58 INC.'s new managing director, Amy Sturdivant, gave an economic development update from 58INC. During the Shelby Chamber’s online event held March 31.
Only in her new role for several months, Sturdivant provided participants an in-depth view of the county’s economy and how 58 INC. works to advance economic prosperity and business health through a collaborative partnership among stakeholders focused on targeted initiatives and business recruitment to assure a robust economy
Sturdivant began her presentation by saying that the Shelby County communities are growing and healthy. Instead of discussing the economic status or forecast, Sturdivant said her goal was to ignite everyone’s excitement about Shelby County and all it has to offer.
“We are driving forward and igniting the future,” she said. “We are ready to celebrate the end of the pandemic and recover from recent tornadoes and become more innovating and more connected in the coming year.”
Sturdivant, along with Melody Whitten and Jackson Pruett at 58 INC. work all over the county for each of the communities to shape the skills and training in the workforce to serve companies.
“What 58 INC. does on a daily basis includes introducing investors to start up, matching restaurants with buildings, supplying development of new training for businesses, sharing success stories with national site selectors, helping with company expansion, responding to requests for proposals and taking on site visions,” she said.
Sturdivant said she hopes people think of their team as economic development connectors that are regional, state, national, and international ambassadors for business investment opportunities in Shelby County.
While discussing helping build communities, Sturdivant said she hopes participants would leave the meeting excited about a project they didn’t know was happening or find out about a new place they didn’t know was there.
In a slide entitled Celebrating Shelby, Sturdivant shared statistics including
A 52% increase in the county’s GDP over 10 years
A 14% increase in Shelby County’s population over 10 years
Shelby County is the #1 healthiest county in Alabama
Shelby County is the #2 best place to start a career in Alabama
As for the county’s economic drivers, major corporate headquarters include McLeod Software, EBSCO Industries, Summer Classics, Altec and Avanti. Critical regional offices include Alabama Power, Biocryst, Regions, Diehl and Guidewire. Advanced manufactures include Dunn Construction, Vulcan Steel Products, Vulcan Materials Company and MacLean Power Systems.
Recent announcements include:
BioGX relocating from Innovation Depot in downtown Birmingham to Valleydale Road
Avanti Polar Lipids expanding in Alabaster
Alabama Georgia Crown expanding on new 60 acre site
AGC (a tier one automotive supplier) expanding 30,000 sq. ft.
Therachem (a local biopharma company in Chelsea) expanding their plant and workforce
She said Shelby West Corporate Park, a 400 acre site developed over the last 20 years has seen $120 million in investment, 1,000 jobs and 18 companies.
“It’s almost fully built out with around 40 acres left,” she said.
The city of Chelsea is offering smaller sites at Foothills Business Park and has around 11 acres left.
Shelby Commerce Park is 100% leased and in high demand due to its interstate proximity in Calera.
As the startup ecosystem in Shelby County is growing, 58INC. Will help develop sectors in software, life sciences and local services.
“We strive to support developing sectors both ecosystems and their early stage companies,” Sturdivant said. “Shelby Co remains ripe for growth in these sectors.”
Sturdivant said Shelby County is a great place to work and find housing, and has seen a 16% increase in home sales since Feb. 2020. The housing market is hot and the average days a home is on the market is fewer than 40 days and in Feb, 2021 inventory at a three year low with one month supply on market.
New and coming businesses include:
- Mapco gas station in Inverness
- O’Henry’s Coffees opening on CR-41 in the ACE Hardware shopping center
- Just a Tish wine bar opened in 2020 in Columbiana
- Chelsea announced future restaurant openings of Buffalo Wild Wings, Arby’s and Chicken Fry’d
- Oak Mountain Brewery recently opened in Pelham
- Campus 124, a $10 million mixed use development in Pelham is making strides
“As we look into the future, we here at 58 INC, Sturdivant said she sees great things ahead with healthy and consistent demand for more corporations and industries,” she said. “Shelby County is collaborating toward a strong and diverse future and it's great to be a part of it.”
