Wood Products
Escambia, Monroe, Clarke, Choctaw and Conecuh counties are all known for timber, forestry and all factors of wood processing. Even while other economic sectors grow, wood is still the economic leader.
Escambia County is home to longstanding, family-owned sawmills such as T.R. Miller Mill Co. and Swift Lumber, as well as smaller operations like Huxford Pole and Timber. Much of the county and surrounding counties that feed into Escambia’s mills are dedicated to pine plantations. They provide both saw timber and pulpwood for local industries.
In addition to sawmills, Georgia-Pacific operates a large papermill in Brewton, which is part of a region-wide network, including mills in Monroeville and Pennington. Georgia-Pacific is one of the largest employers of any kind in Escambia County, and mills in the area have been the focus of around $1 billion in capital investment over the past few years.
These mills also are responsible for hundreds of secondary jobs, including foresters, timber crews and trucking companies.
In Monroe County, Georgia-Pacific’s Alabama River Cellulose mill (ARC) in Perdue Hill serves as a vital economic engine for Monroe County and Southwest Alabama. The facility employs more than 500 full-time workers and supports more than 1,500 additional jobs in logging, trucking and related industries.
Operating continuously since 1978, ARC expanded significantly in 1991 with a second mill that increased capacity and product diversity. The facility produces rolls and bales of fluff pulp exported globally for absorbent hygiene products, paper goods and filtration applications.
In 2025, Georgia-Pacific announced an $800 million expansion that will transform ARC into North America’s largest fluff pulp mill by 2027. The project includes new equipment: a continuous-feed digester, evaporators, recovery boiler, pulp dryer, power boiler, lime kiln and washing systems.
Upon completion, the upgraded mill will operate more efficiently using increased renewable energy sources, consume less water, improve effluent quality and streamline end-to-end processes. ARC’s strategic location in North America’s largest wood basin, combined with Southwest Alabama’s skilled workforce, positions the facility to produce world-class softwood kraft pulp while strengthening Georgia-Pacific’s global competitiveness for decades ahead.
General Agriculture
Escambia County, particularly the western half of the county, is home to numerous peanut, cotton, corn and soybean farms, as well as cattle and other livestock.
The resurgence of the cattle industry — along with the difficulty of finding processing plants willing to take animals for slaughter during the COVID-19 shutdown — triggered the construction of a $30 million meat processing plant on Poarch Creek Indian land known as Perdido River Farms.
Companies also continue to invest in the processing and storage of peanuts, with future projects on the horizon.
Metals Manufacturing
In Escambia County, PCI Manufacturing, Alto Products, Escofab and Longleaf Machining are examples of local industries dedicated to metals manufacturing. The focus is on aerospace, automotive and defense.Technology
One of Escambia County’s unexpected industries is Provalus. The information technology firm serves as a development and support hub for many industries.
Provalus employs 300 people in downtown Brewton. The vast majority of them come from just a few miles around the company’s location. Provalus also calls Brewton its home base and corporate headquarters, even as it expands to several other states around the country.
Maritime Development
The most promising economic initiative in Conecuh County is a new partnership with Reid State Community College focused on expanding maritime development. This collaboration aims to strengthen Alabama’s role in shipbuilding and maritime technology — helping grow the workforce and support our nation’s shipbuilding industry.
Workforce Development
“There is currently an increased focus on workforce development in Choctaw County,” says Dee Ann Campbell, executive director of the Choctaw County Chamber of Commerce. “The town of Butler includes plans for a new workforce development center that would offer skills training opportunities for local residents.”
Plans include working alongside Coastal Alabama Community College, as well as other entities, to provide specific training for businesses that currently operate in the county, as well as new industry that chooses to locate in the area. The goal will be not only to create a mechanism for local businesses to train their workers, but also to create a workforce that is attractive to new industries looking for locations in the region.
Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority
In Atmore, Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority (CIEDA) is the economic development arm of the Poarch Creek Indians and a strategic driver of business growth.
Dedicated to advancing economic development, CIEDA oversees a diverse portfolio of non-gaming enterprises and investments held by the Tribe. CIEDA focuses on creating business opportunities, currently managing 16 companies throughout the U.S.
The business portfolio extends well beyond the gaming industry, with expertise covering five market sectors — retail, tourism, hospitality, manufacturing and government services.
Tribal business account for more than 6,000 jobs, roughly 90% of which are held by non-Indians.
Business Briefs:
- JANUARY 2026: South Alabama Machine in Thomasville is expanding with construction of a new machine shop in the South Thomasville Industrial Park. Plans call for 15,000 square feet plus an additional five to eight employees.
- DECEMBER 2025: Bad Boy Mowers announces plans to open a $10.5 million tractor assembly plant in Monroeville with about 50 jobs. The plant is at the old Vanity Fair complex.
- DECEMBER 2025: Main Street Atmore completes work in conjunction with Auburn University to create design documents and strategic planning procedures for the Atmore Main Street District.
- DECEMBER 2025: Provalus continues to expand to other locations outside Alabama, but the company’s Brewton corporate headquarters continue to grow locally as well.
- NOVEMBER 2025: U.S. Rep. Shomari C. Figures (AL-02) announced $1 million for the Jackson Health Care Authority to support infrastructure improvements and equipment upgrades.
- NOVEMBER 2025: ALTO Products, of Atmore, completes its sale to Freudenberg-NOK. The acquisition ensures the future of ALTO, one of Escambia County’s largest employers, a maker of clutch friction plates and other automotive products.
- OCTOBER 2025: Caliber Stamping opens a new facility just east of East Brewton, expanding operations. Caliber Stamping produces brackets for residential and industrial roof systems.
- JUNE 2025: Major renovations improve the McCarty’s Ferry Public Boat ramp, south of Butler on the Tombigbee River. The project was a partnership between the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) and the Choctaw County Commission.
- SEPTEMBER 2025: Georgia-Pacific announces plans to invest $800 million to modernize, expand and streamline the production capabilities of the Alabama River Cellulose mill.
- JULY 2025: CSX Railroad announces the approval of a second rail site into the CSX SelectSite program. The Atmore site covers 215 acres.
- JUNE 2025: Construction begins on the $9.96 million new jail in Choctaw County. The facility will include 54 adult beds and four beds for juveniles. The previous jail in Butler was closed in 2019 due to structural issues. The new jail should be ready in late 2026.
- APRIL 2025: The city of Brewton is awarded a SEEDS grant application for site evaluation and engineering services in Brewton Industrial Park.
- MARCH 2025: The Alabama Department of Commerce announces that Escambia County was the top rural county for capital investment in the state for 2024, thanks largely to a $350 million solar investment by Pinegate Renewables.
- March 2025: Perdido River Farms, an agricultural enterprise of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, opens a $30 million meat processing facility at Exit 54 along Interstate 65.
- March 2025: AAA Cooper Transportation announces an expansion of operations in the Brewton area connected with wood chip hauling services for Georgia-Pacific.
- NOVEMBER 2024: Atmore officials say a $703,000 grant from Alabama’s new Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS) program will advance industrial development in the Escambia County city.
- MAY 2024: The Conecuh County Commission and Ecostrat Inc. announce that Conecuh County received an investment ‘A’ rating for woody biomass. The rating notes high prospective viability of feedstock supply chain and infrastructure and low expectations of default risk.
- MAY 2024: Florence-based Clark Gas Company Propane Cylinder Exchange announces plans to invest $10 million for a new distribution hub in Clarke County. The move will create up to 40 jobs.
- APRIL 2024: Three Monroeville companies launched growth projects in 2024. They are: Sterling Packaging Co., Farm Fresh Cattle and Owens Lumber Co.
