Community Heroes Series
From the February 2005 issue of Alabama Living magazine

KM for TEC: What are your goals for 2005?

Boman: “Improvement is a main goal for 2005. The infrastructure in the city is not where I would like for it to be. Specifically, the water and sewer need improvement, and we have started and will continue to work toward that goal. Sulligent received a $400K grant to rehabilitate the water and sewer, and these improvements should bring on 25-30 new customers, and will benefit over 100 customers once completed.
We also have plans to apply for a special grant to turn a section that currently has sewer - but which uses a pumping station to pump the sewage - into a free-fall sewer. This all started due to a new forty-unit apartment complex which will be completed by the 3rd quarter of 2005.
My philosophy is this; Sulligent has to improve its infrastructure in order to attract new industry. These new improvements will move us toward that goal. We have to fix what we have before we can recruit. It is a hard task, but it's doable. Ships don't turn on a dime, so it takes planning, and we must stay the course. So, the first part of this fiscal year we've been concentrating on repairing, maintaining, and extending our current infrastructure.”

KM for TEC: What goals do you have for Lamar County?

Boman: “Obviously, we want to improve the infrastructure to attract some new industries, and decrease the unemployment in our county. Last year the industrial board, along with the city of Sulligent enticed United Furniture to come into our community.
The city initially had an agreement for United Furniture to hire 70-75% of their people from our county, and they agreed to do that as long as it was possible. Currently 55% of the employees are are from Lamar County, and the end of March we're hoping to get up to 175 employees, so we’re on our way towards meeting that goal.”

KM for TEC: What, in your opinion, is one of the obstacles that prohibits our area communities from working together towards a common goal?

Boman: “Well, I don't really know how to answer that question other than to say that there's always a lot of concerns when you have organizations working for a particular county, or counties. Sometimes I think the communities don't feel like they have proper benefit or representation from our economic development agencies. In other words, by paying dues in to these organization are we really reaping any benefits from it? That’s what I think a lot of people are asking.
I sometimes think that we have to go back and remind and reaffirm to people that yes, we do benefit from these organizations. Often our perception of these organizations are distorted. In fact, we all have to try to put any jealousies behind us, because when an industry comes into one area it will more than likely benefit those who live in other areas as well.
We have to move past those old ways of doing things...playing politics. We need to change that practice, not only in our area, but also within our own cities. We have to keep things on a business level rather than a personal level.”

KM for TEC: What would be your solution for pulling the communities together to work towards the task of job creation?

Boman: “My main objective would be to keep the communities informed. By that I mean to establish communication between the organizations that serve the communities, and especially between the cities themselves. It’s simple... we need to have good communication between each other!”

KM for TEC: What is Sulligent’s greatest asset?

Boman: “I'd have to say that it's our people. We have good-quality, honest, hard-working people. Industry leaders have stated that the reason they've decided to come to Sulligent is not only the availability of the workforce, but also the caliber of the workforce. And that goes directly back to the quality of our people as a whole.”

KM for TEC: Any additional comments for our readers?

Boman: “ I have a four year old daughter, Anna Scott Boman. She is part of the reason that I wanted to get involved in politics, and help make a difference in my city. I want to help give my daughter the opportunity to one day make her living in this great community. A lot of my friends and family have had to move to other areas because of lack of work, and I want to make a difference for Anna, and for all the families who live here. I-22 is one of the things that will be most beneficial to our area as a whole. We’ve just all got to work together!”

Kay Marshall is the Internet Projects Coordinator and Editor for TEC

Home Safety Tips

Safety Around Power Lines

Keeping Baby Safe At Home

Seasoned Citizen Section

Recipes

TEC Woman

Local Hero Series