Cordova, Alabama is a small city located in Walker County in central Alabama. It is a former mining and textile town that experienced two tornados in 2011 that destroyed much of its downtown. Since then, the town has been rebuilding itself as a place where businesses can invest in and citizens want to live.
Cordova’s geographic location near Birmingham (30 minutes away) and an hour and a half’s drive from Huntsville, the largest city in Alabama, as well as its port, barge loading facilities, railway and two exits on I-22, make it a prime option for development. In addition, the city is 25 minutes from Jasper Regional airport and 30 minutes from Birmingham International Airport.
A Plan to Reverse Population Decline
Once a thriving textile mill town and home to manufacturing facilities for Nashua Manufacturing Company, Cordova experienced closures of its textile facility in the 1960s and 70s, leading to a loss of jobs and a population that was forced to leave the region to find employment.
While 90 percent of the town’s landmass has more than a 15 percent slope to it – making it unsuited for modern large manufacturing and industrial interests – the region has many other assets, and the ongoing rebranding of the town is looking to capitalize on these assets. In September of this year, Cordova began its ambitious redevelopment plan for its downtown.
An Ideal Location for Small Businesses
Cordova is a small community surrounded on three sides by water. Its two exits off Interstate 22 and its 37-acre port facility owned by Alabama Port Authority give it prime access to markets. In addition, the town features a 47-acre industrial property on the river that is accessible by barge. Both the port facility and the industrial property are served by rail access, and are approximately 15 minutes from Jasper Industrial Park, which has vacancies for new businesses investing in the area as well as warehouse facilities. Both facilities are within three miles of Interstate 22.
“Even before the tornados, as a small and rural community, we didn’t have the human or fiscal resources to do the things we needed to do,” said Renee Sides, CPM, Director of Economic Development for the City of Cordova. “After the tornadoes, everything was gone. We needed to get our house in order, develop a new plan, put in place internal controls procedures and craft a debt management plan, as well as other internal controls mechanisms that would allow us to compete.”
Significant Investment for a State-of-the-Art Town
To accomplish this plan, the town filed for and received millions of dollars in federal and state grants, including a $2.8 million Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) grant for new gas lines to replace the city’s old cast iron infrastructure. Cordova also received a $5.5 million Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) grant for wastewater modernization. While the current sewer plant is at 35 percent capacity, the new work will lower wastewater utilization to 15 to 18 percent capacity, allowing the region to better address storm water runoff. Finally, Cordova has received a $6.4 million Department of Transportation (DoT) grant that will pave approximately 90 percent of the roads.
“By the time we finish this infrastructure work, all totaling $14.7 million in new investment, our infrastructure will be brand new, state-of the art and available for growth and opportunity,” said Sides.
Coupled with the city’s low property taxes, mild winters, broadband internet resources and an abundance of affordable housing, these new infrastructure amenities make the area a compelling prospect for smaller businesses seeking a ready-made workforce.
A Small Town for Better Quality of Life
Cordova’s plan to turn the town’s fortunes around involves branding the area as an outdoor recreation community and a region in which incoming individuals can experience a better quality of life. The town is currently invested in developing and implementing a master trail plan that will connect schools with residential areas, the downtown and outdoor recreation areas.
Cordova is part of the Blueway Trail System, which makes non-motorized watersports -— kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding and rowing — more accessible to residents and visitors. Cordova has also recently made significant improvements to its Disney Lake boat launch, improving access for fishing and lake sports. Near the lake, there are facilities for canoe and kayak rental as well as fishing supplies and electric bikes.
A Robust Education System
The city is served by three schools, all members of the Walker County Board of Education. Cordova Elementary School serves grades pre-K through fourth grade and is a National Blue Ribbon elementary school ranked number 57 in the State of Alabama. The region’s Bankhead Middle School recently received $1 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission to build a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) facility. Students in the schools’ robotics programs have gone to the VEX IQ World Championship with at least three teams every year.
For higher education, Bevill State Community College has campuses in both Jasper and Sumiton, Alabama. In addition, the city has operated a workforce training program that has served about 80 high school students over the last four years. The workforce training program, which acts as a precursor to a technical school curriculum, teaches students both the hard skills and soft skills they will need to enter employment in trades.
Cordova also features a summer children’s program for students from kindergarten to grade seven. The enrichment program teaches life skills such as agriculture and cooking. Finally, Cordova offers an after-school program that allows kids to get help in completing their homework. The program is aimed at allowing parents or guardians to return to the workforce or remain in the workforce.
Cordova: An Opportunity Zone
Cordova sits in an Opportunity Zone, a designation created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that allows for investments in lower income areas to reap tax advantages. The goal of the program is to spur economic growth and job creation in low-income communities while providing tax benefits to investors.
Opportunity Zones allow investors to temporarily defer taxes on capital gains if they invest those gains in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF). Investors can defer tax on the invested gain amounts until there is an event that reduces or terminates the qualifying investment in the QOF (an “inclusion event”), or December 31, 2026, whichever is earlier.
Other Amenities and Attractions
The region is already attracting incoming individuals from Birmingham, which is 30 minutes away, seeking the many advantages of life in a smaller town.
“We have very low crime rates here in Cordova,” noted Renee Sides. “We’re seeing a lot of people exiting from Birmingham into smaller, rural communities. Cordova is a great place to live, work and play.”
For more information about Cordova and its resources and economic development opportunities, contact Renee Sides, Director of Economic Development, at renee@cordovaal.org. T&ID
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