Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, January 6, 2021/Page 12A
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COS
continued from page 1A
ings of canned tuna,
salmon and other protein-
packed products to hunger
relief organizations help
ing vulnerable populations
within the local commu
nities where the company
operates.
Rexroad added, “In
the face of the COVID-19
outbreak, hunger relief
organizations have experi
enced a dramatic increase
in demand for nutritious,
balanced meals, particu
larly the countless school-
aged children that typi
cally receive these meals
at school.” Because no one
should have to miss a meal,
especially in times of cri
sis, Chicken of the Sea has
partnered with America’s
Second Harvest of Coastal
Georgia to deliver critical
nourishment to families,
kids and the elderly within
their respective communi
ties.
In the first wave of
donations in March 2020,
Chicken of the Sea provid
ed more than 500,000 serv
ings of shelf-stable protein
to food banks nationally
and in the local communi
ties where the corporation
has offices and at the pro
cessing plant in Lyons.
Additional waves of
donations went out in Au
gust, October and Decem
ber 2020 when Chicken
of the Sea provided more
than 2,500,000 servings
of frozen and shelf-stable
protein to food banks na
tionally and in the local
communities where the
company has offices and
at the processing plant in
Lyons.
Total donation to date
in 2020 is more than three
million servings of frozen
and shelf-stable protein.
Food Bank partners in
clude:
Feeding America
Convoy of Hope
West Los Angeles VA
Campus/Community En
gagement & Reintegration
Service
California State Uni
versity Long Beach
Loyola Marymount
University
The El Segundo/Los
Angeles Unified School
District
Second Harvest Food
Bank of Georgia
In March, Chicken of
the Sea was able to assist
the City of New York in the
midst of its COVID emer
gency by facilitating the de
livery of more than 20,000
cases of infusions to the
Emergency Services De
partment in New York City
to help feed the thousands
of local residents severely
impacted by the pandemic.
Infusions is the Chicken
of the Sea brand name for
Wild-caught tuna infused
with extra virgin olive oil,
herbs, and spices. A tiny
fork is included for easy,
on-the-go snacking.
Since the beginning
of March, the Lyons plant
increased production by
20%, increased workforce
by 10%, and produced 26
million cans of shelf-sta
ble tuna since the first of
March. Riekhof explained,
ing to fill an additional 20
positions.
“We are looking for
machine operators, elec
tricians, mechanics, and
many other great jobs.
This employment level is
expected to continue and
grow. We continuously
look at new opportunities
to grow our business and
grow our employment now
and in future years,” Riek
hof said, adding, “As res
taurants closed and more
people started eating at
home, a whole new gen
eration has discovered the
nutritional value and con
venience found in shelf-
stable, canned food.”
Riekhof said, “Chicken
of the Sea is proud of the
outstanding work culture
we have built between
highly-competitive pay,
ongoing training, and fun,
weekly employee perk pro
grams and incentives. Our
Chicken of the Sea Lyons
Canning Plant is also one
of the safest and most pro-
Riekhof added.
During this pandemic,
the Lyons team has focused
on three goals:
Protect employees and
their families through In
dustry, company, and CDC
best practices.
Protect the nation’s
critical food supply chain
by supplying healthy and
safe canned tuna.
Protect the Lyon’s
plant’s long-term viability.
Matt Scalese, VP
Supply Chain, said, “The
true name of the game was
rooted in collaboration:
We quickly imple
mented cross-functional
“As essential critical in
frastructure workers, our
employees are committed
to providing families with
safe, delicious, and nutri
tious food that can easily
be prepared at home.”
All employees received
regular “hero bonuses”
Protect employees
and their families
through industry,
company, and CDC
Best Practices
daily meetings with Sales
and our commercial coun
terparts to assess sales pat
terns, inventory position,
and evaluate and prioritize
new opportunities.
We ramped up frequen
cy of inventory reviews
- Supply Chain readiness,
Fin- i s h e d
Protect the
Nation's Critical
Food Supply Chain
by
providing healthy
and safe canned
tuna
thro ugh-
out the year \
to help build
up production
capability. As the
business was chang
ing rapidly, management
held frequent town halls
and meetings to keep every
employee well informed,”
Protect the Lyons
Plant's long-term
viability
Goods,
frozen
tuna loins,
raw materi
als - to facili
tate our priori
tization into a more
dynamic, agile approach to
production planning.”
Demand continues to
be strong and COS is look-
active facilities in the entire
food industry. At Chicken
of the Sea we are family and
we take care of each other.
We like to say, there are lots
of jobs out there but very
few true opportunities; be
ing here is an opportunity.”
Chicken of the Sea, be
gan operations in Lyons in
2009 and has over 280 em
ployees producing shelf-
stable, ready-to-eat canned
tuna. Products include
staples such as the famous
Chunk Light in Water as
well as Premium Genova
Yellowfin in Olive Oil and
Genova Albacore in Olive
Oil. Chicken of the Sea
products can be found in
nearly all retail food stores.
Also in the Toombs Cor
porate Development Cen
ter is the Lyons Warehouse
with 25 employees. This
distribution center receives
seafood from providers all
over the world and distrib
utes products all across the
U.S.
City of Alamo Makes Appointments,
Approves Contracts Ahead of New Year
Photo by Evan Riekhof
COAT AND TOY DRIVE — Paige Williamson, Toombs County Family Connections, Casey
Woods, Citizens of Georgia Power, Mindy Morrison and Marissa Brown of Chick-fil-A
Vidalia, and Greg Hudgins, Citizens of Georgia Power, gather for a group photo at the
end of the local Toy and Coat Drive to benefit needy families sponsored over the holi
days by Georgia Power, Chick-fil-A and Toombs County Family Connections,
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail. com
In its last meeting
of 2020, the Alamo City
Council made appoint
ments and approved con
tracts in preparation for
conducting business in the
New Year. Meeting De
cember 21 at the Multi
purpose Center in Alamo,
the Council appointed its
newest member, Patricia
Woodard, as Mayor Pro
Tern. Woodard was elected
in November to fill a post
vacated by Tommy Spell.
He resigned after moving
outside the city limits.
The Council approved
the reappointment of long
time City Attorney Russell
Clark and renewed its con
tract with the accounting
firm of Hilliard and Milton
in McRae.
A request from the
Wheeler County Board
of Education to utilize the
Old City Recreation site for
the parking of vehicles by
crews working on the con
struction of the new school
gained a nod from Council
members, but with limita
tions. The Council is ex
pecting news about a grant
application which would
fund improvements at the
site. The Council agreed
to allow use of the location
for parking with the stipu
lation that should the grant
be realized, the BOE would
need to find another loca
tion for its needs.
The City is now in the
process of renovating the
Old Recreation Depart
ment site and a basketball
court is being refurbished
and fencing is being in
stalled. Other plans, for
which the grant is intend
ed, would further expand
development at the site.
The Council autho
rized the purchase of a
new vehicle for the police
department at a total cost
of $49,250.16, including
onboard electronic equip
ment. SPLOST will cover
$36,189 of this amount. A
camera system for the vehi
cle is being funded by fines
and fees paid to the depart
ment. With the addition
of this vehicle, the depart
ment will have five vehicles
for its five full-time em
ployees and four part-time
employees. The Council
also approved Chief Roger
Bryant’s request for a se
cure storage compartment
for the department’s F-150
truck at a cost of $1,499.
This cost will be covered
by fines and fees paid to the
department.
The Council decided
to table a request by the
chief for digital radios to
replace outdated analog
equipment. The cost of
this equipment is $2,250,
which the chief suggested
be paid for through fines
and fees. The matter will be
revisited in a future session.
The Council heard a re
port from the Chief for the
department’s November
activities. The department
responded to 368 calls, is
sued 15 citations, made 12
incident reports and issued
7 traffic warnings. The pro
ceeds from the automated
speed enforcement in the
school zone amounted to
$1,11.25 for the month
and fines amounted to
$4,192.01.
During the session, the
Council approved autho
rizing Mayor Pamela Lee
to accept and process pay
ment from city residents
for water and sewer pay
ments as well as taxes.
City Administrator
Jeff Floyd reported a busy
month with preparations
being made for Alamo’s
Second Annual Christ
mas in the Citv event. The
Alamo Fire Department re
ported eight fire calls, three
medical calls, two trees
down, and one vehicle
wreck.
In other business the
Council set meeting dates
for 2021: Tuesday, Janu
ary 19; Monday, February
15; Monday, March 15;
Monday, April 19; Mon
day, May 17; Monday, June
21; Monday, July 19; Mon
day, August 16; Monday,
September 20; Monday,
October 18; Monday, No
vember 15; and Monday,
December 20. All meetings
will be held at 6 p.m. The
regular meeting location is
Alamo City Hall and meet
ing locations are subject to
change due to the health
pandemic.
The Council also ap
proved committee appoint
ments.
Budget: Dondrea Get-
er, chair, Pamela Lee, Jeff
Floyd, Marie Carrillo and
Roger Bryant, members.
Administrative: Steve
Jones, chair, Patricia
Woodard, Pamela Lee and
Jeff Floyd, members.
Water, Sewer and Sani
tation: Harry Lewis, chair,
Thomas Lott, Dondrea
Geter and Dana Burkhal-
ter, members.
Police and Fire: Patri
cia Woodard, chair, Thom
as Lott, Steve Jones and
Roy Hood, members.
Planning and Zoning:
Thomas Lott, chair, Harry
Lewis and Bobby Cox,
members.
Public Grants and As
sistance: Dondrea Geter,
chair, Patricia Woodard
and Bobby Cox, members.
Streets: Bobby Cox, chair,
Steve Jones, Harry Lewis,
Preston James, members.
City Charter: Jeff Floyd,
chair, Patricia Woodard,
Steve Jones and Pamela
Lee, members.
Vidalia
continued from page 11A
sault and battery cases
and armed robberies are
down over 2019. He said
that roadway crash en
forcement has been down
by 8% over 2019, but of
ficers continue to have
their biggest enforcement
issues along Vidalia’s busy
Highway 280/Main Street
corridor. He said that all
staff members have been
trained in using newly-
installed electronic equip
ment, as well as less lethal
weapons, and use of a drug
to reverse the effects of an
opioid overdose made
available through the
Leigh Anne White clinic.
The clinic received a grant
to combat drug issues in
Toombs County.
Toombs County Fire
Chief Brian Sikes told the
Council that his depart
ment had responded to
20 calls in November, and
to date (as of the end of
November) had answered
246 calls for assistance
compared to 293 in 2019.
He said his department
also provides assistance
with child safety seats
in vehicles, distributes
smoke detectors and pro
vides assistance with fire
risk reduction programs.
James O’Neal ofESG,
a contractor for the City’s
public works activities,
told Council members
that his crews have han
dled 320 water and sewer
cutoffs and moved 85
loads (1270 yards or 472
tons) of limbs and leaves
in the month of November
alone.
Recreation Director
Matt Smith said his de
partment signed up 332
children for baseball and
softball programs and
186 children signed up
for soccer. He said his de
partment has applied for a
Land and Water Conser
vation Grant to upgrade
Ed Smith Park. This work
will include fencing and
dugout covers.
City Manager Nick
Overstreet issued a report
from the City Marshal’s of
fice regarding the removal
of condemned housing.
Cumulatively for 2020,
four houses were demol
ished with the city cover
ing the cost; six houses
were demolished with
owners covering the cost;
and an additional five as
bestos abatements and
demolitions were begun.
Under City ordinances re
garding debris and derelict
properties, 494 cases were
made during 2020.
Michael Johnson of
Community Men in Ac
tion submitted a proposal
to alter the route of the
annual MLK Day Parade.
The route for the sixth
annual parade would be
conducted along Geor
gia Highway 280 neces
sitating approval by the
GDOT, which is pending.
The Council approved his
request contingent on the
GDOT action.
Toombs-Montgomery
County Chamber Ex
ecutive Director Michele
Johnson announced that
Professional Develop
ment Day for Toombs
Youth Leadership would
be held January 7. The
annual chamber member
ship meeting has been
scheduled for February 4.
A DOT Foods’ expansion
created 399 jobs in 2020.
She said there are hopes
to relaunch the Vibrant
Communities project the
Chamber introduced in
2020.
Alexa Britton, Vidalia
Convention and Visitor’s
Bureau Director, told the
Council that visitation at
the Vidalia Museum is at
41% year to date as com
pared to 2019’s figures,
owing to the health pan
demic. She reported that
work on the sound and
lighting expansion project
at the Pal Theatre is con
tinuing. Some activities
are going on at the theatre
as the health protocol per
mits, including multiple
small party rentals and
movie showings.
She noted that the
Highway 15 Coalition is
meeting by zoom and the
Vidalia Onion Commit
tee, which just announced
a return of the Blue Angels
to the Vidalia Onion Festi
val in 2022, will be meet
ing soon to discuss plans
for the 2021 festival.
conserve • reduce • recycle
