No Longer 9-to-5, but Still Sweet on Imperial

Rather than fading away into the sunset, retirees of Imperial Sugar Company’s Port Wentworth refinery are shining their light on local worthy causes and the good old days of Sugar Town.

Sporting bright red vests, members of the “Over the Sugar Hill Club,” as the retiree club is known, can regularly be seen attending celebratory events at the Port Wentworth refinery, cooking barbeque for community fundraisers, and making the simply furnished rooms at Augusta’s burn center look homier.

Giving back is one of the core missions of this 115-member club, which began meeting roughly a year ago.

“We’re choosing some organizations to support. CEO John Sheptor and the company have shown incredible support and agreed to give us $10,000 to use for charitable purposes, as we see fit,” says club president Bob Hickox.

"Over the Hill Sugar Club" president Bob Hickox.

Eventually, the retirees may also be giving back to their former employer, notes Ginger Faulconer, human resource manager at Port Wentworth who also serves as company representative to the club. “John Sheptor was the initial catalyst for the club,” she says. “Beyond the social benefits, he saw that it would be a great way to tap retirees’ knowledge and experience — knowledge that would otherwise be lost.”

Hickox’s experience with the company began in the 1960s, when he first began working for the then-named Savannah Foods and Industries, Inc. Over a span of 38 years, he worked his way up from the credit department to the role of corporate risk manager.

When he first applied for a job at the company, he remembers being told, “If you come work for us, you’ll never work for anyone else. It’s like a family here.” It turned out to be true.

In those days, women arrived to work at the “city office” in downtown Savannah with hats and white gloves; men wore nothing more casual than long-sleeve shirts and ties. “It was a good group of workers, we knew how to produce sugar more efficiently than anyone, and we were well-respected in Savannah,” he recalls.

"Over the Sugar Hill Club" members recruit possible new members at the Imperial Sugar company picnic.

When club members convene now, former executives and hourly employees alike greet each other with handshakes and bear hugs. Then they get to work quickly on the project at hand, such as the sprucing up of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, where retirees recently hung pictures and curtains, and added luggage racks and chairs to the rooms.

“We’ve been able to give back to the burn center that took such great care of people who were injured at the refinery,” says Hickox. “That gives us a lot of pride.”