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Gap Partners sets high growth target
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| Gap Partners employee Sam Pagan preps pieces of metal to be welded together. The company, recently sold, hopes to grow by five times in the next two years. |
By Blake Spurney Editor
The new owners of metal fabricator Gap Partners Inc. have ambitious plans to grow the business five times in two years.
Sherrie Ford, one of the owners, held a luncheon with county and state officials June 4 to discuss how they could work together in meeting that goal. The growth also would include adding to the current number of 42 employees.
Ford and partner Steve Hollis purchased the company from Advanced Metal Services Group last month. Their company, Power Partners, won the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce Industry of the Year Award in 2004.
Any potential for industrial growth is considered manna for the area of the state hardest hit by the outsourcing of industry to China.
"Anytime we see manufacturing jobs coming in, we get very excited," said Jerry Garland, District 2 director for the Georgia Department of Labor, which comprises 28 counties.
Garland said North Georgia had the highest number of unemployment claims in the state, with most of them coming from former textile workers. Fruit of the Loom shuttered its plant in Rabun Gap in August 2006, leaving 930 people without jobs.
Raymond Page, vice president and general manager of GAP Partners, said the number of jobs wouldn't necessarily increase in relation to revenue if the company hits its growth target. Better efficiency and coming up with new ways to manufacture products also is an emphasis.
However, Page said additional employees would be added as the company grows. Right now, it is seeking a sales representative, finance manager and purchasing agent.
Becky Waters, whose service area includes Habersham and Rabun counties, pledged Department of Labor assistance in helping find employees. She said her office helped Checkers fill its employment needs before it opened last month.
"We've had people lining up for jobs because they're out of work," she said.
Page compared GAP Partners share of the metal fabrication market in Georgia to using an eyedropper to fill Lake Rabun. The potential is enormous, particularly with one of the company's relatively new products. It makes medical grade air purification systems from the ground up.
Ford has been involved in consulting industries in cultural change and building teamwork. She said ideas didn't have to come from the top down. Instead, every employee has a stake in coming up with innovative ways to improve efficiency and attract new customers. She's looking for people willing to learn and who can be adaptive to change.
The future of Gap Partners can't be based solely on growth and profits, she said. It has to be about sustainability.
Sherrie Ford, one of the owners, held a luncheon with county and state officials June 4 to discuss how they could work together in meeting that goal. The growth also would include adding to the current number of 42 employees.
Ford and partner Steve Hollis purchased the company from Advanced Metal Services Group last month. Their company, Power Partners, won the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce Industry of the Year Award in 2004.
Any potential for industrial growth is considered manna for the area of the state hardest hit by the outsourcing of industry to China.
"Anytime we see manufacturing jobs coming in, we get very excited," said Jerry Garland, District 2 director for the Georgia Department of Labor, which comprises 28 counties.
Garland said North Georgia had the highest number of unemployment claims in the state, with most of them coming from former textile workers. Fruit of the Loom shuttered its plant in Rabun Gap in August 2006, leaving 930 people without jobs.
Raymond Page, vice president and general manager of GAP Partners, said the number of jobs wouldn't necessarily increase in relation to revenue if the company hits its growth target. Better efficiency and coming up with new ways to manufacture products also is an emphasis.
However, Page said additional employees would be added as the company grows. Right now, it is seeking a sales representative, finance manager and purchasing agent.
Becky Waters, whose service area includes Habersham and Rabun counties, pledged Department of Labor assistance in helping find employees. She said her office helped Checkers fill its employment needs before it opened last month.
"We've had people lining up for jobs because they're out of work," she said.
Page compared GAP Partners share of the metal fabrication market in Georgia to using an eyedropper to fill Lake Rabun. The potential is enormous, particularly with one of the company's relatively new products. It makes medical grade air purification systems from the ground up.
Ford has been involved in consulting industries in cultural change and building teamwork. She said ideas didn't have to come from the top down. Instead, every employee has a stake in coming up with innovative ways to improve efficiency and attract new customers. She's looking for people willing to learn and who can be adaptive to change.
The future of Gap Partners can't be based solely on growth and profits, she said. It has to be about sustainability.
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