Economic development investment in Alabama’s most populous county reached nearly $476 million in 2023 with 40 projects and 816 jobs announced.
Jeff Traywick, economic development advisor for the Jefferson County Commission, said investment in the county reached $475.94 million last year. Among the projects: a refresh of the Wells Fargo data center ($205 million); ReConserve, a contractor/supplier for the giant J.M Smucker Co. plant expected to open later this year in McCalla ($31 million); and the Brasfield & Gorrie headquarters expansion in Birmingham ($19 million).
“The county has been creative in identifying ways to meet the needs of growth projects,” said Traywick, a former vice president of economic development for the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA). “This includes job-based incentives for higher-paying jobs, support for retail and mixed-use development, infrastructure support.”
A number of the projects added up to hundreds of jobs. For example, Mobis US Alabama has two separate projects of automotive parts manufacturing that totaled 138 jobs, according to the county. The Brasfield & Gorrie expansion includes 70 jobs, and Traywick said more are on the way.
He noted that the average wage for announced jobs was $62,109, which is “higher than the Jefferson County median household income of $58,330.”
“We are also showing our commitment to quality job creation by investing in a new north Jefferson industrial park that could potentially house several thousand new jobs,” Traywick said.
The county is appealing to a number of businesses because “we have a diverse array of industrial sectors which translates into a well-trained and highly skilled workforce that can meet the diverse needs of businesses,” Traywick said.
He said the county is off to a strong start in 2024 and will look to build on the momentum.
Traywick said two projects have already been announced for the county in 2024, R+L Carriers, and Atlas Tube, that will create almost 100 jobs, with “several near-term announcements that will see more than $350 million in capital investment and another 100 or so jobs.”
“We also are recruiting new industry that provides higher paying opportunities and upskilling for those that might not have the continued education or training needed for more skilled sectors,” Traywick said. “This provides a path for people to gain experience and knowledge and grow their careers here.”
Here are some of the projects that landed in Jefferson County in 2023:
Wells Fargo, Data Center Refresh, $205 million.
Village Creek Development, mixed use, $32.5 million, 27 jobs.
ReConserve, $30.8 million, 29 jobs.
Brasfield & Gorrie headquarters expansion, $19 million, 70 jobs.
Mobis US Alabama, two projects, $17.76 million, 138 jobs.
Ford Service Center, 60 jobs.
SecturaSOFT, 50 jobs.
Acclinate Genetics, 25 jobs.
A version of this story originally appeared in The Birmingham Times
By: Barnett Wright
DC BLOX has wrapped up the expansion of its Birmingham data center.
The data centers and fiber network provider built a new data hall tailored to meet the growing demand for High-Performance Compute applications.
DC BLOX said its HPC-capable facility and interconnected network enables customers like the University of Alabama System to process, store and transmit timely data to research facilities across the country.
“This expansion underscores DC BLOX’s steadfast dedication to empowering the technology-based economy of Birmingham and beyond,” said Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC BLOX. “Our innovative mixed-hall design and HPC capability are testaments to our commitment to respond to the specific needs of our customers in Birmingham. And our new HPC-enabled data hall can be added to the data centers in any of our markets, as demand requires.”
The new design accommodates both high-density cabinets and standard cabinets within the same space, enabling researchers to deploy GPU clusters in close proximity to traditional retail racks, both for convenience and for shorter cabling for data transfer. This infrastructure has the ability to support up to 2.4MW of 3N/2 distributed redundant power, aligning with the concurrently maintainable Tier III design of the company's standard data halls. The data hall can house up to 240 standard retail cabinets and 36 HPC-capable cabinets, each supporting up to 35kW of power.
The demand for HPC applications is growing nationwide among many industries, and is in large demand with the data center's neighbor, UAB.
DC BLOX’s Birmingham data center originally opened its doors in July 2019, unveiling 13,000 square feet of office space and 18,000 square feet of data center space. It completed an earlier expansion of the facility in 2021. This campus has 50+MW of additional future power available and plans for multiple hyperscale and/or build-to-suit data centers.
DC BLOX’s data centers are located throughout the Southeast including Birmingham, Huntsville, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Greenville, South Carolina and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Several others are in development.
By Illyshia Parker – Commercial Real Estate Reporter, Birmingham Business Journal
Mar 8, 2024
The Jefferson County Economic & Industrial Development Authority (JCEIDA) has 4,878 employees working in its two industrial parks and a direct impact on the county of $14.5 million per year, according to findings by the Alabama SBDC Network in the University of Alabama’s Research and Economic Development Department.
Jefferson Metropolitan Park at Lakeshore consists of 337 acres and lies within the city of Birmingham. Jefferson Metropolitan Park at McCalla consists of 739 acres in the county.
“Those jobs created in those parks … are going to be a thing of the future,” said Heather Wright, regional manager for Alabama SBDC Network at the University of Alabama, who researched and developed the JCEIDA Economic Impact Study.
In addition to the economic impact of capital expenditures, jobs, payroll, property tax, sales tax and motor vehicle expenditures, there is the “induce job effect,” she said. “When you have a job created in industry, they also hire an accountant or attorneys, or they shop at grocery stores and there are things they do within our community that make a greater impact, because they spend their money there … and create jobs in the grocery stores and the retail stores. Because of their spending, that’s how more jobs are created.”
Othell Phillips, executive director of JCEIDA, began his term Nov. 1, 2022, after the retirement of Ted vonCannon, who led JCEIDA for more than 10 years. Phillips said the number of employees will continue to grow. He pointed out that Prestige Development has built two spec buildings with successful results in the past year. Lear (a Mercedes supplier) has hired about 400 employees and is negotiating a lease for Building Two.
Several projects are underway at Jeff Met McCalla, including Lear, Gulf States Distributing and Smucker’s, whose capital investment of $1.1 billion is the largest in Jefferson County history. Already, the projected number of jobs at Smucker’s, expected to open by 2025, has increased to 800 from the first-announced 750 expected workers.
According to the report, the success and retention of the JCEIDA parks have a substantial impact on the economy of Jefferson County and Alabama.
For example, the direct impact on Jefferson County is $14,537,284 per year and for the state of Alabama, the impact is $23,064,476 per year, according to the study.
“Our goal is to promote Jefferson County as the premier location for manufacturing and industry, attract investment from leading global companies, retain and grow existing companies, develop, train and recruit talent, advocate for a competitive business climate and primarily provide quality sites for economic development within our industrial parks,” Phillips said. “I believe the results show this agency has done pretty dang good of that, and we are looking forward to continuing the success.”
According to the report, for every dollar spent by JCEIDA, the county receives $13.22 in direct impact and the state receives $20.98.
The report said the industrial parks have generated approximately $4.5 billion of outside capital investment in today’s dollars since the authority’s inception in 1999.
J.M. Smucker Co.’s capital investment of $1.1 billion is the largest in the history of Jefferson County. The company's manufacturing facility at Jefferson Metropolitan Park at McCalla is expected to open by 2025 and employ 800 people.
POSTED ON ALABAMANEWSCENTER.COM
Alabama News Center By Barnett Wright
Longtime coastal distributor moved into Birmingham market with acquisition of Supreme Beverage Co.
Distributing Holdings cut the ribbon Thursday on a 170,000-square-foot warehouse in McCalla, a base of operations for the 12-county region the company serves in the Birmingham area.
Gulf Distributing moved into the Birmingham region in 2017 with the acquisition of Supreme Beverage Co.
“The family-owned company knew early on that building a new facility would be necessary to accommodate the need for increased efficiency, better working conditions, and room for growth in the future,” the company said in announcing the opening of the new facility.
“We designed the warehouse to accommodate state-of-the-art technology, like our Cirrus Tech Crane System,” says Louis Maisel, senior vice president of the firm. “This advanced technology will enable our warehouse operations to work more efficiently by automating processes like pulling and storing inventory, rotating code dates and automatically replenishing high-volume items.”
The new facility includes a 10,000-square-foot draft cooler, sign shop, offices, meeting space and a 14-bay loading dock.
Business Alabama By Business Alabama Staff
Apr 18, 2023, 9:25pm CDT
Jefferson County Development Authority unveiled results of a recent economic study to showcase what it is accomplishing within the county.
Records are being broken in economic development for Alabama as a whole, but when the state sends out its figures, often growth in the Huntsville area and in coastal Baldwin County take the biggest accolades.
But Jefferson County is strong as well, and the Jefferson County Development Authority has unveiled results of a recent economic study to showcase what it is accomplishing within the county.
The study completed by the Alabama SBDC Network at the University of Alabama’s Research and Economic Development Department shows JCEIDA currently has 4,878 employees working in the industrial parks located in Jeffmet - McCalla and Jeffmet - Lakeshore with a total of about $4.5 billion of outside capital investment since inception.
There’s more. Jefferson County has a direct impact of $14.5 million with a state of Alabama impact of $23 million a year.
For every dollar spent by JCEIDA, the direct impact concludes:
• For every $1 spent, the community receives $4,652 in impact.
• For every $1 spent, the county receives $13.22 in direct impact.
• For every $1 spent, the state receives $20.98 in direct impact.
The success and retention of the JCEIDA parks have a significant impact on the economy of both the county and the state as a whole.
Overall, the community impact, considering all factors, is more than $50 billion across a 10-year period.
“The remarkable success of this agency is a team effort consisting of the JCEIDA’s staff members, board of directors, state and local allies along with the long-term vision of our county commissioners to continue to move Jefferson County forward,”said Othell G. Phillips, executive director of the JCEIDA. “Our goal is to promote Jefferson County as the premier location for manufacturing and industry, attract investment from leading global companies, retain and grow existing companies, develop, train and recruit talent, advocate for a competitive business climate and primarily provide quality sites for economic development within our industrial parks.”
The JCEIDA is serving as a one-stop shop for businesses and offering resources to help them grow. Whether it is a directory of commercial real estate properties for new or expanding businesses, linking companies to environmental site assessment services or securing utilities, the entity is making sure companies have what they need to grow right here in Jefferson County.
It boosts the fact Jefferson County is a transportation gateway, offers competitive pay and incentives, and there is a ready and able workforce locally.
Jefferson County plays a key role in our state’s overall economy, and the better business growth and resources for that expansion are, the better the state will be. That, in turn, promotes quality of life.
The more economic development entities do to serve and grow their community, the better off businesses and residents will be.
POSTED ON BIRMINGHAMBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
The Jefferson County Economic & Industrial Development Authority (JCEIDA) currently has 4,878 employees working in its two industrial parks and a direct impact on the county of $14.5 million per year, according to findings by the Alabama SBDC Network at the University of Alabama’s Research and Economic Development Department.
Jefferson Metropolitan Park at Lakeshore consists of 337 acres and lies within the city of Birmingham, and Jefferson Metropolitan Park at McCalla consists of 739 acres in the county.
“Those jobs created in those parks … are going to be a thing of the future,” said Heather Wright, Regional Manager for Alabama SBDC Network University of Alabama, who researched and developed the JCEIDA’s Economic Impact Study.
In addition to the economic impact of capital expenditures, jobs, payroll, property tax, sales tax and motor vehicle expenditures there is the “induce job effect,” she said. “When you have a job created in industry, they also hire an accountant or attorneys, or they shop at grocery stores and there are things they do within our community that makes a greater impact, because they spend their money there … and create jobs in the grocery stores and the retail stores. Because of their spending that’s how more jobs are created.”
Othell Phillips, executive director of JCEIDA, who began his term Nov. 1 after the retirement of Ted vonCannon, who served as the JCEIDA executive director for over 10 years, said the number of employees will continue to grow. He pointed out that Prestige Development has built two spec buildings with successful results in the past year. One Lear (a Mercedes supplier) has hired close to 400 employees with a lease for Building Two in negotiations.
There are currently several projects underway at Jeff Met McCalla including Lear, Gulf States Distributing and Smuckers, whose capital investment of $1.1 billion is the largest in the history of Jefferson County. Already, the projected number of jobs at Smuckers, expected to open by 2025, has increased to 800 from 750.
According to the report, the success and retention of the JCEIDA parks have a substantial impact on the economy of Jefferson County and the State of Alabama.
For example, the direct impact on Jefferson County is $14,537,284 per year and for the state of Alabama $23,064,476 per year, according to the study.
“Our goal is to promote Jefferson County as the premier location for manufacturing and industry, attract investment from leading global companies, retain and grow existing companies, develop, train and recruit talent, advocate for a competitive business climate and primarily provide quality sites for economic development within our industrial parks,” said Phillips. “Without the vision and support of the Jefferson County Commission and our Board we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the success that has been achieved at JCEIDA.”
According to the report, for every dollar spent by JCEIDA, county receives $13.22 in direct impact and the state receives $20.98.
The report also said the industrial parks have generated a total of approximately $4.5 billion of outside capital investment in today’s dollars since its inception in 1999.
The Birmingham Times By Barnett Wright
The Jefferson Metropolitan Park at Lakeshore consists of 337 acres located in the Oxmoor Valley area in the city of Birmingham. The property is owned and developed by Jefferson County EIDA. All parcels have been zoned mixed use (MXD), with infrastructure designed to support the requirements of light industrial, data centers, research and development or other mixed use development. The property is located approximately 5 miles from Interstate 65 and 7 miles from 459.
The video shows the companies that are now located at our McCalla Park. Jefferson Metropolitan Park at McCalla consists of 739 acres located in the southwest corner of Jefferson County, AL. Bordered by Old Tuscaloosa Highway (U.S. 11) to the northwest and Norfolk Southern Railroad to the southeast, the property is owned and developed by Jefferson County EIDA. All parcels have been zoned for light industrial use, with infrastructure designed to support the requirements of large manufacturing facilities. The property is located approximately 1 mile from Interstate 20/59 and 2 miles from Interstate 459.