There are now 83,593 residents in the county living in 31,624 homes.

Two weeks ago, County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon spoke about the growth over the past decade. This week, St. Clair Economic Development Council Executive Director Don Smith spoke about the 2010 Census data and how it affects the local economy.

“First and foremost, I’m not surprised St. Clair County has significant growth,” Smith said. “The county commission and municipalities have made job creation a number one priority over the past decade. When jobs are available and accountability is in place, the rooftops will follow, and they did. With rooftops available, it’s important for the county and municipalities to identify areas that they want to see their future retailers go to make sure that they are collecting their wealth in the form of sales taxes that these new rooftops can generate.”

Pell City area

“We’ve been very successful over here with the VA home, the new hospital and some more prospects here in the medical/education area. Also, Pell City has seen a lot of interest and has had a number of announcements not just north of town, but  south, as well.”

Smith cited Town and Country Ford taking over the local Ford dealer and the addition of a Publix south of town off Hwy. 231 as some of the larger entities in those areas.

Pell City Industrial park

Smith said a majority of the companies there are hiring back, and some are also expanding.

Eissmann Automotive is currently undergoing a $2.75 million expansion while Andritz Pulp and Paper is spending $1.8 Million to expand its operation in the coming months to its facility.

WKW, which entered St. Clair two years ago, is currently hiring despite the national recession.

“I think that’s the importance of having manufacturers in your community: to supplement growth in tough times,” Smith said. “As long as we know what the taste of a community is, we can help guide those type projects in there. If we have an established park or we have some property prepared for growth it can be done.

“If you don’t have jobs in your community you can’t make it through the tough times and that’s why you depend on guidance of other municipalities. You might have a well-run municipality,  or you might be relying on a neighbor 20 miles away and how their existing industry provides the most likely job prospects.”

Hwy. 411 corridor

Smith said the EDC and the county is working with a number of developers right now that foresaw the growth that was taking place in the last 10 years. “We’re working with them now and should have some announcements before the end of the year. And that’s even more than what we’ve already had with different developers and retailers in the Moody and Leeds areas.”

Ashville, Springville area

“Ashville does have some unique challenges,” Smith said. “Where some of these other municipalities, they’ll have a strong interstate presence. Ashville is a little bit off the interstate and doesn’t have as much visibility.”

That can cause retail issues, especially in a bad economy.

Infrastructure issues such as the availably of large sewer lines for big businesses exist in Ashville and its city council has been working for years to overcome that.

“We believe when things begin to pick up a little bit that we’ll be able to start bringing in some employers along those areas,” Smith said. “From a transportation standpoint, Ashville is extremely blessed to have the Norfolk Southern rail line, interstate and Highway 231 and Highway 411 access.”

Interstate 59, Argo, Margaret areas

Argo and Margaret have had some retailers and small strip malls come into their areas, but nothing large, mainly because of geography.

“That area is a beautiful area,” Smith noted. “Unfortunately it does have some topographical challenges with the hills, which can be overcome by residential neighborhoods. Sometimes the retailers have difficulty finding 20- and 30-acre sites because it is so hilly. But that’s something we’re trying our best to find property over there that could be used by retailers. We’ve worked with a number of property owners over there and it comes back to price not agreed upon or other issues that cold not be overcome. But we’re continually working over there.”