Wiregrass

Alabama’s richest individual has been rebuilding the small town where he was born. “Hopeless and helpless” not long ago, Abbeville is now headquarters to a thriving, home-grown, coast-to-coast business.

Shaw Industries Group’s flooring plant in Andalusia, which makes fiber used in carpet, has been in the midst of a yearlong upgrade worth $184 million.

Lockheed Martin’s Troy plant builds missiles designed to knock out intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

One of the largest employers in Dale County is a manufacturer that sprouted from the area’s rural roots and continues to flourish, cutting trees and clearing land.

Wiregrass native Kelsey Barnard Clark took her German-Southern heritage to school in the Ivy League of eats, New York City. Dothan now has her back with two KBCs and the best of both worlds.

In the Wiregrass, vegetable farming and canning are investment grade traditions. A public-private partnership expects to generate jobs and new enterprise — including pickled veggies and salsas — as dependable as the area’s agricultural roots.

The Wiregrass reversed one of its biggest job setbacks almost overnight, with an aircraft enterprise that’s bigger and better than the one that flew away.

Troy tourism is her career, but singing is in her heart.