Montgomery Business Journal September 2009 3

SEPTEMBER 09

5 Letter from the Publisher

6 Executive Editor’s Column

7 Calendar

10 Investor Profile: Alfa Insurance

13 Food for Thought: Q&A with Gregory Calhoun

16 Investor Profile: Alagasco

18 Totally Focused: Chamber Launches Fourth Total Resources Campaign

20 Member Profile: Jackson Thornton

22 Member Profile: Hodges Warehouse + Logistics andHodges Commercial Real Estate

24 Coming Back Through The Alley: A New Shortcut for Business Success

30 Member Profile: Froggy Bottom Materials

34 Business Buzz

38 Members on the Move

40 Economic Update

42 Economic Intel

46 New Members and Ribbon Cuttings

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Contents

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Montgomery Business Journal September 2009 5

Letter from the Publisher

Guided by our Imagine A Greater Montgomeryeconomic development strategy, the Chamber stronglybelieves one of the most significant and immediateeconomic development opportunities for Montgomerylies within the hospitality and tourism developmentindustry. Now, with the establishment of our newconvention center and additional hotel capacityenabling Montgomery to host major tradeshows andconventions, we are a long way down the road toward sustainable success in this economicdevelopment arena.

An essential component in this economic developmentmodel is the necessity for an entertainment districtwithin easy walking distance of the convention centerand our visitor’s lodging facilities. The idea of course,is to enable the visitor to have a wonderful time whilein Montgomery and leave feeling good about theirexperience but with their pockets significantly lighter.Interestingly, not only does this entertainmentcomponent improve the visitor’s experience, but itcreates a new destination and an enhanced sense of“place” for our local residents as well. Attractionssuch as the Biscuits, the Riverwalk and itsAmphitheater, the Renaissance’s performing arts theater and other existing venues are now being joined by “The Alley”, the newest addition to downtown Montgomery’s constellation of entertainment attractions.

In this issue we feature some of the key leaders whopossess the vision and courage to make theinvestments necessary to help bring this downtownentertainment model to scale. Investments which theybelieve will not only prove profitable, but enable thecity to capitalize on the significant economic impact oftourism expenditures. All of this while helping build aquality of life product that our citizens, young and old, throughout Montgomery and the River Regioncan enjoy.

I hope you enjoy this tour through The Alley. Be sureyou personally experience the flavor of this new andunique Montgomery venue real soon.

Randall L. George, PublisherPresident, Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce

RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEY

60 MINUTE COFFEESponsored by Huntingdon College8:00 a.m. @ Delchamps Student Center Lobby 1500 East Fairview Ave., MontgomeryFree event, exclusively for Chamber Members

BUSINESS AFTER HOURSSponsored by Lowder New Homes5:00 p.m. @ Woodland Creek Clubhouse 8800 Lodge Drive, Pike Road Free event, exclusively for Chamber Members

LUNCHWORKSSponsored by Aldridge Borden & Company12:00 p.m. @ The Small Business Resource Center600 South Court StreetDetails and registration:www.montgomerychamber.com/lunchworks

60 MINUTE COFFEESponsored by Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center8:00 a.m. @ 201 Tallapoosa Street, MontgomeryFree event, exclusively for Chamber Members

BUSINESS TAXATION WORKSHOPSWorkshop I: 3:00 p.m.Workshop II: 6:00 p.m.@ The Small Business Resource Center600 South Court Street, MontgomeryFree to the public, no registration necessary

DIVERSITY SUMMIT9:00 a.m. @ The Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention CenterSponsored by Calhoun Enterprises201 Tallapoosa Street, MontgomeryFor more information call Heidi Ellis at 334-240-6863Chamber Members: $65Non-Members: $75Diversity Advocate: $650EEOC Seminar Individual ticket: $35Details and registration:www.montgomerychamber.com/diversity09

ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY13-week course, every Tuesday until 12/15/096:00 p.m. @ The Small Business Resource Center600 South Court StreetRegistration deadline is September 11Details and registration:www.montgomerychamber.com/eu

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION LOAN CLINIC9:00 a.m. @ The Small Business Resource Center600 South Court Street, MontgomeryFor details call Lisa McGinty at 334-240-6865Free to the public, no registration necessary

Montgomery Business Journal September 2009 7

Calendar

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Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Events

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SEPTEMBER

A calendar of upcoming Chamber events, plus alink to post-event coverage, is available online atwww.montgomerychamber.com/events. For moreinformation call 834-5200.

OCTOBER

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by David Zaslawsky

A NEW SHORTCUT TO BUSINESS SUCCESS

Montgomery Business Journal September 2009 25

A countrywide group of about 150 lawyersattended a recent seminar in Montgomeryconducted by the law firm of Beasley Allen.

The lawyers stayed at the RenaissanceMontgomery Hotel & Spa at the ConventionCenter in downtown Montgomery. They atedinner at Dreamland Bar-B-Que in TheAlley and the next night had a dinner/cruiseon the Harriett II riverboat on the riverfront.

“These folks loved it,” said Greg Allen, ashareholder in the Beasley, Allen, Crow,Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., firm. “Theyhad no idea Montgomery had this to offerand they said, ‘we’re coming back.’”

That’s the goal of the downtownentertainment district, and one of the keycomponents of that area, which also includesthe Riverwalk, Riverwalk Stadium and theRiverwalk Amphitheater, is The Alley. Andplease do not call it The Alleyway or theearlier moniker of the Grocer’s Alley. It’ssimply The Alley and business couldn’t beany better.

“I put together a pro forma and we probablydoubled that,” said Mike Watson, owner ofAlley Bar. He also owns the building anddesigned it. His day job is running 2WRHolmesWilkins as the architectural firm’spresident and chief executive officer.

“The community has embraced the Alley Bar.Business has been phenomenal,” he said.

Bob Parker, general manager of Dreamland,said the company has exceeded its goals.“Lunch has actually been a little bit busierthan we thought.”

Business has also been booming at JerryKyser’s meeting facility at 129 Coosa St.

Kyser, who owns that building and thebuilding that houses Dreamland, said hismeeting facility “is doing better than Iexpected. We’ve had numerous high schoolreunions; we’ve had a lot of after-dinnerrehearsal parties; we’ve had a couple ofweddings and receptions; we’ve hadnumerous business meetings; and we’ve hada lot of fundraisers whether they are politicalor civic groups.” Kyser is president and chiefexecutive officer of Jerry Kyser Builder Inc.

Those three businesses will be getting somecompany soon - very soon. Kyser hopes toopen a restaurant on the first floor of hisCoosa Street building, which will also enablehim to cater events at his meeting facility.

“It will be upscale, but have a casualatmosphere,” Kyser said about the restaurant,which will have a seating capacity of about125 people. He expects to hire 35 people.The restaurant, which is scheduled to open inSeptember, will be open for lunch and thedinner menu will feature continental cuisine.

Football season is here and the Alley Baris ready.

That means getting up a little earlier for theemployees, who are used to working nightshifts. It means opening up around noon onSaturdays and Sundays.

There are eight flat-screen televisions and aroll-down projection screen to greet football fans and Alley Bar owner MikeWatson will have snacks and appetizers available.

The capacity is almost 200 inside andanother 36 outside - if you don’t want towatch football - at one of the nine tables.

Watson has plenty of room for special eventsat what he calls the “back alley.” During theday it’s a parking garage, but it morphs into agiant entertainment venue at night and wasthe site of the bar’s highly successful duelingpiano event.

When you walk inside, you can’t help butnotice the upscale décor and ambiance, but

Watson quickly points out his products arenot pricey.

His conversation piece has to be the shotroom, which is kept at 35 degrees. There arefake fur coats available to keep you warm andoh yes, plenty of shots. The shots are locatedon four shelves and are priced $4, $6, $8and $10 apiece.

The $4 shots are premixed shots, some ofwhich are found at other bars. The moreexpensive shots are various brand names.Shot glasses are actually frozen ice anddiscarded into a trash can, but don’t melt.

“The community has embraced the AlleyBar,” Watson said. “I’ve heard from so manypeople that Montgomery was just waiting forsomething like The Alley project and the AlleyBar. This is what Montgomery really needed.Those are two of the quotes you will hear themost in here.”

— David Zaslawsky

WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAMEPatrons flock to Alley Bar’s upscale décor, ambiance

26 Montgomery Business Journal September 2009

Ken Register and Joe DiMaggio Jr., thecousin of the baseball Hall of Famer, plan toopen Sa Za Serious Italian restaurant in lateSeptember. Register, who has interests inNobles, The Olive Room and the soon-to-be-three Down The Street restaurants, said heexpects to hire 41 people. Sa Za will have aseating capacity of 110, which includesseating on the sidewalk under a canopy andpart of the bar will be outside with tablesand chairs.

“This is Mediterranean/Italian peasant food,” Register said. “Ninety percent of the recipes are Joe’s grandmother’s recipes.They are the true peasant Italian. We haveworked this menu to try to keep it affordablefor anybody. It’s a different kind of Italian restaurant.”

Pizza will be a prominent part of the menu.Register said that the restaurant will havetwo pizza ovens that heat up to 900 degrees.“The pizza ovens were specifically designedby Joe DiMaggio for this concept and madein Italy,” Register said.

Eating at Sa Za’s will be an experience,Register promised. “It’s a bohemianatmosphere with really good music. It will belively - it will be a lot of fun.”

Sa Za’s will lease one of the buildings ownedby Allen, who is calling his venture AlleyStation. That includes Sa Za’s and 16 loftapartments on top of the restaurant as wellas a rooftop garden, a banquet facility andsome shops on each side the walkwaybetween the buildings. He is considering a

Cajun restaurant behind Sa Za’s in anapproximately 2,000-square-foot space andis also mulling an offer of an entertainmentvenue there. Allen said he has talked withsomeone who wants to have a men’s andwomen’s clothing store. He has hadpreliminary talks about a jewelry store and acoffee shop.

“We looking for the right mix for that venuebecause the last thing I want is for someoneto come in there and fail,” Allen said.

His loft apartments, which will be availablein mid-October or early November, will rangefrom 900 to 1,400 square feet. There will beboth one- and two-bedroom apartments andall are rental units, according to Allen. Hesaid the top of the range for rent will be$1,500 a month.

Allen said in addition to the rooftop garden,which sets apart his loft apartments, is asecond-floor gym and a balcony over TheAlley. And being downstairs from Sa Za anda two-minute walk from Dreamland andAlley Bar is not bad either.

His banquet facility will hold 350 peoplewhile Kyser can handle 150 people for a sit-down dinner or about 240 people for a stand-up meal. Allen said five weddingreceptions are already planned for his facility.

Kyser is also planning loft apartments - his10 units will be built on top of Dreamlandand he anticipates the units being availablein the fall. He will have one- and two-

Montgomery Business Journal September 2009 27

Mike Watson, owner ofAlley Bar and the building,

is also president and chief executive officer of

architectural firm 2WRHolmesWilkins.

bedroom loft apartments - all rental units.Kyser said the apartments on the lower floorswill average 800 square feet to 1,100 squarefeet. There are plans for two larger units onthe top floor with one at 1,400 square feetand the other at 2,500 square feet. Heexpects rents to range from $900 a monthfor the smaller units to possibly $2,500 amonth for the largest apartment.

Developers Bill Helms and Randy Roark ofHelms Roark Inc. own a building at TheAlley and have 8,000 square feet available.Helms said they are looking at variouspossibilities with room for one to fourbusinesses, which may include a restaurant.

The Children’s Museum of Alabamaoccupies a spot in The Alley and hasinvested $1 million in the building’s façadeand “probably another $7 million in thebuilding,” according to Montgomery DeputyMayor Jeff Downes, who is chief of staff forMontgomery Mayor Todd Strange.

Downes estimated that the private sector hasalready invested $12 million to $15 million inThe Alley project and the city’s investment inthe common area was $1.6 million. Heexpects the private sector investment toreach $20 million to $25 million when theproject is completed.

When asked how much revenue The Alleybusinesses could generate in gross sales,Downes said $10 a million a year - easily.

The Alley has also meant new jobs fromconstruction work to the 76 that will becreated with the opening of two restaurantsand the 95 people already working atDreamland (45 employees) and Alley Bar(50 employees). That’s 171 new jobs in aneconomy that has been shedding hundredsof thousands of jobs monthly. The July jobs

report was cheered because it was less than 250,000, the fewest number of jobs lost in a year.

“Economic development is more than justsales,” Downes said. “It’s the perception ofthe city. When you have an area that ishappening and becoming a destination, itjust does great things for the feel of your cityand the perception of your city.

“There are people that never knew that thisarea existed and now they are experiencingit and they want to be a part of it. There areideas that are popping up on a daily basisand we are regularly entertaining retail andresidential possibilities in this direct area andarea (nearby). That’s all the result of thismultimillion dollar private and public sector investment to make something unique and different.”

But right now, the one element lacking atThe Alley is retail, and Kyser would like tosee specialty shops. “It needs to besomething with a Southern flavor or aMontgomery flavor or something you can’tfind or see in the usual shopping mall,”Kyser said. “We need specialty shopsdisplaying our culture, our artwork. There is so much history in Alabama thatyou need to capitalize on that, from the Civil Rights Movement to the Civil War toMartin Luther King Jr.”

The city recently hired Ken Reynolds as retail development coordinator, a$50,000-a-year position.

“We do need somebody to wake up every single day focused on retaildevelopment,” Downes said, “and to court and develop relationships with all forms of retail possibilities.

28 Montgomery Business Journal September 2009

“Economic development is more than justsales, it’s the perception of the city.”

– Jeff Downes, Deputy Mayor of Montgomery

Montgomery Business Journal September 2009 29

Prospective investors wanted to know what Dreamland Bar-B-Que would do whenthe Montgomery Biscuits were not playingtheir home games across the street atRiverwalk Stadium.

Bob Parker, general manager ofDreamland, promised those prospective

investors that the restaurant would not sitempty. He reminded people that Dreamland“is a very good restaurant with great serviceand great food. It’s not just the Biscuits thatdrive our weekends and nights.”

He also told potential investors thatDreamland is open every day, serves lunchand when the 700-plus downtown hotelrooms fill up with conventioneers andtourists, Dreamland will have plentyof business.

“The hotels feed a lot of people, but theydon’t feed them every meal,” Parker said.“The hotel guests don’t want to drive; theywant to walk. They want to walk aroundand see the beautiful buildings down here.We do really, really well with hotel guests.”

Oh, by the way, Dreamland’s patrons are ahearty bunch. Parker said the restaurantuses at least 350 pounds of pork daily andthe average climbs to 600 pounds a daywhen you combine all meats. Dreamlandalso goes through 20 gallons of barbecuesauce a day and an average of 200 ordersof french fries daily.

Dreamland, which has not posted hours,stayed open until 1 a.m. on a recent

weekend. “If there’s a big convention, we’llstay open and serve people who comelate,” Parker said.

The restaurant is also building up anothersource of revenue - catering - and thatcomes in handy when your landlord, who isalso an investor, has a meeting facilityaround the corner.

Of course, Dreamland does attract thebaseball fans at Riverwalk Stadium withthat smell. Parker said that he was at aBiscuits game “and I could smell it. Withthe Biscuits being in open air and rightacross the street and if the wind blows theright way - the smell is a draw.”

Parker said Dreamland complements theBiscuits because not everybody will eat atthe stadium. “Why not get them downtownfor six hours instead of three or four,” he said.

But unquestionably it was critical forDreamland to open on the same night theBiscuits opened their home season back onApril 9.

“We didn’t think it would be the best grandopening night ever at Dreamland,” Parkerrecalled. “We didn’t advertise - we justopened. The importance of being open thatnight was that if I wasn’t open and peoplewalk by they think we aren’t open at night.There were 7,000 people that came to thegame that night.

“A lot of people come to the first game and don’t come again, but at least theyknow we’re open downtown and they can come in.”

You may not be aware of this, butDreamland has a basement and somethoughts about how to utilize it. Parker saidhe is considering adding some diningspace and maybe add some live music tocomplement the live music on the patioThursday-Saturday.

“I’m not going to get everybody to comehere, but a family that comes downtowntwice a week may have barbecue one night and seafood or Italian the next,”Parker said.

— David Zaslawsky

“AIN’T NOTHING LIKE ‘EM ... NOWHERE”

Dreamland Manager Bob Parker

“When you mix tourists and residents thenyou create demand for retail. You can create a demand for retail when you create a diverse population that inhabits a certain area.

“When you combine office workers, touristsand residents you create that demand. Themore that you develop that component, theless risk a retail operation is and the greaterchance of them finding their way to theirtarget areas. We want to use incentives tomitigate the risks so we can encourage thepioneers to (invest).”

Kyser, who is chairman of the Alley OwnersAssociation, said, “Fortunately, we have aunique group of people at The Alley. Theyhave been able to do what they’re doingwithout the economy being in good shape.

“Everybody considers everyone else as apartner not a competitor because what’s good for Dreamland and Alley Bar is good formy building.

“I think The Alley project is going to be - on alittle different scale - just as important as theballpark. It has all the things going for it tocomplement the Renaissance Hotel. I thinkthe Renaissance Hotel in conjunction withthe ballpark and the things the city is doingon the riverfront have given the privateinvestor like myself an opportunity to comedown there and participate.”