Minutes of the
August 13, 2015 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by club president Robby McClure at 12:20 PM. Jeremy Milling offered the invocation followed by Gordon Korb who led the club in song accompanied by Bill Oppenheimer on the piano. Tom Martenstein then welcomed visiting Rotarians and guests of members.
New Member: Rev. Wayne Miller, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, was introduced as the club’s newest member by Rick Harvey.
Announcements: Robby McClure made the following announcements:
• The board of directors will meet on August 20, following the regular weekly meeting.
• Mobile West has announced they will not meet on August 18.
• Please save the date of October 1, 2015 for the Rotary Gala to be held at the new Maritime Museum.
Touchpoints Recognition: Garrett Williamson recognized Bill Oppenheimer as the Touchpoints winner and announced that a donation in his honor had been made to St. Mary’s Home. Garrett encouraged members to increase their level of participation to win a donation to a charity of their choice.
Program: Future Growth in Mobile – County Commissioner Jerry Carl
Saty Putcha introduced District 3 County Commissioner Jerry Carl who discussed economic growth in Mobile. He noted that much of the new growth is happening in his district which includes the new Airbus facility. He credited the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce for their diligent work in recruiting new businesses including future arrivals of “sub-companies” doing business with Airbus.
Carl also stressed the importance of Austal and its workforce of 4,000 while noting the exciting plans to turn St. Louis Street into an IT hub. He also praised Mayor Stimpson’s announcement to spend city funds to repair infrastructure and said that in the past the county has been footing the bill for a number of paving projects which fall within the city limits.
After a series of questions and answers, Robby McClure thanked him for speaking to our club and told him that in his honor a donation had been made to the Augusta Evans School.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 12:55 PM.
Tom McGehee