Cantrell, a poultry processing equipment manufacturer, sales and service company, and Espera/Cooper, distributor of Espera weigh/price labeling machines and Niverplast bag inserters and uncuffers/sealers, have announced their companies have formed a strategic alliance.

Espera/Cooper has moved its U.S. office from Niagara Falls, N.Y., to Cantrell headquarters in Gainesville.

Cantrell will sell and service Espera/Cooper products in the eastern half of the U.S. while existing distributors will continue to assist customers in the western U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Espera/Cooper will sell and service Cantrell’s poultry equipment in Canada from Espera/Cooper’s office in Mississauga, Ontario.

"We are a great fit for each other," said Dane Woods, Cantrell general manager for sales, service and engineering.

"It allows both companies to expand their product lines while ensuring the same commitment to quality equipment and customer service."

Espera/Cooper will use existing buildings at Cantrell for its offices, showroom and training area. Longtime Espera/Cooper employee Juan Roque will oversee the office in Gainesville.

Staff members of the Gainesville accounting firm of Bates, Carter & Co. have donated their time to United Way of Hall County as financial review volunteers.

Kingsley Peeples, Melissa Youngblood, Lindsey Gough, Lori Sayer, Melissa Gramling, Michele Bruce, Rachel Taylor and Becky Galyean are accounting professionals who review the financial information provided by United Way’s 16 partner agencies and participate in the four panels evaluating the agencies.

Among the criteria for the review are trends, areas of improvement and achievement, and other factors that the numbers in the financial statements and tax forms can communicate.

The volunteer role began as a partnership between the Northeast Georgia Young CPAs, a section of the Georgia Society of CPAs and United Way of Hall County.

Employees at Lafarge North America’s Friendship Quarry received international recognition for their contributions to wildlife habitat conservation at the Wildlife Habitat Council’s 20th Annual Symposium.

"This year, our 20th Anniversary, WHC celebrates two decades of solid leadership and on-the-ground achievements by our members in wildlife habitat preservation and conservation education," said Robert Johnson, WHC president.

"WHC members are continuing to lead the way to further define and demonstrate how corporations can use their lands to preserve our biodiversity, while preparing new generations through conservation education to understand how to be better leaders and managers for tomorrow’s sustainable businesses and communities."

The Friendship Quarry is a 386-acre site located in Hall County. Forty acres of the property are actively managed for wildlife and include grassland, forest and wetland habitats. Currently, the wildlife team’s main focus is the restoration of a native oak-hickory-pine forest on its berms.

In the past three years, the wildlife team has planted approximately 30,000 native tree seedlings, which has included a variety of native hardwood and evergreen species from the Georgia Forestry Commission.

A major goal of tree planting efforts was to establish a healthier forest ecosystem by planting a diverse range of native tree species to provide food sources for wildlife.