POWERGRAMS

28 Up on a Southwire Not a lot of people get to visit the top of Cleburne County's tallest building. If they do ride the elevator to the fih floor of the Southwire factory, stepping out at 100 feet off the ground, they'll have a view only matched by area scenic overlooks and fire towers. Southwire is Heflin's largest industrial employer, with 210 workers making medium- to high-voltage cable that eventually delivers power to millions of people around the world, says spokeswoman Kristi Smith. One in three homes built in the U.S. contains wire made by the company founded and headquartered about 35 miles away in Carrollton, Georgia. Southwire's 6,000 workers in facilities coast to coast produce half of the cable distributing electricity in this country, including some lines for Alabama Power. The Heflin plant was opened in 1996 on the 400-acre wooded grounds adjacent to 22 acres Southwire donated for the Cleburne County Mountain Center, Smith says. The employees make cable from 1 inch to 5½ inches in diameter, and weighing from 11 ounces per foot to 23 pounds per foot. They produce about 70 million pounds of cable annually. Walking through the large plant, a visitor might be surprised by the pristine floors and general cleanliness of the facilities. Smith says the immaculate surroundings are a requirement of the manufacturing process for wires that have had no failures throughout their supply to industry. As a 2,380-foot-long strand of wire reaches the top of Southwire's "continuous vulcanizing tower," Manager Shaun Boyd notes that every foot of the three-layer cable being welded together is immediately X-rayed to ensure quality and consistency. He says the design and processes in the tower where insulation is added and byproducts removed "sets us apart" from other wiremakers. Aer completion, workers test the wire by applying four times the rated operating voltage of the cable. "It's what our customers expect, and we insure that it meets a higher standard," he says. Multiple bins lining the forkli path in the shipping area are filled with plastic, copper and other pieces of excess ingredients from making the cables each day. Smith says it is Southwire policy to recycle every possible piece of waste, all the way down to powering generators by burning what can't be reused. Southwire is one of the largest privately owned companies in the world and its leadership considers community support a primary corporate mission, Smith says. Heflin plant workers known as Project GIFT Blackshirts give their time and efforts to at least a couple of projects every month. "We have a prey large group of volunteers here who give back to the community," Smith says. "We love Heflin and are proud to do our part as employees and company." APC has nearly a century of combined service Office Manager Wendell Wood moved from the Gadsden Office to Heflin in 2006. He came to the company out of high school 37 years ago, picked up a bachelor's degree from Jacksonville State a few years later and steadily moved up the company ladder. He's been involved in the community since the day he arrived, joining the first Leadership Heflin class and more recently heading the Cleburne County Chamber of Commerce. "One of the first things I noticed was how prey Heflin is," Wood says. "Cleburne County is about 50 percent national forest. I'm a kind of outdoors guy, so I like it here." Customer Service Representative Helen Dean has worked 18 years in the Heflin Office. Her counterpart Diana Price has worked for Alabama Power more than five years and in the Heflin Office since 2013. Field Service Representative Mike Shelton has been with the company for 13 years. Merchandise Salesperson Chris Buckelew has been with Alabama Power for four years and splits his time between the Heflin and Jacksonville offices. "Heflin is a great place to live and call home," Dean says. Wood, Price, Dean and Shelton in Alabama Power Heflin Office.

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