Craig Ford profile: Work ethic, desire to serve was instilled early

Talk to Craig Ford about what's important to him, and you'll hear a few recurring themes: the work ethic he witnessed in family members, education, and his love for the city he's always considered home.

Ford is a candidate for mayor of Gadsden. He will face Heather Brothers New in a runoff vote Tuesday.

A Gadsden native, Ford said his upbringing directed him toward public service and helping others. From his grandfather, Norris Ford, who quit elementary school to work on the farm (and was one of the first employees at Goodyear), to his mother, who took care of the family and supported his father's work in the Legislature, he learned about the importance of hard work from many teachers.

Ford has memories from his grandfather's home on Hoke Street, and of the influence of his uncle, Danny Ford, who played football at Alabama and coached Clemson to a national championship. "I was the athlete of the grandkids at the time," he recalled, "and I spent as much time as I could with Danny. I loved following him around. I loved seeing his work ethic. I was his biggest fan.

His father, Joe M. Ford, was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1974 and served until his death in 2000.

"My dad wasn't at home a lot, because he was always out working, trying to help the community and helping others," Ford said, noting it was a demanding job.

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"Back then, you had to dial up somebody. You had to go see them,” he said. “The biggest argument we always had was after church on Sunday; he'd go out to fill up (the car) with gas, and he'd be in there two hours."

The circumstances led to another lesson on the importance of a work ethic.

"My mother was a saint," Ford said. "She taught school for many years — 30 years — at Gadsden State Community College, in social sciences. She was always there to help us, and gave us what we needed. She was a wonderful person — sweet, giving and caring."

Ford started working early, too — cutting grass when he was 12, stringing tennis rackets at 14. "I did anything I could to work," he recalled, especially around sports.

His educational path took some turns.

"I never left Gadsden except to go off to school. I got to go to Samford and play football," Ford said, "and I had the opportunity of not making my grades and coming home.

"My dad picked me up in a U-Haul and brought me home, and he put me to work," he said. "At that time, I was just a young kid, thinking I knew everything in life, and I didn't.

"But (my Dad) never gave up on me, and that was the important fact," he said.

Gadsden State and the U.S. Army saved his career. "Gadsden State taught me how to study, taught me how to attend class,” Ford said. “The teacher ratio to students was phenomenal. They cared.

"My father (an administrator at the college) would walk around the halls and check on me and make sure I was in class," he said.

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After GSCC, he went to Auburn University. “My father was a retired full-bird colonel in the military. He talked me into going to see the recruiter. It was something I wanted to do; I wanted to be a tank commander — a tanker — just like him," Ford said.

It led to ROTC, and being an officer in the First U.S. Army. Ford went to Fort Knox, Kentucky, as an armor officer, then came back to Gadsden, serving in the Alabama National Guard's 152nd Armor Battalion, based at the Gadsden airport.

After the Army, Ford returned to Gadsden and went to work at MetLife, then at State Farm, before moving to Birmingham for two years.

"The best thing about Birmingham was, I met my wife, Gwen," he said. She lived in Tuscaloosa, working in radio sales after earning a degree from the University of Alabama in communications and broadcast — television.

When Ford was ready to come back to Gadsden, his wife, who also had a degree in education, got a job at West End High School. He applied to agency school with State Farm, selecting Etowah County as his only region.

By then, Joe Ford was sick. For about 18 months, Ford filled in for agents in Alabama and Mississippi until a Gadsden agency became available.

"That was tough," he said. "I'd have to drive two or three hours one way in the morning, then drive back that evening and go back to the house where my dad was and help him, walk him and give (his stepmother) Brenda a relief. And then go to bed."

At the time, he and Gwen had a young son, Jonathan. They would welcome daughter Wells later.

But it got him back to Gadsden.

As his father’s health was failing, Ford talked to him about another ambition — the Legislature.

"He didn't highly encourage it at the time, because he saw what a toll it took on your family," Ford said. "But he was proud of the fact that I wanted to run. His last words (to me) were, ‘Take care of the youth, take care of the seniors, and take care of Gadsden State,’ and that he loved me."

Ford was elected in 2000 and served till 2018, when he unsuccessfully ran for the state Senate seat won by Andrew Jones.

"Back then campaigning was fun: You got to go to screenings, you got to meet people. Now you have voters' lists," he said. "You knocked on every door, you saw everybody. It was just good, old-fashioned politicking."

Ford said his first term in the Legislature was the best. "I was filling the (last) two years of my Dad's four-year term. You've got to learn a lot, and if you're smart, you don't talk a lot. You learn the rules of the House, which I was good at.

"I had a lot of great mentors who helped me, out of respect for my father," he said.

In the Legislature, Ford said, you "pick what your lane is." His was education. His mother, sister, wife, stepmother, father and mother-in-law were educators. "I took that on as my passion because I saw so much ability there to be able to help the schools and our educators," he said.

He was selected by his peers in 2010 to be minority leader in the House, which put him on the education budget committee and the rules committee, which decided which bills would be debated.

Ford joined Phil Hodges (in Hodges-Ford Insurance) in 2001, teaming with his former Sunday School RA basketball coach from First Baptist Church of Gadsden. In 2002, they bought The Messenger newspaper and remained partners till Hodges retired.

"I don't ever want another partner, because I could never have another partner like him," Ford said.

Ford said both businesses have been a success, but not because of him. "It's because of the employees we have and that we've had. Without good people around you — especially being the mayor of Gadsden — if you don't hire good people to be department heads, you're not going to be successful," he said.

Ford left the Alabama National Guard in 2002, going to inactive ready reserve status, when his children were young, he had two businesses and was in the Legislature. He went back in 2015, returning to another love.

By then, drills and camps that had been a pain before were not. "Now, I look forward to it,” he said.

Ford is stationed at Fort McClellan as range officer over Pelham Range and Elgin Air Force Base, and has “the best unit I’ve ever been a part of.” He considers the Guard as another family, one that focuses on its purpose and mission, without racial or sexual discrimination.

He credits his wife with keeping him in line and taking care of the family. Like his father and mother, she's an educator at Gadsden State — which he sees as a phenomenal resource for the city.

"I know what opportunities it can give people who might not have had a lot of opportunities," Ford said. "It gives two-year degrees to people who can come out and make almost six figures."

Ford said he believes he would have gone into politics even if his father had not forged the path.

"I love helping and serving people. I like taking something people say can't be done and making it happen," Ford said, offering an example: the Etowah County Mega Sports Complex.

He said when he got the idea two decades ago, “Everybody thought I was crazy, that it was a pie in the sky idea. Editorials were written that it'll never happen."

The road hasn’t been smooth, but Ford said, “It’s about to be open, full steam ahead, ribbon cutting, and we're excited. It's going to give kids in Etowah County a place to play competitive soccer and bring tourism dollars to the county."

He praised the sports complex now at Gadsden State. "That's the kind of stuff we've got to get in our area, in our community, to create tourism jobs. Tourism is the cleanest industry there is," he said. "It creates tax dollars, with people coming in our and spending their money in our community."

Ford said he may be one of the odd people who wanted to relocate back to Gadsden, a community he loves, instead of leaving it.

"That's why I'm running, mainly, because my kids and other people's kids go off and get jobs in Huntsville or Atlanta. We don't want to be an Atlanta or a Birmingham, but we want to be the place where you can come back and get those good-paying tech jobs," he said.

One thing Ford says he’s learned is it’s good to be humble, adding, "My faith has kept me going along the way.”

He attends Church of the Highlands, but grew up in Gadsden First Baptist, says he had “wonderful memories” there and said, "I love that church. It was very instrumental in raising me and my kids.

"Other than my faith, it's my wife and my raising,” he said. “My wife has been by my side for 28 years, putting up with all this and has never said, 'I don't want you to run for office, do this, or don't do this.' She's always been, 'Let's do it. let's make it fun. Let's make it happen.

"I wouldn't be here today without her," Ford said.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Profile of Gadsden mayoral contender Craig Ford