was established in 1999 and includes Eagle Counseling and Eagle Center for Leadership. He was named the Raymon Baker — John Cook — Ralph Jones Small Business Person of the Year. "Life is about relationships, and I believe business is about relationships," Little said. "I've devoted my life to studying relationships, to helping people grow stronger relationships personally and professionally. When I think about growing a business, it starts and stops with those relationships." Little is a seven-time author of relationship-based books that have reached over a million people. He leads a team of counselors, coaches and support staff who have a mission of making a difference in others' lives. Little has worked worldwide through his business. He is married to Melanie and has two children. The chamber held its annual Small Business Awards Celebration on Wednesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront. The award recipients were chosen for their leadership, creativity and commitment to the local business community. Kyle Pike is the business development manager at Fite Building Co. and the Decatur City Council District 2 councilman. He was named the Arthur Orr Young Professional of the Year. Pike said he lives by three things: faith, family and community. "None of this is possible without having a strong faith and relying on the Lord and the blessings he gives us," he said. "Your family is the backbone of your support system. I'm fortunate enough to have a large family that will support me in a lot of things I do. Specifically, my time in office. And the community is where I spend a lot of my time, and I couldn't do that without the support of the first two." Pike previously served as president of the Decatur Jaycees and has held roles with the Decatur Kiwanis Club, One Decatur, and the Decatur Morgan Hospital Foundation. He is married to Patricia and has two children and is expecting a third. Maegan Schwindling has been the facilitator of the nonprofit Decatur Morgan CEO program, which started in 2019, for five years. The program mentors and assists young people in starting their own business. Schwindling was named the Lynn C. Fowler Nonprofit Professional of the Year. "I think the most important thing we can do as adults is invest in younger students and college students to ensure that they stay in Alabama and start businesses here in Decatur and Morgan County," she said. "We might have the valedictorian from Decatur Heritage (Christian Academy) with a student that hates school from another high school (in the CEO program). It's a weird mix of kids, but they all end up learning to work together. That, I think, is the most valuable thing we can give them, and how to model for them, is just how to work with people who are different from you." Schwindling started out in social work and later launched the North Alabama office of Lifeline Children's Services. In her work with the CEO Program, she has helped over 50 students start their own business, while connecting them with more than 60 local business mentors. There was a national documentary done on the program that showcased the program's success. Schwindling is married to TC and they have three children. — or 256-340-2460.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State of the City: Mayor cites massive budget growth during his terms
Apr. 18—A lot has changed for Mayor Tab Bowling and the city of Decatur during his four and a half years, but few things have changed more than the city budget. During his final State of the City, an annual breakfast held by the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, Bowling reviewed on Thursday his two-term tenure that ends in November. He is not running for reelection. Wade Weaver, chamber public policy committee chairman, moderated the presentation. Bowling called serving as mayor "my dream job. It has been a privilege to serve this town in a way not many others have had, and we're not yet to the end." He reviewed a period of tremendous growth for the city that included new hotels and homes, downtown changes, the $98 million settlement with 3M Co., the COVID-19 pandemic, and major updates to parks and recreation facilities. Bowling took a moment in the breakfast before over 300 people at the Doubletree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront to apologize for refusing to attend last year's State of the City. He chose not to attend because of a disagreement over the presentation and Council President Jacob Ladner's participation. "Last year I made a bad decision," Bowling said. "While I didn't like what was being done, I didn't handle it properly, and I did not come and do one of my duties in providing a State of the City and, for that, to the chamber and the chamber members, I'm very sorry." Bowling said his first budget in fiscal 2016 was $58.2 million, and then he showed how it grew yearly to $98.4 million in fiscal 2025. "Next year, I think we'll say triple digits as we go into the (fiscal) 2026 budget," the mayor said. He pointed out that the city celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2020, so it took 100 years to reach $58.2 million. "It's incredible that, even though we're conservative with our spending, that the budget increase has almost doubled," Bowling said. He attributed the burgeoning budget to multiple factors, including benefiting from north Alabama's growth with the new Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant and Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Huntsville. Among the other factors were the Decatur-Morgan County's job growth, hiring a chief financial officer, "flat budgeting" and jumpstarting the city's residential growth, which he attributed to a chamber initiative launched in 2018. Walton Ashwander, of Rogers Group, is a Decatur native whose company now does a lot of work for the city, including handling its annual paving contract. He said after the meeting that the city's budget growth was the thing that stood out in the mayor's presentation. "That budget growth is phenomenal," Ashwander said. "It's great that money grew that quickly. It must be a massive undertaking to deal with that kind of money." Bowling said after the meeting that he considers two intertwined issues the proudest points in his service as mayor. The first is the $98 million environmental settlement with 3M, which he said will actually grow because 3M "is spending a lot of money on cleaning up our landfill." He said the second is the $35 million bond issue allowing the city to build major upgrades to parks and recreation facilities. The city is building indoor tennis and pickleball courts for $2.5 million, turning the Point Mallard Ice Complex into an event center for $3.5 million, building an eight-field ball field complex for $17 million and, finally, building a $52.5 million recreation center at Wilson Morgan Park. Bowling said the City Council "wanted to return to a time when Decatur was known for its recreation." Even though he has six months left as mayor, he pointed out there's still a lot of work to be done. The City Council is in the process of filling multiple director openings in Planning, Parks and Recreation, Youth Services and searching for a new police chief. "We have so many projects, and we're short staffed," Bowling said. "It will be all hands on deck, especially since there will be more projects announced soon." Bowling said they're still working on getting $4 million to $5 million for a second study for another Tennessee River bridge. He said this study will look at which routes are environmentally feasible. It will also eliminate the routes that don't create an additional pathway around Alabama 20/U.S. 31. Decatur paid $1 million and also received a $1 million federal grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission for the first phase of the study. The city recently paid $450,000 for 0.2 of an acre at Alabama 67 and Upper River Road for right of way for intersection improvements. Hwy. 67 Used Furniture and Appliances was in this building, but Bowling said the city will demolish "the old block building any day now, and then the next phase can begin." Bowling said the new Renasant Bank is a great new part of the gateway into Sixth Avenue Southeast, and the city will start soon on the Sixth Avenue streetscape project between Wilson Street Northeast and Prospect Drive Southeast. He said they've moved most of the utilities underground. "If you see one wire hanging on our telephone poles, the only wires remaining belong to Temple Electric, which controls the traffic signals," Bowling said. The wires will eventually go into cobra traffic lights, which hang from curved poles over the road rather than power lines. "This will be very appealing," Bowling said. Bowling said he has been working with the Tennessee Valley Authority and would still like to see a lodge built at Point Mallard Park north of the event center. — or 256-340-2432
