By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Coffee shop carving niche downtown
OverCoffee
The crew from Over Coffee, with a little help from friends, spent the Labor Day weekend doing hard labor on the coffee shop’s floor. The newly painted floor, complete with coffee beans, adds a comforting, yet eclectic touch to the cafe. Pictured (l-r) Ken Drebelbis, Amber Goelz, Drew Cole, Rachel Parrish, owner Jenny Cole (in back with hammer to son Drew’s head), Jill Demmin and Jennifer Kimmel. - photo by Phgoto by Patty Leon
There is a quaint place in Hinesville where friends can meet for lunch, smoothies or a hot cup of java.
Over Coffee, a cafe and eatery at 110 S. Commerce Street, offers a variety of flavored coffee as well as frozen smoothies, soups, salads and sandwiches.
Husband and wife owners Everett and Jenny Cole purchased the company in December and added a diverse list of food and drink mixes to their menu.
The business also provides a new local venue for talent and community gatherings. Customers may enjoy occasional live music offered by performers Juan and Janice Roldan and Dave Mallard, or performances by Spit One poetry produced by the Cider House.
The cafe also offers catering for events and is often used by organizations as a meeting place. Its comfortable ambiance is accented with eclectic touches of art.
During the Labor Day weekend, the crew of Over Coffee, along with the help of some loyal customers and friends, spent about 60 hours ripping out old carpet and preparing the floor for a new artistic touch. Workers Drew Cole and Jill Demmin were the brains behind the idea.
“We were working and looking at the carpet and we were both commenting on how much we didn’t like it,” Demmin said. “We were joking at first about how we should just rip it out and paint something and Drew started talking about giant coffee beans and I got this picture in my head. The next thing you know, we were ripping out the carpet and actually doing it.”
Demmin began to put the picture on paper that was later transferred to the floor.
“It was amazing to see the concept go from paper to completion and having it come out exactly as sketched and planned,” she said. “Gerry Roberts and Rachel Parrish actually helped me paint the coffee beans. Drew basically told me what he wanted and I sketched it out and we went from there.”
“When we first got the cafe, we did not put much work into it,” Jenny Cole said. “We were so busy trying to get things started, then we became busy working with the customers and making sure they were satisfied. Then, when we wanted to begin doing some work, we did not have the time and some of the funds we needed,” she said.
The group decided to do the work themselves, curbing costs. The results have been favorable.
“So far, we received positive feedback from our customers,” Cole said.
“I would love to go to art and design school, Demmin noted. “I’ve been seriously thinking about it, especially after doing this. It just all came together so well. It did make me think about it more seriously.”
It was the first time Demmin drafted and designed a concept that would be used in a business.
Her previous artistic endeavors included designing jewelry and helping decorate her mom’s house.
Drew Cole also took a turn with a paintbrush.
“The beans I painted are hidden so they can’t be seen all the time,” he said, noting his beans looked a little deformed. “All joking aside, we would not have been able to do this without the help we had and the support of our customers and we really are very appreciative of that.”
Sign up for our e-newsletters
GPA grows trade, market share
Intermodal volume up 20 percent
port photo
Rubber tired gantry cranes handle cargo at the Chatham Intermodal Container Transfer Facility at the Port of Savannah. The Georgia Ports Authority's Mason Mega Rail project will double rail lift capacity to 1 million containers per year by 2020 - photo by Provided

The Georgia Ports Authority achieved 14 percent growth in March container volumes, moving 355,208 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers.

From July 2017 to March, TEU container trade grew by 9 percent, or 255,786 additional units for a total of 3.08 million, a new record for Savannah.

"Savannah's continued strength is a reflection of our customers' commitment, Georgia's leadership, and the many dedicated service providers, GPA employees and ILA members who come together every day to achieve great things," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "March marked our 17th consecutive month of business expansion thanks, in part, to a strong economy and growing market share."

Intermodal rail volumes jumped by 20 percent in March and 15.4 percent for the fiscal year to date, for a total of 318,454 containers handled over nine months – another record for the GPA.

"As the numbers show, our rail cargo is growing at a faster pace than our overall trade," GPA Chairman Jimmy Allgood said. "This is important because rail is playing a key role in our responsible growth strategy. We anticipate our rail infrastructure investments to take 250,000 trucks off the road each year by 2020."

The GPA recently broke ground on its Mason Mega Rail Terminal, on which the Port of Savannah will build 10,000-foot unit trains within its own footprint. From the expanded rail infrastructure at Garden City Terminal, Class I rail providers CSX and Norfolk Southern will provide direct rail service to major Southeast and Midwestern markets from Memphis to St. Louis, Chicago to Cincinnati.

An added benefit is that the Mason Mega Rail project will move all rail switching on terminal – improving vehicle traffic flow around the port.

In August, the GPA will open its Appalachian Regional Port in Murray County. Located in an industrial belt, including the production and export of carpet and flooring, automobiles and tires, the ARP will provide an alternative to all-truck transit to Northwest Georgia.

Each round-trip container moved via the Appalachian Regional Port will offset 710 truck miles on Georgia highways.

March was also a strong month for roll-on/roll-off auto and machinery units at the Port of Brunswick and Ocean Terminal in Savannah. Colonel's Island Terminal in Brunswick handled 66,144 cars, trucks and tractors, while Ocean Terminal added 4,050, for a total 70,194, a 17.2 percent increase.

"The global economy is thriving and our volumes are following suit," Lynch said. "As existing accounts grow their footprint in the expanding auto facility in Brunswick, Georgia's competitive logistical advantages are drawing additional business across all of our docks."

Lynch noted that for the fiscal year to date, Mayor's Point breakbulk terminal in Brunswick grew by 44 percent (34,515 tons) to reach 112,728 tons of forest products. At East River Terminal, bulk cargo expanded by 34 percent July-March (189,918 tons) for a total of 750,384 tons.

Latest Obituaries