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How can Clarke benefit from steel mill?
Now, county and municipal leaders in the region must figure out how best to take advantage of the boom that is assured of coming. Many agree that education and work force training is the key. Governors appear together Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, both speaking at a work force development conference in Monroeville Monday, said their states would benefit if workers can be trained to do the jobs. The program was held at Alabama Southern Community College. Alabama and Mississippi recently received a joint $15 million federal grant to train workers in 37 counties on both sides of the state line. The training will take place at two-year colleges in the two states, including Alabama Southern. The goal is to offer training that will enable people making $15,000 to $20,000 a year now to increase their wages to as much as $70,000 annually. "There's going to be as much development in this area over the next two years as there has been in the last 40 years," Riley said. Barbour agreed and said the biggest obstacle both states face "is providing consistent quality workers." Welding programs suggested The governors suggested programs to train welders. They said they are in big demand in the shipbuilding industries in Mobile and Pascagoula and will be needed when the steel mill construction and other projects start. Barbour and Haley both agreed that their states must be serious about training workers, or employees of the new industries will come from other states. Jackson Mayor Richard Long said the city would communicate with the coalition working with ThyssenKrupp and with the steel manufacturer to aggressively promote Jackson and Clarke County. Targeting retailers Long said he and council members will be attending the International Council of Shopping Centers convention next week and that it will be a good opportunity to market the city to 60 different corporations including 20 developers to encourage retailers. Debra Bolen, Clarke County's economic developer said she would be attending also and said she has been encouraged by the interest from developers and retailers. Long cited the city's improved infrastructure, including what he termed the "largest water treatment plant in a 60-mile radius." County must be involved Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day was the only official from Clarke County to attend the steel mill announcement in Mobile Friday. He said that the county must be actively involved in the coalition of the region's counties and municipalities in order to benefit from the mill. "We have a lot of work to do but I feel that we are in as good or better position than most with our education facilities, industrial park developments, infrastructure, rail, four-laned U.S. Highway 43 and the fact that the county is positioned between the plant and the state's automotive industry," he added. Economic developer Bolen said, "We are certainly excited about the announcement of the steel mill locating just 35 miles south of Clarke County. The county and municipalities have been anticipating the announcement and are actively working to market the area for commercial, industrial and residential development. We will soon be finalizing a new advertising and marketing campaign for the county. We will be aggressively working to recruit investment to Clarke County and will not just sit back and wait for opportunities to present themselves." Certified industrial sites Bolen said the Clarke County Economic Development Partnership has already taken steps to certify local industrial sites for the potential EADS project being sought in Mobile. "This step certainly gives us an advantage as we market these sites for any industrial projects. We have also been working county-wide to identify potential sites for residential and commercial developments." Day and Long had attended the Monroeville conference and they agreed with the governors' assessment about the importance of education and work force training. Day speculated that steelrelated businesses and industries would follow the steel mill to southwest Alabama and said skills such as welding and metal fabrication will be important. Grove Hill councilman Levon Hicks also attended the conference. Grove Hill Mayor Lamar Hudson is out of town this week and could not be reached for comment. Carbon steel customers News reports this week echoed the idea that customers of ThyssenKrupp may relocate to be closer to the new mill in order to reduce the cost of transporting carbon steel, one of the products the mill will produce. ThyssenKrupp officials said carbon steel is far more sensitive to small price factors than stainless steel, which is expensive enough to absorb price spikes. Stainless steel is another product ThyssenKrupp will manufacture at the new plant. Automotive industry big user ThyssenKrupp estimates that the automotive industry will use 40 percent of the more than five million metric tons of steel it will produce annually. Some car manufacturers are located in Alabama. When automotive manufacturers came to Alabama, many supplier plants located to the state too, added thousands more jobs. Many economic developers warn that far fewer supplier jobs will follow the steel plant. The first construction workers of what will eventually be 29,000 needed to build the mill by 2010 will be hired later this year. The $3.7 billion construction will spike the economy. When the mill opens, the 2,700 permanent workers will make salaries of at least $50,000, it has been estimated.
Alabama Development Office Director Neal Wade has predicted that the 2,700 job figure will eventually more than double to 7,000 permanent jobs.
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