By Gary Lloyd
The Trussville Industrial Development Board is working to get the city’s available industrial properties on a state website to be advertised, a board member said last week.
“We’re trying to do it as quick as we can,” board member Cecil Medders said.
There is no deadline for when available properties in Trussville will be posted on the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama website, www.edpa.org. Medders said the website hosts industrial sites from various cities and counties, the focus being attracting and retaining industry.
Medders said Trussville would “miss a real good opportunity” to attract new industries if it wasn’t listed on the website. He said the board is still in the process of gathering all its information for the website.
One area that may soon be available is on Commerce Lane, where Steyr Arms Inc., a gun maker, is based. The company announced last month that it purchased two buildings in Bessemer from Builder’s Millwork LLC for more than .37 million, according to the Birmingham Business Journal. Steyr, a subsidiary of Austria-based Steyr Mannlicker, plans to relocate from Trussville and triple its workforce to 21 in a .7 million expansion. The company is slated for about 0,000 in incentives from Bessemer, the BBJ reported.
SPOC Automation Inc., a manufacturer in the oil and gas technology industry located on Gadsden Highway in Trussville, last month completed its third production facility at its campus, which it expects to possibly outgrow in the next five years, according to the Birmingham Business Journal.
“We are very excited to double our production capacity with the new addition,” said SPOC Automation President Bobby Mason. “The expansion will give us room to grow for the next few years.”
The company plans to add 10 to 15 jobs over the next year. Total project expansion costs were around $1.2 million. The company is planning to add another smaller facility and office space for the next phase of expansion in the early stage of 2014. After that, the company could begin searching for a new location in metro Birmingham, not necessarily in Trussville, Mason told the BBJ.
The Industrial Development Board, while authorized to sell or lease property to industrial tenants in Trussville, can’t do much about industries outgrowing the Trussville Industrial Park on U.S. Highway 11, Medders said. Property there is zoned for light industrial development and can be divided to suit the needs of prospective tenants with a minimum lot size of two acres.
Medders said the goal of the board is to try to meet the needs of prospective industries. Industrial Development Board Chairman Clarence Boatwright said the board can usually only offer abatements to industries if they are expanding in Trussville.
“We try to keep them, but all we can do for them is if they qualify for abatements, we can give them abatements,” Boatwright said.
The Industrial Development Board meets the last Thursday each month at 7 p.m. at Trussville City Hall.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.