St. Clair Economic Development Executive Director Don Smith outlined how 2012 went and what’s in store for 2013 in this area.

“Some of the things that most people think from an economic development standpoint are jobs created, new companies coming in and new capital investment,” Smith said, “We’re at the first year of a three year plan. That’s done so we have the flexibility to work with any changes in the international or national scene.”

He said that a year and a half ago no one knew if Greece would be solvent or the Euro would hold, so shortening and looking at short term needs is the way his group is operating for now.

He said that the focus now is on:

* Creating 750 new jobs

* $100 million in new capital investment

* $1 million in new taxes for schools

* Create a state-sponsored advantage site

* Identify 400 acres of developable property

Of the 750 jobs, 550 have already been announced and of the $100 million, $69 has already been produced. “We really are way ahead of schedule right now going forward.”

The unemployment level in St. Clair County continues to drop (5.7% in November 2012). Smith said projects already here, such as the veterans’ nursing home and NuFab Rebar, will mean more jobs announced in the near future.

He said a few years ago the EDC ran into the problem of placing large employers in the county. Sometimes it was infrastructure, other times a large, flat land issue or price expectations that were not in line with the market.

That is one benefit of an advantage site and identifying 400 acres of additional property for bringing in business.

The advantage site would act as a catalyst to bring in business. As Smith explained, “If someone comes in and says ‘We need to be operating in 12 months,’ then it’s not just me saying, ‘We can do that for you.’ That’s something they did decades ago; but sometimes it didn’t take place. This way everything is already laid out, time cost, who’s paying for what… It really minimizes the unknowns.”

The designation for a site lasts for three years. It would be only one of 14 sites in the state. “We’re looking for the larger employers.”

As far as the 400 acre site, Smith said that St. Clair’s EDC has been successful at creating jobs and bringing in industry, but it is running out of places to put them. “You don’t want to have to turn people away.”

 In looking forward, one plan the EDC is looking toward setting in motion is activating an alumni class of Leadership St. Clair County, a group of about 150 leaders in communities who have learned about what it takes to help grow their municipality. “I think that by doing that these people will have additional civic support to the communities that they reside in… It’s one thing to be a natural leader, but if you don’t have the knowledgebase of the community then a lot of that can be lost. This way these folks have a good training on basically, what it takes to put together strategic plans and all the essential aspects of a community so that all can be combined on general terms so that they are useful going forward in a community.”

As for small business, Smith said that they come in before the larger companies and take a lot more risks. He said the EDC does have plans going forward to put in programs to provide them more hands on assistance through partnerships.

He said going forward growth in automotive and metal industries in the greater Birmingham area should continue and retail growth here in the outlying counties will continue as the residential areas continue to grow.