New commerce park for Springville
could bring in $500 million in investments
A partnership between the City of Springville and the St. Clair County Commission to buy 250 acres of land to use as a commerce park is expected to deliver a sizable return – $500 million in investments from new companies employing 1,500 people.
The planned commerce park is located east of Wal-Mart and will be accessed from the County 23/I-59 interchange. “This will minimize any traffic impact while providing a location for quality companies to build and employ people from the surrounding area,” said Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County Economic Development Council. “The less we must drive for good paying jobs the better it is on the overall traffic congestion in the region.”
The EDC and St. Clair County Industrial Development Board are working with both partners to obtain grants and outside funds. “Our focus is to minimize the local funds being invested into the parks but at the same time, develop a park that will provide jobs and taxes for decades.”
This park will be the only rail-served park in St. Clair County for new companies to locate. “There are fewer and fewer rail sites in Alabama, and this park will give the I-59 corridor a recruitment advantage,” Smith predicted. “We target advanced manufacturers in food production, automotive supplier and advanced metals.”
Based on the acreage and target sectors, “We believe we will be able to recruit multiple companies into the park,” Smith said.
The initial effort was boosted by a SEEDS grant that provided $2.1 million for the purchase of the property. The remaining funds needed were split between the county and city.
The SEEDS program was launched in 2023 to provide state funds to purchase and develop competitive properties for the state’s target sectors in Alabama. The funds have a 50 percent local match with smaller communities and distressed counties a lower local match.
In addition to the Springville grant, the EDC was able to obtain roughly $400,000 to run sewer to the new Kelly Creek Commerce Park, a similar project in Moody. “It was the only missing piece of infrastructure needed to make the park complete,” Smith said.
Officials in Moody cut the ribbon on that 170-acre park in early 2023, and it is expected to generate 1.5 million square feet of distribution facility space and $125 million in investments in good paying jobs.
Looking ahead, the economic forecast for the county continues to be bright, Smith said. “We are in the running for a few manufacturing projects in Moody and Pell City. I also believe we will have several impactful retail projects to announce in the upcoming months throughout the county.”
He credited residential growth as the factor “now catching the eye of many retailers that just 10 years ago would have passed on us. They see our growing household income and job creation numbers and are ready to invest in St. Clair County.”
