Barbour County
Eufaula and Barbour County are leaders in agriculture and food, wood, paper and automotive component suppliers.
Tyson Foods Inc. operates a poultry processing plant that is the largest employer in Barbour County. Tyson acquired the Eufaula facility in 2018.
Barbour County also is home to lumber and wood products companies including Southeast Forest Products, which built its Louisville sawmill in 2019 to address market supply shortages; M.C. Dixon Lumber Co.; and Michigan-based Panel Processing, which operates the Alabama Inter-Forest facilities making engineered wood products. Mahrt Mill, a paper mill operated by Smurfit WestRock, also is a key player. Though it is located in neighboring Russell County, a large percentage of its workforce commutes from Eufaula and the surrounding area.
The area’s automotive components manufacturing sector continues to grow in Barbour County. Hyundai Polytech of America is a well-established member of the Eufaula business community and a growing producer of plastic components for a number of major automotive manufacturers in the U.S. and abroad.
ALMAC is an aluminum extrusion company that recently purchased the former Nucor Steel building. ALMAC will build safety-critical structural components and passive safety systems parts for the electric vehicle market. ALMAC expects to be fully operational by 2028.
Pike County
Pike County is a leader both in plastic recycling and in missile production.
Troy, the county seat, is home to KW Plastics, one of the world’s largest plastic recycling companies. It transforms bales of waste plastics into high-density polyethylene and polypropylene recycled resins, ready for reuse.
Another major economic engine in Troy is Lockheed Martin, which operates manufacturing, final assembly, test and storage operations for many of the company’s missile programs. With 54 buildings totaling 923,843 square feet on 3,863 acres, Lockheed Martin has more than 900 employees.
In May 2026, Lockheed Martin broke ground on a new Munitions Production Center that will add 87,000 square feet of production space.
Troy University also is a major employer and an important economic and community driver. The institution has more than 2,300 people on its faculty and staff and about 14,000 students.
Other economic engines include Sanders Lead, a recycler of lead-acid batteries, and Wiley Sanders Truck Lines Inc., a cross-country trucking company.
Also in Troy, Rex Lumber is a family-owned and operated Southern yellow pine manufacturer, in operation since 1926. The sawmill operation makes dimensional lumber.
Pike County’s second-largest city, Brundidge, is home to a major Walmart distribution center. In addition, Brundidge is home to Southern Classic Food Group LLC — maker of a wide variety of sauces from barbecue to mayonnaise.
Bullock County
Wayne-Sanderson Farms and Bonnie Plants are the top two industries driving Union Springs and the surrounding area. Almost 10% of Bullock County’s 9,600 residents work for one of these two agricultural giants.
Business Briefs:
Pike County
- MAY 2026: Southern Classic Food Group LLC announced plans to invest an additional $14.2 million at the Pike County facility where it makes a variety of sauces. The project is expected to add 82 jobs over the next two years.
- MARCH 2026: Lockheed Martin signed an incentive deal with the state of Alabama, agreeing to invest more than $150 million in its Pike County production facility over the next five years.
- NOVEMBER 2025: Home2 Suites in Troy opened.
- SEPTEMBER 2025: Troy announced a $10.5 million grant to transform the historic Academy Street High School into the Academy Street Career Innovation Academy with vocational and STEM classes for students in Troy City, Pike County and Dale County schools.
- JUNE 2025: Sanders Lead Co. completed construction on a $42 million battery breaker and chemical desulfurization project.
- JUNE 2024: GoodTimes Bowling opened in Troy with 16 boutique bowling lanes, 35 arcade games, two escape rooms and a restaurant.
Barbour County
- MAY 2026: ALMAC, an aluminum extrusion and products manufacturing company, announced a $25 million investment in the former Nucor Steel (American Buildings Co.) property. ALMAC will make automotive components.
- OCTOBER 2024: Hyundai Polytech of America announced a $3.95 million investment to create new lines for component manufacturing for the electric vehicle market. New additions will include injection molding and welding equipment.
- JULY 2024: Humminbird announced a renewable energy plan to reduce CO2 emissions at its Eufaula plant over the next 20 years. The project is part of ongoing sustainability efforts at Johnson Outdoors, Humminbird’s parent company, and includes installation of a solar array.
- MAY 2024: The Lakepoint State Park Resort Lodge began renovations on 44 of its rooms.
- SEPTEMBER 2023: Mineral Manufacturing Corp. announced a $12.3 million investment to modernize and upgrade facilities and handling equipment for crushing, grinding, screening and sizing mined clays, ceramics, refractory and other miscellaneous nonmetallic minerals to remain competitive in the bauxite industry. This expansion created 30 new jobs at the former Beaulieu of America building shuttered in 2010.
Bullock County
- JUNE 2026: Opelika-based East Alabama Health assumed management and operation of Bullock County Rural Emergency Hospital in Union Springs, at the request of the Bullock County Health Care Authority.
- MARCH 2026: “Judge Stone,” a novel co-authored by James Patterson and Viola Davis, was published with Union Springs as its setting and the Bullock County Courthouse as its central location. It is drawing national attention to the Bullock County seat.
- 2025/2026: Wayne-Sanderson Farms completed the second of two production expansions at its Union Springs poultry complex. The two projects together represent more than $17 million in investment.
- 2025: The city of Union Springs opened its new recreation center off Hicks Industrial Boulevard, a project funded by the sale of the former recreation center property to Wayne-Sanderson Farms for future expansion.
- DECEMBER 2025: To Your Health Sprouted Flour ceased operations at its Fitzpatrick facility.
- JULY 2025: Wayne-Sanderson Farms was named the “Official Chicken” of the Southeastern Conference. Georgia-based Wayne-Sanderson is the largest industrial employer in Bullock County.
- MAY 2024: Bullock County Hospital was designated a Rural Emergency Hospital, becoming the first REH in Alabama. The facility, which has served Union Springs since 1951 and treats more than 12,045 patients annually, was renamed Bullock County Rural Emergency Hospital.
