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Benchmarks
ArcelorMittal plans $1.2B electrical steel plant near Mobile
ARCELORMITTAL announced plans in early February for a $1.2 billion expansion at the AM/NS Calvert plant at the northern edge of Mobile County.
Last April, the company announced that it had been awarded $280 million in federal tax credits for such a project, which will be owned by ArcelorMittal alone, rather than the joint partnership with Nippon Steel that operates the other Calvert facilities.
The new plant will be able to produce 150,000 metric tons of non-grain-oriented electrical steel annually. NOES steel is used in automotive, renewable energy production and other industrial uses such as electric motors and generators. It is considered a critical element in electric vehicle and battery production.
Construction is to begin in the second half of this year with production starting in 2027, creating about 1,300 jobs during construction and more than 200 jobs at the plant.
“We recognize the importance of creating a resilient, sustainable domestic supply chain for this critical material,” said John Brett, CEO, ArcelorMittal North America, as he thanked state and local officials for their support.
“Iron and steel manufacturing put Alabama on the map as a key industrial leader more than a century ago. Today, ArcelorMittal’s $1.2 billion investment strengthens Alabama’s position as a leader in the steel industry,” said Gov. Kay Ivey, at the time of the announcement.
DEMOLITION DEMON
The Mobile Civic Center, which is being demolished, collapsed under the weight of snow that hit South Alabama in January. No injuries were reported in the collapse, and none of the mosaic tiles inside the center were damaged. Demolition of the civic center began in September.
FLYING HUNTSVILLE
To accommodate growing traffic, Huntsville International Airport is adding a second parking deck with space for 1,300 or more cars. Design is to begin this summer with construction kicking off later this year. In addition, Signature Aviation, which calls itself the world’s largest network of private aviation terminals, has opened a renovated facility
The new Calvert plant will produce steel suited for electric vehicles and batteries.
Peter Leblanc, ArcelorMittal North America’s chief marketing officer, said, “We’re committed to meeting the growing demand for high-quality electrical steels while helping customers overcome their supply chain challenges. The new plant will greatly enhance our capacity to support manufacturers by providing a steady domestic supply of high-quality NOES, enabling them to produce superior products and avoid material shortages, extended lead times and cost volatility associated with overseas supply chains.”
The AM/NS joint venture in Mobile includes a river terminal, hot strip mill, cold rolling mill, hot dip galvanizing lines, rail yard and more.
The new facility, which will be owned solely by ArcelorMittal, will include an annealing pickling line, cold-rolling mill, annealing coating line, packaging and slitter line and related equipment.
Bradley Byrne, president and CEO of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, also praised the announcement, saying, “ArcelorMittal’s decision to invest more than a billion dollars is driving job creation and innovation. This transformative project strengthens our local economy and reinforces Mobile County’s role in the future of sustainable steel production and electric vehicle manufacturing.”
at Huntsville International Airport. The renovation adds more than 2,500 square feet and a dedicated lounge for military personnel.
BOUND TO ATTRACT
Birmingham Bound, an initiative which has attracted more than 20 tech firms to central Alabama since its 2018 founding, has been acquired by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, which plans to take the program statewide.
WORK WORDS
Alabama’s Department of Labor is now officially the Department of Workforce With the name change comes new leadership, with former State Sen. Greg Reed becoming the state’s first secretary of
workforce. Marty Redden, former labor secretary, is retiring.
GOING FOR GROWTH
The Alabama Growth Alliance, a public-private group created last year by Gov. Kay Ivey, is endorsing the creation of the Alabama Development Fund That fund would help power economic development in Alabama without raising taxes.
HIGH FLYER NUMBERS
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport saw 3.2 million passengers in 2024, the most since 2008 and 6% more than 2023. It was the first time the airport surpassed 3 million passengers since COVID-19 hit. In addition, beginning in June, the airport will have a new destination — Newark Liberty
International Airport via Spirit Airlines
STILL FOR SALE
Alabama’s home sales declined 18% in 2024, according to the Alabama Association of Realtors’ annual report. In addition, the state’s median price for homes increased slightly, and the number of active listings also increased.
HOSPITAL BANKRUPTCY
Montgomery’s Jackson Hospital and Clinic, which in September defaulted on $60 million in debt, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early February. The filing came after the city of Montgomery declined a request from hospital employees for a $20.5 million guarantee on a loan.
A rendering of Diageo’s beverage manufacturing and warehousing structures now in progress in Montgomery.
Diageo represents an impressive addition to Alabama’s business community,” said Ellen McNair, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “The company’s decision to establish this production facility in Montgomery signals its confidence in Alabama as a prime location to help accelerate its growth plans.”
Marsha McIntosh, president of North America Supply at Diageo, said, “The new facility will not only bring our business closer to our customers and distributors in the South, but also enable our broader supply network to operate more efficiently and sustainably.”
Though the announcement didn’t specify a location, it said the plant will be “located within a thriving beverage production and distribution hub in Montgomery.”
DIAGEO has announced plans to build a $412 million beverage distribution plant in Montgomery.
The London-based company, whose brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal and Smirnoff, will build a 360,000-squarefoot facility on a CSX Select Site, according to an announcement in late January.
Diageo plans $412M beverage plant in Montgomery BUSINESS BRIEFS
“As an industry giant with operations that span the globe,
HAIL & FAREWELL
Stuart Bell, president of the University of Alabama, has announced plans to retire in July after 10 years at the helm of the state’s flagship university. Charlotte Kopf has announced plans to retire after 50 years with the Alabama Associated General Contractors, most recently as Mobile section manager.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Birmingham-based investment adviser firm Waverly Advisors has acquired Dickinson Investment Advisors, based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It’s Waverly’s 21st acquisition since December 2021. Montgomerybased architecture/engineering firm Goodwyn Mills Cawood has acquired South Coast Engineers, based in Fairhope.
Birmingham-based Motion Industries has signed an agreement to purchase Maguire Bearing Co., based in Hawaii. Dothan-based Construction Partners, which specializes in the construction and maintenance of roadways, has acquired Mobile-based Mobile Asphalt Co. The acquisition brings with it five hot-mix asphalt plants serving the greater Mobile and southwest Alabama areas.
CHASE GROWS
JPMorganChase plans to triple its number of Alabama branches by 2030. Chase Consumer Banking said it’s planning to hire 170 more bankers during the expansion. Chase plans to increase its number of branches from 11 to 35.
“Diageo’s investment in its new production facility is a significant step forward for Montgomery, Montgomery County and the state, reinforcing our position as a leader in industrial and logistics growth,” said Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed. “This new facility will create valuable jobs and further enhance economic opportunities throughout our region. We are proud to work alongside Diageo, the Montgomery Chamber, Montgomery County and our other partners to ensure the success of this facility and the lasting positive impact it will have on our citizens. This collaboration underscores our shared commitment to building a stronger future for our community.”
BIGGER & BETTER
Birmingham-based NaphCare Inc. has signed a multi-year contract with Clark County in Nevada to provide health care services in the county’s jails. NaphCare has a regional corporate office in Las Vegas.
FED FUNDS FOR FOODS
Conecuh Sausage Co., based in Evergreen, has received an additional $400,000 for its second manufacturing plant, which is under construction. The additional funds come from a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money will be used to provide sewer and public water services to the facility in Andalusia Industrial Park.
NEW AT THE TOP
Jared Briskin, the former COO of Birmingham-based sports retailer Hibbett, has been named CEO of the company. He replaces Mike Longo, who has been CEO since December 2019. Steve Gordon has been named CEO of Flowers Hospital in Dothan, effective this spring. Current CEO Jeff Brannon will move into a health care education and business development role. Sid J. Trant has been named chancellor of the University of Alabama System Misti Potter has been named executive director of Singing River Trail in Huntsville. Walvid D. King Sr. is the new Alabama market president for Atlanta-based Citizens Trust Bank
Baldwin’s Thomas Hospital gets new patient tower
THOMAS HOSPITAL, in Fairhope, is expanding, adding a fourstory patient tower to help meet Baldwin County’s continued growth.
“Baldwin County’s growth in recent years makes this new tower a critical investment in the future of our health care system,” said Ormand Thompson, president of Thomas Hospital, an Infirmary Health facility. “With Baldwin County ranked as the 7th fastest-growing metro area in the country, this expansion ensures we are well-prepared to continue providing exceptional care to our growing population.
Thomas Hospital currently has 189 beds. The tower will add 25 beds, parking and space for future growth.
“The Thomas Hospital 25-bed expansion is not just a construction project for us; it’s an opportunity to support a vital community resource that has been at the heart of health care in
BUSINESS BRIEFS
ARTEMIS NOD
Huntsville’s Special Aerospace Services is one of nine American companies selected by NASA to support its Artemis campaign for deep-space exploration. The nine contracts have a combined value of $24 million.
POWER UP
In mid-January, the Tennessee Valley Authority met the highest peak power demand in the agency’s 91-year history. That record-breaking power demand comes after TVA invested $430 million in 2024 to enhance its reliability. TVA delivers power across seven southeastern states, including Alabama.
LAYOFF WOES
Amentum, in Anniston, plans to lay off 62 employees beginning in April. The company filed notice of the layoffs on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s WARN list.
FIBER INCURSION
Lumos has expanded into Alabama, beginning a project that will lay more than 1,300 miles of fiber. This will add highspeed internet to underserved communities throughout the Birmingham area.
BUSINESS REBRAND
Daphne-based BBB Industries, a manufacturer for the auto and industrial markets, in February rebranded and changed its name to TerrePower. The rebrand will roll out globally in the coming months.
the region for years. It’s also a unique opportunity to add on to a hospital that we built originally,” said Owen Moore, director of business development at Hoar Construction, which is building the tower.
Infirmary Health has three acute care hospitals, one long-term care hospital, two post-acute rehabilitation facilities, more than 60 physician practice locations, two freestanding emergency departments and other affiliates.
Russell Medical gets major gift
The Russell Medical Foundation has received a $3.2 million donation from Russell Lands Inc. and the Adelia Russell Charitable Foundation/Ben and Luanne Russell. The contributions will help bolster health care efforts at Russell Medical, which is an 81-bed facility in Alexander City.
Russell Medical President and CEO Jim Peace said of Russell Lands, the Adelia Russell Charitable Foundation and Ben and Luanne Russell, the donors’ generosity “enables us to advance our mission and continue delivering high-quality care that our community deserves.”
The Russell family’s philanthropy and community involvement has extended over several decades and has been focused on health care, education and community development.
LEGAL FRAY
Texas-based USAA has filed a lawsuit against Birminghambased Regions Bank, alleging Regions violated USAA’s patent rights regarding mobile checkdeposit technology. The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount of monetary damages.
LEGO LANDS IN HUNTSVILLE
Lego will open its only Alabama location in Huntsville in the former home of White House Black Market at the Bridge Street Town Centre. A store inside the Riverchase Galleria in Birmingham closed in 2020.
TOWERING SALE
An AT&T microwave tower that has been a fixture of Birmingham’s skyline since 1968 has sold for $28 million. The tower is one of 74 underutilized
properties across the country that AT&T sold to private real estate development firm Reign Capital.
MEAT PLANT OPENS
Perdido River Meats, the state’s largest meat processing plant and retail market, has opened in Atmore. The $29 million complex is owned by the Poarch Creek Indians
SUPER SITES
Two sites in Montgomery have been named CSX Select Sites, making the city the only one across CSX’s 25-state network to achieve dual gold certification. The sites receiving that certification are the Montgomery Inland Logistics site and the Montgomery Water & Sewer Board’s Highway 31 site.
Diversified
Diversified Energy acquires Maverick Natural Resources for $1.275 billion
Birmingham-headquartered DIVERSIFIED ENERGY is acquiring Houston, Texas-based Maverick Natural Resources for approximately $1.275 billion.
Diversified describes the acquisition as a continuation of its strategy to develop multiple opportunities through joint venture partnerships, creating a portfolio of vast undeveloped acreage in high-returning basins.
“We have a proven track record of unlocking value from
PORTSIDE PROPERTY MOVE
One Liberty Properties has acquired Mobile Portside, a 373,000-square-foot industrial development in Mobile. JLL Capital Markets represented the seller, Burton Property Group.
FLYING RIGHT
Hellbound, a turbo-jet-powered, 3D-printed kamikaze drone developed by Huntsville’s Cummings Aerospace for the U.S. Army, has successfully completed three test flights in Oregon. The drone, which can fly at more than 350 mph, will move on to more testing.
OAKS SOLD
Auburn Oaks, a 600-acre retreat once owned by former football coach Pat Dye, has sold for $6.5 million. The new owners
acquisitions while maintaining our commitment to sustainability leadership, and this acquisition provides us with great assets and employees that complement this strategy,” said Diversified Energy CEO Rusty Hutson Jr.
Maverick Natural Resources CEO Rick Gideon said, “Maverick has built a strong foundation of execution and efficiency across our portfolio, and we look forward to combining our complementary portfolio of assets with Diversified.”
This acquisition brings to Diversified an active development in Cherokee Play and provides a new Permian asset base with multiple zones in the Northern Delaware Basin.
“Notably, the combined footprint in Oklahoma and the Western Anadarko Basin creates one of the largest in terms of production and acreage, which includes the emerging Cherokee formation,” Hutson said. “We plan to leverage Maverick’s experienced technical asset development team to unlock underdeveloped acreage potential through an even larger combined footprint, and I am confident that Diversified’s management team will bring its expertise in efficiently integrating acquisitions to further expand our Smarter Asset Management practices.”
The combined company is expected to generate substantial free cash flow, have an enterprise value of approximately $3.8 billion and operate across five distinct operating regions, Diversified said.
Diversified Energy Co. PLC is an independent energy company that produces, markets and transports primarily natural gas and natural gas liquids related to its U.S. onshore assets. The firm focuses on acquiring existing long-life, low decline producing wells and efficiently manages these assets to improve or restore production, optimize operations, increase efficiencies and reduce emissions before permanently retiring at the end of their production cycle.
have plans to redevelop the property, which is just outside of Auburn. Another Dye property, the 415-acre Crooked Oaks, was donated to Auburn University in 2023.
HOOVER HOMES
Signature Homes says it plans to begin work early this year on 200 new homes that will be part of Hoover’s Riverwalk Village development. The 24-acre site will include singlefamily and multi-family homes. Birmingham-based developer Broad Metro has purchased 121.3 acres in Hoover, largely for the second phase of Stadium Trace Village. About 82 acres acquired in the $5.5 million deal will be used for the project, which will include a hotel, retail, restaurant, medical and entertainment components.
HOMES FOR HOMEWOOD
West Row, a mixed-use development that will include lofts and two new locations for Birmingham restaurants, should open in West Homewood this spring. The restaurants El Barrio and Paramount are planning to move to the development on the former Econo Lodge site on Oxmoor Road.
YUMMY
Two chefs and one beverage professional from Alabama are semifinalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards. Jose Medina Camacho of Adios in Birmingham is a semifinalist for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service. Named semifinalists for Best Chef: South are David Bancroft of Acre in Auburn and Arwen Rice of Mobile’s Red or White
BOOKS FOR FOLEY
Mobile-based White-Spunner Construction has broken ground for a new Foley public library. Designed by Birmingham-based Williams Blackstock Architects, the facility will be twice the size of the city’s current library.
NEW IN ALABAMA
Sigma Defense Systems, a defense technology company based in Perry, Georgia, has opened a new facility in Huntsville.
CENTER FOR IRONDALE
An $18 million renovation will turn the former Zamora Shrine Temple into the Irondale Civic Center. The project will go through the bidding process for contractors the first quarter of this year.
has built its portfolio acquiring longlife, low-decline wells.
Alabama State Parks
stay | Play | Explore
Natural!
Whether you’re a camper, glamper, or a friend of our beautiful lodges, cottages, and cabins, we have a place for you.
From mountaintop hikes to beachside breaks and every dynamic trail in between, natural beauty and recreational activities await at 21 Alabama State Parks! Fill your time with adventure, rest, or a little bit of both!
Plan your lodge stay, road trip, or camping getaway today!
TRIED AND TRUE TRAILS
There are pathways aplenty to enjoy through the state of Alabama
By CARY ESTES — Photos courtesy of Alabama State Parks
“A
labama the Beautiful” has long been one of the state’s several unofficial slogans. The phrase even was used as part of the state-line highway welcome signs for more than a decade.
But the reality is that only a fraction of Alabama’s beauty can be seen from a road. To truly experience much of the greatness of the state’s outdoors, you need to leave the car or truck behind and venture out on a trail, be it by foot, bike or even horse.
“Trails are a great way to get out and look at our scenery,” Alabama State Parks Director Matthew Capps says. “We have more than 500 miles of trails within the State Parks system, and there’s something for everybody. You can find easy trails for beginners, or harder trails for people who want to challenge themselves. The trail system is one of our most popular activities.”
Add in the numerous trails located outside of Alabama’s 21 state parks — including urban arteries such as the Red Rock Trail System in and around Birmingham — along with a wide variety of themed trails highlighting everything from Civil Rights, to barbeque to murals, and there seemingly always is a place to go and a designated way to get there.
The Alabama Tourism Department is honoring this plethora of pathways by proclaiming 2025 to be the Year of Alabama Trails.
Capps says there are several new trail offerings within Alabama State Parks that either already are open or will be completed later this year. These include two new mountain biking trails at Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville and a walking trail at Rickwood Caverns State Park near Warrior.
In addition, nearly 2,000 acres of forestland have been added to Oak Mountain State Park south of Birmingham in recent years through the state’s Forever Wild program. Capps says AlaParks is working with Shelby County officials to develop some trails within this newly acquired area, giving many people an opportunity to see this landscape up close for the first time.
Those are just a few of the numerous options available in Alabama for getting from point A to point B (and points C, D and E as well), with a whole alphabet soup of things to see and do during the excursion.
Some don’t-miss trails include:
• Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge: While many of Alabama’s hiking trails are located in the mountainous northern region, some of the more interesting sights can be seen along the state’s Gulf Coast within the 7,157-acre Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. There are four trails in the refuge,
Shoal Creek Nature Preserve.
allowing hikers to get close-up views of the area’s dunes, wetlands, freshwater lakes, maritime forests and estuarial back-bay. An observation tower along the Pine Beach Trail provides a more expansive look at this beautiful barrier-island landscape.
• Cheaha State Park: At more than 2,400 feet above sea level, Mount Cheaha is the highest point in Alabama. So naturally the park’s hiking trails offer some of the state’s best outdoor views. The LNT Bigfoot Trail will take you to the official highest point, while the Mountain Laurel Trail showcases the visual splendor of the surrounding Talladega National Forest. For the more adventurous, the steep Pulpit Rock Trail leads to a gorgeous scenic overlook. The area around the overlook is popular with rock climbers and rappelers.
• Chief Ladiga Trail: Using the existing path of a former Seaboard/CSX Railroad line, this was the first rails-to-trails project completed in Alabama. The 33-mile-long trail stretches from the town of Weaver near Anniston to the Georgia state line. There it connects to the Silver Comet Trail and continues to just outside Atlanta, making this 95-mile corridor one of the longest continuous paved rails-to-trails in the country. Another 6.5 miles to Anniston are near completion, which will bring the total length of the Ladiga/Silver Comet combo to more than 100 miles.
• Conecuh Trail: Located near Andalusia and the Florida state line, the 84,000-acre Conecuh National Forest is the south-
ernmost national forest in Alabama. The Conecuh Trail runs for 20 miles through this coastal plain. Because of the lack of steep hills, this is considered to be one of the best options in the state for casual hikers who still want to experience the scenic beauty Alabama offers.
• Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail: This 29-mile-long system along Alabama’s Gulf Coast has been named “Best Recreational Trail in the U.S.” each of the past two years by USA Today. The trail connects Gulf Shores with Orange Beach, cutting through Gulf State Park.
Bald Rock at Cheaha State Park.
DeSoto State Park.
• Pinhoti National Recreation Trail: This is the big daddy of Alabama trails, stretching for 171 miles along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, from Flagg Mountain near Sylacauga in the central part of the state northeast to the Georgia line (where it continues for another 168 miles). Many hikers consider this to be the unofficial start of the Appalachian Trail.
• Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail: For a walk of a different sort, there is the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. When it comes to themed trails, this is the one that drove the way for all that followed. While the courses obviously do not physically connect, they are spaced throughout the state in such a way that a golfer can easily travel from one course to the next, with a total of 468 holes of golf available to play.
• Sipsey River Trail: As the first federally designated wilderness area east of the Mississippi River, the nearly 26,000-acre Sipsey Wilderness lies in the heart of the Bankhead National Forest. This 8.7-mile trail follows its namesake river, crossing it once. The trail passes picturesque Fall Creek Falls, along with several eye-catching rock formations and cave overhangs. It also leads to what is known as “The Big Tree,” a yellow poplar that is approximately 150 feet tall with a 25-foot circumference.
• Walls of Jericho: On most trails, the journey is more important than the destination. That is not necessarily the case at The Walls of Jericho near the Tennessee state line. While there are plenty of things to see along the 7-mile roundtrip hike, the highlight occurs once you reach the actual “walls,” a small canyon gorge that opens up into a picturesque rock amphitheater setting.
Cary Estes is a Birmingham-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
Paul Grist State Park.
IMPROVING THE PARKS
There are plenty of projects taking place throughout the Alabama State Parks system
By CARY ESTES
In 2022, Alabama voters approved by a whopping 77% to 23% margin a bond initiative to provide $80 million in funds for improvements to Alabama’s 21 official state parks. Additional funding sources increased the total designated for park infrastructure to approximately $120 million.
Many of those projects are starting to come into view, with almost all of them expected to be completed by next year, according to Alabama State Parks Director Matthew Capps. They range from the construction of a $25 million hotel at Cheaha State Park to many minor projects involving the creation or improvement of campsites, playgrounds and event spaces.
“We have had a tremendous amount of work going on for the past two years, and we’re about halfway through everything,” Capps says. “There are projects in almost every single state park, and all of them will have a tremendous amount of impact.”
The Cheaha hotel is one of three major projects to emerge from the bond initiative. The others are at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores and Lake Lurleen State Park just north of Tuscaloosa.
Here’s a quick look at what is taking place at each of them.
CHEAHA STATE PARK
It makes sense that Alabama’s oldest state park, established in 1933, would be in line for the biggest improvement. After more than a half-century in service, the Cheaha lodge was demolished earlier this year to make way for a new 32-room hotel.
Perched on top of a bluff less than a mile from the highest el-
The new lodge at Cheaha State Park will perch near the state’s highest peak with mountain views from every room. Rendering by Chambless King Architects, courtesy of Alabama State Parks.
evation in the state, the four-story, 26,000-square-foot hotel will be built next to the park’s existing restaurant, part of which will be turned into a hotel lobby entrance. All the rooms will have bluff-side views looking north over the Talladega National Forest (many of the rooms in the old lodge faced a parking lot), with even more scenery available from a new rooftop lounge.
Capps says a portion of the northern section of the park will be closed during construction until a temporary road can be built. He says officials will post regular updates on the Alabama State Parks’ Facebook page.
“(The construction) will impact us some this year, though hopefully not too much,” Capps says. “But once the hotel is completed early in 2026, that’s going to be a great place for people to stay, play and explore the park.”
GULF STATE PARK
Much of the recent attention about this park has been on the reopening last August of the 1,540-foot-long, 20-foot-wide fishing pier, which required extensive repairs and renovations after Hurricane Sally damaged it in 2020. But Capps says there still is a considerable amount of other work taking place at the park.
The most noticeable change is that the park’s former golf course is being transformed into an area that can accommodate 100 campsites. Capps says the new Intracoastal Waterway Bridge that is scheduled to open next year will connect near the State Park entrance, with an additional small road providing easy access
to the campground.
“We’re trying to develop new standards for a luxury-style campground,” Capps says. “The campsites will be larger, with 100 feet of distance between each one. We’ll have a communal space where guests can have potluck meals and other social-type events. It will also tie into our pool, splash pad, pickleball and putt-putt areas.
“We’re hoping that will help us grow the park and expand our offerings. That park usually sees an average occupancy rate in the high 80% year-round, and during the summer it’s over 90%. We need to have more campsites, and this is a way to provide that. Because our biggest issue is it can be hard for people to get a spot. This should make it easier.”
LAKE LURLEEN STATE PARK
Named in honor of Lurleen Wallace, who served as Alabama governor in 1967-68, Capps jokes that the park hasn’t received any sort of significant renovations “since Lurleen was in office.”
While that is not entirely true, since the park didn’t even open until 1972, it does lack many modern amenities. Capps says that will change following the current $15 million renovation project, which also is scheduled to be completed by early next year.
“We had a community meeting about it, and people really didn’t want anything to be changed there, just improved. So that’s what we’re doing,” Capps says. “We’re making the campsites bigger with full utilities and Wi-Fi. We’re creating a new play-
Last year, Alabama State Parks reopened the 1,540-square-foot fishing pier at Gulf State Park. Photo by Billy Pope/Outdoor Alabama.
“We’re really excited about all these projects. There’s so much going on at our parks right now. If you’re a former guest, come back in and see what the improvements are. If you’re a new guest, give us a shot. I think you’ll be very surprised.”
— Alabama State Parks Director Matthew Capps
ground and restroom facilities, and a new entrance gate. We’re really excited about this project. That park hasn’t seen any love from an infrastructure standpoint in a long time.”
Because the park has only a single entrance, it will be closed for the entirety of the construction. However, Capps says a temporary parking lot off Lake Lurleen Road will allow hikers to access the area’s trails.
While those are the three biggest changes taking place at the Alabama State Parks this year, Capps says there are “a ton of smaller projects” that have recently been completed or are in progress. These include a renovated campground at Oak Mountain State Park south of Birmingham that opened last year, with new water and sewer lines, upgraded electrical connections and Wi-Fi access, an expanded playground and a dog park.
“That’s been a wonderful addition,” Capps says. “It’s being widely used. Since we opened it back up, occupancy has been through the roof. We’ve been very pleased with that renovation.”
Other projects in the state include the construction of five three-bedroom, three-bath lakefront cottages at Wind Creek State Park along Lake Martin near Alexander City, and a new playground and social-event space at Chewacla State Park in Auburn.
Work also is being done at several parks to renovate drinking water and wastewater facilities. “These are projects that are underground, so no one really sees them,” Capps says. “But as soon as they go bad, it becomes an issue for everybody.
“We’re really excited about all these projects. There’s so much going on at our parks right now. If you’re a former guest, come back in and see what the improvements are. If you’re a new guest, give us a shot. I think you’ll be very surprised. We offer a way for people to get away from the hustle-and-bustle and just connect with nature and recenter yourself.”
Cary Estes is a Birmingham-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
A Division of the Montgomery Chamber
COME HAVE FUN HERE — AND THERE , TOO
Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association led the move to market a region instead of a single attraction
By DEBORAH STOREY —
by DAVID HIGGINBOTHAM
Tourism promoters in north Alabama are blessed by having a lot to work with.
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is one of the state’s most popular attractions every year. Shimmering waterfalls and mountain vistas entice hikers. Music fans can see where the Rolling Stones recorded. Local festivals celebrate cranes, strawberries, gourds, covered bridges, fiddlers, caves and more.
For 60 years, the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, or AMLA, has united tourism professionals in the top tier of the state in their marketing efforts.
The organization began in 1964 to develop the travel industry and promote a 16-county region stretching from Georgia to Mississippi and south to Gadsden. Members include convention bureaus, attractions, businesses and government representatives.
The area offers seven state parks, 11 trails exploring themes like
Photo
Tami Reist at Decatur’s Sonny Side Mural, part of the North Alabama Mural Trail boosted by Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association.
barbecue and waterfalls, the home of deaf-blind activist Helen Keller and shopping bargains that came from somebody’s lost luggage.
Promoting travel and attractions is fun, but it’s also big business.
In 2023, travelers spent more than $4.7 billion while visiting the 16 counties of north Alabama, a 10.1% increase over 2022, according to an Alabama Tourism Department report.
Every tourism-related dollar spent drops 33 cents into the state piggybank.
“In 10 years, tourists’ expenditures in North Alabama have doubled, from $2.1 billion in 2013 to $4.7 billion in 2023,” says Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association President and CEO Tami Reist. “We continue to see our tourism industry grow as new hotels, RV parks and tiny home developments are popping up all across the region.”
More than 46,000 people work directly or indirectly in travelrelated jobs in the AMLA region.
Regional travel promotion is common today, but it was something new when AMLA began.
In 1960, Decatur Chamber of Commerce Director Dick Ordway suggested that groups in Huntsville, the Shoals, Cullman, Scottsboro and nearby combine efforts and pool their money.
“It kind of grew from there,” says Karen Beasley, AMLA vice president of marketing and communications, and chambers of commerce began to join. “I think initially it was seven and later they had 16.”
Four years later, representatives met to formally establish AMLA as a non-profit organization focused on stimulating the economic and cultural development of north Alabama through tourism and travel.
In its early years, AMLA created brochures and slideshows, exhibited at consumer travel shows and distributed press releases to local newspapers and television stations.
An idea that would cement the association’s legacy came in 1978 when AMLA Director Gil Langley proposed a clever funding model now used by regional tourism agencies across the country. Half of a 1% lodging tax on hotels and motels goes to county commissions in the tourist area and the rest to support the association itself.
“That’s when things really took off because we had all that additional funding coming in,” says Beasley. “We’re able to do so much more with that funding set in place for us.”
“The Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association helped forge this sensible approach decades ago to the benefit of the state’s travel economy,” says Greg Staley, head of media relations with the U.S. Travel Association in Washington. “Numerous other destinations nationwide have since followed suit with a regional approach to travel marketing.
“A visitor wouldn’t necessarily see a municipal border, so banding together to present the best of a region is a smart strategy to reach travelers and extend stay,” Staley adds.
When visitors stay for days and visit multiple locations, it benefits the entire region. A Saturday afternoon at Scottsboro’s
Unclaimed Baggage might turn into a three-day weekend with a side trip to recording studios in the northwest corner of the state.
“You can have the nightlife entertainment in Huntsville, and if you just go up to Monte Sano you can have the beautiful views and hiking and all the great outdoors,” says Beasley.
“If you make a quick drive over to the Shoals area, we have all that rich musical heritage from the ’60s and the ’70s with Fame and Muscle Shoals Sound studios. Both of those are open and you can get a guided tour and hear about famous artists and musicians who have come here.”
AMLA promotes tourist-friendly “trails,” or geographic routes linking related attractions.
“Themed trails like our wine, mural, hallelujah (church), waterfall and patriot trails can attract niche audiences and showcase regional diversity,” Reist says. The Alabama Bass Trail stretches from the northern mountains to the Gulf coast.
The Waterfall Trail ranks among the most popular, especially since expanding to 27 locations.
“We thought, there’s more out there,” says Beasley. “Why are we settling for 13? We found these other ones that are just as easily accessible and just as beautiful.”
From a political perspective, a unified voice makes it easier to advocate for funding, infrastructure and policy support at the state or federal level. A united front can help with preserving cultural, natural and historical assets, too.
Besides advertising on the web and in magazines and newspapers, AMLA can mail or offer downloaded versions of brochures on birding, fishing, golf, wedding destinations, motorcycle routes and more. North Alabama Travel magazine highlights regional attractions.
The 15-by-15-foot Kelsey Montague wings in Decatur offer a great photo op.
North Alabama travel “ambassadors” go to attractions and talk about their own perspective.
Staff members manage the office in Decatur, stuff racks with promotional brochures and travel extensively. They spread the word through social media, online and print publications, travel and trade shows and television and syndicated radio shows. The Unexpected Adventures Podcast launched in 2021.
For member groups, AMLA hosts workshops and seminars and offers workforce training and advocacy. Hospitality workers learn soft skills to enhance the visitor experience.
Tourism issues continue to evolve. The latest push is for accessibility for those with disabilities.
“We want to make sure everyone can see the beauty of our region and find the resources to meet their needs,” says Beasley.
A funding issue sprang from an unlikely source – short term vacation rentals. Airbnb locations and the like weren’t always collecting the right taxes.
AMLA mailed letters to the 2,500 rental locations in north Alabama explaining that they still needed to collect the 5% lodging tax. Collections went up 21% in a month. Lobbying efforts resulted in the Alabama Tourism Tax Protection Act of 2024.
“We worked seven years to put short-term rentals on a level playing field with our hotel partners,” says Reist.
Staffers really mean it when they say they want to make the area attractive to visitors. During National Tourism Week in May, AMLA employees collect trash on lakes and trails that they promote.
“We want to preserve the beauty of our north Alabama region,” says Reist.
Deborah Storey and David Higginbotham are freelance contributors to Business Alabama. She is based in Huntsville and he in Decatur.
www.alabamablackbeltadventures.org
The Mountain Lake annual meeting last fall.
“I did this for us. I did this for the community. As it turned out, we started saying other people could use this.”
— Bob Baron,founder of Baron Weather
WEATHER MASTERS
Bob Baron built his weather radar company to mitigate the tragedy of unexpected storms
By DEBORAH STOREY — Photos by DENNIS KEIM
Bob Baron was a TV meterologist on Nov. 15, 1989, when an F-4 tornado flipped vehicles and flattened buildings on one of the busiest roads in Huntsville at rush hour.
The historic storm left 21 people dead, 463 injured, 259 homes destroyed and weather forecasting flaws tragically exposed.
“We were pretty much state-of-the-art as far as equipment was concerned, but that tornado came without any warning,” recalls Baron.
“That day the only thing that was live and current and gave me any kind of data was the lightning detection,” he says. “It did not tell me that we had a tornado, but it at least told me where the storm was.”
Tornado debris fell in his yard that awful afternoon.
“We definitely knew some folks that were killed and we knew some folks that survived,” he remembers.
Talking later to latchkey kids who were home alone when the storm hit, “the gravity of it really struck me.”
The limitations of late-’80s forecasting tools weighed so heavily on him that Baron vowed to start a company that could do better.
Today Baron Weather provides weather software and data to
television stations across Alabama, including WDHN in Dothan, WKRG in Mobile, WSFA in Montgomery, WHNT and WAFF in Huntsville, and WBMA, WBRC and WIAT in Birmingham.
Their technicians travel the globe and have installed radar equipment on five contintents.
James Spann, chief meterologist for Birmingham’s ABC 33/40 and one of the best-known weather forecasters in the state, has known Baron personally for years.
“He totally changed the game when it comes to broadcast meteorology,” Spann says. “The radar and graphics software developed by Baron makes it so easy for us to communicate high weather impact events to the public — espcially tornadoes.
“I use their equipment exclusively, and I’m so thankful for what they do in Huntsville,” says Spann.
Specific products include traffic and weather data combined, mobile apps, advanced alerting, weather modeling, highresolution forecasts, 3-D views inside storms and onscreen graphics. Their Lynx platforms doubles as an analytical and communication tool used to convey critical weather information to the public.
Company technicians installed a weather radar system atop a
“We’re starting to see machine learning and artificial intelligence apply to weather technology to improve the speed at which we can generate new forecasts and warnings.”
— Baron Weather CEO Bob Dreisewerd
196-foot water tower in Durant, Oklahoma. The Panama Canal Authority selected them to install a radar system and data display technology to improve the safety of shipping operations in the canal. Cape Canaveral uses their products to assess launch viability.
“We provide software that helps non-meterologists interpret the weather and determine the significant aspects of the weather,” explains Baron Weather CEO Bob Dreisewerd.
When the company began, the urgent need was for live data, so that was the starting point as Baron collaborated with Chief Technology Officer Tom Thompson. By 1992, the company had developed storm tracking capability that integrated lightning, radar and tracking in real time.
“We had built a mapping system that allowed us to zoom in, and this was kind of a first,” Baron recalls. It would indicate storm direction and speed and, most importantly, identify communites at risk.
He says it needed to be highly specific “so that those in harm’s way would know they were in harm’s way and take cover.”
The critical warning time frame needed to be about 10 minutes out “or we started having damages, injuries and even deaths.”
Three-dimensional “fly-throughs” of storms were the rage among forecasters those days, but they took too long to load. The need was for vectorized mapping and lighning data you could
zoom into.
“Unfortunately we didn’t think to patent it,” Baron recalls. “We were about two years into this thing until we got our first patent.”
About a third of the company’s business now is providing display software and weather and traffic data for TV stations primarily across the U.S. and in Canada. Another third is providing weather data, software, alerting and weather decision solutions for businesses and consumers.
Customers could include a large telecom company, a public safety agency, a utility company or an airline.
“All these businesses that have a need for weather information typically get some type of weather information from a private company like ourselves,” Dreisewerd says. The data is tailored to their needs.
Baron’s biggest partnership is with Sirius XM.
“We actually deliver weather data over the Sirius XM satellite that gets into aircraft when they’re flying and into boats outside of the U.S. when you don’t have cell coverage,” he says.
“We first started this 20 years ago. We were putting weather data through Sirius XM right into the aircraft so they could get a radar image or weather data right in the cockpit.
“A big part of our buiness still is giving weather data directly to pilots, mainly general aviation,” adds Dreisewerd, “in real time while they’re flying.”
The final piece of Baron’s business is building weather radars “that we then sell to commercial customers or government customers around the globe,” Dreisewerd says.
“A government may buy one or they may buy five or six. In Morocco we’re installing eight. In Zimbabwe three years ago they bought five.
“Our biggest contract to date was with the U.S. National Weather Service. Between 2008 and 2013 we upgraded the entire U.S. Weather Service to what’s called dual polarization radars.”
TV stations have access to government radar, but like to “buy their own because they can control it” by adjusting speed and direction, Dreisewerd says.
“They can put it near to the center of population, which gives better coverage, and they can run it faster than the weather service runs their radar so they get more frequent updates.”
If the radar dome is too far away or high, the data it’s providing is not as useful.
“There can be a distinct difference between seeing rotation in a storm at 5,000 or 6,000 feet (elevation) and seeing rotation in a storm at 1,000 feet,” says Dreisewerd.
Decades ago, tornado warning time may have been as little as five minutes — today it’s as much as 15.
“It’s gotten so much better as far as the precision that we can get and the lead time that we’re able to provide” for significant weather events, he says.
“Baron was the first to develop these stormtracks with time of arrivals,” where little boxes show exactly when a storm should hit
a community. “You see those all the time now.”
Critical weather, as they classify it, can include hail, high winds, snow, ice storms and flash flooding.
“Fire weather is a growing area — being able to predict the spread of forest fires based on weather data,” Dreisewerd says.
Roughly 100 people work at Baron, most at its Huntsville location. The operations center is staffed 24 hours a day. About a third of the staff has a weather background such as an academic degree or military experience. A small branch office in North Carolina does weather modeling. Dreisewerd, a meteorologist, has been with Baron for 18 years after moving to Huntsville from St. Louis.
Baron retired from the company three years ago but is still chairman of the board.
For him, better forecasting is personal.
“I did this for us,” Baron says. “I did this for the community. As it turned out, we started saying other people could use this.”
Their timing was good. The company was ramping up “just as the National Weather Service was starting to implement their Nexrad program — the implementation of Doppler radars across the country,” he says.
“They had an old network of convetional radars they wanted taken down and hauled away,” he says.
Baron bid on them, refurbished them and sold the radars and
storm tracking product to client stations.
Some climatologists theorize that the so-called Tornado Alley has shifted east, putting southern states at higher risk.
Maybe, maybe not.
“We have seen a shift in the last 30 years for there to be an increase in activity in Southeast U.S. and a slight decrease in the Plains, but they’re still both focal points,” Dreisewerd says.
He won’t be drawn into the climate change debate, saying simply that the climate “has been changing for the history of the Earth.”
It helps that “we have far better reporting today than we had 20 years ago.”
Emerging technologies should make forecasting even more precise in the future.
“We’re starting to see machine learning and artificial intelligence apply to weather technology to improve the speed at which we can generate new forecasts and warnings,” Dreisewerd says.
As it evolves, Baron Weather will stick to its initial vision of better detection and dissemination to save lives.
Generating immediate response “is what’s guided the company” all these years, says Baron. “That part hasn’t changed.”
Deborah Storey and Dennis Keim are Huntsville-based freelance contributors to Business Alabama.
MONEY MANAGEMENT
Credit unions strive to offer members competitive rates, great service
By GAIL ALLYN SHORT
t’s all about the members for Alabama credit unions.
“Credit unions take care of their members and give them the best loan pricing, make sure they’re in the right products and services,” says Steve Willis, president of Leverage, the service corporation for the League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates.
The League is a trade association representing more than 300 credit unions across Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
Alabama is home to more than 90 credit unions that have some 2.7 million members. Credit unions control just 18.5% of the market share in Alabama compared to the banks that have 81.5% of all deposits, according to data by America’s Credit Unions.
A recent report from the National Credit Union Administration found that federally insured credit unions added 3.2 million members over the year. But NCUA Chairman Todd Harper urged credit unions to remain vigilant, to be proactive and to focus on five priorities for 2025 to help the industry to stay competitive.
TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION
A study by the BAI Executive Report forecast that by 2026, more than 60% of banking transactions will be digital.
Therefore, Harper says credit unions should strive to offer the banking apps and other tech solutions that will help credit union members today and in the future enjoy a seamless and convenient banking experience.
Willis echoes Harper’s belief and says Leverage maintains a product development team that researches companies that can bring the latest digital banking solutions to credit unions.
“Texting, for example, has become popular. So, we’ve partnered with Neural Payments, which is like a Zelle, where you can go on there and pay your friends and family through texting,” Willis says.
At Avadian Credit Union, headquartered in Birmingham, Vice President of Marketing Ashley Wilbanks says the credit union has invested heavily in digital advancements.
Avadian Credit Union serves more than 90,000 members, manages assets of $1.35 billion through 18 branches across Alabama.
“Today’s consumer is very technologically focused. Everyone has a smartphone, and being able to conduct any type of business via that smartphone has become expected,” Wilbanks says.
“We have invested in enhancing our mobile and online banking platform to allow our members to do more than transfer funds and check balances. We have credit scoring and reporting functionality, the ability to apply or open new deposit or loan products, switch their direct deposit and also allow for members to file their taxes through online banking. We also have ATMPlus+ machines at every single one of our branches,” she says.
“ATMPlus+ allows members to make deposits — whether by check or cash — to make loan payments, to conduct transfers, all through an advanced ATM machine,” Wilbanks says. “That means that they have the convenience of being able to use one of these outside of branch hours, even though that they are on branch property.”
Meanwhile, Vice President of Marketing Drew Edwards at Listerhill Credit Union, which is based in Muscle Shoals, says his organization constantly reviews its online and mobile banking and software systems, and in 2024, it implemented Zest AI, a technology that automates functions such as lending and credit underwriting.
Listerhill also offers its members use of Smart ATMs and SMS messaging with AI management chatbots.
“Smart ATMs have been a game changer for us because our members can do just about any transaction on a Smart ATM outside of applying for a loan,” Edwards says. “Our ATMs are tied to our core, so when you make a deposit, it’s in real time. When you make a loan payment, it’s in real time. So, you don’t have to wait for someone to clear out the ATM and then deposit it to their account. They can make a loan payment at 10 o’clock at night if they want.”
CYBERSECURITY
Willis says Leverage connects credit unions with solutions to help them protect their organizations and their members’ data and money against hackers, cyber thieves and other bad actors.
“We try to help our credit union members partner with com-
We try to help our credit union members partner with companies that have the skills and expertise in cyber security, or any type of fraud, and bring those products and services to our credit unions to try to help protect them.”
— Steve Willis, president of Leverage
panies that have the skills and expertise in cyber security, or any type of fraud, and bring those products and services to our credit unions to try to help protect them.”
In Alabama, credit unions also receive notifications and warnings from the Alabama Credit Union Administration about cyber threats and crime.
At Avadian, Wilbanks says, “We’ve heavily invested in making sure that we have backups for all of our systems, that all of our data is protected, and that our employees are fully educated on all the ins and outs of cyber security protocols for company device use.”
Edwards says that in 2024, Listerhill created an enterprise risk management team, charged with identifying, assessing, managing and mitigating risks.
“They also remain connected with both credit union networks and cyber security networks to make sure they’re aware of the latest trends, and keep their eye on the dark web,” Edwards says.
REGULATORY CHANGES
The NCUA is a federal agency that regulates credit unions and sets rules for federal credit unions, while in Alabama, the Alabama Credit Union Administration regulates and charters credit unions in the state.
Willis says that as a service corporation for the LSCU, Leverage helps credit unions keep up with applicable rules and regulations.
“We have a compliance consulting group that our credit unions can use and reach out to to make sure they’re staying compliant and have the support they need,” Willis says.
To stay on top of regulatory changes, Wilbanks says Avadian’s Compliance and Risk Management Department effectively manages the communication of all regulatory changes and making sure all regulatory practices are enforced.
“We have personnel dedicated to managing regulations and
“ “
making sure that we’re following all of the regulatory requirements and communicating that throughout the credit union,” Wilbanks says.
Additionally, Avadian’s legal department helps executives at the credit union to understand and apply the regulations.
At Listerhill, Edwards says that besides its compliance team, the credit union’s education team handles all regulatory required learning or testing.
“The education team will target department staff who are affected by the new regulations,” he says.
COMPETITION
No doubt about it, credit unions have a lot of competition these days, from the big banks and online lenders to fintech startups. So, attracting new credit union members is an imperative, according to the NCUA report.
“Communicating who we are, what we stand for, what our brand represents, first and foremost, is one of the key things that we do,” says Wilbanks. “Being a member of a credit union is different than being a customer of a financial institution. Membership means that you have selected to have a stake in the credit union and have a voice with the credit union.”
Edwards says Listerhill is working to attract young people. One way is by hosting financial wellness seminars through partnerships with college and university campuses.
“And we’ve had a branch on the campus of the University of North Alabama for many years,” he says.
LIQUIDITY
In an NCUA press release on the credit union system performance data for Q2 of 2024, the chairman, Todd Harper, said, “While interest rate and liquidity risks have ebbed recently, we are seeing growing signs of concern in loan performance, capital,
We have personnel dedicated to managing regulations and making sure that we’re following all of the regulatory requirements and communicating that throughout the credit union.”
— Ashley Wilbanks, Avadian’s vice president of marketing
“
In 2024 we introduced relationship pricing, which allows our members to save up to 1% off their loan if they have relationships with us, like a checking account, direct deposit, a credit card or existing loan.”
— Drew Edwards, vice president of marketing at Listerhill Credit Union
and earnings as deposit levels have dropped.”
Harper then urged credit unions to closely monitor their balance sheets, “and act expeditiously to prevent small anomalies from growing into big problems.”
Wilbanks says Avadian strives to ensure its rate-driven products are competitive to help the credit union remain in the “consideration set,” of prospective members.
“We rolled out a high-yield savings account at the end of 2023, just to have another alternative depository instrument for our members,” she says.
In addition, Avadian aims to attract members with offerings
such as a free checking account that comes with perks such as ATM refunds, loan discounts and a CD rate bump.
Edwards says his credit union’s strategy team proactively monitors the interest rate environment.
“In 2024 we introduced relationship pricing, which allows our members to save up to 1% off their loan if they have relationships with us, like a checking account, direct deposit, a credit card or existing loan.”
Gail
Allyn Short is a Birmingham-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
Reflections
Two long-time credit union leaders, both retiring this year, reflect on the changes made over the past few decades
By EMMETT BURNETT
Swofford retires from Alabama Credit Union
In the 1970s at the age of 22, college student Steve Swofford joined the Alabama Credit Union (ACU) as a member. The University of Alabama student obtained an ACU loan to buy a car. Two decades later, he would be the company’s CEO.
After years of service that started in 1998, Swofford will retire from ACU in the fall of 2025. Through the years, customer service has been one of his focal points. Expansive growth has been another.
“People seek credit unions for the personal experience and relationship with the company,” he notes. “You have to build that personal relationship with them.”
As for growth, when he assumed the company’s CEO role in 1998, ACU had 26 employees and 11,000 members. In 2025, it has 400 employees and 150,000 members.
Originally, the credit union’s primary membership was the University of Alabama. Today its customer base is much broader.
Though Swofford’s relationship with ACU began in 1998, his training began almost two decades earlier.
His early ventures included six years at a Birmingham savings and loan company. But in 1980 a fishing buddy told him about a job opening with the Alabama Credit Union League, back then, the State’s association for credit unions. He sent an application, was granted an interview and got the job.
“I did a little of everything while there,” he recalls, “I also became director of public relations.”
Steve Swofford.
“People seek credit unions for the personal experience and relationship with the company. You have to build that personal relationship with them.”
Meanwhile, back in Tuscaloosa, a CEO position opened for ACU.
“I got the job and went in as the CEO,” Swofford recalls. “The training I received from the Alabama Credit Union League gave experience needed for the Tuscaloosa based company.”
Swofford aggressively pursued new member businesses, including Alabama’s Mercedes-Benz plant. “We signed up 500 accounts the first week,” he recalls. “Now we have two offices in their plant.”
In addition, ACU is the credit union for Austal USA, Airbus, the Alabama Port Authority, the City of Orange Beach and others.
Swofford is passionate about his company helping the community, including food for children in need, literacy training and other charities.
Connor retires from AmFirst
In the late 1970s, BirminghamSouthern College student Bill Connor searched for a job. Seeking solutions to school expenses, he saw a note posted at the school’s Student Affairs Office: Iron and Steel Credit Union (today AmFirst) was hiring. Connor got a part-time position while he finished school, working as a teller or in clerical roles and learning the credit union business.
“I had no clue what a credit union was at that point in time,” the Huntsvilleraised accounting major recalls. He does now.
After graduating from college in May 1982, Connor took a full-time position as a staff auditor in the credit union’s internal audit department. Forty-four years later, he retires as AmFirst’s CEO.
As for employees, ACU has been listed by several magazines, including Business Alabama, as one of the best places to work in Alabama.
In retirement, Swofford plans to continue with community work through volunteering. He adds, “I am also an outdoor guy, and looking forward to fishing and hunting.” But he notes, “I will miss the people, our employees and the relationships I have built with our members.”
How the business has changed
“For many years, people would see the word ‘union’ in credit union and think we were a union,” recalls Swofford. “With advertising and becoming more visible we moved past that. People like credit unions because we are a clear alternative to what
they view as impersonal institutions.”
He adds, “Like most businesses, credit unions evolved to fit member needs. In the early days credit unions were basically a checking, savings, car loans and credit card business. We still offer that but there is more. We expanded into mortgage offerings. Almost any kind of mortgage product out there — fixed rate, adjustable, home equity, we have it.”
He predicts the future of the business, “As long as we stay true to our mission, we will continue to attract members. We must stay current, up to date in technology for our online and mobile services. We must also continue adding products and services our people want.
“I think if we do all of that and maintain our commitment to member service, we will do just fine.”
Rising through the ranks, he worked as an auditor, controller, vice president and CFO. Connor was named CEO in 2011 and remained so until his March 1 retirement.
Much was accomplished during his tenure. “From a business perspective, we have seen good growth over the years with strong financials and capital positions,” he says. “Certainly, as a CEO, I am proud of that, but outside of that, we have done a lot at AmFirst that sets us apart.”
He notes the credit union’s growth as the leading auto lender in the Birmingham region. “If you have a car loan, there’s a good chance your loan is with us.” He credits not only their great rates but their service commitment to their members and the 80-some dealers that are a part of their network.
In 1980, the company had $150 million in assets and about 40,000 members. Today, it has $2.5 billion in assets and 200,000 members.
During Connor’s tenure, AmFirst has grown from eight branches to 21.
He cites AmFirst’s philanthropic work as a differentiator. This includes its Rising Star Student program, which has awarded area high school seniors a quarter million dollars in college scholarships. Their summer food drives generate thousands of pounds of food for local food pantries. In addition, their Community First Program has provided both staff volunteer hours and more than $1.3 million in funding to area nonprofits.
As for retirement, Connor plans to reside in Birmingham, where he has lived since college graduation. “I will find things to keep me occupied,” he says, “such as golf, which I have not been able to play as much as I’d like to or as much as I intend to.”
He laughs, “I took 40 years off of my golf game. I plan to pick that up again.”
Connor and wife, Pat, also enjoy travel and spending time with their grandsons.
How the business has changed
“When I first started in the business, credit union services were very vanilla,” Connor recalls. “They offered basic checking and saving accounts and personal loans. Most larger credit unions, like ours, offered mortgage loans, but most smaller ones did not.”
He notes that today’s larger credit unions provide a full range of financial products and services with multiple delivery channels to meet the needs of today’s consumers.
“In earlier days, we were called ‘single sponsor credit unions.’ For example, the power company, phone company, the hospital, each had a credit union for its employees.
“In 1936, Iron and Steel Credit Union was chartered to serve the employees of U.S. Steel. Today, single sponsors are the
“At AmFirst, I always stressed maintaining a definitive, well-grounded compassionate commitment to the people and the cities/communities we serve. It is fundamental to who we are.”
exception. Most credit unions, like AmFirst, have community charters allowing them to serve geographic areas. AmFirst serves the Birmingham metropolitan area, which includes Jefferson and the surrounding counties.”
In summary, Connor says, “all credit unions are member-owned cooperatives. We are focused on the needs of our members. That commitment includes serving our members in a way that is most
desirable for them. We are high tech, with 21 branch offices and a full array of digital services.
“At AmFirst. I always stressed maintaining a definitive, well-grounded compassionate commitment to the people and the cities/communities we serve. It is fundamental to who we are.”
Emmett Burnett is a Satsuma-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
Bill Connor.
It’s building a life on your terms personal.
Building a business takes a trusted partner. Hossein Eshghi, owner of HE Construction, found that at AmFirst. When Hossein ventured into construction and home remodeling, he needed reliable business checking and great rates on equipment loans. AmFirst was happy to support him. Because HE Construction is more than just a business. It’s personal.
amfirst.org/business
Alabama’s Largest Credit Unions
Compiled by MEGAN BOYLE
HABERDASHER OF HISTORY
Bernard’s Store for Men a Jasper staple for 75 years
By PAUL SOUTH —
Photos by JOE DE SCIOSE
Bernard’s Store for Men
owner Rusty Richardson has worked in the Jasper store since high school.
As in many small Alabama towns, law offices, banks, restaurants and retail shops embrace the courthouse square like charms on a bracelet.
So it is with Jasper, Walker County’s seat of political power.
Directly across the courthouse square is the retail gem of the town, Bernard’s Store for Men. For more than 75 years, Bernard’s has outfitted coal miners and college boys, Academy Awardwinning actors and political power brokers, bankers and barristers.
The historic courthouse was battered by a tornado in the mid1970s. Jasper has endured coal strikes and economic downturns. Change, like the narrowing and widening fashions for ties and lapels, is inevitable.
But at its heart, Bernard’s has not changed.
It remains a daily celebration of the often-forgotten virtues of kindness, customer service and love of community. Cold Cokes, hot coffee and homemade cookies are tangible reminders of those virtues.
It all started with a man known to locals as “Mr. Jasper.”
THE FOUNDER
Bernard Weinstein came home to Walker County after serving in Gen. George Patton’s Third Army during World War II. Two swords, confiscated from Nazi officers, still adorn the wall at the store that bears his name.
“Bernard was bigger than life,” says Rusty Richardson, who began working for Weinstein while in high school and who now owns the store with his wife, Elizabeth Lum Richardson. “She’s my rock,” he says.
Weinstein first went into business with his brothers, Herman and Meyer, who had already started a business first known as the Shirley Ann Shop, later renamed Weinstein’s.
He later went on his own, buying the current Bernard’s business from Sol Green in 1949. Weinstein transformed the store from a general mercantile to a men’s store.
A man with a booming voice who “never met a stranger,” Weinstein was a welcome sight, wearing his trademark halfglasses and a tape measure draped around his neck, Richardson says. Known for his civic involvement, Weinstein was legendary for his goodness to people, including deeds done quietly.
THE FUTURE OWNER
In 1974, Rusty Richardson’s father, educator Burt Richardson, went into Bernard’s to buy a sport coat. There, he learned about a job opening and told his son.
“I was fired up,” Rusty Richardson says. “I thought if I could get a job at Bernard’s, I’d died and gone to heaven. He was ‘Mr. Jasper.’ The store just had a reputation of quality and customer service. It carried great name-brand clothing and shoes. I just thought if I could get a job there, I’d really be something.”
Bernard’s Store for Men has been a Jasper clothier more than 75 years.
Elizabeth and Rusty Richardson own the specialty shop.
Richardson worked during high school and at Walker College, a forerunner of Bevill State Community College. He continued to work weekends at the store while a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. When Richardson graduated in 1980, Weinstein offered him a full-time job, and a chance to learn the business.
But Richardson’s road to Bernard’s wasn’t without a bump in the road, or more accurately, a fender bender. While searching for a parking space on the square in his parents’ 1966 Chevy on a rainy afternoon, another motorist hit him.
“I was late to my interview. I had long hair and looked like a drowned rat; Mr. Weinstein couldn’t have been nicer.”
There on the Bernard’s balcony, Richardson got the job.
“Praise the Lord, I’m still here,” he says.
Richardson began working full-time at the retailer in March of 1980. But on July 7 of that year, he got news that broke the hearts of folks across Walker County. Bernard Weinstein, Mr. Jasper, had died.
“We were all in shock. We thought he couldn’t be replaced.”
Charles “Chuck” Hockenberry bought the store from Weinstein’s wife, Roberta, and daughter, Susan. But eight years later, Richardson bought the business.
He and Elizabeth now own two buildings. One side features dressier clothes — tailored suits, ties, dress shirts and shoes — the other is more casual with golf and beachwear.
THE LEGACY
While Bernard’s has grown and tastes have changed, Bernard Weinstein’s spirit courses through the store. And as with any iconic business, the store has a history so rich that if memories were suits the racks would overflow.
Oscar-winner Ernest Borgnine shopped here, thanks to his friend and Jasper native George “Goober” Lindsey of “The Andy Griffith Show” fame. Congressmen, governors and state lawmakers also have been customers. Folks come from as far away as Birmingham, Huntsville, Decatur and throughout north Alabama, as well as Tupelo, Mississippi, and beyond to shop for a new suit, or tie, golf shirt or overcoat.
Bernard Weinstein has been gone for more than 40 years, but his cornerstone values, as crisp as a freshly ironed shirt, remain.
“Bernard Weinstein built a business based on caring for your customer,” Richardson says. “Carrying good, quality lines and standing behind those lines were important, too. For example, if a customer came in and saw a shirt wrinkled or piled up, Bernard would throw it in the can and give them a new shirt. That attitude really meant something.”
And while other businesses have wrestled with high turnover among employees, continuity has been a hallmark at Bernard’s. For example, Glenda Odom, who maintains the store’s books, has been at the store for 50 years. “She’s kept us moving forward. We’d be in the ditch without Glenda,” Richardson says.
“Our employees genuinely care about the customer,” he adds. “Not only about waiting on them and selling them something. But we care about their lives, their families, their children and what they’re doing and how we can help and encourage them.”
At its heart, even after more than three-quarters of a century, Bernard’s remains a social center of Jasper, where over the years hundreds, if not thousands of folks come not only to shop, but to visit, talking college football or junior college basketball, or the passages of small town life — who’s getting married, who has a new baby, who’s sick or who has passed away.
Many a young man has been fitted for his first suit or blazer, or for a wedding or prom tuxedo. And those same young men often opened their first charge account there. It was the Bernard Weinstein way. He helped them build credit and the store built generational customer loyalty. The circle is unbroken.
“We want people to feel at home,” Richardson says. “The coffee’s always on. There are cold Cokes in the box. There’s usually something to eat on the table. Pressure is not on our vocabulary. We want to help people.”
He carries two pieces of advice from Weinstein to work every day.
“Be kind to people and if you tell someone you’re going to do something, follow through. We need that in the times we live in.”
Fittingly, in a shadow box near those two German swords, Weinstein’s trophies of war, is Burt Richardson’s blue and gray houndstooth jacket with blue buttons, the start of his son and daughter-in-law’s well-tailored success story.
Paul South and Joe De Sciose are freelance contributors to Business Alabama. South is based in Auburn and De Sciose in Birmingham.
Bernard’s sits on Jasper’s courthouse square.
NEWLY ELECTED PRO TEM GUDGER:
THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER LEADING ALABAMA'S SENATE
Newly elected Alabama Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger Jr. (R - Cullman) fully understands the issues and challenges facing small business owners across the state because he is one of them.
The 49-year-old Gudger and his wife, Heather, are the owners and operators of Southern Accents, an architectural salvage business in his hometown of Cullman.
Founded by his father in 1969, the business had humble beginnings in the family's two-car garage as Dr. Garlan Gudger would scour junkyards, antique stores, thrift stores, and other out-ofthe-way places for unique architectural items to salvage, restore, repurpose, recycle, and resell.
Word of the elder Gudger's eye for rare and unusual items began to spread, and interior designers and individuals competed to purchase his finds. He opened a small storefront in downtown Cullman in 1982, creating a business that has come to be known as one of the nation's top five architectural salvage companies.
Alabama Magazine also awarded Southern Accents its "Best Antique Store in Alabama" honor for three consecutive years.
From a young age, Pro Tem Gudger accompanied his father on his travels and searches and learned the antique business from firsthand experience. He learned to love the hunt for rarity, as well.
Gudger freely acknowledges that almost every important milestone in his life is rooted within the family business that he has now run for 26 years.
"Everything major that has happened in my life has happened in our store," Gudger said. "My father started the store, I took over the store when Dad's health took a turn, I met my wife when she walked through the front door, I proposed to her there, and we started and raised our family there."
Garlan and Heather Gudger also live above the store and have raised their two sons, Tripp and Pierce, there.
"I don't have a white house with a picket fence and a yard to mow," Gudger said. "We live in a loft above our store, and my morning commute to work involves walking down 42 stairs. I love it."
A continuing desire to help others led Gudger to run for the Cullman City Council, where he became its youngest member in history and held a seat for 14 years, the last 10 of which he served as president.
In 2018, he was elected to the Alabama State Senate and was leading the idyllic life of a committed public servant and successful businessman when tragedy struck out of nowhere.
July 4, 2024 began as a sunny, summer holiday with Gudger and his family enjoying a festive time at the lake, but by nightfall, a jet ski accident would find him strapped to a gurney in a Medevac helicopter fighting for his life and wondering if he would ever walk again.
Doctors discovered fractured vertebrae, fractured ribs, internal bleeding, a punctured lung, and numerous other injuries. A stay in the intensive care unit, intensive work with physical therapists, and months of recovery healed his injuries and redoubled his desire to live life to the fullest.
When Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed announced he was leaving the Legislature to accept a job in Gov. Kay Ivey's cabinet, Gudger campaigned to lead the upper chamber and was elected by his peers to the position.
Now poised to significantly influence the legislation that the body considers and passes, Gudger said his experiences as a small business owner guide his actions as Senate pro tem.
With few employees but many customers to serve, Gudger spends much of his time hunting for the antique doors, door knobs, window frames, and other architectural gems that stock his store and draw patrons from around the country while his wife handles the accounting, taxes, and other paperwork necessary for small businesses like theirs.
Watching his wife struggle with the various forms and deadlines that state agencies impose offers him a constant reminder of the challenges that small
business owners face, fueling his desire to make tax systems and regulations more efficient and less burdensome.
"We need less regulation, less paperwork, and less taxation, but whatever we put in its place has to make sense," Gudger said.
"WE NEED LESS REGULATION, LESS PAPERWORK, AND LESS TAXATION, BUT WHATEVER WE PUT IN ITS PLACE HAS TO MAKE SENSE."
-GARLAN GUDGER JR., SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE
Every moment that is spent completing superfluous paperwork, he said, is one less moment that could be spent servicing existing customers, acquiring new ones, and expanding their business in order to create even more jobs and opportunities for the local community.
"And whatever we put in its place has to make sense for all businesses whether they are a small mom-and-pop storefront, a big box store, or a major industry."
Gudger noted, as well, that his years of
running a small business, and the peaks and valleys that come along with it, have prepared him for the same kind of challenges that politics and public service routinely offer.
"As a small business owner, sometimes you think you have your daily agenda laid out, and by the end of the day, everything has gone haywire, and you accomplished completely different things," Gudger said.
"The exact same thing occurs in policy and politics when you think you have everything laid out, but you learn new information, change your mindset, and end up with a completely different but much-improved bill."
With the legislative quadrennium ending in 2026, Gudger said he is eager to take charge and lead his Senate colleagues in making Alabama "an even better place to live, work, worship, and raise families."
The Business Advocate is published by the Business Council of Alabama, a non-partisan, statewide business association representing the interests and concerns of nearly 1 million working Alabamians through its member companies and its partnership with the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama. For more information on the Business Council of Alabama, please contact us at (334) 834-6000 or visit us online at bcatoday.org.
2025 H onorees
Large Company of the Year Austal USA
Mobile-based Austal USA saw a big year of growth in 2024. As Michelle Kruger took the shipbuilder’s helm, the company won several high-value contracts and kicked off two expansions. In August the firm began work on a contract for U.S. Coast Guard offshore patrol cutters valued at up to $3.3 billion and in September it was awarded a $450 million contract to build submarine modules. The first expansion, announced in February and with ground broken in summer, adds 192,000 square feet of manufacturing space and a Shiplift system; the second will expand the company’s submarine module construction capabilities and will provide space for 1,000 additional workers. Those dual expansion projects, a combined investment of $750 million, won Business Facilities’ magazine prestigious Deal of the Year Impact Award in the defense manufacturing category, an award that Gov. Kay Ivey said “reaffirms Alabama’s position as a leader in advanced defense manufacturing and innovation. … Austal USA’s investments in Mobile not only strengthen our nation’s security but also provide a tremendous economic boost to our state.”
The Finalists
Honda’s $2 billion manufacturing facility in Lincoln has been churning out cars since 2001, and 2024 was no exception. Models in production in Lincoln include
Austal’s second expansion creates space to build submarine modules.
Rendering of Austal’s new construction facilities with Shiplift system.
the Honda Odyssey, Pilot, Ridgeline, Passport and V-6 engines. The newest engine assembly facility reached a milestone, producing its 3 millionth engine (that’s on top of the 3 million produced on the previous line). A number of honors came Honda’s way, including three models built in Alabama ranking in the top 10 of Cars.com’s American Made Index – the Passport at No. 2, Odyssey at No. 5 and Ridgeline at No. 6.
Huntsville Hospital
The Huntsville Hospital Health System, a network of clinics and 14 hospitals across north Alabama and southern Tennessee, continued to see growth in 2024, with the acquisition of DeKalb Medical Center. “It’s very hard these days to be an independent, stand-alone hospital,” Jeff Samz, CEO of the Huntsville Hospital Health
System, told Business Alabama. “You simply don’t have the scale to negotiate with payers, to buy things at a discount, to purchase the expensive capital items and training programs you need to be successful.” There’s strength in numbers. By negotiating as a group, the Huntsville Hospital Health System is making health care better in North Alabama.
pCH Hotels & ResoRts
Mobile-based PCH Hotels & Resorts has quite the state-wide portfolio, including all the hotels along the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail — The Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa in Point Clear, Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National, Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa, Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa, Marriott Shoals, The Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa,
Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel and Montgomery Marriott Prattville Hotel & Conference Center. They’re the cream of the crop of Alabama hospitality, and in 2024, the group celebrated the Grand Hotel being named a Marriott hotel of the year, and PCH was, once again, named one of Business Alabama’s Best Companies to Work For.
Robins & MoRton
Birmingham-based Robins & Morton continued to build projects around Alabama and the region. Among those in 2024 were an Embassy Suites that will be the biggest hotel in Gulf Shores, a half-billion-dollar hospital project in Texas, the Graduate Auburn Hotel and completion of a 200,000-square-foot U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility at Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal.
Congratulations UAB PRESIDENT RAY L. WATTS, M.D.
Business Alabama’s
CEO of the Year FINALIST
A legacy of value-centered leadership and service to our students, employees, patients and community.
Small Company of the Year
Y’all Sweet Tea
Childhood friends Darien Craig and Brandon Echols, of Hayden, launched Y’all Sweet Tea in 2021, using a combination of Echols’ mother’s and Craig’s grandmother’s iced tea recipes. But in 2024, the brand really took off. First, in March, Y’all Sweet Tea added some new flavors, and now the company offers its original blend, Half Tea-Half Lemonade and flavors including peach, watermelon, raspberry
The Finalists
and mango. But if the year started on a high note, it ended on an even higher one, with a November appearance on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” The duo impressed the sharks and the company received several offers, eventually choosing a $500,000 deal from sharks Lori Greiner and Rashaun Williams. Y’all Sweet Tea, which got an early boost from Facebook appearances with cooking personality Brenda Gantt, is still based
CHallenge testing
Challenge Testing, based in Mobile with locations in Tuscaloosa and Saipan, provides geotechnical field testing and sampling, non-destructive examination and materials analysis. What does this mean? They’ll drill most anywhere. Consider
in Hayden. The tea, which comes in tea bags that purchasers brew by the gallon, is available online and in more than 1,000 stores, including Piggly-Wiggly. Craig says on the company’s website that their product is Southern throughand-through, right down to its name. “I thought, sweet tea is the most Southern drink, and the word ‘y’all’ is the most Southern word,” he said. “Let’s call it Y’all Sweet Tea!”
this from the company’s Facebook page: “Middle of a ship channel? Remote, rocky hillside? Swampy backwoods bayou? You name it, we’ve drilled there.” In 2024, the veteran-owned business acquired Alexander Drilling in the Northern Mariana Islands, allowing them to expand to Saipan, Tinian, Rota and Guam.
Darien Craig and Brandon Echols appeared on “Shark Tank” with their Y’all Sweet Tea. Photo courtesy of ABC.
pRoxsysRx
Birmingham health-care entrepreneur George Salem is behind ProxsysRX, which offers retail and specialty pharmacy solutions for hospitals. The company is working with 32 hospital systems and says its solutions have resulted in more than $500 million in savings for patient care and support. In 2024 the company began contracting with hospitals in Arizona, South Carolina and Massachusetts. And 2025 started with big news for ProxsysRX — a merger with Maxor National Pharmacy Services, “positioning the combined entity as the largest independent provider of pharmacy management services to health systems, hospitals, clinics and other provider organizations,” the company says.
Rolin ConstRuCtion
Spanish Fort’s Rolin Construction works in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, priding itself on its Gulf Coast heritage. That’s evident in the work the firm did on the $10 million renovation of Fairhope Municipal Pier and Park. Projects the company has completed over the years include the casino, hotel and BB King Blues Club at Wind Creek Montgomery, Wind Creek Wetumpka Hotel and Casino, Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Bishop State’s Advanced Manufacturing Facility in Mobile and the Orange Beach Baseball Field Complex.
WM gRoCeRy
The Wedowee-based WM Grocery was named Small Business of the Year by the Business Council of Alabama and the Chamber of Commerce of Alabama. The family-owned store has four locations, in Wedowee, Heflin, Roanoke and Piedmont. The grocery’s website touts more than 10,000 shoppers and more than 30,000 products. “Our familyowned store offers a convenient one-stop shop where you can find everything you need from the everyday essentials to specialty items from around the world,” the store says.
THE WORKFORCE YOU NEED, TRAINED RIGHT HERE
ALABAMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM The
As the largest training entity in the state, the Alabama Community College System, helps workers and businesses by providing extensive workforce training, technical support, and engineering services.
VIEW THE FULL REPORT HERE
CEO of the Year Dr. Ray Watts
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has seen extraordinary growth during the tenure of Ray Watts, the university’s seventh and longest-serving president. He has led the development and implementation of two comprehensive strategic plans, Forging the Future and the current Forging Ahead. He is also leading the university’s current research strategic initiative, Growth with Purpose, which has a goal for UAB to reach $1 billion in research expenditures. Under Watts’ leadership, UAB has achieved record enrollment, the most successful era of research funding in the university’s history, advancements in patient care and precision
The Finalists
JiM goRRie, bRasfield & goRRie
Jim Gorrie became CEO of Brasfield & Gorrie, the construction company his father founded, in 2011, and the company continued to grow during his tenure. Before he moved into his new role as executive chairman on Jan. 1, he oversaw a company that made $6.4 billion in revenue in 2024 and celebrated its 60th anniversary in a big way, including a Vince Gill concert for 3,000 employees and guests. In addition, Brasfield & Gorrie continued to build high-profile buildings across Alabama and the Southeast. Gorrie, an Auburn University graduate, will continue to help guide the future of Brasfield & Gorrie, already Alabama’s largest general contractor.
billy HaRbeRt, bL HaRbeRt inteRnational
Billy Harbert has been chairman and
medicine, construction of new facilities, and much more. In 2024, UAB, already the largest health care system in Alabama, expanded even further with the $450 million purchase of the Ascension St. Vincent’s Health System. Watts, a graduate of UAB School of Engineering who earned his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine, chairs the UAB Health System and Southern Research boards. He serves on a number of others, including Prosper Birmingham, Innovation Depot and the Birmingham Business Alliance. Watts and his wife, Nancy, a retired nurse, have five grown children and 10 grandchildren.
CEO of BL Harbert International since its inception in 2000, following a legacy construction business that began with his father and uncle in the 1940s. He provides ultimate leadership and direction of all BL Harbert projects worldwide and guides executive management and the C-suite. Prior to stepping into the role as chairman and CEO, Harbert worked as project manager and project engineer on pipeline and commercial projects. He graduated from Auburn University with a B.S. in building science and from Emory University with an MBA.
MaCke Mauldin, banCindependent inC.
Macke Mauldin is president and CEO of BancIndependent Inc., the holding company of Bank Independent, of which he’s been president since 1996. He is also chairman of Interstate Billing Service. Mauldin, a graduate of Auburn University, has served on numerous boards, including the Alabama Growth Alliance, Shoals Economic Development Authority and Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. He also served as chair of the
board of trustees at Athens State University and director for both the Southern Development Council and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Birmingham branch. Among Mauldin’s honors, he was named Shoals Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.
JoHn tuRneR, Regions bank
John Turner is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Regions Financial Corp., one of the nation’s largest regional banks with $155 billion in assets. Turner joined Regions in 2011 as president of the South region and was named head of the corporate bank in 2014. He became president in 2017, and in 2018, was named chief executive officer and appointed to the Regions’ board of directors. In April 2024, Turner became chairman, president and CEO. Turner holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Georgia and is currently an advisory trustee for the University of Georgia Foundation. He serves on numerous community boards.
Dr. Ray Watts.
Photo courtesy of UAB.
•
• Long Repayment Terms up to 25 years
• For Existing or New/Startup for-profit Companies
Who are we?
Southern Development Council, Inc. is an Alabamabased Certified Development Company designated by the Small Business Administration to facilitate SBA 504 Loans.
We’ve been partnering with Alabama Bankers to make loans:
• Helps you create more lending opportunities for your customer.
• Shares and mitigates risk for you.
• Provides below-market rates fixed for the life of the loan.
• A typical loan structure is a 50/40/10 split, allowing customers to preserve more cash with lower down payments (as low as 10%).
• Provides your customer longer payment terms.
• We’re an Alabama Business that’s for Alabama Business.
Startup of the Year NephSol
NephSol, a company co-founded in Tuscaloosa by Olivia Bruno and Sydney Ringold, is turning heads and winning startup contests for its approach to dialysis care — a headset that monitors cerebral blood flow during treatments. The company, which is aiming to reduce side effects due to decreased blood flow in the brain, won Alabama Launchpad’s $25,000 concept stage prize in its Cycle 2 2024 Finale.
“Winning Alabama Launchpad is the next big step for our company,” Ringold
said at the time. “It means we will be able to complete our regulatory process filings — a step needed for a medical device company. We are beyond excited to finally check that off, move forward and potentially go to market very quickly.”
Ringold and Bruno founded NephSol in 2020 as part of an MBA project at the University of Alabama and in 2022, their company ranked among the winners of the University of Alabama’s Edward K.
NephSol co-founders Sydney Ringold, left and Olivia Bruno present at the Prosper health tech conference.
NephSol wins the Edward K. Aldag Business Plan Competition.
Aldag Business Plan Competition. The goal for NephSol is simple — to make dialysis treatment safer for patients. “We aim to improve patient safety and prolong their quality of life,” the company says on its website.
The Finalists
etCH
Co-founded by Sean Haskell and Taylor Larsen, Etch uses AI and data analytics to integrate with texts and other material to make it easier for learners to retain knowledge. A member of 2023’s cohort for the USC Rossier School of Education’s EdTech Accelerator, the company was selected in 2024 for the gBeta Huntsville startup accelerator. Etch also has been a finalist in the Alabama Launchpad competition.
foRsee
Forsee LLC, based in Prattville, specializes in developing innovative products derived from natural fibers that enhance soil water retention, serve as a natural fertilizer and provide fire-resistant defense barriers. Founder Chera Howard discovered the properties of these fibers through her work as a cosmetologist. Forsee is developing proprietary technology that converts these fibers into granular and liquid forms, enabling the creation of building materials with unmatched fire-resistant capabilities. These advanced materials are designed to withstand direct heat up to 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit. Forsee was an Alabama Launchpad finalist in 2024.
WundeRfan
Birmingham entrepreneur Blake Patterson
created Wunderfan, an app that allows sports fans to earn points and redeem them for rewards by engaging with the app while attending sports events. App users earn Wundercoins, which can be cashed in for products and clothing. Partners include Fanatics, Lululemon and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Other companies that Patterson has founded include INMO, Simpeo and Outklick.
Zone pRoteCts
Zone Protects, based in Decatur, was one of the big winners in the Alabama Launchpad competition in 2024, winning the $50,000 seed stage competition in the Cycle 2 event. Founded by Brian Baer, the company creates Picaridin insect repellents for protection against ticks, mosquitoes and other insects. Zone Protects also sells pet, hunting, home and car care products.
A better building experience on every project.
Our clients have trusted Robins & Morton to deliver superior value on complex projects for nearly 80 years. Let our team’s expertise, client-first focus, and collaborative culture make your next project an excellent experience.
Robins & Morton Business Alabama
Bank Independent proudly congratulates Macke Mauldin, CEO of BancIndependent, Inc., on his nomination for CEO of the Year.
Your visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to our customers, team members, and communities continue to drive progress and create opportunities across Alabama. We are grateful for your dedication to making a lasting, positive impact in our communities and throughout our state.
Thank you, Macke, for leading with integrity, dedication, and vision.
Vicki Hollub Expat of the Year
Vicki Hollub, a Birmingham native and mineral engineering graduate of the University of Alabama, is president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum (Oxy). She has been a member of Oxy’s board of directors since 2015. Before her appointment to president and CEO in 2016, she served as Oxy’s president and chief operating officer, overseeing the company’s oil and gas, chemical and midstream operations. Hollub previously was senior executive vice president, Oxy, and president, Oxy Oil and Gas, where she was responsible for operations in the U.S., the Middle East region and Latin America. Prior to that, she held a variety of leadership positions, including executive vice president, Oxy, and president, Oxy Oil and Gas, Americas. Hollub started her career at Cities Service, which was acquired by Oxy. Hollub serves on the boards of Lockheed Martin and the American Petroleum Institute. She is a member of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative and past chair of the World Economic Forum’s Oil and Gas Community. Hollub was inducted into the University of Alabama College of Engineering’s 2016 class of Distinguished Engineering Fellows and elected to the National Academy of Engineering Class of 2024.
The Finalists
kaRan dyson
Karan Dyson, the vice president for Global Grooming Process & Engineering at Procter & Gamble – Gillette in South Boston, holds a mechanical engineering degree from Tuskegee University, where she is director of campus recruiting. With more than 20 years of experience at Procter & Gamble, she has played major roles in Baby Care, Corporate Engineering, Oral Care, Family Care and, most recently, Shave Care. Dyson is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and an advocate for women in STEM. Among numerous organizations she supports, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts honored her with a Leading Women Award for her commitment to women in leadership.
Janet guRWitCH
Janet Gurwitch, founder and former CEO of Laura Mercier Cosmetics &
Skincare, was an operating partner at Advent International, a Boston-based private equity firm, where she served on the board of hair-care products company Olaplex. Prior to founding Laura Mercier, Gurwitch was the executive vice president of Neiman Marcus. A graduate of the University of Alabama, she is an investor and board member of the Houston Astros baseball team. She formerly served on the boards of Tatcha, First Aid Beauty, Dollar Shave Club and La-Z-Boy, among others. Gurwitch was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2023.
saRa RadeMakeR
Sara Rademaker is founder and CEO of American Unagi, a farm growing eels on a commercial scale. Rademaker graduated from Auburn University in fisheries and aquaculture. She’s worked in aquaculture in the U.S. and Africa, and in 2014, she founded American Unagi in Maine. “A lot of the sushi that you’re eating, you don’t know where that
originally came from,” Rademaker told the Auburn Alumni Association in 2023. “When I first got into eels, I was hesitant because of the notoriety. But I also saw an opportunity to create an accountable product. … We’re producing a product that has traceability and accountability unlike any eel in the world.”
MiCHielle sego-JoHnson
Michielle Sego-Johnson, vice president of Inflight Services and Catering Operations at United Airlines, grew up in Montgomery and graduated from Auburn University with a political science degree. During a gap year, she worked as a flight attendant, which launched her career in the airline industry. Sego-Johnson spent nearly 20 years at Delta before joining United Airlines in 2008. There, she oversees more than 30,000 flight attendants. Sego-Johnson, who lives in Chicago, is also a graduate of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business’ Women’s Executive Leadership Program.
Vicki Hollub. Associated Press photo.
CONGRATULATIONS, JIM!
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is a nonprofit institute dedicated to developing and applying scientific advances to health, agriculture, learning, and commercialization. The HudsonAlpha biotechnology campus consists of 152 acres nestled within Cummings Research Park, the nation’s second-largest research park. The state-of-the-art facilities co-locate nonprofit scientific researchers with entrepreneurs and educators. HudsonAlpha is a national and international leader in genetics and genomics research and biotech education and fosters more than 45 diverse biotech companies on campus. To learn more about HudsonAlpha, visit hudsonalpha.org.
Jim Hudson (left), late Lonnie McMillian (right), Founders of HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
Project of the Year Rickwood Field renovation and MLB game
Top-tier baseball came to Birmingham in June of 2024 for an MLB game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants at historic Rickwood Field, home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues from 1924 through 1960. To prep for MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues, Rickwood underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation to bring it up to MLB standards. That renovation included a new playing field, new dugouts, new padding on the outfield walls, new fences and handicapped accessibility. The game drew national interest, and tickets were sold out almost as soon as they were put on sale. The game was played to honor the Negro Leagues and its players, including Willie Mays, the baseball legend who played for the Birmingham Black Barons and died two days before 2024’s major-league event. As part of that tribute, the San Francisco Giants played as the San Francisco Sea Lions, and the St. Louis Cardinals played as the St. Louis Stars. Already, there’s more planned for Rickwood. A minor league game will be played in June, again to honor the Negro Leagues, and reports have said a deal is in the works for MLB’s return in 2026.
programs tailored to the demands of industries in their areas, allowing students and workers to gain skills needed for high-demand jobs. The centers foster partnerships with regional employers, providing a pipeline of trained employees.
A Tuscaloosa landmark – Bryce Hospital, which opened in 1861 – has been transformed into a welcome center for the University of Alabama thanks to a $121 million renovation project. The Catherine and Pettus Randall Welcome Center opened in June and is the new home of UA’s undergraduate admissions. The 15,000-square-foot facility includes areas for prospective students to gather for campus tours, a lounge and a theater. It also features a museum on the second floor that tells the story of Bryce, which was a mental health hospital for decades.
fiRst solaR in laWRenCe County
First Solar opened a $1.1 billion solar panel manufacturing facility in Trinity in Lawrence County in September, bringing some 800 new energy technology
manufacturing jobs with it. That facility joins First Solar’s three other facilities, all in Ohio. First Solar, which says it’s the largest fully vertically integrated solar manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere, is also constructing a $1.1 billion facility in Louisiana. The company’s process allows it to transform a sheet of glass into readyto-ship thin film solar panels in about four hours. The modules produced in Lawrence County use Alabama-sourced steel.
Hood-MCpHeRson building Renovation
A $22 million renovation of Birmingham’s Hood-McPherson building provides academic and administrative space for Auburn in Birmingham, including housing the Urban Studio of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, and a Birmingham presence for the Harbert College of Business and the provost’s office. The six-story, 44,000-square-foot building includes
A view of Rickwood Field during the 2024 MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. Photo by Parker Freedman/ MLB Photos via Getty Images.
BUSINESS ALABAMA AWARDS 2025
office spaces, meeting rooms, workshare spaces, flex classrooms, studios, collaborative spaces and lounge spaces. The university worked with Williams Blackstock Architects on the renovation. The new space means the Urban Studio can host 75 students per semester as opposed to 15 per semester in its previous space.
J.M. sMuCkeR plant opens
The J.M. Smucker Co., makers of Smucker’s products, opened its first Alabama facility, a $1.1 billion plant in McCalla in November 2024. The facility produces Uncrustables, one of the company’s fastest-growing brands. The 900,000-squarefoot facility will help the company toward its goal of $1 billion in annual net sales of Uncrustables by the end of 2026. “This new facility and our team in McCalla will play a critical role in the next chapter of
our story as we drive and nurture this brand to its full potential,” said Rebecca Scheidler, a senior vice president and general manager for J.M. Smucker.
MaRtinfedeRal
Consulting paRt of $8 billion fbi ContRaCt
Huntsville’s MartinFederal Consulting scored a big contract win in 2024 when it and several other companies, were awarded an FBI contract for IT supplies and support services worth a potential $8 billion over the next eight years. It’s a Blanket Purchase Agreement, meaning MartinFed is among the companies the FBI can call upon for various IT needs within the contract ceiling. MartinFed specializes in IT services and cyber solutions for clients including the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, NASA and the Department of Energy.
RuneRgy opens
Runergy, with plants in China, Thailand and Vietnam, opened its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Huntsville in October, producing solar modules. Once it scales up production, the plant can achieve an annual output of 2 GW, which Runergy says will make it one of the leading solar manufacturing sites in the United States. This first production plant in the U.S. launches the company’s plan to expand into the North American market. The Huntsville facility is expected to create hundreds of new jobs.
saMkee opens
Auto parts manufacturer Samkee Corp. opened a facility in June in Tuskegee. The $128 million facility, employing more than 170 people, is the South Korean manufacturer’s first manufacturing plant in the U.S. Samkee specializes in automotive aluminum components, including parts for engines, transmissions, electric vehicles and batteries, as well as alloys. In Alabama, the company serves as a Tier 1 supplier to Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama’s assembly plant in Montgomery. Samkee built its facility in Tuskegee Commerce Park, which resulted in site improvements, access road updating and more upgrades for the park.
toyota builds 10 MilliontH engine
Toyota Alabama in Huntsville announced a big milestone in October: the assembly of the plant’s 10-millionth engine. The engine plant broke ground in 2001 and assembles a third of all Toyota engines in North America. The 10 millionth? An i-Force MAX 2.4-liter engine, built to power the all-new hybrid Tacoma. “We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone and look forward to seeing where the next 10 million engines will take us,” Jason Puckett, president of Toyota Alabama, said at a celebration. The plant has 2,000 employees and assembles more than 775,000 engines each year.
Philanthropic Project of the Year USA Health’s Doc Rock
The Finalists
blaCk belt CoMMunity f
oundation
Doc Rock, a Mobile fundraiser for USA Health, has participants putting down their stethoscopes and scalpels for guitars and keyboards. That’s because all of the bands involved in the event include at least one member with a tie to USA Health, including doctors, nurses and specialty therapists. Last year’s event raised more than $47,000 to benefit research and clinical needs at USA Health entities, with bands (competing for audience votes) representing USA Health University Hospital, Children’s and Women’s Hospital, the Mitchell Cancer Institute, USA Health Providence Hospital and the Physician Enterprise. Bands participating included the band The Shotcallers, featuring Ryan Wright, a respiratory therapist at USA Health, on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; By the Way, with Mitchell Cancer Institute radiation oncologist Dr. Joseph Jones on guitar; Society Hill, representing USA Health’s Project Inspire; Mobile Second Line Society on behalf of neuroscience research; and Sloth Racer on behalf of Children’s and Women’s. The first Doc Rock event was held in 2022, and because of the interest from music groups, organizers have had to turn bands away. The event was held at Soul Kitchen in downtown Mobile.
Starting its third decade, the Selma-based Black Belt Community Foundation continues to give millions in grants to nonprofits in the 12-county area it serves. Those grants are in the areas of the arts, community and economic development, education, and health and wellness. And the celebrations continue for the group’s 20th anniversary. County-by-county events began in September and will continue through June. The foundation serves Wilcox, Bullock, Perry, Hale, Macon, Lowndes, Dallas, Choctaw, Greene, Marengo, Pickens and Sumter counties.
kinetiC Cup
Kinetic, a Birmingham website developer, raises money for the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation with its annual Kinetic Cup. It’s a year-long event, with participants playing wiffle ball golf, hoping to qualify as one of 16 finalists in October’s final shootout. Thanks to corporate sponsors, entry is free for the players, and 100% of donations benefit the foundation. Kinetic sees the Kinetic Cup as “more than just a charity event,” calling it “an unforgettable experience that combines competition, camaraderie and philanthropy, all set against the backdrop of the Birmingham skyline.”
Many MoRe Miles sHoe dRive
For 21 years, Daphne-based Baldwin Bone & Joint’s Many More Miles Shoe Drive gathers gently used shoes for those in need. It’s an appropriate event for the orthopedic practice, who partners with several area groups — in 2024 it was City Hope Church, Baldwin County Public Schools, St. Michael Catholic School and Bayshore Christian School. Shoes collected during the campaign go to individuals and families in the community, including foster families, homeless communities, nonprofits and schools’ clothing closets. In 2024, more than 5,000 pairs of shoes were donated.
sleep in Heavenly peaCe
Law firm Thompson Burton gives back to the Huntsville community in funding and labor for Sleep in Heavenly Peace. Members of the firm joined volunteers from Columbia High School building 47 beds in about two-and-a-half hours. The beds go to various people who need them. “I think there’s something valuable for all of us in doing something for somebody that can never pay you back,” Mary Ena Heath, an attorney with Thompson Burton and president of the Huntsville chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, told Business Alabama. “But there’s a huge return.”
The Shotcallers performed during Doc Rock, helping to raise money for USA Health.
Going beyond the build
Our people have always been our priority, and we’re thankful for everyone who has helped us sustain more than 60 years of growth and community impact.
Lifetime Achievement Charles Anderson
Charles Anderson is chairman emeritus of the companies founded by the Anderson family, which include Anderson Media, TNT Fireworks, Books-A-Million and Anderson Press. Born in Florence, Anderson began working in the family business — at that time two newsstands and three magazine and book wholesale trucks — after graduating from Florence State Teachers College (now the University of North Alabama). In the early years, the company’s newsstands sold fireworks during the Christmas season, and that business later expanded to include wholesale. In 1962, Anderson began a new business, importing fireworks and other merchandise, and in 1964, he formed a sourcing company in Hong Kong that is today one of the largest exporters of fireworks from China. With Anderson as chairman emeritus, his sons — Charles Jr., Terry, Clyde and Harold — serve as CEOs of the family businesses. Anderson has served on the boards of First National Bank of Florence, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Heritage
Trust Fund and the Shoals Economic Development Authority board, as well as the national advisory board of the Salvation Army. Among other honors, he was named University of North Alabama Alumnus of the Year in 1979, was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2011 and the Florence Walk of Honor in 2016. He is a member of the president’s cabinet at both UNA and the University of Alabama. Anderson is chairman of First Southern Bank, which his family co-owns. Anderson lives in Florence.
Lifetime Achievement George Barber Jr.
George Barber Jr., a Birmingham native and Auburn University business graduate, is a celebrated businessman, philanthropist, motorsports enthusiast and community leader. As chairman of The Barber Companies, he oversees Alabama real estate developments from Birmingham to a world-class marina in Baldwin County. Working on a milk truck as a young boy, Barber took over as owner and chairman of Barber Dairies in 1970, growing it into one of the largest independently owned dairy processors in the United States. The company was sold to Dean Foods in 1998. Barber’s passion for motorsports never waned and culminated in the creation of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, which includes more than 1,800 motorcycles and more than 130 cars, including the largest collection of Lotus race cars in the world. The museum is the centerpiece of the 880-acre Barber Motorsports Park, which includes a world-class racetrack and the Barber Advanced Design Center for innovation in motorcycle and automotive design. Barber has endowed more than 500 scholarships, funded academic chairs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is a supporter of the Birmingham Museum of Art, McWane Science Center and the Nature
Conservancy, among others. Barber is a co-founder of Sipsey Wilderness, the country’s first eastern wilderness area, and he has spearheaded initiatives to reintroduce the bald eagle to Alabama. Barber has been named Alabama Wildlife Federation’s Conservationist of the Year.
Lifetime Achievement Dr. Regina Benjamin
Dr. Regina Benjamin, founder and CEO of Bayou Clinic in Bayou La Batre, was U.S. surgeon general from 2009 to 2013. In that post, she oversaw the operational command of 6,500 uniformed public health officers around the world. She also was chair of the National Prevention Council, which included 17 cabinet-level federal agency heads. Benjamin specializes in prevention policies and health promotion among individuals as well as large populations, especially concerning obesity, childhood obesity and children’s health. She has special interest in rural health care, health disparities among socio-economic groups, suicide, violence and mental health. She was the first Black woman and the first physician under 40 to be elected to the American Medical Association board of trustees, and she’s served on boards including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Family Foundation Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Catholic Health Association, Morehouse School of Medicine and ConvaTec PLC. The boards she currently sits on include Kaiser Hospitals and Health Plan, Ascension Health Alliance, Computer Technology Systems, the American Heart Association and Southern Research. Her many honors include Kellogg National Fellow, Rockefeller Next Generation Leader and a MacArthur Genius Award Fellowship. She is a recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, the National Caring Award and the Papal honor Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from Pope Benedict XVI. In 2013, Reader’s Digest ranked her No. 22
on its 100 Most Trusted People in America list. Dr. Benjamin is a graduate of Xavier University, earned her MD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an MBA from Tulane University. She is the recipient of 30 honorary degrees.
Lifetime Achievement Jim Hudson
Jim Hudson is co-founder and chairman emeritus of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. A product of Huntsville public schools, the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Hudson worked for his family’s foundry business until it was sold, and then he started the company Research Genetics, which played a key role in the Human Genome Project. After he sold Research Genetics in 2000, Hudson teamed with the late Lonnie McMillan to create an institute that would leverage discovery-based research from academia into products and services to commercialize by entrepreneurs and start-up companies. That would become HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology a few years later. Hudson has been a founding board member of BIO Alabama, the Partnership for Biotechnology Research and a number of biotech startups. Hudson is a member of the Alabama Business Hall of Fame, has been named entrepreneur champion by the Women’s Business Center of North Alabama and is a recipient of a special council legacy award from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Alabama Innovation lifetime achievement award from the Economic
Development Partnership of Alabama. A pilot during the Vietnam War, Hudson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the highest honor awarded to a military aviator. He and his wife, Lynn, live in Huntsville.
Lifetime Achievement Dr. Jesse Lewis Sr.
Dr. Jesse Lewis Sr. is publisher emeritus of The Birmingham Times, the newspaper he founded in 1963 in the midst of the Civil Rights struggle in Birmingham, and chairman of Agency 54. Born in Northport, Lewis opened one of the first Black-owned public relations and advertising agencies in the country in 1954. At that agency, one of his first clients was the Coca-Cola Beverage Co. Lewis’ other business ventures, 17 in all, have included real estate, music publishing, TV stations, grocery stores and a golf course. He was president of Lawson State Community College from 1978 until 1987. Lewis has been inducted into the University of Alabama’s Communication Hall of Fame, the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame and the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame. He also is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Vulcan Park Foundation. Lewis, whose memoir, “One Man’s Opinion: We Can Do This Together,” was published in 2020, has five degrees, including from Miles College, Troy State University and Atlanta University, now Clark Atlanta University, where he earned a doctorate in education. He and his wife, Dr. Brenda Lewis, live in the Smithfield neighborhood of Birmingham. Lewis, who still goes into work at his office at the Jesse J. Lewis Jr. Tech Center (named after his son), recently celebrated his 100th birthday. In a story in the Birmingham Times commemorating his birthday, former Birmingham Mayor Dr. Richard Arrington said Lewis has been one of the most consequential figures in Birmingham’s history. (Photo by Marika N. Johnson/The Birmingham Times)
THE VENUE MAKES THE EVENT
The importance of site selection in organizing corporate events
By NANCY MANN JACKSON
Mobile-based ship manufacturer Austal USA hosts ceremonial ship christening events before each newly constructed ship sets sail. Traditionally, the company has held these events at a waterside hotel. But last spring, Jessica Wofford, manager of events and protocol at Austal USA, moved the company’s
ship christening event to the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico, located in Mobile across the river from Austal headquarters.
“The museum not only offers an immersive and educational experience, focused on the area’s maritime heritage, but also you could look across the water and see the Austal logo and all the ships
lit up,” Wofford says. “It made for a really special and unique event.”
Professional event planners agree that selecting the right venue for a business event can be crucial for accomplishing the intended goals.
“The venue is foundational to the success of any corporate meeting or event,” says Jill Harris, global accounts manager
at HelmsBriscoe, a site selection and meeting placement provider. “A carefully chosen venue not only aligns with the purpose of the gathering but enhances its outcomes. For instance, the setting for a sales award celebration will differ significantly from that of a software training session or a board meeting. Selecting the right venue is about more than just the space — it’s about setting the tone for achieving your goals.”
WHY THE VENUE MATTERS
The location can have an outsized impact on the outcome of a business gathering, experts say.
If the venue is not easily accessible or doesn’t have available parking or transportation, for example, attendees may not even get there. If the venue doesn’t offer needed technology, attendees may not be able to see or hear important presentations. And if the appropriate food and beverage offerings aren’t available, attendees are likely to be distracted and unhappy — or leave early.
For example, Harris worked with a
professional association that had been holding its annual conference at a facility with limited dining options. Association leadership noticed that attendees often skipped afternoon sessions because of inconvenient lunch arrangements. To solve the problem, Harris worked with the group to move its conference to a venue connected to a mall with a food court. “This change solved the issue of attendees skipping afternoon sessions, keeping participants engaged throughout the day,” she says.
Beyond the practical aspects of providing for the group’s needs, a venue can also significantly affect the event’s intangible outcomes. The right views, the right furniture and the right ambiance can inspire attendees to feel what organizers want them to feel or do what leaders want them to do. “Getting people together in a venue that will help provide them with a new perspective or an opportunity to think outside the box can make a big difference in the outcome of your event,” Wofford says.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT VENUE
To select the right location for any upcoming corporate meeting or event, the first step is to determine the goals of the gathering. Think about how many people will be attending and what you want to accomplish by holding the event. Harris recommends asking questions such as:
• What are the goals of the gathering?
• Who are the attendees, and what are their priorities? Will they bring guests or children?
• Is there a preferred location — such as proximity to a major airport or within driving distance for participants?
• Are there specific agenda or logistical requirements, such as hotel rooms, audiovisual support, catering or parking?
• What is the budget? Will attendees or the organization cover expenses?
• Will there be free time? If so, what activities or attractions might the group enjoy?
After clearly establishing these factors, an event planner can more efficiently focus on identifying venues that will fit the group’s needs and goals. With the specific
“
A carefully chosen venue not only aligns with the purpose of the gathering but enhances its outcomes. For instance, the setting for a sales award celebration will differ significantly from that of a software training session or a board meeting. Selecting the right venue is about more than just the space — it’s about setting the tone for achieving your goals.”
— Jill Harris, global accounts manager at HelmsBriscoe
“
Getting people together in a venue that will help provide them with a new perspective or an opportunity to think outside the box can make a big difference in the outcome of your event.”
— Jessica Wofford, manager of events and protocol at Austal USA
event requirements in mind, Wofford recommends considering a variety of different types of venues that may make your event sparkle.
“In corporate America, we often spend a lot of time in hotel ballrooms, but there are so many other unique and interesting places to bring people together,” Wofford says. She has often hosted events in suites at sporting venues, co-working spaces, rooftops and vacant floors of buildings.
Local convention and visitor bureaus can often provide ideas for potential venues, but Wofford has had success by getting even more creative. When planning events in unfamiliar destinations, she recommends going to social media and reviewing city hashtags in the destination city. “See what places people are posting about or where they’re posting from,” Wofford says. “I’ve contacted strangers through social media to ask about the spaces in their photos, and that often opens doors to new venues and experiences.”
For example, Wofford once used the vacant 34th floor of the RSA Tower in downtown Mobile for a nonprofit organization’s event to gather investors in a planned downtown redevelopment project. “It was perfect because you could see the property through the windows, and we brought in an artist who used the window scape to create a rendering of what the group wanted the development to look like,” she says. “The venue allowed the gathering to bring the whole project to life.”
When you’ve narrowed down the venue options, Harris recommends going in person to preview the site. It’s difficult to have a true understanding of a venue, its surroundings and its opportunities with-
out actually visiting. Making a site visit “will ensure you are making best use of all of the opportunities available and you’ll also have confidence during continued planning,” Harris says.
Those who are new to event planning or need to create an event in a short time frame may benefit from the services of an outsourced firm, such as HelmsBriscoe. “Partnering with a professional like me
can be the most efficient way to find the right venue,” Harris says. “My services come at no cost to the end user, and I have access to an extensive network and resources that allow me to source multiple options quickly, complete with availability, features and pricing.”
Nancy Mann Jackson is a Madison-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama
A MUST-SEE ‘VIEW.
When was the last time you checked out the “view” at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza in Mobile? Conveniently located in downtown Mobile, the perfect setting for meetings, conferences and business travel is refreshed and ready for your arrival.
Alabama’s Largest Meeting Facilities
Ranked by total square footage of meeting space. Source: Business Alabama survey and facility websites.
compiled by ERICA JOINER WEST
1 Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center 1 S. Water St. Mobile, AL 36602 251-208-2100 asmglobalmobile.com
2 Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. Birmingham, AL 35203 205-458-8400 bjcc.org
3 Von Braun Center 700 Monroe St. Huntsville, AL 35801 256-551-1953 vonbrauncenter.com
4 Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center 201 Tallapoosa St. Montgomery, AL 36104 334-481-5000 marriott.com 100,000 sq. ft. meeting and convention space; 1,800-seat Performing Arts Center.
5 Foley Event Center 1001 E. Pride Blvd. Foley, AL 36535 251-970-3042 foleysportstourism.com 90,000+ total sq. ft., 55,000 sq. ft. contiguous space plus 3 smaller meeting rooms.
6 Hoover Met Complex 5508 Stadium Trace Pkwy. Hoover, AL 35244 205-739-6400 hoovermetcomplex.com
7 Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center 1314 Shocco Springs Rd. Talladega, AL 35160 256-761-1100 shocco.org
8 Perdido Beach Resort 27200 Perdido Beach Blvd. Orange Beach, AL 36561 251-981-9811 perdidobeachresort.com
83,000 sq. ft. of continuous space; 4,000+ parking spaces; event lawn area; access to Hoover Met Stadium; concourse and banquet rooms; equipped to handle sporting events, concerts, trade shows.
sq. ft. on 800 acres including chapel, meeting rooms, lodges and classrooms.
42,996 sq. ft. total of meeting space, including ballroom and meeting rooms that accommodate 25 to 900; outdoor space available.
9 Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza 64 S. Water St. Mobile, AL 36602 251-438-4000 marriott.com 39,500 sq. ft.
10 Fox Sports 1 Dome at International Motorsports Hall of Fame P.O. Box 1018 Talladega, AL 35161 256-362-5002 motorsportshalloffame.com
10 Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa One Grand Blvd. Point Clear, AL 36564 251-928-9201 grand1847.com
37,000 sq. ft. total; 1,500 for dinner setting and 2,500 for seminar setting; 30x50 stage 5 ft. high; wired for live TV production; dressing rooms; holding kitchen; 12 ft. loading doors.
37,000 sq. ft. total; banquet hall 7,000 sq. ft.; 30,000-sq.-ft. trade show/convention services (interchangeable floor) arena can seat 3,000.
13 Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum 6030 Barber Motorsports Pkwy. Birmingham, AL 35094 205-699-7275 barbermuseum.org 36,000 sq. ft., with five meeting rooms and banquet seating for 750; motorcycle museum with motorsports track view; theater; motorsports facility and track. Amenities include presentation theater, parking.
14 Renaissance Shoals Resort & Spa 10 Hightower Place Florence, AL 35630 256-246-3600 renshoals.com 34,000 sq. ft. including 17 event rooms, plus outdoor space available.
15 Garrett Coliseum 1555 Federal Dr. Montgomery, AL 36107 334-356-6866 thegarrettcoliseum.com Coliseum floor space is approximately 33,000 sq. ft.; fixed seating capacity is 8,529, with up to 2,000 additional floor seats. Smaller meeting rooms available. Ed Teague Arena is 7,800 sq. ft.
16 Lodge at Gulf State Park 21196 E. Beach Blvd. Gulf Shores, AL 36542
251-540-4000 lodgeatgulfstatepark.com 30,000 sq. ft., with the largest room being 12,000 square feet, capacity of 800.
16 Bryant Conference Center 240 Paul Bryant Dr. Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 205-348-8600 bcc.ua.edu 30,000 sq. ft.; Sellers Auditorium, at 10,044 sq. ft., seats 1,000 theater style, up to 640 for banquets or 504 for classroom. Classrooms, board rooms, prefunction space.
18 University of South Alabama Mitchell Center 5950 Old Shell Rd. Mobile, AL 36688 251-461-1632 southalabama.edu
19 Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa 26 N. Royal St. Mobile, AL 36602 251-338-2000 marriott.com
20 Daphne Civic Center 2603 Hwy. 98 Daphne, AL 36526 251-626-5300 daphneal.com
21 Florentine Building 2101 2nd Ave. N. Birmingham, AL 35203 205-503-4470 florentinebuilding.com
25 Bessemer Civic Center 1130 9th Ave. SW Bessemer, AL 35022
26 Orange Beach Event Center 4671 Wharf Pkwy. Orange Beach AL 36561
bessemeral.org
sq. ft. total, including 3 meeting rooms, Grand Globe Lobby, John Counts Room and Arena floor (18,080 sq. ft.); concourse available for exhibitors.
total sq. ft.; exhibit hall: 11,800 sq. ft.;
Shaped like a ship, the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico offers unexpected spaces, fascinating exhibits and gorgeous waterfront views.
COOL MEETING VENUES
Alabama offers loads of choices to make your meeting memorable
By NANCY R. RANDALL
You are in charge of finding the next venue for your company’s annual customer meet-up. This year attendees may bring their families along.
The last event was held at the Boring Big Box Hotel, whose décor was an orchestra of beige, off-beige and off-offbeige hues. The food and amenities did not hit a high note either.
Where to go from here?
HEAD SOUTH TO MOBILE
Consider the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico for your next corporate event. The Mobile-based museum, formerly known as GulfQuest, is billed as “the only museum in the world dedicated to the rich history and traditions of the Gulf of Mexico.”
According to its website, the museum features more than 80 immersive exhibits on eight “decks” covering a variety of maritime topics such as famous
shipwrecks, the Atlantic slave trade and catastrophic hurricanes. Plus, attendees can use the many museum balconies to view the Port of Mobile activities on the Mobile River.
“Our views are very interesting,” says Karen Poth, the museum’s executive director. “We are right on the port. Huge container ships go by all day long. And when we have kids [outside], the tugboats will honk their horns as they go by and show off by doing doughnuts.”
With about 60,000 square feet, the museum offers meeting attendees and their families plenty to do. “There are a lot of buttons to push — it’s very interactive,” Poth says.
Attendees have full access to the museum, according to Jason Ladner, special events coordinator. Companies may choose to incorporate museum visits into the day’s events or allow visits during meeting breaks. “It’s where entertainment and business are tied into one event,”
Ladner says.
Outside, it is hard to miss the building shaped like a ship. Once inside, that unusual vibe continues. “The rotunda rises three levels, which makes a big splash at the entrance,” Ladner notes.
The venue accommodates 20-500 people. Different room sizes and configurations are available. Holding your event on the riverbank is possible, too.
The Maritime Museum has hosted a variety of corporate clients, from maritime and aerospace to health care, real estate and more.
Even companies with a presence in Mobile have booked the museum. “They may have customers in Mobile but no office. It’s a lot cheaper than going from place to place to visit each customer individually,” Ladner explains.
The museum is conveniently located downtown, right off I-10, and is centrally situated between Florida and Mississippi. If your event is slated for 2026, you
can celebrate a native son of the Gulf. The museum will open a Jimmy Buffett Experience next year, Poth says. The new exhibit will be an immersive concert-type experience with surround video.
“Jimmy Buffett’s parents lived across the bay from us [the museum], and his grandfather piloted a ship on this river. That’s what Buffett’s song ‘Son of a Son of a Sailor’ is about,” Poth explains. “This exhibit should get everybody’s attention who is a Parrot Head.”
Other things to know:
Catering: In-house is available, but companies may bring in their favorite caterer.
Parking: Free in the adjacent lot shared with the cruise line terminal.
AV: On-site audiovisual equipment is available.
HEAD NORTH TO HUNTSVILLE
If you are looking for an out-of-this-world meeting venue, take off for Huntsville in North Alabama. The city is home to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
The sprawling venue “is the most comprehensive U.S. manned spaceflight hardware museum in the world,” according to its website. It features a large rocket and space hardware collection housed both indoor and out. The center is the official NASA Visitor Center for the Marshall Space Flight Center.
“If you want a place that people remember, this would be it,” says Patricia Ammons, the center’s senior director of PR and media relations. “It never fails to impress people. It is just fascinating.”
Particularly impressive, Ammons says, is the Saturn V Hall. Longer than a football field, it houses the 363-foot Saturn V moon rocket and other Apollo era artifacts. The Saturn V is one of only three worldwide and the only Saturn V named a National Historic Landmark.
The Saturn V Hall has been used for various events, from trade shows with vendor booths to corporate dinners, Ammons says. Reception capacity is a thousand people.
The Rocket Center’s special events coordinator remembered an especially emotional day at the Saturn V Hall:
“On a site visit, a recently engaged
bride brought her fiancé to the Rocket Center as a potential wedding venue. As soon as they walked into the Saturn V Hall, the fiancé saw the huge Saturn V Rocket and actually had to sit down. He was so taken with Saturn V, he broke down in tears. It is truly breathtaking to walk up this sweeping staircase and then be greeted by an authentic Saturn V Apollo moon rocket!”
The Space Camp Operations Center is also available for booking, Ammons notes. However, summer is not a good time for corporate events as that venue hosts up to a thousand kids per week during Space Camp, she says.
Other available settings range from the 350-seat National Geographic Theater to the newly renovated Rocket Park, which
accommodates a thousand.
The Rocket Center has hosted a number of industries, from aerospace and defense to health care and tourism. “We do a lot of opening receptions for events to wow attendees who come in for a ‘fam tour’ to learn what Huntsville has to offer,” Ammons says.
Other things to know:
Catering: Catering is provided by the Rocket Center. Outside caterers are not allowed.
Parking: Free at the site and includes spaces for RVs and buses.
AV: Audiovisual equipment is available for use in indoor spaces. Clients needing AV for outdoor use must supply it themselves.
The special events hall at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center brings visitors to the edge of space exploration.
STAY CENTRAL IN BIRMINGHAM
Need a more central location for your company’s event? Birmingham is home to the McWane Science Center, a science museum and research center downtown. The McWane Science Center Collection includes some half-million specimens and artifacts concerning the natural history of Alabama, according to the center’s website. On the lower level, the World of Water aquariums dive into Earth’s marine and freshwater life via four display tanks. Levels one through three offer interactive science exhibits, information on Alabama
dinosaur fossils, bits about birds and bugs, and more.
“McWane Science Center isn’t your average meeting space — it’s an experience!” says Annie Strong, creative director for marketing and communications. “What really sets us apart is our ability to transform your meeting into something extraordinary. Imagine letting your guests rediscover their inner child in our museum,” Strong says.
McWane can accommodate groups of various sizes, from 25 to 2,500 guests. Its Special Event Center can host up to 250, Strong says. Flexible table configurations are available.
“Whether you’re planning a laid-back team-building session or a family day for employees and their loved ones, our venue adapts to your vision,” Strong explains.
For example, last year’s Mercedes-Benz family day focused on dinosaurs. “We pulled out all the stops with decorations, customized our science programs to fit the Jurassic vibe, and even offered attendees
MORE COOL VENUE CHOICES
American Village, in Montevallo, allows attendees to step back into America’s history. With more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, groups of up to 500 can enjoy the Liberty Hall or tour the grounds, where interpreters share pivotal moments in the country’s beginnings.
Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, in Birmingham, offers 36,000 square feet and a vast collection of motorcycles, as well as views of the motorsports track. Groups of up to 750 can enjoy five meeting rooms.
Birmingham Zoo offers space for corporate parties, sit-down dinners, meetings and picnics. Groups up to 2,500 can be accommodated. In addition, the zoo offers on-site catering.
Hoover Met Complex, in Hoover, has 83,000 square feet, with more than 4,000 parking spaces and includes the Hoover Met Stadium, site of baseball, soccer, volleyball and other sports. This venue
the chance to watch a dinosaur documentary in our IMAX dome theater,” she says.
STEM-focused industries or nonprofits, especially those aimed at children, are many of McWane’s clients, according to Strong. “With a science museum as the backdrop, our space naturally attracts those who value creativity and innovation.”
Corporate clients have included the Alabama STEM Council, the Society of Women Engineers and United Way, among others.
It’s the “uniqueness” of McWane that makes it memorable and results in repeat customers, Strong says. “Once people experience how much fun and flexibility we bring to the table, they’re hooked.”
Other things to know:
Catering: No in-house catering except for on-site Bean Sprouts Café (only breakfast and lunch); outside caterers are allowed.
Parking: Attached parking deck; parking is included in booked event pricing. AV: AV is included for every group booked; electrical outlets available on McWane’s outdoor plaza.
Nancy Randall is a Tuscaloosa-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
is equipped to handle business and trade events, as well as sporting events and concerts.
Lodge at Gulf State Park, in Gulf Shores, can host up to 800 people in its 30,000 square feet of space. Nestled along Alabama’s sandy shore, the lodge has 350 guest rooms available, as well as several dining options onsite and within the Gulf State Park. Many of the other state parks can accommodate meetings and conferences, as well.
McWane Science Center lets guests enjoy everything from dinosaurs to bird and bugs and more.
Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.
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ATTENTION UA ALUMNI
WE NEED YOUR HELP
The BAMA Real Estate Network (BREN), is the home to thousands of alumni from The University of Alabama working directly and indirectly within the nationwide real estate industry. Through its programs, BREN promotes a spirit of fellowship, collaboration, and support among the alumni, provides a continuous flow of information on the progress and needs of UA’s real estate program, the nation’s largest, and encourages united alumni support for its advancement.
Alumni, your help is needed to complete our online directory by completing your profile online.
Creating your profile online at acreccap.com/bren/directory is the only action item needed at this time. There are no dues. The ultimate goal is to form local chapters (similar to typical alumni chapter) in markets where there is energy and passion to do so. The first requirement to establish a local chapter is that 50% of alumni from that area must register their BREN profile.
Register now at acreccap.com/bren/directory or scan here to complete your profile
If you would like to serve in a leadership role in your local market, please email gglaze@ua.edu.
to register or update your profile
TIMBER TACTICS
Conservation Resources works to keep trees and soil healthy to increase timber yields
By EMMETT BURNETT
Conservation Resources, a New Hampshire-based investment firm, has launched a new program for its Alabama timberland. With 15,000 acres of Alabama’s trees in its domain, CR is implementing a program for its holdings that it terms “regenified” management.
Regenified is a practice and outcomebased land verification and certification program driving the growth of regenerative agriculture and the adoption of certified products. CR was the first institutional timberland manager to have properties certified by the program.
The firm is also perusing the 100 Million Acres Initiative. Founded by partners that include Conservation Resources,
the program aims at transitioning 100 million acres — the approximate size of California — nationwide to regenerative management practices. In conjunction with the 10-year initiative, CR pledges to transition 100% of its managed lands to regenerative practices.
The company has evolved since its 2004 start up and continues to evolve.
“About six years ago, we started looking at agriculture in general,” recalls Paul Young, cofounder and CEO of CR. “One of the things we realized is the unintended consequences of agriculture processes.” A consensus was reached — there had to be a better way to grow crops, including those with bark.
Young notes, “A lot of our former
‘‘
But I thought, wow, we can take these practices of regenerative improvement and apply it to the forest industry. Trees grow in soil just like crops do. The healthier the soil the better the trees will be.”
— PAUL YOUNG, COFOUNDER AND CEO, CONSERVATION RESOURCES
methods of tree growth management affected soil health. Fertilizer run-off and water drainage effected the productivity of soil life.”
Young contacted Understanding Ag, a regenerative agricultural consulting company. “We started to look at ways we could improve the soil,” he says. It led to the new group/certification process named Regenified.
Originally, Regenified focused on agriculture and its effects on soil. “But I thought, wow, we can take these practices of regenerative improvement and apply it to the forest industry,” Young adds. “Trees grow in soil just like crops do. The healthier the soil the better the trees will be.”
Regenified involves several steps for certification.
“It’s a mindset,” says Young. “Timber management must no longer focus exclusively on growing trees as fast as we can. Instead, now we focus on how we can improve soil health.”
The program focuses on restoring the health of the entire ecosystem. It encourages biodiversity, soil health, water conservation and climate resilience.
Practices used in regenerative farming include minimizing soil disturbances, maintaining living roots, and keeping and building biodiversity.
Young adds, “Timber owners need to know how we can increase the life on the ground, underground and above it. How can we improve the soil’s biodiversity. If we are able to do that, trees by default will grow better.”
Nationally, CR has invested in 1,088,000 acres since its 2004 founding and currently manages 21 properties of timberland and farmland in 18 states, including Alabama.
“We have worked with CR since 2000,” says Russell Autrey, vice president of forestry services at Larson & McGowin. In addition to Mobile, the company has offices in Birmingham, Greenville and Jackson and operates on 900,000 acres in seven U.S. states and several countries.
“In Alabama, we work with CR in our forest management, including our Central Alabama’s Cottonseed Timberlands,” Autrey says. “CR has a unique perspective and innovative methods based on
‘‘In Alabama, we work with CR in our forest management, including our Central Alabama’s Cottonseed Timberlands. CR has a unique perspective and innovative methods based on agriculture and adopted in the forestry programs.”
gered species only located in Alabama and Georgia in the world.”
The company’s current acreage footprint in Alabama, all forestry, no farmland, includes Larson & McGowin’s Cottonseed property totaling 11,867 acres, plus 7,271 acres in Butler, Conecuh, Crenshaw and Monroe counties and 4,596 acres in Clay, Coosa and Talladega counties. Predominant products include chip-n-saw and softwood pulpwood. The year 2023 resulted in more than 40,000 tons being produced from the property.
Southbound in Barbour County has 4,192 acres and predominant products include softwood pulpwood and softwood sawtimber. 2023 resulted in more than 30,000 tons being produced from the property.
Young notes the difference between today’s timber practices and those of the past. He stresses nurturing the soil and everything else will fall in place. “We need to be mindful of disturbances of the soil,” he says. “If we can, let’s lessen fertilizing and try to reduce herbicides.”
“We are inoculating all of our seedlings when we plant them, with microscopic fungi,” Young adds. “If we can reestablish underground these tiny fungi networks, we are basically doubling or tripling the root system where nutrients can be treated far more efficiently. They can absorb phosphates and more water, which increases organic matter. “
Larson & McGowan’s Autrey agrees. “Their seedling inoculations to restore natural biome of our soils is one of many examples I can give you about CR’s unique methods,” he says.
& MCGOWIN
— RUSSELL AUTREY, VICE PRESIDENT OF FORESTRY SERVICES AT LARSON
agriculture and adopted in the forestry programs.”
Speaking about CR’s local forestlands, Young notes, “We love Alabama. It is a great state to work. The markets are strong and its timber industry is well run. It is a unique state to do conservation practices in.”
On a similar ecological side note, he continues, “In working with Alabama, we fostered about 10% of habitat of the red hill salamander, which is an endan-
From the first, CR says it has worked with the “vision that environmental and financial value are not only complementary, but mutually accretive.”
“It’s a cascading event,” Young says. “Improve the biodiversity underground first. Then it improves the trees.
“We ask ourselves, how can we make the forests we manage for our investors more resilient and more valuable? We believe these new approaches we are moving to will administer our timberland and the environment in the right way.”
Emmett Burnett is a Satsuma-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
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Avariety of industry sectors thrive in Coffee, Dale and Geneva counties, including aerospace, agriculture, food distribution, advanced manufacturing and automotive. The region is also home to Fort Novosel, the primary training location for U.S. Army Aviation and one of the largest employers in the state.
Elba, the county seat of Coffee County, has recently welcomed several new businesses, including DJ’s Peanut Patch RV Park, Lee Milliner State Farm Insurance Agency, All In Credit Union, Kaye Ellis Realty, Elba Florist and Gifts, and Ms. Linda’s Restaurant.
Kansas-based Sunbelt Solomon, one of the world’s largest providers of commercial and industrial electrical distribution equipment, opened a 23,000-square-foot service center in Elba in October 2023. The company invested $5 million in the new facility.
The city of Enterprise received a $5.7 million grant through Alabama’s Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS) program that will be used to purchase nearly 300 acres to expand and develop industry-ready sites at the Enterprise Commerce Park.
The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs opened the Command Sgt. Bennie G. Adkins Veterans Home in Enterprise. The 182,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility can house 174 residents.
Enterprise recently celebrated the grand opening of its new Recreation and Aquatics Center. The 70,000-square-foot facility is the largest municipal facility in the city.
In Dale County, Averitt Express, a freight transportation company, will make use of a $180,000 Community Development Block Grant to relocate its service center and warehouse. The funds will be used to resurface and make improvements to Dale County Road for better access to the new facility, which is expected to bring 20 new jobs to the area.
Ag-tech startup company SetaTech, a graduate of HudsonAlpha’s Gener8tor program, announced it will operate a manufacturing site in Ozark. The company turns nutrients from natural hair and chicken feathers into eco-friendly products that can be used in agriculture, as deer
Coffee, Dale & Geneva Counties
by KATHERINE MacGILVRAY
deterrents and for cleaning up oil spills.
Ozark Corporate Park received $221,000 in funding through Growing Alabama with Pea River Electric Cooperative as the tax credit donor. The funds were used for clearing and re-seeding the property and adding lighting and signage.
Plans to revitalize the Ozark Civic Center, including lighting and mechanical upgrades and sound and stage improvements, have been finalized. The project, valued at more than $1.2 million, is a partnership between the city of Ozark and Alabama Power.
Last year, Ozark’s historic Holman House opened a military museum that honors the legacy of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, the namesake of Fort Novosel, and the legacy of the Warrant Officer Corps.
The Geneva County Commission received $1 million in state funds for a new multipurpose agricultural complex. The approximately 50,000-square-foot AgPlex will be built on the property of the current Geneva County Farm Center and will be used by local schools, the Cattlemen’s Association, the Auburn Extension office and for agricultural events. The
facility is expected to be complete this fall.
The city of Geneva also celebrated the opening of a new splash pad in May 2024. It is the first phase of a project that plans to bring an amphitheater, playground, pavilions, walking trails and Wi-Fi to downtown Geneva.
Regional industry is fueled in part by a variety of workforce development programs and high school dual enrollment opportunities offered by Enterprise State Community College; the Alabama Aviation Center, a unit of ESCC; and Wallace Community College - Dothan.
The city of Enterprise and ESCC broke ground on a $10 million workforce development center. The new facility will house the college’s mechatronics, automotive and welding programs. Construction is expected to be complete by fall 2025.
In response to growing demand, ESCC has added a nursing bridge program, a three-semester practical nursing program and an associate degree nursing mobility program, as well as new dual enrollment programs in welding and automotive technology.
Through the Alabama Community College System’s Innovation Center Skills
Coffee County Dale County
Geneva County
Fort Novosel.
ACADEMICS
HEALTH SCIENCES
CAREER TECHNICAL
ADULT EDUCATION
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Total Alabama Population: 5,108,468
Jefferson County: 662,895
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
program. The college also has partnerships with several school systems in the region to train high school students for highdemand careers in aviation maintenance,
Katherine MacGilvray is a Huntsville-based Business Alabama
Economic Engines
FORT NOVOSEL
Fort Rucker was redesignated Fort Novosel in April 2023. The fort covers about 63,000 acres; much of the main post is located in Dale County, while the remaining government-owned and leased acreage is in Coffee, Geneva and Houston counties.
As the primary training location for U.S. Army Aviation, Fort Novosel is one of the largest employers in Alabama and supports more than 20,000 service members, military family members, civilians and contract employees. The installation creates an annual economic impact of around $2 billion.
The garrison command manages the daily operations of the Fort Novosel community, while the Aviation Branch Headquarters develops, coordinates and
OCTOBER 2024: Enterprise receives a $5.7 million grant through Alabama’s Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS) program that will support purchasing nearly 300 acres to expand and develop industryready sites at the Enterprise Commerce Park.
which makes agricultural
deploys aviation operations, training and doctrine.
The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence also hosts various Army tenant organizations.
AEROSPACE & AVIATION
Dale County is home to 25% of South Alabama’s aerospace and aviation industry. Companies include DynaLantic, CATI, General Dynamics, Concord, FlightSafety, Brauer Aerospace, Sunshine Aeronautical, Globalstar Aerospace and Commercial Jet.
M1 Support Services provides maintenance and logistics support services for aircraft assigned to the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force at Fort Novosel.
The United Aero Group (UAG) Alabama facility, in Enterprise, specializes in maintaining and repairing a wide variety of helicopters from major manufacturers like Bell, Boeing and Sikorsky.
The industry also is supported by Ala-
SEPTEMBER 2024: The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs opens the Command Sgt. Bennie G. Adkins Veterans Home in Enterprise, with space for 174 residents.
SEPTEMBER 2024: Dale County Schools’ Bridge Academy breaks ground on a nearly $1 million expansion project.
bama Aviation College, part of Enterprise State Community College, that offers programs in aircraft maintenance and avionics technology and provides a steady stream of skilled workers.
AGRICULTURE & FOOD PRODUCTION
One of Coffee County’s leading industries is poultry supply. Wayne-Sanderson Farms and Pilgrim’s Pride, both among the largest poultry producers in the country, operate facilities in Enterprise and are leading employers in the area. Wayne-Sanderson Farms also operates a large poultry feed mill in Dale County.
According to the Alabama Peanut Producers Association, approximately half the peanuts in the country are grown within 100 miles of the region. The peanut processing firm Sessions Company Inc. is one of the oldest continuing businesses in Coffee County, and Olam Peanut Shelling Co., in Samson, is one of the top ten major employers in Geneva County.
The school serves nearly 200 students and focuses on career tech programs.
SEPTEMBER 2024: Ozark City Schools and Troy University sign an agreement that introduces an Accelerated Dual Enrollment Program for high school students who are interested in a career in education.
AUGUST 2024: The City of Enterprise and Enterprise State Community College break ground on a $10 million workforce development center that will house ESCC’s mechatronics, automotive and welding programs. Construction is expected to be completed by Fall 2025.
Sunbelt Solomon Services opened its Elba location to provide transformer repair and recycling.
SetaTech,
biostimulants, opened its Ozark location in November 2024.
Enterprise Commerce Park received a $5.7 million Site Evaluation and Economic Strategy grant to expand.
Geneva County also is known for food warehousing and distribution. Ben E. Keith, one of the largest family-owned distribution companies in the country, has its regional headquarters and two warehouse facilities in Elba and New Brockton. And wholesale restaurant food distributor Sysco operates its Sysco Gulf Coast facility in Geneva.
Geneva County is one of the top cotton-producing counties in Alabama, and Sowega Cotton operates a gin and
warehouse in Hartford.
AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIERS AND METAL FABRICATION
Hwaseung Automotive Alabama, a top employer in Coffee County, is one of several automotive parts manufacturers in the region, along with INZI Controls of Alabama.
Truck trailer manufacturers Dorsey Trailers and Utility Trailers Inc. in Coffee County and Trailer World in Dale Coun-
BUSINESS BRIEFS
AUGUST 2024: The Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Alabama and Ozark City Schools announce plans to turn the school system’s former central office building into a teen center that will focus on workforce development and will include a podcast studio, music studio and driving simulator. It is expected to open this summer.
JULY 2024: Dale County receives a $180,000 Community Development Block Grant to support construction of a 21,200-square-foot building near Midland City for Averitt Express, a freight transportation company. The new hub is expected to bring 20 new jobs to the area and will include a service center and warehouse.
TAXES
PROPERTY TAX
Not including city or school millage COFFEE COUNTY: 10.5 mills
DALE COUNTY: 14 mills GENEVA COUNTY: 14.6 mills
STATE OF ALABAMA 6.5 mills
SALES TAX
COFFEE COUNTY: 1%
Cities within the county Elba: 4%
Enterprise: 4%
Kinston: 4%
New Brockton: 4%
DALE COUNTY: 2%
Cities within the county Ariton: 2%
Daleville: 4%
Grimes: 4%
Level Plains: 3%
Midland City: 3%
Napier Field: 3%
Newton: 3%
Ozark: 4%
Pinckard: 4%
GENEVA COUNTY: 2%
Cities within the county Black: 2%
Coffee Springs: 2%
Geneva: 3.5%
Hartford: 3%
Malvern: 2%
Samson: 3%
Slocomb: 3%
STATE OF ALABAMA: 4%
Source: Alabama Department of Revenue
JUNE 2024: Spectrum, a rural internet provider, announces the launch of Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services to more than 2,400 homes and small businesses in Geneva County and surrounding areas.
JUNE 2024: All In Credit Union breaks ground on a 138,000-square-foot expansion
of its operations center in Daleville. The expansion will more than triple the current facility’s size.
MAY 2024: The State of Alabama awards the Geneva County Commission $1 million for a new multipurpose agricultural complex.
Fort Novosel’s headquarters building.
ty are also among their respective county’s top ten manufacturers.
Aluminum product manufacturers
Reliable Ruskin Metal Products, Air Performance and Outdoor Aluminum rank in the top ten of Geneva County industrial employers. ALFAB Inc. operates a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Coffee County.
The metal fabrication industry in Dale County is led by companies like Motobilt/Anvil, E&H Steel and Quality Fab Inc. MAHA USA, another top employer, specializes in manufacturing vehicle lifts.
Also in Dale County, Motobilt/Anvil manufactures off-road parts for Jeeps, and Michelin North America operates a tire factory.
HEALTH CARE
Hospitals rank among the top ten employers for each county.
Medical Center Enterprise operates a 131-bed acute care facility with 412 employees.
The Wiregrass Medical Center, in Geneva County, consists of a 67-bed acute care hospital and the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center and Nursing Home with 96 beds and a Senior Care Unit with 16 beds. The nursing home employs 375 people.
Dale Medical Center has 343 employees at its 89-bed acute care facility.
In September 2024, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs officially opened the Command Sgt. Bennie G. Adkins Veterans Home in Enterprise. The 182,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility can house 174 residents and features private rooms and amenities that include a sports bar, library, chapel and a fleet of buses.
Largest Industrial Employers
COFFEE COUNTY
Wayne Farms | ENTERPRISE Poultry • 1,800 employees
Pilgrim’s Pride | ENTERPRISE Poultry • 650 employees
Wiregrass Construction | ARITON Asphalt • 150 employees
BUSINESS BRIEFS
APRIL 2024: Enterprise breaks ground on an $8 million Legacy Travel Center, a 24-hour facility for truck drivers. The travel center is expected to bring 30 jobs to the community.
MARCH 2024: Ag-tech startup company SetaTech, a graduate of HudsonAlpha’s Gener8tor program, announces it will
operate a manufacturing site in Ozark. The company turns nutrients from natural hair and chicken feathers into ecofriendly products that can be used in agriculture, as deer deterrents and for cleaning up oil spills.
General Dynamics Information Technology | DALE COUNTY IT/Aviation simulation • 113 employees
Motobilt / Anvil | OZARK Jeep parts / metal fabrication 97 employees
MARCH 2024: The Holman House, in Ozark, opens the U.S. Army Warrant Officer Museum, a joint effort between the U.S. Army Warrant Officer Career College and the city of Ozark.
FEBRUARY 2024: Pennsylvaniabased Ecore International, which converts reclaimed rubber, opens a new facility in Ozark.
OCTOBER 2023: Kansas-based Sunbelt Solomon Services, one of the world’s largest providers of commercial and industrial electrical distribution equipment, opens a $5 million service center in Elba.
Source: Economic developers
Health Care
MEDICAL CENTER ENTERPRISE
The 131-bed acute care facility in Enterprise offers a range of services — family medicine, general surgery, emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology, digital imaging including MRI, a rehab/swing bed unit, lung cancer screening, a sleep study lab and a range of medical specialties. Medical Center Enterprise also operates MCE Medical Group Cardiology and MCE Medical Group Surgery.
In 2023, the surgery department expanded its services by adding Level 1 and 2 spine surgeries, reducing the number of patients who have to travel outside the area for care. The MCE Medical Group Surgery also gained two general surgeons, bringing the total to three.
Also in 2023, the hospital completed a more than $1.5 million renovation of the interior and exterior of the building to enhance protection and improve aesthetics.
MCE is accredited by The Joint Commission, has been named a designated
lung cancer screening center and designated mammography imaging facility by the American College of Radiology, has been awarded the Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care and the Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement from Blue Cross and Blue Shield and its Sleep Disorders Center is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
DALE MEDICAL CENTER
Dale Medical Center has served Ozark and the surrounding area for more than 70 years. The 89-bed acute care facility’s services include internal medicine, family practice, cardiology, psychiatry, pediatrics, radiology, ENT, emergency medicine, orthopedic surgery, general and endoscopic surgery.
In March 2024, Wallace Community College-Dothan received a $2.9 million grant to establish the Wiregrass Center for Rural Healthcare Opportunities on the medical center campus. The grant, from the Alabama Community College System, is part of the Alabama Centers for Rural Healthcare Opportunity legislative appropriation.
The center will address a growing need for licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants and mental health technicians in the greater Dale County area by serving as a career and workforce development hub for these high-demand health care professions.
WIREGRASS MEDICAL CENTER
Wiregrass Medical Center is owned and operated by the Geneva County Healthcare Authority Inc. and consists of a 67bed acute care hospital and the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center and Nursing Home with 96 beds and a Senior Care Unit with 16 beds. The center also operates a swing bed facility.
In 2023, Wiregrass Medical Center was reclassified from an urban hospital to a rural hospital after the city of Geneva was designated as rural, based on U.S. Census Bureau criteria. The hospital is currently applying for critical access hospital conversion.
Last summer, Wiregrass Medical Center, Enterprise Community College and the Geneva Regional Technical Center announced a partnership that provides hands-on training for dual-enrolled high school students and college students, thanks to a $1.2 million grant from the Alabama Centers for Rural Healthcare Opportunity Grant Program. The funding will support renovating hospital spaces, securing training supplies, paying staff and continuing to build the program, which launched in the fall of 2024.
The exterior of Medical Center Enterprise underwent a renovation in 2023.
Dale Medical Center has 89 beds.
Movers & Shapers
WILLIAM E. COOPER is mayor of Enterprise. He holds undergraduate and master’s degrees from Alabama State University, an education specialist degree and a doctorate in humane letters from Selma University. Cooper is superintendent of the Enterprise Water Works Board and on the boards of the Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, Wiregrass Economic Development, the Alabama League of Municipalities, the National League of Cities, Organized Community Action Program and SARCOA. He is the immediate past board president of Southeast Gas, a member of the local AUSA, Fort Novosel Chapter and Friends of Fort Novosel and is director of music at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.
COL. (RETIRED) ROBERT C. DOERER is deputy to the commanding general of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Novosel. Doerer is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He also holds master’s degrees from the University of Central Michigan and the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy. Doerer served earlier on the Enterprise City School Board and continues to volunteer with various city projects.
MAJOR GEN. CLAIR A. GILL is the commanding general of the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Novosel, as well as the chief of the U.S. Army Aviation branch. A 30-year Army aviation officer and helicopter pilot, he is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is responsible for the training and development of more than 18,000 aviation warfighters annually and he leads all modernization efforts on behalf of the entire U.S. Army Aviation enterprise.
LISA AND TIM JOHNSON own TCJ Financial Corp., a real estate investment company that buys, renovates, leases and sells residential and commercial real estate. Lisa Johnson is a graduate of Auburn University at Montgomery and serves as first vice president of the Elba Chamber of Commerce. Tim Johnson is also a graduate of Auburn University at Montgomery and has served two terms as chairman of the Water and Electric Board of the city of Elba and worked with Elba’s Main Street Alabama presentation team and the city of Elba’s Alabama Cities of Excellence team.
TOM MADDOX has served as mayor of Elba since 2020. Prior to that, he served as the District 4 representative on the Elba City Council. He is also superintendent of the Water Works and Electric Board and has been a local business owner for approximately 45 years. Maddox earned a degree in music education from the University of Southern Mississippi. He sits on the boards of PowerSouth, the Elba Chamber of Commerce, the Wiregrass Economic Development Corp. and the Southeast Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission.
JOHN L. MITCHELL JR. is executive manager and vice president of Mitchell Nissan Inc. in Enterprise. He is chairman of the Wiregrass Economic Development Corp., chairman of the Enterprise Water Works Board and serves on the board for the Friends of Fort Novosel, the Automobile Dealers Association of Alabama and the executive committee of the National Automobile Dealers Association. Mitchell earned his degree in business management at the University of Southern Mississippi.
ROBERT RHOADES is president of Diamond -R- Electric, an electrical contracting firm that serves clients in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana. He currently serves as chairman of the Enterprise Chamber of Commerce board and holds positions on the Wallace Foundation board for Wallace Community College in Dothan, the Industrial Development Board for the city of Enterprise and the Wiregrass Economic Development Corp. The Elba native is a graduate of Enterprise State Community College, Auburn University and Wallace Community College – Dothan.
KELVIN SELDON is president and CEO of Advantage Consulting and Solutions LLC, which he co-founded in 2022. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, then worked as a system administrator and network technician before becoming a Department of Defense contractor. He serves on the advisory committees for Enterprise State Community College, Wallace Community College and Wake Tech Community College. He earned an associate degree in computer information systems from Enterprise State Community College and a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity from American Public University.
ADAM SHANKS is the owner and CEO of the Alabama Pecan Co. and Milky Moo’s Deli and Creamery. He is a board member for SpectraCare Health Systems and the Wiregrass Economic Development Corp. Shanks is a graduate of Auburn University at Montgomery, where he earned a degree in business management with a minor in business law. He also completed a summer internship in Washington D.C. for former Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2009.
JASON THRASH is vice president of engineering and operations and information technology for Wiregrass Electric Cooperative. The Enterprise native earned a degree in electrical engineering from the University of South Alabama and obtained his Alabama Professional Engineering license in 2015. He is also a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Business/NRECA’s management internship program. Thrash serves as vice chairman of the Wiregrass Economic Development Corp.
Higher Education
Enterprise State Community College’s Performing Arts Center is expected to open later this year.
ENTERPRISE STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE / ALABAMA AVIATION CENTER
Enterprise State Community College and the Alabama Aviation College (ACC), a unit of ESCC, offer academic transfer and technical degree programs for students as well as customized employee training solutions.
ESCC saw a 21% increase in enrollment for the Fall 2024 semester, the highest fall-to-fall percentage increase seen since the Enterprise campus merged with the Alabama Aviation College campus in Ozark in 2002.
In response to growing demand, the college has added a nursing bridge program, a three-semester practical nursing program and an associate degree nursing mobility program. New dual enrollment programs include welding and automotive technology.
In the fall of 2024, ESCC became home to the State Apiary Unity Diagnostic Lab, which it operates through a partnership with the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries. The school also built an apiary with bees and boxes provided by Auburn University’s Bee Lab. Through a new biology course sequence, students gain real-world experience running diagnostic tests and researching honeybee populations.
In the aviation field, students at AAC who are training for their A&P license can now take advantage of new eight-week mini term classes, allowing them to complete the program in less time.
Through the Skills for Success program offered through the Alabama Community College System’s Innovation Center, ESCC students and area high school students can participate in free industry-recognized non-credit training in areas including heavy equipment operation, mental health assistant, fiber optics and more.
In January 2024, ESCC celebrated the reopening of the James Douglas Brown Sr. Building after a $5 million renovation that included three updated aviation classrooms/labs, an updated CDL classroom and an aviation hangar.
ESCC also is set to open its first new facilities in 30 years. Construction began in 2023 on a new Performing Arts Center
Wallace Community College provides several courses in its automotive technology program.
that will feature a 600-seat theater and will house the college’s Fine Arts Division. And in August 2024, ESCC broke ground on a new Workforce Technology Center that will house the college’s welding, automotive technology, HVAC, plumbing and mechatronics programs.
WALLACE COMMUNITY COLLEGE - DOTHAN
WCCD celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2024. The school has campuses in Eufaula and Dothan and serves approximately 5,000 students each semester in academic, health sciences and career technical programs, adult education, workforce development training and continuing education. The college also offers dual enrollment courses for area high school students. The school’s general studies and nursing programs have the highest enrollment numbers.
In March 2024, WCCD received a $2.9 million grant from the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) to establish the Wiregrass Center for Rural Healthcare Opportunities at Dale Medical Center in Ozark. This collaborative initiative will address critical shortages in licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants and mental health technicians by offering on-site instruction, embedded certifications and direct pathways to employment with local health care providers.
WCCD is adding four new sports to its athletic program beginning in the fall of 2025. Men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s cross country and women’s flag football will join the college’s existing baseball and softball teams. With this expansion, 51 scholarships will be available across all athletic programs, giving student-athletes the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level while pursuing an education at WCCD.
WCCD’s Workforce Development division has partnered with Wiregrass area high schools to provide free career training programs through the ACCS Skills for Success initiative. These courses are designed to meet Alabama’s career readiness requirements for graduation while offering high school students career exploration opportunities. The hybrid training model combines online theoretical instruction with hands-on lab experiences either at the high schools or on WCCD campuses.
Community Development
COFFEE COUNTY
In Elba, the county seat, the Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Elba have been busy welcoming a slew of new businesses, including DJ’s Peanut Patch RV Park, Lee Milliner State Farm Insurance Agency, All In Credit Union, Kaye Ellis Realty, Elba Florist and Gifts and Ms. Linda’s Restaurant.
Kansas-based Sunbelt Solomon, one of the world’s largest providers of commercial and industrial electrical distribution equipment, opened a 23,000-square-foot service center in Elba in October 2023. The company invested a total of $5 million in the new facility.
And new businesses aren’t the only thing the Chamber has to celebrate. After a fire destroyed the historic Chamber of Commerce building in 2022, the organization has settled into a new downtown location.
Elba’s annual Let Freedom Ring Fourth of July celebration and Pumpkins on the Square both saw record attendance in 2024 with more than 4,000 attendees.
The city of Enterprise received a $5.7 million grant through Alabama’s Site Evaluation and Economic Development
Strategy (SEEDS) program that will support purchasing nearly 300 acres to expand and develop industry-ready sites at the Enterprise Commerce Park.
The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs opened the Command Sgt. Bennie G. Adkins Veterans Home in Enterprise.
The 182,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility can house 174 residents and features private rooms and amenities that include a sports bar, library, chapel and a fleet of buses.
Enterprise recently celebrated the grand opening of its new Recreation and Aquatics Center. The 70,000-square-foot facility is the largest municipal facility in the city and features a new gymnasium, a completely renovated Moose Hope Gym, fitness equipment and free weights, program space, locker rooms, concessions and a pool.
The City of Enterprise and Enterprise State Community College broke ground on a $10 million workforce development center in August 2024. The new facility will house the college’s mechatronics, automotive and welding programs. Construction is expected to be complete by fall 2025.
ESCC’s new 50,000-square-foot Performing Arts Center is under construction and expected to be completed in September. It will feature a 600-seat theater and will house the school’s Fine Arts Division.
A $14.8 million sports facility is in the works for Enterprise High School. The facility will include a 100-yard practice field, an all-new weight room, a nutrition room, plunge pool, boys’ and girls’ locker rooms and training rooms. It is expected to be complete by fall 2025.
The Coffee County School System celebrated the opening of the New Brockton Middle School building in August 2023.
DALE COUNTY
Dale County celebrated its bicentennial in 2024. Its two largest cities, Ozark and Daleville, form the borders of Fort Novosel, one of the largest military installations in the state and the home of Army Aviation.
Gov. Kay Ivey awarded a $180,000 Community Development Block Grant to Dale County that will be used to provide infrastructure for Averitt Express, a freight transportation company, to relocate its service center and warehouse. The company plans a total investment of $15 million at its new location, including construction of a 21,200-square-foot facility on Dale County Road just off U.S. Highway 231. The CDBG funds will be used to resurface and make improvements to Dale County Road to improve access to the new facility. Dale County also has pledged $36,000 in local funds to support the project. The new hub is expected to bring 20 new jobs to the area.
Dale County Schools consistently ranks as one of the state’s top-performing county school systems and earned an “A” for the 2023-2024 school year on its annual report card from the State Department of Education.
The Bridge Academy kicked off its second full school year in August 2024. The Ozark-based career center, a collaboration between the Dale County Board of Education and several community and technical colleges and local businesses, serves students from three Dale County high schools through seven dual enroll-
The Fourth of July Let Freedom Ring celebration is an annual highlight in Elba.
ment career pathway programs. After just two years, the academy is already expanding and broke ground in September on a nearly $1 million project that will add additional lab space.
After a multi-year process, Ozark, the county seat, was designated an Alabama Community of Excellence (ACE) in 2024. ACE recognition focuses on communities with populations between 2,000 and 18,000 and includes technical assistance to support the community’s future strategic planning initiatives.
Last summer, the city revived the Ozark 101 leadership program, a series of free classes that address a variety of topics ranging from the budgets and day-to-day operations of city departments to environmental regulations and street ratings.
Ag-tech startup company SetaTech, a graduate of HudsonAlpha’s Gener8tor program, announced it will operate a manufacturing site in Ozark. The company turns nutrients from natural hair and chicken feathers into eco-friendly products that can be used in agriculture, as deer deterrents and for cleaning up oil spills.
Ozark Corporate Park received $221,000 in funding for improvements through Growing Alabama with Pea River Electric Cooperative as the tax credit donor. The funds were used for clearing and re-seeding the property and adding lighting and signage. Work wrapped up in November 2024.
The Alabama Aviation College, a unit of Enterprise State Community College, has a campus in Ozark that offers career training in automation and manufacturing through its Mechatronics program.
The college plays a major role in supporting industry in the area and has partnerships with most local school systems to train high school students for high-demand careers through its aviation maintenance technician, avionics and mechatronics programs. ACC also maintains strong ties with the region’s industrial leaders, including M1 Support Services at Fort Novosel, CAE USA, Arista, McDermott Aviation in Andalusia and Commercial Jet.
AAC recently celebrated the reopening of the James Douglas Brown Sr. Building
after a $5 million renovation that included three updated aviation classrooms/ labs, an updated CDL classroom and an aviation hangar.
Andrews Place, a 28-unit apartment complex, opened next to the Alabama Aviation College in August 2024.
Plans to revitalize the Ozark Civic Center that include lighting and mechanical upgrades and sound and stage improvements were finalized in November 2024. The project, valued at more than $1.2 million, is a partnership between the City of Ozark and Alabama Power.
Ozark opened a new 8-court pickleball complex in 2023 and recently announced plans to make upgrades to the 42-yearold Steagall Park that include rebuilding eight tennis/pickleball courts and adding fencing, benches and bleachers and other park amenities. The $446,462 project is made possible by funds from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. This announcement came on the heels of the completion of ADA upgrades to the park’s KidZone.
Last year, Ozark’s historic Holman House opened a military museum that honors the legacy of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, the namesake of Fort Novosel, and the legacy of the Warrant Officer Corps.
Ozark City Schools remain focused on supporting students through Career Technical Education programs. Students
are introduced to 16 career clusters in middle school and in high school can start taking career electives. Topics include agriculture, hospitality and tourism, manufacturing, finance and public safety. The program expanded last summer when D.A. Smith Middle School opened a new Career Exploration Center after nearly $1 million in renovations.
Ozark City Schools and Troy University signed an agreement that introduces an Accelerated Dual Enrollment Program for high school students who are interested in a career in education.
Wallace Community College received a $2.9 million grant from the Alabama Community College System as part of the Alabama Centers for Rural Healthcare Opportunity legislative appropriation to establish the Wiregrass Center for Rural Health Care Opportunities in Ozark.
The center will address a growing need for licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants and mental health technicians in the greater Dale County area by serving as a career and workforce development hub for these high-demand healthcare professions.
The Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Alabama announced plans for a new teen center to be located in the former Ozark Board of Education building. The center, known as The Club, will focus on workforce development and include a podcast studio, music studio and driving simula-
Ozark was designated an Alabama Community of Excellence in 2024.
tor. It is expected to open this summer.
Carroll High School’s Matthew Stadium is undergoing renovations, including expanding passive seating and adding new bathroom facilities and a new two-story press box. The stadium is set to reopen for fall 2025.
The city of Daleville has partnered with the Ozark-Dale County Economic Development Corp. (OEDC) to transform the 253-acre Hanchey Field Road industrial park. In February 2024, the OEDC applied for funding through the Alabama SEEDS Act, and the city of
Daleville approved the match requirement for SEEDS Act funding. Initial plans include clearing a portion of the property and extending water lines to make the site more visible and shovel-ready.
In June 2024, All In Credit Union broke ground on a 138,000-square-foot expansion of its operations center in Daleville. The expansion will more than triple the current facility’s size.
GENEVA COUNTY
The Geneva County Commission received $1 million in state funds for a new
multipurpose agricultural complex. The approximately 50,000-square-foot Ag-Plex will be built on the property of the current Geneva County Farm Center and will be used by local schools, the Cattlemen’s Association, the Auburn Extension office and for agricultural events. The facility is expected to be completed this fall.
Last summer, rural internet provider Spectrum launched Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services to more than 2,400 homes and small businesses in the county and surrounding areas. The company’s newly constructed fiber-optic buildout is part of a roughly $5 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) investment in unserved rural communities and is partly offset by $1.2 billion in the Federal Communications Commission’s RDOF auction.
Also last summer, the Alabama Department of Transportation began a resurfacing project on SR-52 in Geneva County. ALDOT awarded Wiregrass Construction Co. in Dothan $2.8 million to complete the project, which will include widening the shoulder and resurfacing from Lime Street in Samson to SR-196 in Geneva. It is scheduled to be completed this fall.
The county seat, Geneva, has a new city hall. The facility includes a municipal courtroom that is three times bigger than the old one and will hold city council meetings in addition to court proceedings. The Geneva Police Department will occupy the former city hall building.
Geneva also celebrated the opening of a new splash pad in May 2024. It is the first phase of a project that plans to bring an amphitheater, playground, pavilions, walking trails and Wi-Fi to downtown Geneva.
The Geneva High School football team started its 2024 season with new facilities, including a new weight room, locker room and offices for the coaches.
The Geneva County School System consists of three high schools, three middle schools and three elementary schools located in Hartford, Slocomb and Samson. Geneva County Schools outscored every other county school district in the state on its 2023-2024 report card with an overall score of 93. Geneva County Schools and Geneva City Schools tied as top-scoring districts in the area.
Carroll High School’s Matthew Stadium is undergoing renovations.
The D.A. Smith Career Exploration Center opened last summer.
Culture & Recreation
ONLY IN THE WIREGRASS
Standing in the center of downtown Enterprise, the Boll Weevil Monument, dedicated in 1919, stands as a testament to man’s ability to overcome adversity. At The Junction in Geneva, reflect on the days when steamboats and barges on the Choctawhatchee were the main method of transportation south to the Gulf of Mexico. Or visit the Working Cows Dairy in Slocomb to see the milking process or Sessions Peanuts in Coffee County to get shelled peanuts, crude peanut oil, peanut meal, peanut seed and peanut hulls.
TAKE A HIKE
Walk the 3-mile pedestrian trail at Ed Lisenby Lake and see the birds on this stretch of the Wiregrass Birding Trail. Or follow the Pea River for two miles on the Mayor James E. Grimes River Walk
GO FISH
Ed Lisenby Public Lake in Ozark offers 92 acres of fishing. Coffee County Lake covers 80 acres and offers three fishing piers. Lake Tholocco on Fort Rucker is a prime outdoor recreation spot. Geneva County Public Fishing Lake is another great spot where two lakes combine to offer 65 acres of water fun.
RIDE
’EM COWBOY
The annual South Alabama Pro Rodeo Classic, in August in Ozark, features bull riding, team roping, cowgirl barrel racing, calf roping, bareback riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc and more.
MUSE ON THE MURALS
A Salute to Rucker in downtown Enterprise tells the story of Fort Rucker’s past, present and future from its beginnings in 1942 as Camp Rucker to today as the Home of Army Aviation. Nearby, the Boll Weevil Mural by artist Wes Hardin pays tribute to the boll weevil, which gave rise to the peanut industry that still flourishes in the Wiregrass. On your art stroll, visit the fiberglass boll weevil statues on Weevil Way. And visit the Ozark Mural program that celebrates local legends.
PONDER PLANES
The U.S. Army Aviation Museum at Fort Novosel maintains a collection of
more than 150 military aircraft, including one of the largest collections of military helicopters in the world.
HISTORIC HIGHLIGHTS
Pea River Historical and Genealogical Society, in Enterprise, keeps the history of early settlers. The Old Coffee County Jail, in Elba, was built nearly a century ago and has seen its share of tragedy, including the murder of a sheriff. The Coffee County Civil War Battlefield Marker, in Enterprise, marks the site of the only Civil War battle in Coffee County. Elba United Methodist Church is the first of any denomination in Elba and is still active today.
TRIBUTES TO INDIVIDUALS
Located in downtown Elba, the birthplace of Gov. James E. “Big Jim” Folsom is designated as a state historic landmark. The Aviator Monument, in Enterprise, honors aviators past, present and future. The Veterans Memorial at the Geneva County Courthouse honors the armed services with special events on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
EAT FRESH
Enterprise Farmers Market offers food from local farmers along with arts and crafts and an event venue. Ozark
offers fresh local produce and fresh flowers from mid-May through July.
FORE!
The Bridges at Tartan Pines Golf Club winds its way through picturesque homes and across bridges through the protected wetlands of the Tartan Pines community in Enterprise. Enterprise Golf and Country Club offers 18 holes on varying terrain, plus a pool and dining. Fox Ridge Golf Course in Ozark offers a Ron Garl-designed course, plus a pool and more.
SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURES
Coffee County Courthouse started life near the river but was moved to the heart of downtown later. The Rawls Building, in Enterprise, was founded in 1903 as a hotel that surpassed any of its kind. It is now home to business offices, a fine dining restaurant, bar and an event venue. Claybank Church was built in 1852 of logs with fat lightwood stumps serving as a foundation. Eagle Stadium / B.F. Williams Field was built in 1946 as home to the Ozark Eagles, a class D minor league team in the Alabama-Florida League. This baseball stadium is the only one in the region still
Farmers’ Market
Fireworks are on display behind the Coffee County Courthouse in Elba.
in use that was built during the grand era. Geneva Panthers Football Stadium was home to the Geneva Red Birds, a St. Louis Cardinal affiliate, from 19461951. Ozark’s Carillon and Bell Tower was built in 1975 to honor all military and civilian personnel who served at Fort Rucker since 1942. The Kenan Home, in Geneva, is an example of Victorian cottage architecture built approximately in 1887 by W.K. and Emma Knox Kenan. The Emma Knox Kenan Public Library was named in her honor. The Samson Log House Museum is a pioneer home in “dog trot” design. Piney Grove Farmhouse is a 119-year-old restored farm house and event venue in Samson with original barns, grain bins and large pecan trees. Fink’s Mill, built in 1932, is a depression-era grain mill, just west of Samson, and still operational. Dalton Pharmacy, in Slocomb, was founded in 1903 and later was among the first to have gasoline pumps.
ABOUT THE ARTS
Dowling Museum/Ann Rudd Art Center in Ozark offers a rotating display of art exhibits. Coffee County Arts Alliance has been bringing big name performances to the Wiregrass for nearly 50 years. The Atlanta Pops Orchestra, the Blues Brothers Revue, the Lettermen, Jay & the Americans, and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder have all played the venue. Southern Broadway Dinner Theater, in downtown Enterprise, delivers original historical plays in a dinner theatre format.
GO TO THE PARK
Veterans Memorial Park, in Elba, was built to show appreciation to all veterans for their efforts to preserve peace and freedom. Donaldson Park, in Enterprise, features ballfields, tennis, a pond, playground and walking trail. Robert Fowler Memorial Park, in Geneva, is home of the oldest Live Oak in Alabama and is located at the junction of Choctawahatchee and Pea rivers. The park features boating, camping, playground and more. Johnny Henderson Park and Enterprise Recreational Complex consists of a lake, fishing pond, walking/ jogging trails, playgrounds, splash pad,
bark park, sports fields and a tribute to our military and allies with the Wall of Freedom, Huey Helicopter and GermanAmerican friendship marker. Tiger Town Park, in Elba, provides a playground, art project and outdoor amphitheater. Virtually every town has athletic fields for a variety of sports.
VENUES FOR FUN
Enterprise Civic Center houses a ballroom, dance floor, performance stage and more. Ozark Civic Center supports concerts, expos, pageants, fairs, circuses, wrestling, boxing events and much more. The Flowers Center for the Performing Arts host high school plays, concerts, pageants and meetings. Enterprise High School Performing Arts Center, on the high school campus, hosts numerous local and national events, plays, ballets and musical performances throughout the year. Vintage Room event venue, in Geneva, opened in 2017 in a historical building and can host up to 250 people. J&J’s Place – The Springs is available for events in Coffee Springs. Holman House is a neoclassical structure available for weddings and more. And look for bowling, movies and escape rooms, too.
FOREST FUN
Geneva State Forest is Alabama’s largest, with 7,120 acres of longleaf pine, fishing, hiking and more. Mabson Community Education Forest, in Ozark, has walking and driving trails and lots of information stations.
REMEMBRANCE OF TOUGH TIMES
Enterprise Tornado Memorial honors eight Enterprise High School students and a nearby resident who died March 1, 2007, in a tornado outbreak.
GET SOME EXERCISE
Ozark Community Archery Range is open to the public. And Ozark Mountain Bike Trail is nearly complete, offering biking near Ed Lisenby Lake. Oben Everett Park, in Ozark, features basketball courts and more. Enterprise Skate Park has challenging facilities, and don’t miss the 18-basket LZ Disc Golf or Enterprise Miniature Golf, both in Enterprise.
festivities and events:
ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE AND 0.5K RACE — Enterprise | March
SPRING FESTIVAL AT THE MONUMENT — Enterprise | April
CRAWDAD FESTIVAL — Ozark | April
FESTIVAL ON THE RIVERS — Geneva | April
ROCKIN’ THE RIVER MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL — Elba | May
FOGGY BOTTOM CRUISERS CAR SHOW — Elba | May
FESTIVAL IN THE PARK — Enterprise | May
PINEY WOODS ARTS FESTIVAL — Enterprise | May
TOMATO FESTIVAL — Slocomb | June
LET FREEDOM RING — Elba | July
ALABAMA SWEET TEA FESTIVAL — Enterprise | August
SOUTH ALABAMA PRO RODEO CLASSIC — Ozark | August
TASTE OF COFFEE COUNTY — Enterprise | September
BOLL WEEVIL FALL FESTIVAL — Enterprise | October
CLAYBANK JAMBOREE ARTS AND CRAFTS FESTIVAL — Ozark | October
PUMPKINS ON THE SQUARE –Elba | October
SPOOKY IN THE PARK — Enterprise | October
CHRISTMAS PARADE — Enterprise | December
WHOVILLE — Enterprise | December
CHRISTMAS WALK/CHRISTMAS IN GENEVA — Geneva | December
Career Notes
ACCOUNTING
Dent Moses LLP CPAs & Advisors has named Walker Gann as partner.
BANKING
Derek Johnson has joined FirstBank’s Birmingham team as senior vice president, senior relationship manager.
Lisa Bryan has been promoted to private banking manager for ServisFirst Bank in Huntsville.
CONSTRUCTION
Caddell Construction has promoted Ricky Byrd, Isaac Sneeringer and Stephen Strickland to presidents of commercial, international and governmental, respectively.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Jordan Howard has joined Economic Development Partnership of Alabama as vice president of strategic alliances.
EDUCATION
University of West Alabama President Ken Tucker is retiring. At his retirement, he
by ERICA JOINER WEST
will be named the school’s first president emeritus.
ENGINEERING
Neel-Schaffer has promoted Lance Taylor to senior vice president and Wes Nelson, Becky Rogers and Josh Stump to vice president in its Birmingham office.
FINANCIAL
Amanda Fernandes has joined Argent Trust Co. as vice president and director of advisory services for Funeral & Cemetery Trust Division.
LoanDepot Inc. has appointed Bart Evans as regional vice president, managing a Southeastern geography including Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.
GOVERNMENT
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed has been chosen as one of eight leaders for the 2025 Mayors’ Institute on City Design’s Just City Mayoral Fellows. In addition, Montgomery has appointed Jerime Reid as chief of staff for the city.
INCUBATOR
Hatch Fairhope has promoted Rick Miller to senior advisor and Keith Glines to lead operations.
LAW
Adams and Reese has promoted Blake Richardson, a member of the Litigation Practice Group in the firm’s Mobile office, and Aaron McLeod, a member of the Litigation Practice Group in Birmingham, to partner. In addition, the firm promoted Todd Engelhardt, a member of the Litigation Practice Group, to partner in charge of the Birmingham office.
Charles Marshall has joined Burr & Forman as chief operating officer.
Gilpin Givhan has promoted John George Archer to shareholder.
Hall Booth Smith has added associates Drake Rippy and Cameron McCormack to its Birmingham office.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Escambia County Sheriff Heath Jackson is the recipient of the 2025 Alabama Sheriffs Association Sheriff of the Year Award.
LOBBYING
Rob Green has joined Red Level Strategies as director of external and public affairs.
MARINE
Tony Ardito has joined Birdon Group as president of Birdon America. Birdon has a location in Bayou La Batre.
RETAIL
Clarke Todd has joined Colliers as a senior associate specializing in retail investment sales in Alabama.
SECURITY
Eddie Sorrells, of DSI Security Services, has been awarded the Lindberg Bell Security Executive of the Year award.
RICKY BYRD
CLARKE TODD
BLAKE RICHARDSON
DEREK JOHNSON
KEN TUCKER
ROB GREEN
CAMERON MCCORMACK
LISA BRYAN
ISAAC SNEERINGER
DRAKE RIPPY
JORDAN HOWARD
HEATH JACKSON
AMANDA FERNANDES
TONY ARDITO
STEPHEN STRICKLAND
Company Kudos
by ERICA JOINER WEST
The University of North Alabama celebrated its 195th birthday in mid-January at its annual Founders’ Day event. It was founded as LaGrange College in Colbert County in 1830. In addition, UNA’s Department of Entertainment Industry celebrates 50 years this year.
Aerobotix, a robotics integrator for aerospace and defense industries in Huntsville, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. When it was founded in 2005, the company started with seven employees and is now up to 60 staff members.
Four Alabama universities have been ranked on the U.S. News & World Report listing of Best Online Master’s in Education Programs — Auburn University at No. 15, the University of Alabama at No. 31, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Montevallo, which are tied at No. 54.
Chart Industries Inc., which has locations in Alabama, has been recognized on Newsweek’s 2025 America’s Most Responsible Companies list. The company came in at No. 287. Also making the
list were Regions Financial at No. 335, Medical Properties Trust at No. 381 and Vulcan Materials at No. 510.
Red Sage Communications has received two Gold MarCom Awards for the Von Braun Center’s 50th anniversary campaign. The MarCom Awards are sponsored by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.
City of Tuscaloosa has received the 2025 Audrey Nelson Award from the National Community Development Association for its role in developing affordable housing at Springer Estates.
Woodforest National Bank was a gold winner of GOBankingRates’s Best Banks in 2025 ranking. Other banks with a presence in Alabama that made the ranking were Wells Fargo, as silver winner and PNC Bank as the bronze winner.
Alabama’s Iron Lady
Ethel Armes wrote an early history of the state’s coal and iron industries
By SCOTTY E. KIRKLAND
In 1907, the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce commissioned young journalist Ethel Armes to pen the first history of the state’s extractive industries. Drawn from extensive interviews, long-lost sources and written with flare, “The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama” remains an indispensable account of the state’s business history.
Armes was born in Washington, D.C., in 1876. At 13, she became a regular contributor to the pages of The Washington Post, through its Association of Amateur Writers. After a yearlong stint at the Chicago Chronicle, Armes returned to the Post in 1900 and remained for about three years.
The journalist had Alabama ties through her brother George Armes, a civil engineer who worked throughout the state. She moved to Alabama, perhaps along with her mother, in 1903. Her byline first appeared in the Birmingham Post-Herald in April 1903. She wrote for the paper sporadically as she freelanced for literary and social magazines, including The National, published in Boston.
In 1905, she published her first book, which explored the history of the White Mountains region of New Hampshire. In May 1906, Armes temporarily assumed the duties of the Post-Herald’s society editor. But her interests were more in the economic and social workings of the city than in the happenings of the muckety mucks.
How Armes came to be commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce is not clear. News of the project landed in the summer of 1907, through a series of articles outlining the scope of work. Industrialist Truman H. Aldrich led the charge, as newly
ABOVE: Ethel Armes. Photo courtesy of Jessie Ball duPont Memorial Library at Stratford Hall Historic Preserve.
stalled president of the chamber. A committee supporting the work included insurance executive Louis Clark, banker David Roberts, Birmingham News founding publisher Rufus Rhodes and industrialist Henry F. DeBardeleben. These men undertook the work of securing subscriptions to offset the cost of publica-
TOP: A copy of Ethel Armes’ “The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama.” Photo by Scotty Kirkland.
tion, ultimately raising roughly $2,000.
Meanwhile, letters of support and rafts of primary sources arrived for Armes daily. Committees in Bibb and Talladega counties formed to aid in her work. Thomas McAdory Owen, founding director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, supplied material. Photographers were dispatched to the ruins of early factories and mill towns to capture illustrations. Armes went on a grand tour of industrial Alabama in an automobile furnished by a chamber member. The work was done quickly and well.
Published in the fall of 1910 by University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and sold for $5 (roughly $170 today), “The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama” was bound in red vellum cloth with gilded sides. It featured nearly 100 illustrations, many of them made specifically for the book. It was a monumental achievement, as lyrical as it was methodical, for a book nearing 600 pages in length. Copies of the first edition are exceedingly rare. According to one account, most of the unsold original stock was inadvertently discarded.
Armes cast Birmingham and the Yellowhammer State as the emerging “ultimate rival of the Pittsburgh District” that had dominated the iron and steel industry. Alabama was not new to this field, she argued, only new to promoting it. “The ironmasters of the state have all been far too busy making iron ever to think of the making of books about it.”
Thus did Ethel Armes chart her course through Alabama’s long story of coal and iron, stories of blacksmiths entering the Creek nation, through pre-statehood mining efforts in north Alabama, through the small antebellum blast furnaces, to the roiling forges of war and fires of Reconstruction, to the great emergence of Birmingham, and into the American century. Her book ends with the 1907 acquisition of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co. by U.S. Steel, something which showed the “infinite promise of Alabama,” she wrote. Armes predicted progress and achievement for the future “seen in long vista ahead as the modern lights are turned on.”
Critics largely obliged Armes her tinseled conclusion. It was, after all, a publication of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. Still, few could deny the intellectual heft of the book. Thomas M. Owen said the exhaustive book was without rival. “No state…not even Pennsylvania, has so complete a record.” Manufacturer’s Record, a leading trade publication of the day,
called the book “bold” and “splendid,” worth every penny of its steep price. The Times Herald, a hometown paper for the Washingtonian author, called the book “a distinct addition to historical literature.”
Armes devoted much of her subsequent journalism in Alabama to industrial laborers, the kinds of individuals whose stories did not make the pages of the chamber’s history book. In the months after she returned to regular newspaper work, now with The Birmingham News, Armes was identified as a “sociological reporter.” Here, her Progressive era muckraking was on full display, with articles on smoke pollution, women in the workforce, the prevalence of child labor, socioeconomic conditions of African Americans in Birmingham’s mines and more. Alongside her journalism, Armes took on active roles in the women’s suffrage movement and worked to organize the United Mine Workers in the Alabama coalfields. In 1912, she became one of the first women to receive government certification as a mine rescue worker, complete with headgear and oxygen mask.
Over time, her byline appeared in Alabama with less frequency. Magazine work and other opportunities drew the attention of her untiring pen. By about 1915, her time in Alabama was at an end. Later in her career, Armes wrote feature stories for the Boston Herald and was a staff writer for the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association. Armes became a noted preservationist and was among those largely responsible for saving Stratford Hall, the ancestral Virginia home of Robert E. Lee.
When she died in 1945 at the age of 68, Armes was working on a book about the Lee family. Thus, she never truly set down her pen. An author could ask for no more appropriate ending, than to be allowed to write until the end and to have the work remembered.
Historian Scotty E. Kirkland is a freelance contributor to Business Alabama. He lives in Wetumpka.
An advertisement in the Birmingham Post-Herald in 1910.
Alabama
Alabama
Alabama
Alabama
Alabama Sheriffs Association .........................104
Alabama State Council on the Arts 70
Alabama State Department of Education...........98
Alabama State Parks 12, 16
Alabama State University.................................94
Alabama Tourism Department ................... 12, 20 Alabama Wildlife Federation 66 Aldrich, Truman H. 106
Drilling 47
ALFAB Inc. .......................................................89
Lawson State Community College ....................71
Leblanc, Peter 7
Lee Milliner State Farm Insurance Agency ... 87, 98
Lee, Robert E. 106
Legacy Travel Center, Enterprise .......................89
Lego Group, The 9
Leverage/League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates ............................26
Lewis, Brenda 71
Lewis, Jesse Sr. 71
Listerhill Credit Union 26
LoanDepot Inc. ..............................................104
Lockheed Martin Corp. 57
Longo, Mike 8
Lumos Internet Broadband 9
M1 Support Services ............................ 89, 91, 98
Maddox, Tom 94
Maguire Bearing Co. ..........................................8 MAHA USA 89 Major League Baseball ....................................59 Manufacturer’s Record 106
Many More Miles Shoe Drive............................62 Marshall Space Flight Center 78 Marshall, Charles 104 MartinFederal Consulting 59
Mauldin, Macke 50
Maverick Natural Resources 10
Maxor National Pharmacy Services ...................47
Mayor James E. Grimes River Walk, Elba 102
Mayors’ Institute on City Design ....................104
Mays, Willie 59
McCormack, Cameron 104
McDermott Aviation 98
McIntosh, Marsha 8
McLeod, Aaron 104
McMillan, Lonnie 70
McNair, Ellen 8
McWane Science Center ............................. 66, 78
Medical Center Enterprise 89, 93
Medical Properties Trust ................................105
Thomas Hospital, Fairhope 9 Thompson Burton Law Firm .............................62
Thompson, Orland
Historic Alabama
MOTORING MEMORIES
This 1958 photo shows garage and recapping machinery at Wilbanks Motor Service at 423 Madison Ave. in downtown Montgomery. Ben Wilbanks operated Wilbanks Motor Service in the 1950s. The building is still standing. It’s now the home of Rescued Relics, a not-for-profit salvage business. Photo courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives & History.
Alabiz Quiz
March 2025:
Q: One of Alabama’s steel makers has announced plans for an additional $1.2 billion plant to make specialty steel used in electric vehicles, batteries and more. Which existing plant will it join?
A) AM/NS Calvert
B) Nucor Steel, Decatur
C) O’Neal Steel, Birmingham
D) U.S. Steel, Birmingham
February 2025 (one month ago):
Q: A youth organization broke ground for a $17 million facility at McWane Economic Education Center in Birmingham. What organization?
A) Boy Scouts
B) Girls Scouts
C) Junior Achievement
D) YMCA
Challenge yourself with these puzzlers from past issues of Business Alabama magazine. Beginning March 20, work the quiz online and check your answers at businessalabama.com.
March 2024 (one year ago):
Q: Alabama set a record for exports in 2023. Which of these countries was not one of the state’s top five trading partners?
A) Canada
B) Mexico
C) South Korea
D) United Kingdom
March 2020 (five years ago):
Q: Vulcan Value Fund founder C.T. Fitzpatrick and his wife, Kelley, made a $20 million gift to one of Alabama’s universities, making them the school’s largest cash donors. Which university received the gift?
A) Auburn University
B) Samford University
C) Tuskegee University
D) University of Alabama
March 2015 (10 years ago):
Q: We featured Danny Lipford, a Mobile entrepreneur who parlayed his local business into a TV show that reached 97% of the nation’s TV markets. What was the name of the show?
A) Brew It Yourself
B) Golf Guru
C) Invest Like an Expert
D) Today’s Homeowner
March 2000 (25 years ago):
Q: We reported on a $30 million investment from the Retirement Systems of Alabama as it entered a new business line and created a new business partner, Point Clear Holdings. Which property was the first for PCH?
A) Cloudmont Ski and Golf Resort, Mentone
B) Grand Hotel, Point Clear
C) National Alabama Rail Car, Shoals
D) RSA Tower, Montgomery
Throughout history, our Tribe has produced strong, resilient leaders, f rom Lynn McGhee to today’s Chair & CEO Stephanie A. Bryan and the Poarch Creek Tribal Council.
Along with the Tribal Council leaders of past and present, each has led with not only a vision for current challenges, but with an eye toward fostering leadership in others—ensuring more growth and opportunity for the future.
Learn more at PoarchCreekIndians.org
Front: Buford Rolin, Stephanie Bryan, Fred McGhee, and Eddie Tullis. Back: Calvin McGhee, Kent McGhee, Houston McGhee, Fred Walker.
