By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

PELHAM—McAlister’s Deli in Pelham looked like the Montgomery capitol as Governor Robert Bentley, Lt. Governor Kay Ivey, State House Rep. April Weaver and other state officials stopped by to speak with residents on May 5.

As part of his Road to Economic Recovery Tour through the state, Bentley made several stops in Shelby County “to visit communities and discuss local economic conditions and state-wide efforts to attract more jobs to Alabama,” according to a May 4 news release.

“We pick a county… and we just go visit that county,” Bentley said of his statewide tour.

During his time at McAlister’s Deli, Bentley ate lunch and spoke with residents of all ages.

“I’m meeting with individual voters and business owners,” Bentley said. “I like to come to a diner like this and meet as many people as I can.”

“It’s always fun to mix and mingle with residents,” Ivey added.

Earlier in the day, Bentley stopped by the Alabama Career Center System in Alabaster. Although Shelby County has the lowest unemployment rates in Alabama, Ivey noted the important work the Career Center does in “training for jobs,” offering “free access” to computers and services and matching people with jobs.

“We are all about economic recovery and growing our great state,” Ivey said in support of the Career Center and its work.

“It’s just a good way to help people get jobs,” Bentley said. “And we have a really good Career Center here in Alabaster.”

Bentley’s next stop on the tour after McAlister’s Deli was the Shelby Baptist Medical in Alabaster to see the Virtual Alabama presentation of the “prototype” of a virtual hospital system, Bentley said.

Similar to the Virtual Alabama program for schools, it is aimed at increasing safety and assisting law enforcement in an emergency situation.

“(This program) is another wave in technology to make us even more prepared,” Ivey said.