Tomorrow, we will officially close the book on the 2014 calendar year and begin a brand new year full of promise and potential.

Certainly 2014 had some positive news for the Atmore community. The arrival of Walmart offered a new shopping option for our citizens, and also provided hundreds of jobs to the area. The openings of Taco Bell and other local businesses signified additional growth potential as well.

There’s no reason to expect that the momentum will slow down in 2015. Rivercane continues to blossom and the new Fairfield Inn and Suites will open sometime in the next year. The Atmore Industrial Board continues to be hard at work marketing the Rivercane property to other restaurants and retail customers, as well. A strip center with four or five tenants may not be too far away.

In June, the Atmore Community Hospital will officially end its management agreement with Baptist Health Care, and Infirmary Health will take over as the hospital’s manager.

Infirmary Health is the largest non-governmental health care system in Alabama, with facilities nearby in Fairhope, Bay Minette, Daphne and Mobile. While we appreciate the hard work done by Baptist Health Care over the last 20 years, it is exciting to think about the future benefits of Infirmary Health’s management for ACH.

Although downtown took a considerable hit after October’s fire that destroyed The Parish Grill, we continue to believe that the area is on the rebound. We are thrilled that countless citizens have stepped up to improve the look of downtown, both inside and outside, and hope that it will encourage other businesses to locate there.

The year 2014 was a good year for the city of Atmore. Let’s make 2015 even better!