AGRICULTURE / FOOD / WOOD / PAPER
Pike County is known for agricultural commodities like poultry and egg production, cattle, peanuts and timberland. Southern Classic Food Group began operating out of Brundidge in 2001 and has since grown to run a 235,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that produces and packages a variety of sauces, seasonings, dressings and condiments. Formerly known as Golden Boy Foods, 8th Avenue Nut Butters, a leading nut butter supplier, operates a plant in Troy. A new cutting-edge facility operated by New York-based Conecuh Ridge Distillery is scheduled to open in 2025. Among its products is Alabama Style Whiskey, the official state spirit of Alabama, invented by famous moonshiner and Alabama native, Clyde May. Rex Lumber, a leader in the softwood lumber industry, has operated a manufacturing facility in Troy since 2019. HB&G Building Products is the country’s largest manufacturer of outdoor columns; the company also produces railing and balustrade systems and other outdoor living products. Sunbelt Forest Products Corp. specializes in manufacturing pressure-treated lumber made to withstand harsh tropical climates.
Tyson Foods Inc. operates a poultry processing plant that is the largest employer in Barbour County. Tyson acquired the Eufaula facility in 2018. The county’s second-largest employer is Mahrt Mill, a paper mill operated by Smurfit Westrock. While the mill is located in Russell County, a large percentage of its workforce commutes from Eufaula daily. Barbour County also is home to lumber product companies like Southeast Forest Products, which built its Louisville sawmill in 2019 to address market supply shortages; and M.C. Dixon Lumber Co. Michigan-based Panel Processing purchased the business operations of Alabama Inter-Forest in 2004; the facility manufactures a variety of engineered wood products.
Like Barbour County, poultry processing is the largest industrial employer in Bullock County, home to Wayne Sanderson Farms. Next on the list is Bonnie Plants, a top provider of vegetable and herb plants. The company also operates a trial garden in Union Springs and more than 70 growing stations across the country. To Your Health Sprouted Flour is another top employer in Bullock County. The company’s facility in Fitzpatrick is capable of producing 70,000 pounds of sprouted organic grains and flours and supplies large commercial companies like Whole Foods Market, Arrowhead Mills and Kellogg.
AEROSPACE / AVIATION
More than 600 employees see to the final assembly of missiles at Lockheed Martin’s Pike County Operations. The 4,000-acre complex is a manufacturing, test and storage operation for missile programs supported by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC), including Javelin, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and air-to-ground missiles. It also manufactures missiles and hardware for a variety of development programs.
The facility has received a fair amount of national and international attention in recent months: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited the facility in February, and the Alabama plant continues to play a critical role supplying Javelin missiles to bolster Ukraine’s defense against Russian invasion, as President Joe Biden acknowledged shortly after signing a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine in April.
Lockheed Martin also operates the Sikorsky Aircraft helicopter plant in Troy. In November 2023, the facility announced a $374 million contract to produce 45 airframes for the Coast Guard’s fleet of MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters.
HIGHER EDUCATION
With just over 2,300 employees, Troy University is the largest non-manufacturing employer in Pike County, and its four campuses in Troy, Dothan, Montgomery and Phenix City generate a significant economic development impact in the state. The university has roughly 14,000 students enrolled worldwide from more than 65 countries and counts more than 176,000 alumni in its ranks.
In May, Troy University Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins and Meesoon Han, executive director of the Alabama-International Education and Economic Partnership (ALIEEP), signed a memorandum of understanding to improve economic development in Alabama by training international students to alleviate shortages in critical professions, such as education. Under the agreement, the university will provide teaching expertise in foreign or critical languages and multicultural education, as well as help develop international exchange and global leadership opportunities for professional development.
Wallace Community College’s Sparks campus in Barbour County supports workforce development through strong partnerships with the area’s leading employers. The Workforce Development Department recently began offering no-cost Skills for Success heavy equipment operator training, required for operating skid steers, bulldozers, excavators and rollers, and Skills for Success fiber optic technician and installer training. Wallace’s nursing and allied health programs are among its most popular, and the Sparks campus is a regional test site for the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) exam. Other programs available at the Sparks campus include industrial systems technology, air conditioning and refrigeration, welding technology, criminal justice and child development. Online courses in entrepreneurship and Google IT support are also offered.
HEALTH CARE
Troy Regional Medical Center in Pike County, Medical Center Barbour and Bullock County Hospital are all among the top 10 largest employers in their respective counties.
In April, Bullock County Hospital announced it is starting the process to become designated as a Rural Emergency Hospital. The transition means the facility will close inpatient beds and shift its focus from acute care to 24-hour emergency care and other outpatient services.
MARINE ELECTRONICS / SPORTS FISHING PRODUCTS
Home to Lake Eufaula, Pike County Lake and the city of Eufaula, which prides itself on being the “Big Bass Capital of the World,” it’s no surprise that marine electronics play a vital role in Barbour County’s economy.
Johnson Outdoors Marine Electronics Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of global outdoor recreation company Johnson Outdoors Inc., manufactures and markets a full range of fishing electronics, one of which is Eufaula-based brand Humminbird. In June, Humminbird received the Large Industry of the Decade Award from the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce. Humminbird was acquired by Johnson Outdoors in 2004.
DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRY / TRUCKING / METALS
Other industries in Pike County include a Walmart Distribution Center that has operated in the county for 20 years. The facility has more than 900 employees and an average daily inventory of 47 million items. Troy is home to IT and business consultant CGI’s U.S. onshore delivery center, and KW Plastics, one of the largest plastics recyclers in the U.S., is headquartered in Troy. This spring, KW announced it will start up what will be its sixth wash line, capable of processing 100 million pounds of plastic per year. Firearms company Kimber Manufacturing also is headquartered in Troy.
Both Pike and Barbour are headquarters for trucking companies: Wiley Sanders Truck Lines in Pike County and Boyd Bros. Transportation Inc. and Benny Whitehead Inc. in Barbour. Also in Barbour County, Hyundai Polytech manufactures auto parts made from rubber and plastic.
Other industries in Bullock County include Ace Packaging, which specializes in returnable packaging for the automotive industry; chemical manufacturer and distributor Gulf States International; and chemical wholesaler The Alchemy Group.
BUSINESS BRIEFS:
JULY 2024: Humminbird announces 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 the installation of a solar array that allowed the company to begin generating its own solar power last year.
MAY 2024: The Lakepoint State Park Resort Lodge begins renovations on 44 of its rooms. The project is expected to be complete in December.
APRIL 2024: KW Plastics, one of the country’s largest plastic recyclers, announces plans to expand its recycling capabilities by adding a sixth wash line capable of processing 100 million pounds of plastic per year.
MARCH 2024: Union Springs-based Community Bank & Trust is rebranded as LifeSteps Bank & Trust following its acquisition by LS Investor Group LLC. The bank’s future plans include implementing new and updated banking systems, entering the Huntsville market and offering wealth management strategies.
JANUARY 2024: Dothan Pediatric Healthcare Network opens its newest satellite clinic, Troy Pediatric Clinic & Collegiate Health, which provides a full range of medical care for infants, children, adolescents and young adults in Troy and Pike County.
DECEMBER 2023: Sikorsky Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin company, delivers the first of 45 MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter airframe replacements to the U.S. Coast Guard as part of a $374 million contract signed
in 2021.
OCTOBER 2023: Clio Health Clinic opens in downtown Clio. The general-purpose health and wellness facility focuses on providing routine medical care and education in self-care to clients in rural communities.
OCTOBER 2023: Pike County and Troy city officials attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a four-story, 91-room Home2 Suites by Hilton, an extended-stay hotel.
SEPTEMBER 2023: Mineral Manufacturing Corp. announces a $12.3 million investment to modernize and upgrade its 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. The expansion includes the addition of 30 new jobs at the 266,000-square-foot former Beaulieu of America yarn processing plant in Eufaula.
AUGUST 2023: The Pike County Judicial Detention Complex opens in Troy, marking the completion of a $36 million project that broke ground in May of 2021. The new facility includes a jail, courtrooms and offices for the county’s circuit clerks, district attorney, juvenile office and sheriff.
JUNE 2023: The city of Eufaula signs an agreement with Tesla to build 16 stalls in a municipal parking lot near downtown. The site will include three prefabricated Supercharger units, each with four stalls, and four pull-through stalls.
FEBRUARY 2023: Pike Medical Foundation provides $70,000 to the Troy Regional Medical Center to purchase a camera for the hospital’s Nuclear Medicine Department to use for cancer detection, cardiac imaging and abdominal imaging.
This article appears in the September 2024 issue of Business Alabama.
