Bus Shop sold to Amerigas could employ up to 20

By Daniel L. Bamberg

reporter

AmeriGas has been in operation since 1959.  As the largest marketer of propane in the U.S., they currently supply over 1.3 million customers across the nation.  With that said it was the pleasure of Bibb County Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Don Elam to announce the sell of the old BOE bus shop to the company.  AmeriGas will be coming to that building soon.  They expect to be fully operational by December 2009 and no later than January 2010.

This will not only bring a new business to the Bibb County area but according to AmeriGas Regional Manager, Robert Showman it will employ “north of eleven jobs” to the area with hopes of potentially hiring up to 20.  “One of the main attractions we had to Centreville was the job pool.  There are plenty of quality hard working good people in that area,” said Showman. 

The function of the new location will be to take propane cylinders, which have been returned, refill them and fix them.  The building will serve cylinders for the South Central region, which includes: Alabama, Mississippi, the Florida Pan Handle, and Kentucky.  This operation was being conducted out of Bessemer, but according to Showman they have outgrown that location.  The manager of the Bessemer location, Sheila Marchant will be transferring to Centreville to run the new base. “We are absolutely excited about this.  It is the best thing we could do to service our area.  We are looking forward to it,” said Showman. 

This is yet another high profile move by Board of Education which could change the outlook of the County over the next few years.  In addition to this there has been a new Bibb County High School Facility built, repairs to West Blocton High School, as well as additions and remodeling to the elementary and middle schools in the area.  Just a few weeks ago the recent project design of a new Board of Education building was conceived to replace the historic Junior High building.  Add all of that to the establishment of several functions at the old Health Tex building, including a Senior Citizens’ Center through Brent and Centreville used within that building. “This is exciting news.  Anytime you talk about new business in the community and in this economy, its great news,” said Centreville Mayor Tom Bamberg.

Don Elam expressed sincere enthusiasm about the selling of the bus shop and expressed that the old Health Tex building was serving well in terms of adequacy and function for the Board and community as a whole.