I was minding my own business Wednesday afternoon and doing some surfing on the World Wide Web when I stumbled upon an Internet chat room where the topic of the day was bashing Business Pulse.
You can imagine my alarm.
As is often the case, one person took aim at the Business Pulse babble and said the first part of this column is nothing but nonsense. It shouldn’t be included in the column, they claim, and I should find better things to write about.
There was also anger over the fact that I recently refused to feature a hair stylist in this section. It was even suggested for me to stop my silliness in this column and focus on more hair stylists. This sounds like a sure fire way to drive me insane.
This seems like an opportune time to clarify my policy on hair stylists, which you can find for yourself under Section 3, Article 9 of your Business Pulse manual. If you don’t have a copy of the manual, I’ll be glad to sell you one for $19.99.
When I started writing this column some 13 years ago, I made the decision to feature hair stylists working under the assumption they had a clientele which would need to keep track of their latest location. This was before I came to the understanding that some hair stylists move several times a year.
The end result was Business Pulse was basically a glorified version of Hair Stylist Review. People would joke with me on the street and say, “Hey Clark, what hair stylist am I going to read about this week?”
To make a long story short, I no longer feature individual stylists, although I will feature a new shop that opens. I hope this clarifies any confusion.

Goolsby Sausage
eyes Warren County

Everybody wants to know what Warren County officials are doing to recruit industry so I’m going to issue a brief report.
As you know, I love talking about the Industrial Development Board because of the cool code names used to describe top-secret projects like Vulcan, Cobra, and Nightingale. They may never produce any jobs, but the code names let our industrial representatives feel like secret agents.
Here’s a prospect that really looks promising and I say that because it doesn’t have a code name. Goolsby Sausage is looking at expanding into Warren County to relieve some of the pressure at its current facility in Cookeville.
The Goolsby expansion would be for a packaging and shipping facility that’s projected to create 25 to 50 new jobs in three to five years.
One reason I think this expansion could very likely take place is because Goolsby Sausage was founded by James Goolsby, who grew up on a farm in Viola.
In addition to making sausage, his family also cured country hams and shoulders.
James started Goolsby Sausage in 1981 and grew the company through hard work and determination. Goolsby products such as sausage patties, pork tenderloin, and country ham can be found in grocery stores in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Florida.
I’ll provide more information on this development as it becomes available.
Interest in our
industrial park

In keeping with the code name theme, the Industrial Development Board says a company referred to as Project X-Cel has looked at a site at Mt. View Industrial Park. According to the IDB, our site is the only one in Tennessee to make the first round of cuts. It’s not known how many other states are being considered.
While this prospect is clearly in the beginning stages, Project X-Cel looks like it would be a good company to land because job creation figures are listed between 150 and 200 employees in three to five years.
Possible future expansion could balloon the payroll to 500 to 700 employees, the IDB says.
Project X-Cel is looking for a site to construct an approximately 110,000-square-foot building that could be expanded to 330,000 square feet in the future. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that our community can continue to be considered as more cuts are made.

Morrison Tool
still hiring

It was back in May when I told you Morrison Tool and Fab was hiring and looking to add about 40 new welders. The company has done just that and expanded its workforce to 210 employees.
Morrison Tool and Fab is still looking to grow. Company president Jacob Wilson says they are looking to hire an additional 50 welders with the jobs available immediately.
“Right now we’re not having any problem getting work,” said Jacob. “Our problem is getting employees.”
Plant manager Josh Livesay says Morrison Tool is getting work from Chrysler, Toyota and Honda. He says he doesn’t foresee the heavy workload easing anytime soon.
“These are permanent, full-time jobs,” said Josh. “We are not hiring for a short-term basis.”
Jacob says the company is willing to provide training to a capable applicant with no welding experience.
“We will hire experienced welders and pay based on their experience or we’ll provide training if they’re willing to learn,” said Jacob.
Anyone interested in a job can apply at Morrison Tool and Fab at Mt. View Industrial Park or stop by Metro Industrial Staffing at Northgate Center.

B&P Lamp
turns 60

It was 60 years ago when B&P Lamp opened its doors in McMinnville and began serving what would be a growing segment of the population – people with electricity.
It may be hard to imagine, but as recently as 60 years ago, many local farms didn’t have electricity. Many families lit their homes with fuel lamps.
In the early 1950s when electrical lines finally began making their way to farming communities, folks wanted a way to convert their old kerosene lamps to electric. A need arose not only for someone with such knowledge to do the converting, but to supply customers with replacement parts, lamp shades and chimney glass.
Enter B&P Lamp.
In the 1950s, Lawson and Pauline Barnes were antique dealers. They made frequent trips in their truck to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, New York, and New England to buy antiques for resale.
In early 1952, Lawson and Pauline bought 12 acres of land in McMinnville and set up B&P Lamp Supply’s first facility. Later the same year, they assembled their first catalog of lamp replacement parts.
Their son, Paul O. Barnes, joined the business in the mid-1950s and eventually became president of B&P Lamp Supply. His energy and enthusiasm for early lighting helped the company grow from a tiny 2,500-square-foot building to its current facility of 150,000 square feet, which houses the most extensive line of lamp-restoration parts in the world.
Today, B&P Lamp Supply (the wholesale division) and Antique Lamp Supply (the retail division) boast a network of more than 6,000 dealers and offer the largest selection of authentic reproduction lamp parts in the world. That’s a pretty admirable accomplishment for a business that started in a basement.
Says current president Paul Michael Barnes, “Like good Tennessee whiskey, we seem to have gotten better with age.”
The business, located on Old Morrison Highway, has grown its work force and has 30 employees.
Said McMinnville Mayor Norman Rone, “B&P Lamp Supply is one of the most successful enterprises in our community. The family owned and operated business has made many significant contributions to the area and provided job opportunities to a number of people. It is internationally known for its quality lighting materials, and locally famous as the place to find traditional lamps and lighting fixtures.”
Today, B&P Lamp thrives through its website which is antiquelampsupply.com. The company is willing to ship one lamp or 100 lamps, one part or 100 parts.
“I think we’ve survived because each generation of owners has had a good understanding of the history of antiques and early lighting, and we’ve innovated and adapted our products to the ever-changing trends,” says president Paul Michael Barnes. “Thankfully, antique lamps and light fixtures are usually regarded in American households as heirlooms — as a direct connection to family heritage. We’ve managed to do a good job of having what people want at a reasonable price.”
Fourth-generation family member Michael A. Barnes is slated to eventually take over the company. He is currently vice president of accounting.
Business Pulse congratulates B&P Lamp on 60 years of operation as a thriving member of our local business community.

Old 3 Pigs BBQ
spot gets interest

When I saw Linda Cooper doing some cooking at the Warren County A&L Fair, I asked her about her vacant building on Sparta Street. In recent years, the restaurant has been home to 3 Pigs BBQ, Braelyn’s, and Charley’s BBQ.
Linda didn’t want to go into too much detail, but she told me she’s in negotiations with two people who are both interested in putting a restaurant there. She told me the first person is trying to arrange financing and she’s giving that person first dibs because they were in discussions first.
She said the second person is ready to move in right now, should the first person falter. She’s just waiting to see what happens in the coming weeks.
I say give it to the person with plenty of money who is ready to go. The last thing that location needs is a restaurant tenant on shaky financial ground who will go out of business in four months.

Ebenezer’s
back in business

After being forced to close due to family reasons, Ebenezer’s has reopened in the basement of Plaza Shopping Center near Gary Steele Karate.
Ebenezer’s sells a wide selection of clothing for women and girls that’s all made on site. Tania and Richard Maneiro are the owners with Tania doing the sewing. Tania can do any type of clothing alteration or she can make an outfit that’s unique to your tastes.
“If you lose a lot of weight and want to keep your same clothes, we can alter them,” said Richard. “Don’t throw them away and spend a lot of money buying new clothes. Just bring them to us.”
With all the pageants at the fair last week, Tania says she just finished several orders for fancy dresses. “There’s still a lot of fluff in here from all the pageant dresses,” she said.
If you spot clothing in a magazine you’d like to have made, Tania can do it. Or if you find a fabric you like and want to have it made into an outfit, she can do that too.
“I can get it exactly the way people want it,” said Tania. “We are not a big factory. We are small and I am very dedicated to quality. I’ve made dresses and clothing for all my girls and it makes me so happy when we’re out and someone says to me, ‘I just love that dress. Where did you buy it?’ And I tell them that I made it myself.”
Unlike clothing bought off the rack at a store, Tania says she can make clothing to fit your size and your personality.
“I want every woman who wears one of my dresses to feel like they are the best in the world,” said Tania. “The dress should represent the woman and every piece is special to me.”
Ebenezer’s is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday thru Friday and by appointment on Saturday. The phone number is 507-2225.

That’s all folks

Keep me in your business-related thoughts. Give me a call with all your great tips at 473-2191.