Chilton County Business Park received its first Alabama AdvantageSite designation on Wednesday.

The AdvantageSite program requires that community economic development organizations provide documentation specific to a proposed industrial site, including a set of standard data related to ownership/control, environmental and geotechnical conditions and infrastructure status.

Sites must also meet size, zoning and accessibility requirements.

The 64.5-acre site is located in the unincorporated part of Chilton County, south of Clanton. The site is accessible from I-65 via County Road 59, which is a two-lane paved road. An industrial roadway has been constructed into the site, which connects to County Road 449 east of the property.

The application process was managed locally by the Chilton County Industrial Development Board with a team of local entities supporting and/or participating in the process.

Fred Crawford with the IDB said Chilton County is honored to have its first AdvantageSite and the site designation is a result of the teamwork between Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, the Chilton County IDB and Sain Associates.

“We hope that we will follow this one with another site, so all economic developers will know that Chilton County is moving forward,” Crawford said in a release.

AdvantageSite is a teamwork approach between the private sector and state and local governments geared toward having prepared product and materials ready for industrial prospects. Alabama now has 46 active AdvantageSites throughout the state.

The program is jointly sponsored by the Alabama Department of Commerce, Alagasco, Alabama Power Company, the North Alabama Industrial Development Association, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative and coordinated by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.

Representatives from each of the entities actively participate in application reviews and on-site visits to prospective AdvantageSite designees.

AdvantageSite is a voluntary industrial site preparedness program created in order to make the state more competitive for companies considering a location in Alabama.

Fourteen projects have located on sites with AdvantageSite designations since the program’s inception in 2008. These projects represent the creation of more than 3,000 jobs and $665 million in capital investments.

For more information on the AdvantageSite program, visit www.edpa.org/bsc/advantagesites.asp.