By Carrie McLendon

Karla Johnson, owner and CEO of Johnson Labs, Inc., in Troy, has been appointed to serve on Gov. Kay Ivey’s newly established Region 6 Southeast AlabamaWorks Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Local Workforce Development Board, representing Pike County.

Johnson Labs is a custom chemical manufacturing and packaging company founded by Karla and Louis Johnson in 1988 that produces a variety of products. The products that the company currently produces are for hunting, cleaning and restoration and agriculture.

Johnson expressed her excitement at being selected for the board.

“I’m excited to be able to have a voice for Pike County on the Region 6 board,” she said. “If I’m not mistaken I’m the only manufacturer on the board and the only representative from Pike County.”

As a board member, Johnson will play a role in empowering job seekers, strengthening local businesses and driving economic growth across the region by helping initiatives in education, training and industry needs.

Johnson also shared how she hopes to benefit the local workforce through this position.

“I hope to have influence to make sure that our workforce gets the best training available and the best benefit,” she continued. “Making sure that we allocate money to the right areas that will be most helpful for the workers that go to work everyday.”

Johnson was selected for this role with careful consideration of her background and experience. Johnson, who is not only a business owner, but a retired high school teacher whose work in training and workforce development has prepared her to take on this role as a board member.

“Johnson Labs was the 2023 Small Manufacturer of the Year for the State of Alabama and that was largely due to the training that we’ve done,” said Johnson. “We’ve used work based learning and on the job training and state resources for worker training for the last four years and that’s been noticed.”

On the Region 6 board, Johnson will be serving 10 southeastern counties including Barbour, Butler, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike.