BLOUNT COUNTY
Blount County celebrated the opening of its new Multi-Purpose Center in Cleveland with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in September 2024. The facility will be used for community events like rodeos, fairs and livestock shows, as well as advanced agriscience education classes and private events. In addition, the center houses the offices of the Blount County Extension, the Blount County Economic Development Council and Tourism Office and the Blount County Advanced Ag Academy.
Meanwhile, the site of the former agri-business center in Oneonta is being transformed into a regional sports complex with facilities for basketball, volleyball, pickleball and soccer as well as meeting spaces. The Blount County EDC revealed plans for the new facility in October 2023 and broke ground on HomeTown Sports in February 2024.
A new shopping center is set to open this fall in Oneonta. The development, located off Highway 75 near Walmart and Blount County Tractor and Equipment, will feature national chains, including Marshalls, Five Below, Ulta and Rack Room Shoes, with potential for additional stores. The property also includes several outparcel lots for future development.
Cement packaging company Freedom Packaging Products LLC has a new all-purpose facility in Altoona where it handles a range of general purpose and high-strength masonry cement, as well as Ordinary Portland Cement.
In August 2024, Hydra Service Inc., a hydraulic equipment supplier, began construction on a new 40,000-square-foot facility in Warrior.
In 2024, Birmingham & Associates Inc., a contractor that specializes in industrial sheeting and steel erection, moved its operations from Jefferson County to Blount County.
Local entrepreneurs Darien Craig and Brandon Echols, co-owners of Y’all Sweet Tea, based in Hayden, won an investment on ABC-TV’s reality show “Shark Tank” in November 2024.
The Blount County Memorial Museum relocated in May 2024 to the historic federal building in downtown Oneonta. The museum is sponsored by the Blount County Historical Society with assistance from the Blount County Commission.
Last April, Friends of the Locust Fork River transferred ownership of Taylor Riverside Park to Blount County. The park, located on the Alabama Scenic River Trail and popular for kayaking, canoeing and fishing, serves as a public access point to the Locust Fork River and now has a flat parking area, a stone staircase leading down to the river, a kayak and canoe ramp and picnic tables and benches.
The Blount County School System serves more than 7,600 students and employs 995 individuals. The district earned an A rating on its Alabama State Department of Education report card for the 2023-2024 school year.
ETOWAH COUNTY
The Northeast Alabama Regional (NEAR) Megasite is generating a lot of buzz in Etowah County. The 1,100-acre property, located on I-59 near the St. Clair County line, is being developed through a partnership among Etowah County, Rainbow City and the Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority.
In October 2024, the county received a $4.6 million Site Evaluation Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS) grant from the Alabama Department of Commerce to construct roughly three miles of water transmission main to serve the NEAR Megasite. Total cost for the water transmission main was estimated at $8 million, and the remaining $3.4 million will come from American Rescue Plan Act funds the county has set aside for water and sewer infrastructure.
The SEEDS funding, along with investments from Rainbow City and Norfolk Southern Railway, has made it possible for the county to turn its attention to two other high-priority projects for the megasite. The first was acquiring an additional 160 acres just east of a newly completed 100-acre building pad along Norfolk Southern’s main line, and the second was constructing a new I-59 interchange adjacent to the site. Both projects were approved by the Etowah County Commission in January 2025. These latest plans come on the heels of the completion of a new Alabama Power substation and the construction of a 500,000-gallon elevated water storage tank.
Gadsden, the county seat, is the largest city in Etowah County.
Dallas-based Monarch Waste Technologies recently opened a cutting-edge pyrolysis medical waste facility in Gadsden.
Magneco/Metrel, a producer of refracting materials for heavy industry, opened in Gadsden after an $8 million renovation of the former Gulf States Steel site.
The city of Gadsden is gearing up to break ground on Coosa Harbor, a $20 million mixed-use development along the Coosa River. Patrick Lawler, the developer behind Guntersville’s City Harbor Project, will lead the project.
The U.S. Department of the Interior awarded Gadsden $2.97 million to develop the Downtown Gadsden Greenway. The funds are part of the department’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership, and Gadsden’s was one of 54 projects in 24 states, and the only one in Alabama, selected to receive the funding. The Greenway will be an 8-foot-wide asphalt pathway with two trailheads with parking, trailside facilities, signs, kiosks, bridge reinforcements for safety, sidewalks that lead to adjacent neighborhoods, resting stations and pedestrian lighting. The $2.97 million grant covers up to 50% of the project’s total estimated cost of $5.99 million.
The city is also looking to revamp the West Meighan Sports Complex. Possibilities for the site include the addition of an aquatic center, tennis courts, pickle ball courts and indoor soccer facilities.
Christmas on the Coosa, which features an outdoor skating rink, returned for its second year in Gadsden, while Christmas at the Falls remains one of the community’s biggest tourism revenue earners, drawing more than 100,000 visitors each year.
Last year, Gadsden State Community College opened its $24 million Advanced Manufacturing and Workforce Skills Training Center on its East Broad Campus. The college also announced plans for a large-scale renovation of the Wallace Hall Fine Arts Center and academic wing, and broke ground on a $10 million baseball-softball complex.
Rainbow City, the county’s second largest city, broke ground on the Challenger Learning Center last fall. The STEM-focused school joins a network of more than 30 Challenger Learning Centers across 24 states. The Rainbow City center is the first of its kind in the state and will include classrooms plus a simulator where middle and high school students can role-play during a realistic simulated space mission.
City leaders also broke ground on a new recreation center that will be located near the Challenger Learning Center. The facility will include a competition-size outdoor swimming pool, splash pad, playground and stage area with seating. Other amenities include a gym, an indoor track, a fitness room, basketball courts, a concession stand and locker rooms.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Two St. Clair County communities received funding from the SEEDS program totaling $2.5 million as part of an initiative to help smaller communities develop industry-ready sites to attract new businesses. The Commercial Development Authority in Moody received $407,902 in SEEDS funding to extend sewer service to a new 192-acre park located just off I-20. And the St. Clair Industrial Development Board received funds totaling $2.1 million to acquire a 250-acre rail-served commerce park along I-59 in Springville. The new park is a partnership among the Industrial Development Board, city of Springville and the County Commission.
St. Clair County has two county seats: Pell City and Ashville.
In Pell City, industries have recently invested more than $58 million.
Douglas Manufacturing Co., which makes components for conveyor systems, announced an investment of nearly $11.7 million to expand its production facility on Industrial Park Drive. The company started construction on a 50,000-square-foot idler plant at the location and will make improvements to increase capacity at its four other product lines. The project will create 50 jobs over a two-year period.
Around the same time, Ford Meter Box announced plans for a $23.2 million expansion of its Pell City facility. The Indiana-based firm, which makes underground waterworks products, is constructing a 60,000-square-foot building and is investing in new equipment to allow for fabrication of large-diameter steel components and increased production capacity.
In June, city and state officials celebrated a groundbreaking for a $23.5 million expansion of the Allied Mineral Products LLC plant in Pell City. The facility produces a variety of heat containment and refractory products used in industrial applications. The project will add a 200,000-square-foot production facility and create 13 jobs.
The Pell City Council recently approved a development incentive package that will bring national restaurant brands Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse to the city. The $6 million development will be located along US 231 near the I-20 West ramp.
“Residents regularly tell me that new dining options should be high on our list of priorities, so I’m very pleased to announce that two fantastic new restaurants are considering our city,” Mayor Bill Pruitt says. “This is a major win for our community, bringing new dining options, jobs and economic growth.”
In 2024, the city of Pell City advanced more than $14 million in capital improvement projects designed to increase emergency service capabilities. The city began construction on a $5.95 million police station in July 2024 and an $8.28 million fire station in February 2025.
“Not a lot of cities can fund a project of this magnitude without the need for external financing, and the ability to do so speaks well to the financial stewardship of this administration,” said Pell City Manager Brian Muenger.
Convenience and gasoline retailer QuikTrip broke ground on a new travel center, its eighth in Alabama, along Interstate 59 in Ashville. The travel center is expected to open in spring 2026.
In Moody, construction began last spring on a new high school. The $47 million project includes a 95,000-square-foot academic building, a 7,000-square-foot storm shelter, cafeteria/kitchen, band hall and activity practice gymnasium. A new 25,800-square-foot gymnasium with 1,200 seats, locker rooms and concessions will also be constructed. The 19,000-square-foot gymnasium is also being renovated to house an 800-seat auditorium, stage, dressing rooms, concessions, restrooms and a drama classroom. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.
This article appears in the April 2025 issue of Business Alabama.
