Welcome to East Alabama, Cotina Terry & Mary Patchunka-Smith

From the mountains in the north to the nearly

endless lakes and rivers found throughout, you’ll discover

natural resources like nowhere else.

While you are here, visit our historic downtowns, relax in

one of the many bed and breakfasts, inns or more

traditional hotels and enjoy some of our food, from old-

fashioned Southern cooking and the best barbecue

anywhere to fine dining.

HIKE. BIKE. FISH. KAYAK. CAMP. BIRD-WATCH.

OFF-ROAD. RV. CLIMB. HUNT. RELAX. CANOE. SHOP.

WELCOME TO EAST ALABAMA

Counties

Involved

1. Calhoun

2. Chambers

3. Clay

4. Cleburne

5. Coosa

6. Randolph

7. Talladega

8. Tallapoosa3

• Chambers of Commerce

• Economic Development Authorities

• Alabama Cooperative Extension

• Community Colleges and Universities

• Alabama Tourism Department

• Federal and State Public Lands

• Department of Conservation and Natural

Resources

• Alabama State Parks

• National Park Service

• US Forestry Service-National Forest

• City and County staff

ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED

Textile and apparel

companies in counties in 2000

Textile and apparel

companies in counties in 2000

Textile and apparel

companies in counties in 2000

Textile and apparel

companies in counties in 2000

Textile and apparel

companies in counties in 2000

Alabama Workforce Region 5

Occupation 2012 2022 Net ChangePercent

Change

Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers 2,590 2,210 -380 -14.57

Sewing Machine Operators 730 440 -290 -39.17

Postal Service Mail Carriers 470 320 -150 -30.47

Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials *** *** -90 -34.85

Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine 240 180 -60 -24.26

Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators,

and Tenders 170 120 -50 -26.19

Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and

Tenders 160 120 -40 -25.93

Postal Service Clerks 100 60 -40 -34.38

Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and

Industrial Equip. 220 190 -30 -13.24

Data Entry Keyers 150 120 -30 -21.48

Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service 120 100 -20 -15.38

Meter Readers, Utilities 80 60 -20 -17.11

Postmasters and Mail Superintendents 50 30 -20 -26.67

Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 50 30 -20 -38

Procurement Clerks 140 130 -10 -10.64

Floral Designers 90 80 -10 -9.3

Telephone Operators 90 80 -10 -13.83

Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, 70 60 -10 -13.85

Office Machine Operators, Except Computer 70 60 -10 -14.71

Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers 70 60 -10 -15.71

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT REGION 5

Declining Occupations

Base Year 2012 and Projected Year 2022

STATISTICS

•Textile and/or apparel plants are located in 65 of Alabama's 67 counties.

•Alabama's textile/apparel industry is comprised of approximately 450

companies, and over 600 plant sites.

•Alabama's largest manufacturing employer is the textile/apparel industry

with 71,900 employees. (2000)

•39,800 Textile Manufacturing Employees

26,100 Apparel Manufacturing Employees

6,000 Fiber Manufacturing Employees

_________________________________

71,900 Total Employees One (1) out of (5) manufacturing jobs in Alabama

are in the textile/apparel industry.

•Textile/apparel industry payrolls exceed $2.2 billion each year.

•Textile/apparel industry state taxes exceed $160 million each year.

•Textile/apparel industry purchases approximately 5% of the electric power

generated in Alabama annually.

•Average wages paid to employees in April 2000 were $10.73 per hour for

textile manufacturers and $9.15 per hour for apparel manufacturers. Fringe

benefits add an additional $2.25 to tp $3.50 per hour to labor costs.•

The Geographic Distribution of Textile and Apparel Employment

by State (including fiber production

•Initiated and Facilitated by University of Alabama

Center for Economic Development, Nisa Miranda, Director

•Project funded through an Appalachian Regional Commission grant.

•Included Four phases: (1) Research; (2) Capacity Building;

(3) Strategic Planning; (4) Marketing Collateral Development

•Activities include:

Regular meetings between organizations of each County

More frequent meetings of self-elected leaders from the counties to

discuss certain topics

Workshops on joint branding and events to share ideas and inventory

of each county

•Organizations involved from each county include:

Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development Authorities,

Alabama Cooperative Extension, Community Colleges, City and

County staff

ABOUT THE PROJECT

•Eight County collaboration

focused on tourism-led

economic development.

•A coordinated region-wide

effort that identifies common

vision, goals and activities.

•A coordination between

elected officials, private

sector and non-profit

organizations on a broad

range of tourism

development topics.

•Comprehensive Inventory

•Update county Taskforce and

Stakeholders databases

•Develop a TourEastAlabama website

•Social media, e.g. Facebook

•Regional one-page newsletter

•Road Trips and Itineraries

•Regional Marketing Committee

tasked with Public Relations Plan

•Branding

Outcomes Outputs

▪ Region-wide effort that identifies

common vision, goals, and activities.

▪ Multiple structured meetings led by

expert facilitators.

▪ Activities and exercises are necessary for

the individual organizations to “try on”

the persona and character they

believe they share with their

neighboring counties, to determine if

there is a good fit, and if it makes

sense for the long term.

▪ Exercises use imagery, verbal elements,

graphic senses, keyword identification,

and other tactics to build a unified brand

that is representative of the whole

region.

BRANDING …..

• Regional Collaboration in order to grow visitation

to East Alabama.

• Physical Infrastructure Development- Scenic By-ways,

Design and Construction of Trails, Wayfinding and

Interpretive Signage.

• Cultivate the Support of Elected Officials. Structure

Use of Lodgings Tax to Support Development.

• Build Network of Entrepreneurs and existing Small

Businesses to Support Tourism Industry.

• Cultivate Media Outlets and Writers (Print, Television,

Radio) to get the word out about East Alabama.

• Cooperate on Marketing and Funding for Advertising in

Surrounding States (Tennessee, Georgia).

MOVING FORWARD……

Tour East Alabama Website

Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega County

Coleman Lake, Cleburne County, Appalachian Highlands Birding Trail

Talladega Scenic Byway, Clay County

Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Tallapoosa County

Rice Pavilion, Lake Wedowee, Randolph County

Kymulga Bridge, Talladega County

Anniston Museum of Natural History, Calhoun County

Hatchet Creek, Coosa County

Wedowee Kiwanis Park, Randolph County

West Point Lake, Chambers County

Bald Rock, Cheaha State Park, Clay/Cleburne County

Photo Courtesy of John Denney

WWW.TOUREASTALABAMA.COM