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ndustry ready sites in Cullman, Alabama include a 100,000 square foot shell speculative building in a fully served industrial park on a 15-acre tract of land and a building pad compacted in place on a 12-acre tract that can accommodate a 160,000 square foot building. All utilities are in place and there are no environmental issues associated with either site.
   Cullman developed a unique partnership between city and county government, the industrial development boards, the Tennessee Valley Authority and 11 financial institutions to establish a remarkably successful industry recruitment program that has been recognized as one of the best in America.
   "Constructing spec buildings, developing industrial parks and preparing specific industrial sites convinces companies and site consultants that your community truly wants economic development, supports economic development and has made the financial commitment to back up that desire," said Peggy Smith, Director of the Cullman Economic Development Agency.
   Cullman County is ideally located in north central Alabama within 600 miles of half the U.S. population. The county is a 45-minute drive via Interstate 65 from both Huntsville, the technology center of Alabama, and Birmingham, the largest city in Alabama. More than a million people are within an easy commute of Cullman.
   The excellent location, coupled with a trainable, available work force and a pro-business, progressive community, has contributed to the successful construction of five speculative buildings and five industrial parks encompassing nearly 1,000 acres and more than 340,000 square feet of spec building space.
   "A company could begin pouring a floor in the spec building tomorrow, or actually take a shovel and begin digging a footing on the pad ready site," said Smith. "Prepared buildings and sites shorten a company's time to get into operation and that is often a very critical element in their timing."
   Cullman has been one of the fastest growing non-MSA counties in Alabama in the past 10 years for new and expanding industry. Site Selection recognized Cullman with a ranking of 3rd out of the top 100 Micropolitan Areas in America for new & expanding industry and the State of Alabama presented Cullman with the 2005 award for the most new and expanding industry of any of Alabama's 67 counties.
   Industry in Cullman is diverse, ranging from agribusiness to precision machining parts for the aerospace industry. Cullman is home to eight distribution centers, and the community is served by more than 50 freight lines.
   Cullman, home to 12 suppliers to the automotive industry, is within an easy drive of automotive manufacturers in the southeast to afford "Just in Time" delivery, but far enough away from those companies that Cullman industries have not been negatively impacted by higher wage rates.
   Cullman is home to Wallace State College, a two-year public technical training facility that is recognized as having one of the best training programs in Alabama. The newest Alabama Technology Network (ATN) training center was set up at Wallace State in 2005, specializing in plastic injection molding training.
   For additional information contact Peggy Smith at 256-739-1891 or by e-mail at peggys bounce@cullmaneda.org.