Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, speaks at a ribbon-cutting for Kelly Creek Commerce Park in Moody Feb. 9. Photo submitted to the News-Aegis.

MOODY — The new Kelly Creek Commerce Park officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony Feb. 9 in Moody near Exit 147 on interstate 20. The new 172-acre park is designed to be home to headquarters, manufacturers and distribution companies.

Park officials said the area will offer prepared sites to provide faster construction timelines. Kelly Creek Commerce Park is being developed in a joint venture that includes two well-known Birmingham based development teams, Capstone Real Estate Investments and Graham & Company. The park represents the largest park with available sites for large employers in St. Clair County.

“We understand that without a prepared commerce park for manufacturers, it will be hard to recruit new employers into the City of Moody and the Birmingham region” said Mayor Joe Lee of the city of Moody. “In order to make this a reality, the city of Moody felt a partnership with the experienced teams at Graham and Company and Capstone made perfect sense Mike Graham, Sonny Culp,and Mike Mouron have helped deliver a first-class commerce park, as promised a little over a year ago.

“The County Commission’s commitment on improvements to Kelly Creek Road had also been completed and will provide better overall access. This development will have an incredible impact on the funding of our schools once the new tenants begin to locate in the park.”

“Having industry-ready sites is a high priority for Alabama’s economic development team today, and the opening of the Kelly Creek Commerce Park in Moody gives us another valuable resource as we pursue growth projects that create jobs for the state’s citizens,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“The vision from the beginning has been to offer shovel ready sites for quality projects looking to bring jobs and capital investment to a first-class environment,” said Mike Graham of Graham & Company, developer of Kelly Creek Commerce Park. “For sure, this is a great community in which to do business, both city and county. There is reasonable taxation and fantastic interstate access. With over 100 acres already cleared with quality new infrastructure, Kelly Creek Commerce Park offers another important attribute in readiness.

“When companies are looking at sites and communities for their projects, they are looking for all the great things Kelly Creek Commerce Park has to offer, but readiness is what sets you apart. We are excited about what lays ahead.”

“Creating new job opportunities in our county is the County Commission’s top priority. New jobs create new wealth and leads to new retail possibilities and an overall better quality of life for our citizens. We are happy to partner when a community, like the City of Moody, when they are committed to projects that will have an economic impact countywide,” said Chairman Stan Batemon of the St. Clair County Commission.

“Site development has been a focus statewide as all the new companies move here to call Alabama home. The state’s Growing Alabama program was a critical component in making this park a reality. Without it, our elected officials, and private partners we would not have a location for 5 to 6 new companies to invest in the our community’ said Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County EDC.