Grow Southeast Alabama

Several Grow Southeast Alabama members attended the RurAL Summit presented by the Alabama Department of Commerce at the Central Alabama Community College in Prattville. The three-day event included a walking tour of Dadeville, presentations from Communities Unlimited,
U.S. Small Business Administration, Keller Williams Realty, Inc., Main Street Alabama, Innovate Alabama, AIDT, Alabama Forestry Commission, and ended with words from Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair and Governor Kay Ivey . Grow Southeast Alabama was proud to be a sponsor for the event.

Grow Southeast Alabama hosted several industry representatives yesterday at Ravenwood Sporting Clays, LLC. in Headland! This annual event is always a great time, and it allows us to show appreciation to the industries in our 11-county footprint that mean so much to our region. Thanks to everyone that attended yesterday, and we look forward to seeing all of you again next year!

Several Grow Southeast Alabama members attended "The Sustainable Future of CLT in the South: Grow. Design. Build." conference at Auburn University this week. GSEA Board Member and Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Parker participated as a panelist on the Economic Development Panel Discussion with Economic Development Partnership of Alabama President Greg Barker, SmartLam North America CFO Brian Davison, City of Auburn, AL - City Government Deputy Director of Economic Development Arndt Siepmann, and Alabama Forestry Commission Senior Economic Developer Al Jones. It was a great conference full of valuable information!
Auburn University College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment

Coffee County received a $5.7M grant through Alabama’s Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS) program that will enable the purchase of nearly 300 acres to expand and develop industry-ready sites at the Enterprise Commerce Park. Read more about the project in the article below.
https://loom.ly/9XWwnAo

Enterprise receives $5.7 million SEEDS grant to develop industry-ready sites - Made in Alabama Coffee County officials celebrated a $5.7 million grant through Alabama’s SEEDS program that will enable the purchase of nearly 300 acres to develop industry-ready sites at the Enterprise Commerce Park.

Governor Ivey received a new economic strategic plan from Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair to energize Alabama's long-term growth. Read more about this new plan here: https://loom.ly/xIVjHA0

Governor Ivey receives new economic strategic plan to energize Alabama’s long-term growth - Made in Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair today presented Governor Kay Ivey with a forward-thinking economic strategic plan called "Catalyst" to spark Alabama's growth through the next decade and beyond.

Senator Britt secured $7.16 million in Justice related congressionally directed spending in the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025. Bullock County, the City of Dothan, Slocomb, and Luverne all received funding for critical items. To learn more about the funding, read the full article here: https://loom.ly/7WbDqLM

U.S. Senator Katie Britt Secures Funds to Upgrade Bullock County Sheriff’s Department Vehicles - Senator Katie Britt WASHINGTON, D.C., August 28, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), as a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, secured $50,000 for the Bullock County Sheriff’s Department in the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. This con...

Grow Southeast Alabama (GSEA) Executive Director Melody Lee gave a presentation today to the Dothan Tuesday Rotary Club. She discussed GSEA programs and initiatives that have been created to support industries in our 11-county coalition.

Members of Grow Southeast Alabama attended the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce State of Economy luncheon today. Keynote speaker Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth discussed the policies and procedures that have been used the last several years to keep Alabama's business economy strong.

Congratulations to Jackson Adcock from Zion Chapel School in Jack, Alabama, on being the Coffee County winner for the GSEA Workforce Development Scholarship Program! We wish him all the best in the Pre-Apprentice Lineman Program at Wallace Community College in September! Southeast AlabamaWorks

Today was an exciting day for the City of Dothan Government and Houston County, Alabama! The Wiregrass delegation of state legislators presented a $3.9 million check to the Industrial Development Board of Dothan this morning. This SEEDS Funding will be used to develop the new Westgate Supersite, a game-changer for our local economy. This new industrial site will be over 400 acres and will make our region even more attractive to larger manufacturing companies considering expanding or relocating to Alabama.

Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair, EDAA Executive Director Jim Searcy, Mayor Mark Saliba, Houston County
Chairman Brandon Shoupe, City and County Commissioners, Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce, and other Commerce employees were on hand for today's check presentation.

A huge thank you to our Wiregrass delegation, Donnie Chesteen State Senator, Rep. Steve Clouse, Rep. Paul Lee, Rep. Jeff Sorrells, and Representative Rick Rehm, Alabama House District 85, for their tireless efforts in driving economic development in our region.

Stay tuned for more updates as Southeast Alabama continues to grow and thrive!

Congratulations to our Pike County workforce development scholarship winner - Mark Shehane from Pike County High School! And a big thank you to Southeast AlabamaWorks for partnering with us on the inaugural Grow Southeast Alabama Workforce Development Scholarship Program!

Congratulations to Jakel Griffin - our Grow Southeast Alabama Workforce Development Scholarship Program winner from Crenshaw County! We wish Jakel all the best at the Alabama Aviation College!

Several members of Grow Southeast Alabama attended the Wiregrass STEM Ecosystem Kick-Off at The ATTA in Abbeville last week. Several stakeholders from around the Wiregrass were in attendance to help identify needs and challenges within STEM education and discuss opportunities for collaboration to elevate STEM education across the region.

Congratulations to Will Hartzog on receiving the Grow Southeast Alabama Workforce Development Scholarship for Dale County! We wish Will all the best in the Pre-Apprentice Electrical Lineman program at
Wallace Community College! Thanks to Southeast AlabamaWorks for partnering with us on this inaugural scholarship program!

Congratulations to Gavin Brown (Lakeside High School) in Eufaula on winning our $1000 GSEA Workforce Development Scholarship for Barbour County! Gavin plans to attend Wallace Community College (Sparks Campus) in Eufaula to complete their welding certification program.
Southeast AlabamaWorks

Members of Grow Southeast Alabama attended Monday's groundbreaking for the Wiregrass Innovation Center in downtown Dothan. The Wiregrass Innovation Center was announced last August in a joint press conference between the City of Dothan Government and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville. The center will serve as a place where ideas grow and entrepreneurs thrive. Located on the Carver Research Campus in beautiful downtown Dothan, the center will be the future home to entrepreneurs and AgTech companies with HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology Wiregrass serving as its anchor tenant. Governor Kay Ivey, House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, Donnie Chesteen State Senator, Rep. Jeff Sorrells, Rep. Steve Clouse, Rep. Rick Rehm, Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba, and the Dothan City Commission were in attendance for the groundbreaking. We're looking forward to seeing this piece of downtown Dothan's renovation efforts take shape!

Right Picture (L-R): HudsonAlpha President Neil Lamb, PhD, and Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba

Exciting times are on the horizon for Bullock County and Fiblast! Fiblast designs and fabricates architectural products using advanced composite technologies. The company has acquired a new 60,000 sq ft industrial property on March Street in Union Springs which was previously owned by Gulf States International. This expansion is a clear indication of economic development as the team at Fiblast is projected to increase jobs from 15 to 24 by the end of the year. Their investment in Bullock County has now exceeded $750K!

Congratulations to Kaitlyn Herrington from Dothan High School on being our Houston County Workforce Development Scholarship recipient! Kaitlyn plans on receiving a 2-year degree from the Alabama Aviation College in Ozark to become a certified helicopter mechanic.