The Alexander City Outlook

Industries invest close to $350M in area since 2010

More than 2,200 jobs have been created in the Lake Martin area since 2002 with the help of the Lake Martin Area Economic Development Alliance.

According to Sandra Fuller, LMAEDA director, 478 jobs were announced in 2010 with an investment of $299,215,434 being brought to the area and this year another 423 jobs were announced with an investment of $51,115,578.

The investments from each year, Fuller said, are a result of a company’s land, building and equipment costs, so although jobs announced may be similar, the investment can change depending on a certain company’s investment.

Both LMAEDA Executive Director Don McClellan and Fuller said these numbers are exciting because they show how the Lake Martin area is “keeping on” in a time when the economy is tough on many areas throughout the state.

Since 2002, over 15 businesses have located to the area because of the help of  the EDA, Fuller said.

During this time, three industrial parks have also been built in the area: Airport Industrial Park in Alexander City, Lake Martin Industrial Park in Kellyton and the William Thweatt Industrial Park in Dadeville.

While some of the companies have come and gone, some have become an integral part of the economy in the Lake Martin area such as A&E Metal Roofing, Alabama Yarns, AmTech, Brooks & Gregory, Constellation Energy, EGreen Technologies, KwangSung America, Lee Apparel, Integrated Turf Solutions, Precisions Millworks, SJA and SL Alabama.

Of all of the companies, Fuller said the investment brought to the area since 2002 is approximately $471 million, with payroll being approximately $60 million.

Fuller said this is important to know because “while companies can have taxes abated for a certain period of time, the education portion of taxes cannot be abated. So whatever the investment is, a portion of those taxes will go towards education.”

McClellan said the payroll that companies have is also important because “about 36 percent of that is spent on retail and most of that money is spent in the Alexander City area, which makes it that much better.”

According to the “Alabama Economic Development Office (ADO) 2010 New and Expanding Industry Announcements,” Tallapoosa County and the Lake Martin area, actually compare well with other counties and areas that are roughly the same size.

In 2010, Chambers County, with a population of 34,215, had 505 announced jobs with an investment of $92,200,000, which is a few more jobs than the Lake Martin area, but with a much lower investment.

Covington County, with a population of 37,765, had 230 announced jobs and an investment of $5,965,240.

Fuller said the 2011 results have just been sent in to the ADO so only the 2010 results are available at this time.

Along with the many investments companies have made to the area, McClellan said the LMAEDA has received grants in the amount of $9,250,977 for the different industrial parks and an extra water line to one of the parks.

Overall, Fuller and McClellan said they have learned a lot over the years and are proud of LMAEDA’s accomplishments, but will continue to work hard to bring more businesses and jobs to the Lake Martin area.

“When you compare yourself to other communities in the state of Alabama, and knowing that everyone is in the same situation in the economy, and us being a smaller community, I think the community has done a tremendous job in bringing in jobs and companies, and that is just looking at the rest of the state of Alabama,” Fuller said. “ … we’re going to keep on keeping on because we know when the economy gets back on its feet and when we get things in place we’ll see the fruits of our labor. We feel we can land a corporate headquarters … we’ve got the place and the people.”