Small Town, High-Tech Future
Thirty new jobs and a 50,000-square-foot high-tech manufacturing facility are headed to Shorter, giving the Macon County town a sizable new industrial project and a reason to upgrade the road and utilities leading to it.
Gov. Kay Ivey recently awarded the Community Development Block Grant to the town to extend water and sewer service and pave an existing dirt road at the development site. Korean manufacturer Hiteco plans to build its new production facility there.
The grant, administered through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, tackles the groundwork necessary to support the new plant and future development at the site.
Making Room for Manufacturing
Hiteco manufactures advanced industrial components used in aerospace, automotive, woodworking, plastics, metal fabrication, and advanced materials manufacturing. The Shorter facility will add another manufacturing operation to Macon County while bringing 30 new jobs to the area.
For the town of Shorter, the project also puts new infrastructure in place at Halla Bama Drive. Extending utilities and paving the road gives Hiteco what it needs for the planned facility while preparing the development site for possible expansion.
That is where Alabama's Community Development Block Grant program fits into the picture. The program supports community development needs, including infrastructure improvements tied to economic development.
In Shorter, the connection is especially straightforward. The state is funding water, sewer, and road improvements, while Hiteco is bringing the 50,000-square-foot facility and new jobs. State officials have also pointed to the site's potential to accommodate future growth and additional industrial investment.
For a town the size of Shorter, that makes the infrastructure work worth watching beyond the arrival of one manufacturer. The immediate result is a site prepared for Hiteco. The longer-term value is having utilities and road access already in place if another project comes knocking.
The first signs of Shorter's new manufacturing operation won't be machinery rolling onto a production floor. They'll be pipes going in and a dirt road getting paved: practical improvements clearing the way for what comes next!
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