Al Andrews has been successful in life, and one reason has been his willingness to take chances.
Andrews, approaching 74, is a professional — and successful — engineer and former 20-year Jones County commissioner. Both of those distinctions came as a result of calculated risks he took as a relatively young man.
Another ‘calculated risk’ Andrews took — while still in high school — was the opportunity to meet his future wife, Nancy Brown. That came in one of those set-ups that don’t always turn out successfully.
“I met her on blind date when we were in the spring of our senior year in high school and started dating and dated all the way through me going to college,” he shared. “Then we got married in 1974.”
The couple has two children, Jake, 45, and Ruth, 43. Jake lives in Gray, and he and his wife, Kristy, have two sons. He is very much a part of his dad’s day-to-day life. Ruth is married with two sons as well and is an administrative assistant for a dental office in Athens.
Andrews graduated from Jones County High in 1970, attended Middle Georgia College in Cochran for two years, and received his degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Technical Institute in Marietta in 1974.
“I went to work with my dad at Andrews Plumbing Company for 10 years,” Andrews said. “I was an estimator and project manager. I bought all the material, took the material, and just helped him run the company.”
When the opportunity arose, Andrews went to work with an engineering firm in Macon, Harrison and Spencer. While there, he obtained his license as a Professional Engineer (PE).
Four years after starting there, Andrews made a move that has proven highly successful.
“Two guys from there, Chuck Hammock and Ed Powell, and I left and started Andrews, Hammock & Powell in 1988 and been there ever since.”
Hammock retired several years ago.
“So, Ed and I got three additional partners,” Andrews recalled, “Jake being one being one of them. He is a mechanical engineer.”
Andrews said the company is relatively specialized.
“We design plumbing, heating and air conditioning, and electrical and fire protection systems for commercial, industrial, institutional buildings. We design a lot of schools and do some medical work, some county/city work, courthouses, jails.
“Several years ago,” he explained, “we were doing a lot of poultry processing work. And when we were doing that, we worked as far west as Texas, as far north as Ohio, and up the eastern seaboard all the way to Delaware.”
When the projects called for a lot of out-of-state trips, the veteran engineer said driving was not the way to go.
“When we were doing all that, we had an airplane. I’ve got a pilot’s license, and I flew the airplane.”
Andrews obtained his license while working for Andrews Plumbing. The company had a job at King’s Bay near Brunswick, and he was prepared to make the four-hour drive one day to the site. The contractor, however, picked him up in a plane at Herbert Smart Airport in Macon.
“An hour later we were in Kings Bay, and we did all the stuff we needed to do,” Andrews recalled. “I was home to eat dinner with the family. I said, ‘I am learning to fly.’ And I did.”
Andrews, Hammock & Powell has grown from three ‘employees’ when they walked out the door in 1988 to 35 now.
“We’ve been blessed,” Andrews acknowledged. “We have good clients and good owners, and we emphasize relationships and quality work.
“I tell our folks all the time our business is three things: relationships, relationships, relationships. Because if you build relationships — and there will be trouble; there will be problems on jobs — but if you have a good relationship with people, you can work them out a whole lot better.”
Building relationships is a common trait in the Andrews family. His father, James Alvin Andrews Sr., used that ability to serve his church and the Jones County Board of Education for 31 years until his death while still in office. Al Andrews’ brother, Mark, succeeded his father on that board and served until he moved to Dublin to be closer to family.
Al Andrews went into public service as well, representing his community for 20 years as a county commissioner. He ran in 1984, the first time commissioners were elected by districts. Andrews lived in District 4.
“It was tailor-made for me to get involved because it was literally our community,” he apprised. “It was a densely populated area, but the area was small. It was just a great opportunity to jump in and get involved. So, I jumped in.”
Andrews said that he was influenced early in life toward that environment.
“My family has always been service-minded, and they set that example for me. My dad did it before he was on the Board of Education in the church. My uncle (Robert Andrews) did it in the community, and he started the fire department; and he really started the water department.
“And so,” he continued, “as I grew up and as I was maturing, I saw all that, and I saw the public service aspect of their life — and ministry, if you will. That sort of stuff sort of got my attention when I was young, and that led me to think about that.”
Andrews admitted that the first five-member board had problems. “It was extremely fractious. That would be an understatement.” The contentious meetings and relationships ultimately led to the resignation of Commission Chairman Ike Liston in 1987.
Andrews pointed out that the four districts were different in various ways. “And, I think that created some fracture,” he reasoned.
“I think it took a board or two to sort of smooth that out to where everybody was working for their district, but with the county in mind.”
The former commissioner said the various panels of commissioners did work together to accomplish things during his years there.
“The recreation on the south side of the county was one thing,” he stressed. “I pushed for that real hard, and I think that’s a great recreation facility now. And I was very key in that. While I was on the board, we built the jail, renovated the courthouse, and I thought we took some positive steps in planning and zoning. And, there were certainly other things.”
Andrews was successful in five elections but came up short in 2004. He believes his longevity may have worked against him.
“I think that people have a tendency to look at people that hold an office for a long period of time as it’s time to make a change. I think that there was some of that. In fact,” he stated, “I heard some of that ‘you’ve been in long enough’ kind of thing.
“Looking back on it, I think they were right. I mean, I probably had been in there long enough. It definitely hurt when I lost, but I think it has turned out for the good. Because when I was county commissioner, I learned a tremendous amount that helps me to this day.”
Meanwhile, Andrews’ engineering abilities have also helped him away from the job, as he actively supports various causes. He and Nancy, for example, have been involved in Builders for Christ for about 25 years.
“We go somewhere and build a church building or a ministry building for a church or ministry somewhere. In the last several years, it’s been Georgia or one of the adjoining states.” Andrews stated that the volunteers will dry-in a building of 10,000 to 15,000 square feet in a week to 10 days and do an average of one a year.
“This past January, we did a church in Savannah, and we had 80 people that participated in that build.”
The engineer pointed out that, “in a lot of cases, I do the design. I design the building and our CAD people draw it.”
The two are also actively involved in a program that led to the start of a ‘cohort’ in Middle Georgia. Andrews explained that they are members of a national program, Colson Fellows, in which members study current issues through videos, books, periodicals and other resources. They then meet once a month in a cohort for discussion. A part of the leadership team, the couple helped start a group that now meets locally.
“When we took it, there was not a Middle Georgia cohort,” he said. “We went to Atlanta once a month for the program.”
Andrews pointed out he and his wife moved their church membership to Bradley Baptist a little over a year ago.
“We teach a young married class. That’s been a very interesting thing,” he reflected. “I’ve been teaching Sunday school for over 50 years, so it’s been interesting to go back and teach young married people.”
Andrews said that he will continue his community volunteer work and church service as long as his health will allow but emphasized that his efforts will not come in the political arena.
“People ask me if I ever have any thoughts about getting back into office, and I say ‘I’ve served my 20-year sentence. I’m done.’”
