City gets award for Rivercane Industrial Park

The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama approved the 740-acre Rivercane Industrial Park as an Alabama AdvantageSite designation.

The AdvantageSite program requires that community economic development organizations provide documentation specific to a proposed industrial site, including a set of standard data related to ownership/control, environmental and geotechnical conditions and infrastructure status, according to an EDPA press release.

Sean Lytle with the EDPA, presented the city council with a certificate of appreciation.

“We wanted to go ahead and congratulate the city of Atmore, Coastal Gateway, Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood, for an amazing and great job you all have done,” Lytle said.

For about a year, the city has been working with GMC, Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Alliance and the EDPA to get the project complete.

The application process was managed by Coastal Gateway with a team of local entities supporting the process.

Lylte said the certification program for the AdvantageSite is a documentation program.

“You are now the 55th AdvantageSite that’s certified in the state of Alabama,” he said.

John Johnson, executive director at Coastal Gateway, said the AdvantageSite is perfect for the incoming of industries.

“It’s position on the interstate will make it a huge advantage, no pun intended, to the city of Atmore,” Johnson said. “I think it’s a beautiful situation. You’ve already landed one industry (Brown Precision) there, and you’re going to land several more.”

The park is located within the city limits, and has direct access to the interstate via Highway 21.

The program is jointly sponsored by the Alabama Department of Commerce, Alagasco, Alabama Power Co., the North Alabama Industrial Development Association, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, and coordinated by the EDPA. Representatives from each of the entities participate in application reviews and on-site visits to prospective AdvantageSite designees.