Shaw Industries celebrates $250 million Andalusia expansion
Georgia-based Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw) associates and Alabama public officials assembled in Andalusia Wednesday to celebrate news the company is investing $250 million in its Andalusia manufacturing facility, which creates fiber used to manufacture residential carpet. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson and Covington County Commission Chairman Greg White were all in attendance to celebrate the which that includes construction of new and expanded building assets and installation of substantial amounts of new manufacturing equipment. “At Shaw, our vision is to create a better future for our associates, our customers, our company, and our communities. We can only achieve that vision through continued investment in our people, our products, our facilities, and our operations. We continually bring customers the forward-thinking products and services they expect from Shaw,” said David Morgan, Shaw Industries’ executive vice president of operations. The changes will create even better efficiency, production, ergonomics, and safety for the more than 1,200 associates who work at the plant. Construction began a little over a year ago and modernization efforts will continue through 2020. The facility remains operational throughout the transition. “Shaw’s operations are more complex than ever. As a result, almost every job at Shaw — from designers and data scientists to machinists and managers — requires a higher skill level than in the past,” added Ron Fantroy, plant manager for Plant 65. “Shaw benefits from a talented, well-trained associate base in Covington County, where it is the county’s largest employer.” Shaw employs 1,200 people at its Andalusia facility. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson and Covington County Commission Chairman Greg White were all in attendance.
Alabama’s deadly shooting sends a chill through black gun owners
Gun-rights advocates like to say, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.” Some black gun owners, though, are not so sure it’s a wise idea for them to try to be the good guy and pull out a weapon in public. Twice in the span of 11 days last month, a black man who drew a gun in response to a crime in the U.S. was shot to death by a white police officer after apparently being mistaken for the bad guy. Some African-Americans who are licensed to carry weapons say cases like those make them hesitant to step in to protect others. “I’m not an advocate of open-carry if you’re black,” said the Rev. Kenn Blanchard, a Second Amendment activist and host of the YouTube program “Black Man With a Gun TV,” a gun advocacy show. “We still have racism. … We still scare people. The psychology of fear, it’s bigger than the Second Amendment.” The recent shootings of Jemel Roberson and Emantic Bradford Jr. amplified long-held fears that bad things can happen when a black man is seen with a gun. Roberson was working security at a Robbins, Illinois, bar when he was killed Nov. 11 while holding at gunpoint a man involved in a shooting. Witnesses said the officer ordered the 26-year-old Roberson to drop his gun before opening fire. But witnesses also reportedly shouted that Roberson, who had a firearms permit, was a guard. And a fellow guard said Roberson was wearing a knit hat and sweatshirt that were emblazoned “Security.” Bradford, 21, was killed Thanksgiving night by an officer responding to a report of gunfire at a shopping mall in Hoover, Alabama. Police initially identified Bradford as the gunman but later backtracked and arrested another suspect. Ben Crump, a lawyer for the dead man’s family, said witnesses claimed Bradford was trying to wave people away from the shooting. Crump said Bradford was licensed to carry a weapon but was presumably seen as a threat because he was a black man. The two shootings have brought up some of the same questions about racist assumptions and subconscious fears that were asked after the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show,” lamented Bradford’s death. “That’s what they always say, right? ‘The good guy with a gun stops the crime,’” Noah said. “But then if the good guy with a gun turns out to be a black good guy with a gun, they don’t get any of the benefits.” In some other cases involving black men killed by police: Philando Castile was shot in a car in 2016 in Minnesota, seconds after informing the officer he had a gun. The officer was acquitted of manslaughter. And John Crawford III was shot in a Walmart in Ohio in 2014 while holding a BB gun he had picked up in the sporting goods section. Security footage showed he never pointed it at anyone. According to the advocacy group Mapping Police Violence, 1,147 people were killed by police in 2017, 92 percent of them in shootings. While blacks made up 13 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for 27 percent of those killed by police, 35 percent of those killed by police while unarmed, and 34 percent of those killed while unarmed and not attacking, the organization said. Andre Blount of Tomball, Texas, once pulled out his shotgun to help a neighbor who was being attacked by an armed white man. The police eventually arrived and defused the situation, he said. “For me, being a legally registered owner and having a concealed weapon permit, I feel like I have to be more careful than the next person,” Blount said. “Because if not, the only thing anyone sees is a black man with a gun.” Blount said he tells younger black gun owners to really consider whether it’s worth risking their lives in coming to someone’s aid with a weapon. “You want your kids to help someone, but you don’t want them to be shot trying to help someone,” he said. “It’s a sad thing.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Bradley Bryne reveals positive red snapper development
After years of dealing with frustrating federal red snapper regulations, good news may be on the way for the Alabama’s red snapper fishermen and coastal communities. On Friday, Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne on Friday announced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed a new rule to increase the annual catch limits (ACLs) and annual catch targets (ACTs) for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico based on a recent stock assessments. Under the proposed rule, the total catch limit for recreational Red Snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico would increase from 6.7 million pounds to 7.4 million pounds, a 10.45 percent increase. “This increase from NOAA shows exactly what those of us on the Gulf Coast have known for years: the health of the Red Snapper fishery is incredibly strong,” said Byrne. “These latest numbers will further drive us to continue fighting for greater state control over the Red Snapper fishery and a full and adequate Red Snapper fishing season.” In 2017, Byrne worked with Senator Richard Shelby and other Gulf Coast congressmen to secure a full Red Snapper season for Alabama’s recreational fishermen. A full 47 day season was approved by the the National Marine Fisheries Service in April 2018. Through Jan. 3 2019, the NOAA Fisheries is requesting public comment on the proposed rule. Comments may be submitted online or by mail to Peter Hood, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Trussville students, teachers celebrate diversity during Inclusive Schools Week
Trussville City Schools (TCS) are making good on a recent proclamation signed by Governor Kay Ivey designating December 3-7, 2018 as Inclusive Schools Week (ISW) in Alabama, by celebrating their diversity this week. The schools, along with other schools across the state of Alabama, have joined a national effort to highlight and celebrate “the progress schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to all students, including those who are marginalized due to disability, gender, ethnicity, geography and language. The celebration also provides an important opportunity for educators, students, and families to discuss what else needs to be done to ensure that schools continue to improve their ability to successfully educate all children.” ISW 2018 is themed “Kaleidoscope of Friends” and it celebrates how schools can make progress on their journey and encourage everyone to build their own “Kaleidoscope of Friends.” Each of the five Trussville City Schools are celebrating “the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive education to diverse student populations where teaching is responsive to the students’ abilities and interests,” TCS Superintendent Dr. Pattie Neill said told the Trussville Tribune. TCS schools are also taking the kaleidscope theme to heart. According to a Facebook post by Photographer for Principle Portrait Group and The Trussville Tribune Ron Burkett, Hewitt Trussville Middle School contacted him to take a photograph of the ICW celebrations in action. “”A Kaleidoscope of Friends”. I was contacted by Hewitt Trussville Middle School and asked to take this photo for Inclusive Schools Week. A fun project on a cold December morning!” Burkett posted on his Facebook page.
Jim Zeigler: Pearl Harbor in Alabama
Seventy-seven years ago, in the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces surprised and killed 2,403 Americans and wounded more than 1,100. In a speech to the U.S. Congress the next day, President Franklin Roosevelt referred to December 7, 1941, as “a date which will live in infamy.” That prediction remains true on this observance of Pearl Harbor Day, 2018. In December 1941, the people of Alabama, and indeed of most of the then-48 states, did not know where Pearl Harbor was. They learned very quickly and have never forgotten. The 1941 Congress quickly passed a formal declaration of war, and America entered World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor swept away the feeling of security of many Americans that we were immune from attack due to our separation from the old world by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Suddenly, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii did not seem so distant from Alabama. The Pearl Harbor attack ignited American determination to disable the Japanese war machine. Americans were filled with patriotism, and individuals sought to aid in victory. Many enlisted in the military and fought for their country. My own father, Bloise Zeigler, was already working in a defense-support job at Huntsville Arsenal (now Redstone Arsenal). Two days after Pearl Harbor, Dad went down and enlisted. The next day, management pulled him into the Huntsville office and told him they had gotten his enlistment canceled because he was needed in the defense effort right where he was, in a vital defense job. He served his country right here in Alabama. For other Americans, their role in the war effort consisted of rationing their use of items such as gasoline, sugar, butter, and canned goods. A war was to be won, and Americans were willing to do their parts to win it. As we remember those who lost their lives in the Pearl Harbor attack, let us be mindful of the privilege of living in America. After World War II, America became a world superpower. Today America is blessed with abundant wealth and resources, as well as global influence. Most of all, America is blessed with citizens who face adversity with resilience and determination. ••• Jim Zeigler is the State Auditor of Alabama. He was previously an investigative reporter.
Kay Ivey awards grants to prevent youth crime, recidivism in Alabama
Gov. Kay Ivey is hoping to put an end to youth crime and recidivism throughout the state of Alabama. On Friday, she awarded grants totaling $210,698 to support programs aimed to do just that. The grants will support five programs that provide mentoring and counseling to youth and their parents who have been referred through the juvenile justice system with a goal of reducing further involvement in the judicial system. “Wayward youth need mentoring and educational programs to help them get on a path to a positive and productive future,” Ivey said. “I commend the work of these organizations and am pleased to assist them in their efforts to help these young people turn their lives around and get on the road to success.” Ivey awarded the following grants: NEST Corporation Inc. (Mobile County) – $45,000: to expand a program to teach parenting skills to all NEST families. NEST mentors who work with at-risk youth will also reinforce and augment the skills that families learn through the parenting program. Family Counseling Center of Mobile Inc. (Mobile County) – $33,000: to work with truant children and their families, schools, juvenile court, probation officers and the district attorney’s office to reduce the number of absentee and truant children in local schools. Vineyard Family Services of Central Alabama Inc. (Shelby County) – $50,000: for the Detention Prevention Program which offers parents with support and instruction to increase their knowledge, skills and attitudes with the goal of healthy interactions and connections between them and their children. The program also works to reduce recidivism with youth in the Shelby County Juvenile Detention Facility by teaching skills to help participants learn self-managing behavior and healthy decision-making. Auburn University ACES (Walker County) – $49,698: to reduce juvenile delinquency in Walker County by working with at-risk youth and their families. The program will focus on substance abuse prevention and strengthening family bonds. City of Bessemer (Jefferson County) – $33,000: for the Bessemer Police Department’s Marvel City Youth Program. The intervention and mentoring program teaches 75 youth skills designed to promote positive behavior, lessen aggression and develop social and emotional controls. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) is administering the grants from funds made available to the state by the U.S. Department of Justice. “Gov. Ivey and I believe in helping these young people who have the want and ability to turn from bad choices and become healthy, contributing members of society,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “ADECA’s partnership with these organizations will ensure those at-risk youths and their families have every opportunity to find that better future.”
Birmingham Business Alliance launching a talent recruitment initiative
The Birmingham Business Alliance has enjoyed great success bringing industry to the metro area. A new initiative aims to bring people to the area to fill the jobs of tomorrow. At the 2018 BBA Chairman’s Meeting at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center at UAB, the metro area’s leading economic development organization unveiled a talent recruitment plan that officials said will be critical to growth. “Without question, workforce issues including availability of our workforce, the workforce’s alignment with career opportunities and, third, the perception that Birmingham can deliver a workforce to attract and support employers will be the most important economic development issues we will face in years to come,” said BBA CEO Brian Hilson. The BBA has hired New York-based Development Counsellors International (DCI) to help develop the talent recruitment plan. The BBA has worked with DCI for the past few years promoting and building the metro area’s image and recognition in national and international media. Andrew Levine, DCI chairman, said Birmingham has a good story to tell companies and potential workers. “You’re at a 3.5 percent unemployment rate in the Birmingham metro area, so companies right now, if they’re going to be able to grow, they have to find employees, they have to find workers,” Levine said. Levine said by taking this on as a key initiative, the BBA is taking the lead on other cities. “It is kind of a new day. This unemployment rate has gone down so much and the labor market has gotten so tight, it’s really in the last two years that people have started focusing on talent attraction,” Levine said. “There are some good models out there. I don’t think anyone has completely figured it out. The BBA is really a bit ahead of the game in terms of what other communities are doing, so there is a running start here that we have.” DCI is compiling data by interviewing human resources directors at Birmingham companies, employees and potential employees and mapping out the important components of talent recruitment in the metro area. Levine said the question they need to answer is: “How do you market Birmingham not just to companies, not just to visitors, how do you market Birmingham to potential residents?” He believes the key is to marry talent recruitment with tourism and business recruitment. “The three things should work all together and be integrated,” he said. DCI recently surveyed 1,000 millennials, who now make up the largest part of the workforce. The survey sought to discover what is most important to them in choosing a place to live and work. While the expectation was that issues like arts, entertainment and culture would carry the most weight, the results showed that millennials are practical and care most about the cost of living, housing costs and employment opportunities for their spouses. Hilson said that shows that any strategy must appeal to a wide range of workers. “Talent recruitment comes in lot of different flavors and shapes,” he said. “It’s based upon quality of life perceptions. It’s based upon job availability.” Nancy Goedecke, CEO of Mayer Electric, took over as BBA chairwoman at Tuesday night’s meeting, taking the gavel from Lee Smith from BBVA Compass, who ended his term. Goedecke said she has found with her business and her efforts in promoting Birmingham to others that the biggest hurdle is getting them to the Magic City to experience it for themselves. “We have got to continue to develop our talent, get people interested in coming to Birmingham,” she said. “The key is, once we get them to Birmingham they don’t want to leave. We’ve got a real plus in that area, but we’ve got to get them here. There is enough excitement in the air that will attract people to do just that.” Addressing workforce needs will be necessary for the BBA to build on its momentum since the Great Recession of a decade ago. Since 2011, metro Birmingham has announced 23,423 new jobs by new and expanding companies that have announced $5 billion in new investment. So far in 2018, Hilson said the metro area has announced 3,908 jobs by 24 new and expanding companies in the BBA’s core business sectors. That’s about 1,000 more new jobs than at this time last year. Also this year, the seven-county metro area has seen $958 million in new capital investment announced, a $450 million increase over what was announced a year ago. “While we are on track to meet the job and investment goals that are part of our BBA current five-year strategy, we all agree that a higher level of economic development accomplishment is attainable,” Hilson said. “Therefore, the BBA is adjusting our strategy and our expectations, and we will begin implementing those plans beginning early next year.” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is coming off his first year in office and said he recognizes what BBA has done while acknowledging more needs to be done. “As a city, I believe we’ve seen strong economic progress over the last year,” he said. “We’re grateful to our partners at BBA who have helped us build momentum and we look forward to the work we will continue to do together to move our community forward.” But not everyone shares in that success, Woodfin said. “Birmingham is a tale of two cities and each time I have the chance to speak to a set of leaders like each of y’all sitting in this room, I want to share that tension between the success some our businesses feel and the real struggle some our neighborhoods are up against,” he said. Woodfin noted that 30 percent of the city’s residents and 42 percent of its families live in poverty. The unemployment rate is twice as high among black residents compared to white, and four in 10 black adults have stopped looking for work altogether, he said. Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield praised BBA for tackling tough issues related to growing the region.“The bottom line is that we are making progress, but we are not yet where we need
Supreme Court to hear closely watched Alabama double jeopardy case
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments about an exception to the Constitution’s ban on being tried for the same offense. The outcome could have a spillover effect on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The justices are taking up an appeal Thursday from federal prison inmate Terance Gamble. He was prosecuted separately by Alabama and the federal government for having a gun after an earlier robbery conviction. The high court is considering whether to overturn a court-created exception to the Constitution’s double-jeopardy bar that allows state and federal prosecutions for the same crime. The court’s ruling could be relevant if President Donald Trump were to pardon someone implicated in special counsel Robert Mueller‘s probe and a state wanted to pursue its own charges against that person. Supreme Court lawyer Tom Goldstein joked at a Washington event before the term began in October that the high court case should be called New York v. Manafort, a reference to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Trump has refused to rule out an eventual pardon for Manafort, who has been convicted of federal financial fraud and conspiracy crimes. It’s by no means certain that the high court ruling will affect future prosecutions. But Trump’s Justice Department is urging the court not to depart from what it says is an unbroken line of cases reaching back nearly 170 years in favor of allowing prosecutions by state and federal authorities. Thirty-six states that include Republican-led Texas and Democratic-led New York are on the administration’s side, as are advocates for Native American women who worry that a decision for Gamble would make it harder to prosecute domestic and sexual violence crimes. Civil rights scholars at Howard University adopt a sort of middle ground that urges the court to at least preserve the federal government’s ability to lead civil rights prosecutions against people who have been acquitted of state charges. Civil rights charges to fight crimes of racial violence have been a key tool for federal prosecutors, especially when Southern juries were unwilling to convict defendants. The most recent example the scholars cited is the successful federal prosecution of Los Angeles police officers who had been acquitted of state charges in the beating of Rodney King. On the other side, liberal and conservative groups say that the huge growth in federal criminal prosecutions in recent decades makes it urgent for the court to rein in successive prosecutions for the same crime. Reinforcing the seemingly odd alliances in play on this issue, the unlikely high court duo of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas first suggested in 2016 that the topic “bears fresh examination in an appropriate case.” At least four justices — the minimum required to hear arguments — felt Gamble’s situation is that appropriate case. There is no dispute that Gamble’s arrest in 2015 for possessing a 9 mm handgun led to state and federal charges. He pleaded guilty in state court and tried to have the federal charge dismissed. When that failed, he pleaded guilty in federal court as well, with the idea of mounting the constitutional challenge that is now before the Supreme Court. Gamble is not scheduled for release from prison until 2020, nearly three years later than he would have been freed from conviction on state charges alone, his lawyer, Louis Chaiten, wrote in court papers. The relevant portion of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment says that no person shall “be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” Chaiten said the language is clearly on Gamble’s side. “The text of the Double Jeopardy Clause contemplates no exceptions to its blanket guarantee of protection from double prosecution and punishment for the same offense,” Chaiten wrote. The administration countered that the American legal system has long viewed violations of state and federal law as separate offenses, even if they result from the same conduct. The court should not “invite the serious practical consequences of categorically precluding politically accountable officials from ever determining that a separate prosecution is warranted — which would hamstring state, tribal and federal law enforcement,” Deputy Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall wrote. A decision in Gamble v. United States, 17-646, is expected by late June. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Daniel Sutter: Men, women, marriage and earnings
The #metoo movement has brought renewed focus on gender equity questions. Economics examines the pay gap between men and women, and a recent analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis links this gap to marriage, creating a puzzle for economics. The gender pay gap is large: among workers with at least a high school diploma between ages 45 to 54, men earn almost 50 percent more than women, roughly $75,000 versus $50,000 annually. Is this evidence of discrimination against women we could address through comparable worth pay legislation? Perhaps, but first let’s dig deeper into the issue. Labor economics explains wages and salaries based on productivity, or the extra output that a worker helps a business produce. Firms can afford to pay workers the value of this product and still make an adequate profit. Competition among firms to attract and retain good workers should drive salaries up to this level. If Alabama underpaid Nick Saban, other universities would happily compensate him fairly. Salary differences should then depend on differences in productivity. Economists would want to make more nuanced salary comparisons by gender in narrower job categories before concluding that women are paid less. Education and skills requirements differ way too much across jobs requiring a high school diploma to be conclusively informative. The St. Louis Fed analysis provides a different perspective: the gender pay gap is really a gap between married men and everyone else. Single men, single women, and married women all make around $50,000 in the prime earning years of 45 to 54; married men make almost $90,000. Interestingly, no pay gap seems to exist between single men and single women. Can we make sense of this? First off, marriage may not necessarily make men more productive. Men who are more productive – that is, have more education, training, and drive to succeed – may be more likely to be married. We need not believe that reciting the marriage vows increases men’s (but not women’s) productivity. Marriage could also make men focus seriously on work and a career. We might recognize that at some point we became much more serious about work; for me, this occurred in grad school. Marriage may have this impact on many men. Seriousness and focus could explain higher earnings, and since economists can’t easily measure a person’s seriousness directly, in the data this will look like a marriage effect. There’s another possible explanation. In many workplaces, bosses have discretion over giving out raises, and an employee might have to ask for a raise. Suppose married and single male employees both ask for raises. The boss might believe that the married man “needs” the raise more – to pay for his kids’ braces, or to help take care of his in-laws. While plausible, salaries based on need violate the labor economics theory. And it undermines a potential argument against comparable worth pay legislation to narrow the gender pay gap. The argument maintains that businesses must be given the freedom to pay employees based on productivity. But if compensation based on perceived need does not ruin our economy, then raises for women surely won’t cause an economic train wreck. All the above factors likely contribute to married men’s higher earnings. Businesses can deviate at least some from productivity in setting wages and salaries without going bankrupt. The greater consequence of comparable worth legislation is shifting salary determination ultimately from businesses to bureaucrats. In the long run as politics determines more salaries across the economy, economic performance may decline significantly. Labor economics seeks to explain salaries across different jobs, but productivity theory is also gender (and color) blind. Although women may indeed not be paid according to their productivity by every employer, competition should prevent pay from getting too far out of line with productivity. Hopefully bosses will reward underpaid women employees, because #metoo has sadly shown that politicians are not always gender blind. ••• Daniel Sutter is the Charles G. Koch Professor of Economics with the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University and host of Econversations on TrojanVision. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Troy University.
