By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY
christopher.tuffley@newssun.com
AVON PARK -- Garrett Anderson is running for the city council. He describes himself as "conservative, Republican and Christian."
Born and raised in the City of Charm, Anderson is 23 years old and owns his own business, Anderson Arms.
Home schooled, he played football at Avon Park High School and was a member of the district winning tennis team.
In 2006, immediately after finishing high school, Anderson went to work for his father in construction, where he was a roofer for three years.
On the side, almost for fun, he began an ammunition remanufacturing business.
As his ammunition business took off and construction ground to a halt, Anderson began working full time and building his company.
"I'm a lifetime shooter. My 4-H club won regional and state," he said. "It felt like my calling."
He has been at it for five years, and said Anderson Arms is now the fifth largest ammunition remanufacturing company in the country. In terms of new ammunition manufacturing, it's 15th.
In an interview Friday, Anderson said he had not been thinking about seeking public office, but friends and business associates asked him to run. "They kept saying that things had to change," he said. "It kind of made me think about serving. I live here and my family lives here. It's only right."
Anderson added the majority of people to approach him all own businesses inside the city, but most of them do not live within city limits.
"They say to me, 'we don't have a voice, we don't live here, but you do. Be our face, don't let it get worse, improve things,'" he said.
Anderson feels the city needs to break from the good old boys network. He believes the time has come to create a true open-door policy. "We need to let folks know what's going on," he said. "Right now there is a lack of communication."
As to what can help Avon Park to prosper, Anderson points to his own business as an example of the future.
"We mostly sell outside the state," he said. "That brings outside money into the city. The more that comes in, the more we have to work with."
He believes the city is losing vital services. He worries that unless Avon Park can provide benefits for its citizens, it will be impossible to convince new families or businesses to move in. "We need to take a look at what a city does," he said.
At the same time, Anderson wants the city to be self-sufficient and not rely on the county or state. While he believes in rewarding people who show promise by helping them with a bump up, he worries that welfare programs rob individuals of ambition.
The Avon Park has an exciting future, Anderson said, because Highlands County is in the middle of the state, ideal for distributing businesses. He also hopes to attract more manufacturing, again using his company's policy of reaching out of county as an illustration.
Anderson Arms, he said, is seeking military contracts. Should enough contracts materialize, Anderson would be able to create many more jobs, all of them skilled labor with wages above minimum wage.
He wants to help other small businesses grow and flourish as his has, he said, because in the end its thriving business that keeps a community healthy.
Sunday, October 07, 2012 - www.newssun.com/100712-ct-AP-Anderson