Sand Mountain Reporter

The Albertville City Council approved up to $12,000 to be spent on an economic impact study to determine if an estimated $8 million investment is worth it to bring a new business into the city.

City officials are staying tight-lipped about what the prospective business is, but people around city hall have dubbed it Project X.

“It’s worth the effort to look at it, analyze it and validate it or take it off the board,” Jerry Cofield, Albertville’s economic development director, said. “That’s what this study will do.”

The projected $8 million the city would have to come up with comes from some of the financing options that would be offered to the business according to Cofield.

Cofield also said this potential business could serve as a catalyst to bring other businesses into the city.

“There has to be an investment made to make it happen,” Cofield said.

The study tries to predict how successful a business will be in a given area and is usually done by universities from around the country.

Cofield said the city has already received bids from places like the University of Alabama-Huntsville and the University of Alabama.

The study could also provide the city with “valuable information” that could be used to recruit other businesses.

Having the study done prior to agreeing to any terms falls in line with Cofield’s economic development policy of “cautiously being aggressive.”

Cofield said he would rather “error on the side of caution.”

He was not sure how long the study takes to complete, but he did say he would like to fast-track the process.

Share | Save | Mail | Print | Letter

Follow the Reporter on Twitter:

SMR News and
SMR Sports

Serving Albertville and the Sand Mountain region

Publisher: Ben Shurett

1603 Progress Drive
Albertville, Alabama 35950

Tel: 256-840-3000 | Email

A Southern Newspapers publication.