Twin Peaks to Open in Huntsville

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Twin Peaks, a “sports lodge” known for its made-from-scratch menu and ice-cold, 29-degree beer is coming to Huntsville in January.

When the restaurant opens at 5901 University Drive – the former Macaroni Grill site, it will feature 61 high-definition flat screen TVs and 32 beers on tap and two full bars. The indoor bar features 30 seats surrounded by wallto-wall TVs. The outdoor bar sits on 1,103-square-feet of open-air patio space, complete with 28 seats, a covered drink rail and a 6-seat firepit. It’s the perfect atmosphere to enjoy 29-degree drafts and hand-crafted cocktails.

Twin Peaks has started seeking 125 talented individuals for multiple positions including 85 Twin Peaks Girls, cooks with scratch-cooking experience, bussers, bar-backs, dishwashers and janitors. The hiring team is at the restaurant recruiting daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“We are excited to bring the Twin Peaks brand to Huntsville,” said Coby Brooks, CEO of La Cima Restaurants, LLC. “We’re confident the hearty, scratch-made food, ice-cold beer and mountain lodge vibe will be welcomed with open arms by the community. We also look forward to building a stand-out team of outgoing, customer-service-oriented individuals to bring the Twin Peaks experience to life.”

Joining the Twin Peaks team comes with a variety of perks such as flexible hours, discounted fitness memberships and a fun work environment that includes great tips. Twin Peaks Girls wear “LumberJill” costumes and sports tops that support all the big games, adding to the mountain sports lodge setting. For hiring information, visit twinpeaksrestaurant.com/careers.

The 7,683-square-foot restaurant will be the first Twin Peaks in north Alabama, third in Alabama, and 85th location system-wide. The Huntsville location will be open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to midnight, and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

RFCU Reaches Out to the Community with Financial Education Programming

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Today, financial education is a must for just about everyone.

And, Redstone Federal Credit Union is stepping up with a series of financial education seminars.

 Based on the variety of offerings, “financial” may seem like a misnomer, but that good things – such as buying a home or launching a business – or bad things – such as natural disasters – all have direct or indirect financial consequences.

“Over time, the seminar offerings have evolved, there’s more of a mix now,” said Briana Cousins, financial education coordinator/communications. “Programming  focuses on four main tenets: Save, spend, borrow, plan. These areas effect overall financial fitness. We have developed our own in-house programming to give back to the community.”

Other resources include Balance.com which RFCU uses for the “Drive Away Happy” and “Financial First Aid” seminars, providing a “canned” curriculum that can be used for some of the online financial programming,

Over the past year, RFCU has developed a partnership with local small business incubator, The Catalyst Center to expand on seminar offerings. The collaboration has a small business development focus featuring programming such as “Finding Your Target Market,” and “Developing an Elevator Pitch.”

Cousins is focusing on the next steps and beyond.

“How can we expand outside of Madison County?” she asked. “How can we reach specific audiences, expand our market? Get the word out to the community, in general?”

Regarding one of the bigger challenges she faces, Cousins said, “There’s a massively growing segment of the population who need the messages we are providing. We are trying to find ways to reach this population that is least likely to attend seminars. Unless you can reach them where they are, they don’t participate. So, we need to find a way to get out into the community instead of them coming to us.”

“For 2019, RFCU will keep some of the same programming. In thefuture, we see more partnering with the Catalyst, focusing on providing business assistance for startups and entrepreneurs.”

RFCUseminars are free and open to members and non-members. There are morning, lunchtime, late afternoon, and early evening programs. There are no sales pitches for any of the products presented. However, presenters do provide attendees with printed materials and contact information to follow up, one-to-one.

For schedule and registration info, go to: www.redfcu.org/seminars

Planes, drones, special missions aircraft on display at Sierra Nevada Industry Day

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MERIDIANVILLE — A cost-effective solution for retrofitting old Black Hawk helicopters with the most technologically advanced electronics and equipment was unveiled recently by Sierra Nevada. The event was held during Sierra Nevada’s Industry Day at the company’s facility at the Huntsville Executive Airport.

SNC acquired the older model Air Force UH-60L Black Hawk through Huntsville’s Black Hawk Exchange & Sales Team (BEST) program. They removed the outdated analog gages and Marconi strip radar system and replaced it with an all glass cockpit, a fully certified state-of-the-art digital avionics suite, and mission-specific equipment including an external mounted camera, rescue hoists, and a 200-gallon auxiliary fuel tank. Now known as the Sierra Force Rotary-Wing Aircraft, the newly retrofitted helicopter is valued at an estimated $19 million.

“At the end of the day, each Sierra Force aircraft returns a significant portion of the production cost to the U.S. government,” said Bill Morris, vice president of business development for Sierra Nevada. “We make it possible for the U.S. Air Force to acquire the most cost-effective replacement aircraft available.”

Also, on exhibit was a King Air 350ER Mission Enhancement Kit.

King Air 350ER Mission Enhancement Kit with five-blade propellers that enable the aircraft to climb to 30,000 feet in 17 minutes.

“We bought the standard King Air as a green aircraft,” he said. “… using the Independent Research and Development (IR&D) program to determine what modifications were needed, we created a Mission Enhancement Kit that involves installing a new engine, an electronic braking system, and a light weight battery that removes 20 pounds from the aircraft, while increasing the capacity to fly at airspeeds up to 340 knots.”

Morris said Sierra Nevada replaced the four-blade propeller with five blades, which enable the plane to climb to 30,000 feet in 17 minutes instead of 40 minutes. It mitigates a lot of the noise from the engine so passengers can have a reasonable conversation without headsets.

“On an ordinary 90-degree day at 7,000 feet, you would have only about 30 minutes of fuel available,” said Morris. “With our newly designed kit, you can fly for eight hours under the same conditions – a significant increase for our Army forces who fly very long distances on manned surveillance and intelligence missions.”

The King Air and the SNC Scorpion Aircraft are fully-integrated multi-role special mission aircraft whose configurations include a lightweight interior, LED lighting, an extended nose to accommodate camera and sensors that surveil targets on the ocean up to 200 nautical miles; and a Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) satellite communications system on top that transmits data in real time to a ground station.

Also on display during Industry Day was a battery-operated surveillance drone. The aircraft is housed in a case with a Unified Ground Control Station, a hand-held controller and manned and unmanned teaming functions.

Powered by software designed by Kutta Technologies, the unmanned aircraft system can be dropped from an aircraft and deployed remotely from ground or air and has autonomous landing capabilities. It has a payload bay and a powerful camera that can see around corners. The drone can be programmed with waypoints or set to loiter and wait for updates from the controller.

 

SHBA begins search for executive director

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The South Huntsville Business Association (SHBA) announced today an executive search for the association’s first executive director. Applications will be accepted through June 20.

The SHBA was recently selected as one of three new Main Street designated communities in Alabama.

According to the organization, the new director will help promote economic development among South Huntsville businesses and spearhead activities related to the new Main Street Alabama designation. SHBA expects to have the right candidate in place by Aug. 6, in time for the official Main Street Alabama kickoff scheduled for the second week in August.

South Huntsville’s selection is unique because it is one of the first communities chose by the statewide delegation not located in a downtown urban district. The South Huntsville designation is essentially a commercial urban corridor that begins just north of Martin Road and extends south along Memorial Parkway to Ditto Landing and the Tennessee River.

The new SHBA executive director must have proven leadership skills, executive management and strategic economic planning experience, and possess a passion for impacting growth while viewing challenges through a creative lens, SHBA said.

Contact SHBA for more information at info@SHBA.biz.

Cyber Job Fair to be held during National Cyber Summit in Huntsville

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With cybersecurity threatening businesses, large and small, as well as our national security, the demand for cyber security professionals is ever increasing.

A local effort to reduce that employment gap and connect cyber security professionals and students with employers is the National Cyber Summit Cyber Job Fair, held Wednesday, June 6, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is part of the annual National Cyber Summit on June 5-7 in the Von Braun Center in Huntsville.

The job fair is a hiring event for cleared and non-cleared cybersecurity professionals as well as college-level students in a cybersecurity degree program. Hosted by ClearJobs.Net and CyberSecJobs.com, the job fair features national and local employers filling cyber security positions including Decisive Analytics, Deloitte, Fulcrum, IBM, Parsons, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, SAIC, Scientific Research and more.

For more information and to register, visit https://www.nationalcybersummit.com/Program/Cyber-Job-Fair

Garver project to be inducted into Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame

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A signature water treatment project by a Huntsville engineering firm has earned Alabama’s highest engineering honor .

Garver Engineering’s Tuscumbia Water Treatment Plant and Supply Improvements project is being inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, joining less than 50 other projects in achieving the recognition since its inception in 1987. The plant, which in 2012 began treating the city’s raw water supply from Big Spring, was the first in the state to use a blended series membrane process.

The project is being honored for the significant impact it has made on technological and economic development in northwest Alabama. The project won the Grand Conceptor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Alabama in 2013 and was a finalist for a national award. The induction ceremony was held in Huntsville.

“This was a landmark project for both Garver and for the City of Tuscumbia,” said Garver Senior Project Manager Kevin Mullins. “When the local utility was having a hard-water condition, we worked together to correct it with the most advanced technologies, and it’s been benefiting its residents ever since.”

Dr. Steve Jones, Garver’s director of water services and its membrane technologist, said the state-of-the-art process includes pretreatment to handle seasonal suspended solids loadings, membranes to trim dissolved solids and free chlorine disinfection for primary disinfection.

Garver provided project design, funding and bond issue assistance, construction management, and operational support in replacing a 60-year-old plant that had outlived its usefulness. The new plant is almost double the size of the previous plant.

“The city knew improvements were needed to address aging equipment and to accommodate increased peak demands and future growth,” said Garver Project Manager Kyle Kruger. “Our design approach not only utilized advanced treatment specific to their needs, but it also provided infrastructure for current demands, readily expandable to meet future capacity.”

Huntsville locksmiths work to build your trust

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A Huntsville Locksmith's key collection

By Alex Ramirez, Armor Lock and Key

While small business owners take the decision to allow keyholder access very seriously, when a business needs the services of a locksmith many will simply call the locksmith that can complete the needed task the cheapest or the soonest. And while there are instances that immediate service is vital it is also imperative to build a trusting relationship with a local locksmith.

Build a relationship with a Huntsville locksmith

While it’s not always possible, selecting a locksmith before you find yourself in an emergency situation is a good idea. Check with your local consumer protection agencies and the Better Business Bureau, ask your friends and family for recommendations, and speak to your selected locksmith company on the phone.

Huntsville and north Alabama like most communities are served by locksmiths with brick and mortar stores focused on traditional lock and key services and newer mobile locksmiths that come to your location anywhere in Huntsville or the surrounding area to service cars and door access.

Be wary of locksmiths with catchy low-priced advertisements that show up at the top of your search, locksmiths with multiple ads that look similar but with different names, and businesses answering the phone with “locksmith services” instead of a company name. These could be indicators that you’ve reached a fake locksmith. Such operations are scam companies, and your call will be forwarded to an out-of-town dispatcher who will then “immediately” send a “locksmith” to your location. The locksmith is often untrained, may demand cash up front, and may damage the lock beyond repair then charge you for a new one. The final blow is often an inflated price once the job is finished.

Most legitimate locksmiths arrive in a clearly marked vehicle and carry photo identification – ask to see it – more than anyone the locksmith understands the importance of your asking for verification of credentials.

Be wary of the drill

While there may be situations where drilling is the only solution, it should always be considered as a last resort. Most experienced locksmiths have the tools and the training to unlock almost any lock without drilling.

Ask for proof of insurance before any work is done. If your property is damaged during a repair — or if faulty work leads to later loss or damage — the locksmith’s insurance will cover your losses.

Never sign a blank form authorizing work in advance. Doing so could mean you’ve agreed to allow an unscrupulous locksmith to damage your lock and then charge you a high price to replace it. If you must sign first, please read the fine print. Get an estimate up front, and pay only when the work is completed.