Ingalls awards first major contract to minority-owned company

Project Management Solutions Group LLC (PMSG) was recently awarded a contract with Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Mississippi, to provide staffing and resource management services; the contract has been executed for three years for $20 million.

This marks the first time an African-American, minority-owned company has secured a contract with Ingalls as a major, Tier 1 supplier. “This occurrence signifies the influx of local and national companies that are participating in the growth the Gulf Coast is experiencing. Globally, firms are creating additional opportunities for the citizens of Mobile and surrounding municipalities,” PMSG president Mike Ward said.

PMSG has established offices in Mobile as well as in Biloxi and Jackson, Mississippi. According to a news release, PMSG has established the Southeast as a focal area, with plans to continue expansion along the central Gulf Coast.

Established in St. Louis in 2005, the firm specializes in construction, information technology, health care, telecommunications and real estate development. The company has worked with Deloitte, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The company is a service-disabled, veteran-owned company that makes it a practice to hire veterans. PMSG has approximately 47 employees, with over 90 percent defined as veterans. “If we get the opportunity, we hire veterans. We do discovery, figure out what is going on, what it will take to get the objectives accomplished, then we hire a team around the project,” Ward said.

Talks underway for Midtown Publix
According to John Vallas with Vallas Realty, talks are currently taking place for a Publix grocery store to set up shop in Mobile’s Midtown area on commercial property situated on Florida Street between Old Shell Road and Springhill Avenue, pending approval by the Mobile City Council.

If the project moves forward, road improvements would more than likely be made in that area to improve traffic flow, similar to roadwork done for the Publix constructed at the corner of Airport Boulevard and University Avenue and the Whole Foods on Airport Boulevard.

Cost for the development would likely exceed $1 million. Vallas is handling due diligence on the deal. The developer will be in town Thursday, Nov. 19, to continue discussions with city officials.

Employee-owned, privately held Publix has 1,108 locations in six states and had reported net income of $1.74 billion in 2014. The company is based in Lakeland, Florida.               

The 7,900-square-foot office and warehouse building located at 3168 Midtown Park Drive in Mobile was recently sold to local contractors Coumanis Allen for $275,000. Thomas Gleason with NAI Mobile worked for the seller; Marl Cummings IV with Cummings & Associates represented the buyers in the transaction.

Locally owned Greek-themed restaurant Ollie’s Mediterranean Grill in Midtown at the Loop recently closed for business. Plans are in place for the property to reopen as a sports bar in the near future, according to insiders familiar with the transaction. Ownership will remain the same. A few modifications will be made to the floor plan, in such areas as bathrooms, to meet city code for a sports-bar themed eatery before reopening in the near future.  

Providence Hospital named winner of Consumer Choice Award
National Research Corporation (NRC) recently named Providence Hospital as a winner of the company’s 2015 Consumer Choice Award. This marks the 19th consecutive year the local hospital has won the award for top consumer ratings in the survey.

According to NRC’s, Providence was voted by consumers as having the highest level of quality, doctors and reputation in its market. The hospital is a member of Ascension, the nation’s largest Catholic nonprofit health system.
“This award from National Research reflects Providence Hospital’s continued focus on the patient experience, patient safety and providing quality services that meet community needs,” Todd Kennedy, president of Providence Hospital, said. “This honor would not be possible without the care shown by our doctors, nurses and staff.”

The annual survey is put together using an Internet-based questionnaire, with responses gathered from the start of September 2014 through August 2015.

“For each of the past 20 years, winning hospitals have provided outstanding experiences that have built consumer preference, loyalty and trust in their markets. We are honored to congratulate this year’s winners on a job well done,” Brian Wynne, NRC vice president of business development, said.

Established in 1981, Lincoln, Nebraska-based NRC (NASDAQ: NRCIA) focuses on health care products and subscription-based solutions in the U.S. and Canada. The company’s growth solutions are marketed under the Healthcare Market Guide and retention solutions under the NRC Picker brand. The company’s clients include acute- and post-acute-care providers or other payer organizations

Local school makes large donation to breast cancer fund
Clark-Shaw Magnet School in Mobile raised more than $1,600 for the Providence Hospital Breast Cancer Outreach Fund during October. Students paid $5 and were able to wear breast cancer shirts, socks and ribbons on Fridays during the month. They also signed a pink ribbon that was displayed in the gym during the entire month.

The Providence Hospital Breast Cancer Outreach Fund provides financial assistance to breast cancer patients at Providence Hospital. This assistance can be in the form of gas cards, living expenses or medical expenses. Providence Hospital Breast Friends For Breast Cancer Support Group initially established the fund in 2008.

Originally started as K.J. Clark Junior High School in Chickasaw in 1953, it was converted into a magnet school for grades 4 through 8 and renamed Clark School of Mathematics, Science and Technology in 1991. In 2007 the U.S. Department of Education honored the school as a “No Child Left Behind” Blue Ribbon School, one of the most prestigious awards in the country at the time. In 2009 the school moved to Mobile into the former Shaw High School building and again was rechristened as Clark-Shaw Magnet School.