Moody, Springville poised to expand manufacturing jobs with SEED grant

From Tribune staff reports

ST. CLAIR COUNTY — Moody and Springville will be two big winners from the SEED grant money that was announced by Governor Kay Ivey in February.

According to the Birmingham Business Journal, Springville and Moody are using the grant money to expand industrial sites and draw jobs to their respective communities.

Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County Economic Development Council, told the BBJ that Riley Farm Commerce Park and Kelly Creek Commerce Park in St. Clair County received $2.1 million and $400,000, respectively, from the Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy Act (SEEDS). But the developments in each city will be different, with an eye toward the type businesses that would be the right fit for each city.

In total, $30 million in grants were available which will be matched with over $38 million in local funding to complete the projects.

Kelly Creek Commerce Park in Moody is ready to go, but needed an expensive sewer connection to complete the project. The grant will make that a reality.

“Without this program, it was going to be difficult for the municipality to be able to run sewer to that park at this time,” Smith told the BBJ. “This program allowed that small community to be able to fast track that park and provide the missing piece in order to get some quality manufacturers in there.”

Smith said the SEEDS grant will pay nearly half the cost, with the Moody Commercial Development Authority funding the remaining 54%. The sewer work is expected to be complete by 2025.

 In Springville, the Riley Farm Commerce Park received a $2.1 million grant from the SEED money. Land purchased from Alabama Power in Springville will be the site but the raw land will require far more development than the Moody project.

The St. Clair County Commission will split the cost of the Springville site and the commission plans to purchase dirt from the site for other projects.

“We’re going to be targeting advanced manufacturers that need rail service and then anything automotive related, anything construction material related,” Smith told the BBJ. “Springville has a very strong characteristic of people that live there, and we want to make sure that the companies that we bring in there are going to be a good fit for them.

“You won’t be seeing smokestacks, there won’t be anything that’s going to be seen as dirty.”

The two projects are expected to create almost 2500 jobs.