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| September 1996, Volume 8, Number IX 6 | 2 of 4 |
Carter County article from front page continued...
The web site includes maps, graphs, text and links to other World Wide Web pages. Mulligan or his colleague, Faye Hayes, update certain files every 30 days. Maintaining fresh information is a very important challenge, he says. Last month, the site attracted 1,421 Internet users from 27 nations.
Located in Carter County, which is in the Johnson City/Kingsport/Bristol Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the economic development group would like to attract companies to its new industrial park and 49,500 square-foot speculative building.
"Cities more than 10 times the size of Elizabethton would be challenged to place what this community now has on Internet," Mulligan said. He acknowledged that other cities will be quick to meet the challenge and be competitive in the economic skirmish among communities and states today.
Mulligan, who gives regional presentations on the Internet, says the project was started four years ago when the commission built a profile, stored it in a computer, printed it out, and initially offered the profile to company executives as a three-ring binder of facts, figures and graphs. Now the same information, as well as Internet links, are on the World Wide Web.
"We're doing everything we can to bring jobs and economic growth here," Mulligan comments, "and Internet is but one more means of getting our message out to the corporate world. The commission appeals for attention through space advertising, brochures, attending trade shows, and offers executives an 800 telephone number, as well as Internet.
Mulligan, who accepted the economic development position five years ago after retiring from the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, will step down this fall.
We want to hear from you! Please send us an email at anderson@andassoc.com
Anderson & Associates is a firm of designers and planners. Of
course, that's what engineering firms do. But developers? Yes, especially when you're
talking about developing people.
The success of any organization is dependent on the quality of its people. At A&A, continuously educating its people takes high priority. "We like to see everyone move up the ladder, and an effective training program helps make that possible," says A&A President Ken Anderson. That's not the only reason A&A has such an extensive training program. Providing clients with highly competent personnel is just as important. Matter of fact, A&A will spend approximately $200,000 on training in 1996.
Training ranges from informal in-house brown bag lunches, to three day seminars. A weekly A&A report usually lists 25 or more upcoming, off-site training programs which employees plan to attend in the next two months. There is at least one in-house training program per week where lunch is provided by the firm. Topics range from general sessions like 'time management' and 'engineering ethics', to more focused, technical topics like 'water/sewer system design'. They are led by A&A employees as well as external sources, and are accessible via videoconferencing to employees at other A&A branch offices.
A&A Training Manager, Paige Walters, says that originally these 'brown bags' were to help give assistant project managers the overall perspective of the company, to help them be more productive, and to better prepare them when the opportunity came along to move into project manager roles. "We've begun expanding the topics, hoping to provide a chance for everyone to learn and benefit." Walters says future A&A efforts will include finding training avenues for employees who aren't able to access the sessions, and involve employees in a more hands-on training experience. "Our goal is to not only help with the technical skills of the employee, but with the total development of the individual," says Walters.
We want to hear from you! Please send us an email at anderson@andassoc.com
Galax has "Game
Plan" 
A&A Blacksburg has recently completed the Master Plan for a new
multipurpose recreational facility in Galax, Virginia. A&A was selected to provide
planning and site development for the nine-acre parcel that will serve as a complement to
Felts Park, an existing recreational area that currently suffers from crowding and
overuse. Wayne Wilcox, A&A Blacksburg project
manager and landscape architect, characterizes the finished product as a
"rigorous" Master Plan, which can easily be transformed into a construction
drawing.
The new park was designed to include two softball fields, a concession building with restrooms, a 70 space parking lot, a playground and picnic areas. The biggest job was arranging the softball fields and parking lot to fit within the challenging topography of the site. The design team shifted, twisted and turned the fields and parking lot numerous times to generate several alternatives. The selected design represents the most efficient use of space and the lowest development cost.
Dave Nelson, director of the Galax Parks and Recreation Department, says the City is currently in the process of applying for a state grant to secure funding for the final design and construction costs. Nelson states that the Galax City Council has forwarded a resolution to the Virginia Department of Transportation in an effort to acquire adjoining state property, providing citizens full use of the proposed facility.
We want to hear from you! Please send us an email at anderson@andassoc.com
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We want to hear from you! Please send us an email at anderson@andassoc.com
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