Hardrick named to industrial development board

A Daleville man was named to a multi-county industrial development board at the Dale County Commission meeting Feb. 22.

Bobby Hardrick, a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and instructor pilot at Fort Rucker, is one of three Dale County representatives on the multi-county Industrial Development Board that includes Houston, Henry, Geneva and, as of Jan. 2, Dale Counties.

Hardrick joins board members Brian Hall of Midland City and Heath Hughes of Echo, who were appointed to the board at the Dale County Commission meeting Feb. 8.

At the April 13, 2021 commission meeting, Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Parker had invited the commission to consider joining the tri-county economic development organization, calling it “another tool and positions us for future development and growth.”

The regional industrial development authority concept initiated some 15 years ago out of a dialogue between Parker and Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver, Parker told the commissioners at that meeting. “We were working on a lot of projects in Houston and a lot of the smaller municipalities and unincorporated areas did not have an industrial development board set up,” Parker said. The end result was the organization of the Houston County Industrial Development Authority in 2006.

“That allowed us to have a strong industrial development authority in place throughout the whole county,” Parker had explained as he invited Dale County to join the group. “For those unincorporated areas and smaller municipalities, it was a strong industrial development authority they could utilize so that positioned us very strongly to take care of the economic development needs and be prepared for anything that could develop in our county.”

At the April 2021 meeting, Dale County Commission Attorney Henry Steagall asked Parker whether the county joining the Houston, Henry and Geneva Industrial Development Board would adversely affect the municipalities in Dale County that have municipal industrial development boards. Parker said it would not. “This gives you a tool that will be available and you’ll use it as needed,” he said, adding that each county has industrial parks and other incentives to offer a potential company and that could mean hundreds of new jobs for the region.

“Regionally working together, we can make things happen,” Parker said to the commissioners. “This provides us a conduit to do that.”

“It’s a ‘Why not,’ opportunity where we can help others and they can help us,” said Ozark-Dale County Economic Development Corporation President Holle Smith at the April 2021 commission meeting.

After his appointment to the industrial development board, Hardrick thanked the commissioners for the opportunity to serve the county and said that he believes if a large size industry chooses to locate in the Wiregrass, the entire region will benefit economically.

The next meeting of the Dale County Commission is March 8 at the Dale County Government Building in Ozark. A work session begins at 10 a.m. and is followed immediately by a voting meeting.