The Town of Forkland, (Greene County, AL) symbolically broke ground on Friday, August 30, 2019 for its first Dollar General retail store, which will be located on Alabama State Highway Hwy 43. The bulldozers had already begun to turn up the ground for construction of the store that is expected to hire 6 to 10 employees at the start.
In the opening ceremony, Travis Wilson, District Manager for Dollar General, stated that the Forkland store is a new prototype.
“The Forkland store is unique. There will not be another like it in the District, which now has a total of 20 stores. It will have home and domestic goods; larger capacity for frozen and chill goods,” he said.
He confirmed that Dollar General is in the process for securing a manager for the store, who is expected to be a local resident and he added that the number of employees could increase depending on the growth. Wilson also acknowledged that there will be growth opportunities for associates to “climb the ladder.”
In his remarks, Wilson noted that Dollar General is always excited to get involved with serving the community, providing access to affordable goods. “ I love the excitement I see here today for the Dollar General store. I assure you Dollar General its just as excited to be a part of this community.”
According to Wilson, the Forkland store should be completed by mid November.
Forkland Mayor Charlie McAlpine shared Reflections of the process the town went through in developing the partnership with Dollar General. “We wanted to develop a strategic plan and wanted all of Forkland to participate in this planning,” he stated.
McAlpine explained that if you are going to do business, you have to be set up for business. “You have to get your house in order, and our house is in order. We are financially sound to do business on the level we are pursuing now,” he stated.
In his overview, the mayor shared more specifics of the town’s plans for growth. “We have started our police force. We hired our chief and will continue to grow the force. We will be activating our municipal court. We plan to build a public safety building in Forkland; expand public parking, improve recreation. We are currently working to renovate our park,” he explained.
Mayor McAlpine noted that all this will take a little time, but we are determined to meet our goals. “We have plenty on the horizon,” he exclaimed.
Forkland Clerk, Kinya Isaac Turner, presided over the Groundbreaking Ceremony, at which time she credited Team Forkland for the good work that brought them to this moment. Team Forkland members include: Mayor Charlie McAlpine; Councilman Christopher Armstead; Councilman Preston Davis; Councilwoman Samitria Gray; Councilman Willie Sashington; Councilman Joe Tuck; Kinya Isaac Turner; Lynette Woods; Mary Madison; Sylvester Hall; Thomas Smith; Carrie Jones; Scheree Datcher and Elmira Smith. McAlpine remarked to the gathering that Kinya Isaac Turner is the hardest working clerk he has ever seen.
The Welcome was brought by Forkland Mayor Pro-Temp, Joe Tucker and Invocation by Pastor Carol Branch. Mrs. Gertrude Parker shared sentiments From the Community, stating that Forkland was incorporated in 1974 and has been on the move ever since.
Robert Stewart, Outreach Coordinator from Congresswoman Terri Sewell’s office, brought greetings and proclaimed that “ Forkland is the success story of the Black Belt.”
The gathering enjoyed food and refreshments at a reception which closed out the Groundbreaking Ceremony.