MACON, Georgia — If you've lived in Central Georgia for quite some time, you probably have heard of Cherokee Brick.
The family business of more than a century produces a lot of the bricks you see on homes and business buildings.
But a question we had is how is it all done?
"We make brick, we mold the bricks, burn brick, and pack into the brick all here on site and then get it shipped out on trucks," president of Cherokee Brick Kate Peavy said.
She is a 5th generation president of the company.
She told 13WMAZ the company produces about 180 million bricks a year, but, as one would imagine, it is no overnight process.
"Well, start to finish, it's a couple weeks," Peavy said.
She said it all starts when crews begin digging clay out of the ground, and it's all done right at their plant.
"We pile clay [and] as we pile, we are also taking from another and bringing up here to the ground, and it goes through what is called the mixing and screening and grinding process," Peavy said.
In other words, it is cut, molded, pressed, dried, heated and cooled in one of the many buildings on the property.
Once every step is done, they are stacked, strapped and shipped off.
Even more interesting is that they ship to more than just local businesses.
"We're primarily in the southeast [but] we'll ship anywhere. We have other facilities in Jackson, Mississippi and some in Hawkinsville," Peavy said.
Currently, Peavy said they have at least 450 employees at their location in Macon.
They are currently looking for more.
"There's a lot of vacancies, there's always an opportunity on our maintenance department, there's a lot of opportunity in our fabrication stuff, there's opportunity for supervisors [and] people who can come in and lead people," Peavy said.
She added applicants don't need a degree or even a high school diploma. Right now, she is looking for people with a great work ethic.
"We are going to make room for a quality person [and] we are going to make room for a person who is going to come to work," Peavy said.
You can apply for any of the various jobs Peavy listed on the Cherokee Brick website.
If you or someone you know is looking for a job, you can get help with a resume, cover letter writing and more in 13WMAZ's Jobs 101 guide.