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March 4, 2010

Cullman in good company

City named Top 10 micropolitan for industry

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times

CULLMAN — Cullman has been named a Top 10 micropolitan for new and expanded industries in 2009 by Site Selection Magazine.

The city tied for tenth place on the list, helped by last year’s announcement of injection molding company Royal Technologies’ expansion into the area.

“They look at the number of total new facilities and we were fortunate to be selected as one of only two Alabama cities to be honored out of the metro and micro list for project development,” Cullman Economic Development Agency Director Peggy Smith said. “The announcement of Royal Technologies new Cullman plant along with more than $32 million in expansions by existing companies led us to this honor.”

Smith said it is a huge honor for the area to make the list, which was chosen from hundreds of micropolitan cities across the country.

“We are very fortunate to have experienced such great growth and job creation and thank all of our local industries for their continued investment in Cullman County, Alabama,” she said.

Jeff Hill, with the City of Cullman Industrial board, said the accolade is the result of hard work by everyone involved — especially local industries.

“It’s a testament to the strong commitment of our existing industries who are expanding and we’re very grateful to our Cullman industries and proud of their success,” he said. “The praise needs to go to the industries that have made a commitment to Cullman. This is a very nice reward for the job everyone involved with industrial development does.”

Cullman Mayor Max Townson said he was elated by the announcement.

“Our economic development agency, along with the industrial development board, has done a great job,” he said. “I’d like to thank all the board members and staff for their diligent work to find companies that want to locate in Cullman. I’d also like to thank the companies that are here and have expanded, because it just makes us stronger.”

Townson said he is hopeful the award will lead to even more industrial expansion for the area.

“It’s always good to have your city’s name out there where people can see what we’re accomplishing,” he said. “The people of Cullman should be very proud to know the position our community is in, to be able to furnish jobs to all of Cullman County.”

In the magazine’s ranking of Top Micropolitans — cities of 10,000 to 50,000 people which cover at least one county — Statesville-Mooresville, N.C., claimed the top prize among the nation’s 576 micropolitan areas, followed by Wooster, Ohio, and Pottsville, Pa. (tied for second); Daphne-Fairhope, Ala., and Lincolnton, N.C. (tied for fourth), according to a press release.



* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 225.

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