Franklin Development Authority honored by international group

RUSSELLVILLE - Franklin County Development Authority established a mission early on to do whatever possible to help existing industries succeed.

"That's something we pride ourselves on," said Glen Vinson, chairman of the authority board. He said the board, along with Executive Director Mitch Mays and Executive Assistant Sherry Price, work daily trying to help those businesses.

The hard work has been recognized by Business Retention and Expansion International. The group chose the Franklin development authority's retention and expansion program for its annual Community Award winner in the under 50,000 population category.

The Franklin County program was sponsored, in part, through a Tennessee Valley Authority grant. TVA nominated the authority for the award.

The association sponsoring the award is an international nonprofit association of economic development professionals who try to advance business retention and expansion as part of an economic development strategy.

Mays said there were 11 nominees for the award.

Vinson said the recognition is a big honor for the authority.

"We're extremely honored to achieve this international recognition and are equally eager to continue our support of existing industries, helping them to continue to grow and prosper," said Mays, who also praised the assistance from TVA and local, county and state leaders who have been involved.

"This award is affirmation of the partnership developed to support existing industry in Franklin County," Mays said.

He said the authority's program recognized for utilizing data gathered from interviews with local business and industry leaders to raise community awareness of businesses in the county and promote existing industry.

The authority also was touted for working in partnership with local and state organizations to identify solutions to community weaknesses that could hinder growth of existing businesses and for providing customized assistance to companies in Franklin County.

As part of the retention program, the authority teamed with the state Office of Workforce Development, North Alabama Council of Local Governments and Northwest-Shoals Community College to secure a $50,000 grant for on-site training of industrial maintenance technicians.

The authority also secured funding for a $242,000 technology grant to extend fiber optic lines to the Russellville Industrial Park, and the authority initiated a Human Resources Advisory Chapter to assist manufacturing industries with work source issues.

"There's always room for improvement, and we'll continue to do all we can for our industries and help them expand," Vinson said.

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.