(Clinton, KY – May 8, 2012) – Working to find sponsors for Falcon Academy, Hickman County Schools administrators reached out to another source of funding – the largest employer in the county, Ingram Barge.

School officials entertained three company representatives on Tuesday at the Hickman County School Board Office. Superintendent Kenny Wilson, Assistant Superintendent Casey Henderson and Hickman County High School Principal Larry Farlee met with W. Scott Noble, Sammy Barclay and Duane Grimmitt. The meeting was concluded with a  check from Ingram for $2500. It is the beginning of what the school and the business hope to be a beautiful friendship.

Wilson explained to Noble, who serves as Senior Vice President of Shorebased Operations and Services at the corporate offices in Nashville that the school is looking for a partnership.

“We want you to tell our kids what they need to do to get ready for jobs (with Ingram). We want them to get jobs with you and stay here in the county.”

Ingram Barge Company’s Columbus barge repair operation employs around two hundred workers, many of them welders. Sammy Barclay and Dwayne Grimmett lead the local operation. Both men are locals. Barclay told school administrators he’s always looking for good people. Once an employee is hired, they learn there are high expectations. Ingram has a zero tolerance policy for drug use. Noble said that Barclay is a stickler for people coming to work. He went on to praise rural young people for their work ethic and the training they get at home. Some urban workers board work barges with no idea how to turn on a washing machine, Employees on barges are expected to take care of their personal needs.

Ingram works to recruit and retain employees. The Columbus facility has a sleeping barge for those who commute from areas too far away to go home at the end of their twelve hour shift. The pay is good and the benefits are better than average for the area. The Company encourages employees to move up the ladder in the privately owned company. Noble said that Grimmitt, at the beginning of his career, can move higher in the company. For his part, Sammy Barclay noted that he is a little less than two years from retirement.

The two sides of the table told each other things about their businesses that neither side knew coming in. Ingram is active in community support in its hometown, Nashville, supporting United Way and the Red Cross. Nationally, Ingram is a sponsor of educational programs for young people. At the meeting, plans were laid to bring that program called WWR, (Who Works the Rivers) to the Hickman County. Ingram will also have a presence at the yearly job fair held in the fall every year. School officials admitted with chagrin that they hadn't thought to ask the Company in years past to be part of the career fair.

Noble said that as a privately owned river barge company, Ingram’s doesn’t get a lot of attention from the government or the public. The company must bid competitively for shipping jobs and it shares the rivers it plies with other companies. Barge traffic, while slow – six to seven miles an hour, is a 24/ 7 operation. It’s safer than highway, train and air transport. According to Noble, delivery of goods by water is not maxed out. The Company is already looking to the opening of the newly widened Panama Canal to increase barge traffic on the Mississippi and river systems it feeds.

Falcon Academy is a cooperative program with three higher ed institutions – Murray State University, Mid-Continent University and West Kentucky Community and Technical College. In the two years of Falcon Academy’s existence, students have earned an average of 17 college credit hours.  Parents pay nothing for the hours which are the same as the student would take on campus. 

Assistant Superintendent Casey Henderson, who leads Falcon Academy, estimated that well over $200,000 had been saved by students and their parents through Falcon Academy. Classes are paid for by community partners and by the educational institutions modifying their rates to offer classes to students. In addition to college classes, students are encouraged to earn credits at the regional technical center which is shared by Fulton and Hickman County school systems.

When Kenny Wilson told Ingram Barge officials that the school wants more than their money at the beginning of the meeting, the remark may have been met with skepticism. By the end of the school’s presentation, all skepticism was gone.

What the school and the company want is a mutually beneficial partnership. The gift from Ingram is a first step in the process.