Local officials, business owners and county residents interested in economic growth attended a work session sponsored by the Chilton County Commission on Tuesday at the Alabama Power Conference Center in Clanton.

The Chilton County Chamber of Commerce also hosted a “Business After Hours,” which started an hour prior to the work session.

The meeting, with roughly 40 people in attendance, highlighted Cullman’s Economic Development Agency director Peggy Smith, who shared different experiences and ideas related to Cullman’s growth within recent years.

“I want everyone to know that we don’t have all of the answers,” Smith said. “There isn’t a magic formula, but what we have done has been successful and we believe in sharing our experiences with others.”

Smith has served for more than 30 years as the director of the Cullman Economic Development Agency, and has been instrumental for bringing numerous industries to the area.

Smith highlighted the similarities between Cullman and Chilton County, with similar numbers in population, high school graduates ages 25 and older, individuals with a Bachelor’s degree who are 25 and older, the homeownership rate and the median household income.

“While we are several miles apart in distance, I think you will all find that we share a lot of similarities,” Smith said.

One of the current challenges Cullman faces is the amount of residents in Cullman who commute to work outside of the county.

“We lose a lot of people to Huntsville, Birmingham and Decatur,” Smith said.

Smith’s presentation also highlighted the multiple industrial parks in Cullman with both local and foreign owned industries.

“We have a German industry, an Australian industry and a Japanese industry,” Smith said. “When we were trying to get these industries to come to our area though, we had to work really hard. For instance with the Japanese, we had very little in our community to offer in the way of people who could speak their language or someone in the schools who could communicate with the Japanese families who were bringing their children to be enrolled in our schools. We had to work to make them feel comfortable in our community and have a place they could call home.”

Other ideas Smith shared included strategies for what Cullman has found worked for them including presenting a united front, knowing your community and industries and highlighting the positives in the community while being prepared to address the negatives.

“There are 10 municipalities in our county so presenting a united front has had its challenges,” Smith said. “There are still some people who don’t necessarily agree or like all of the ideas, but I think overall everyone has been willing to work together.”

Commissioner Joseph Parnell asked for Smith to suggest a good “starting point” for Chilton County.

“I think you have a great start with interested individuals who want to see this county grow,” Smith said. “If your vision isn’t the same, it is going to prove to be very difficult. I think you first have to decide where you would like to see Chilton County going and then work toward that goal.”

Chilton County Industrial Development Coordinator Fred Crawford said he thinks the result from Tuesday’s meeting will provide an “enthusiastic” response from those interested in economic development.

“When the members of the county commission, the Industrial Development Board, and few others went to Cullman last year and talked to them about what was happening in Cullman, the comparison between Cullman and Chilton and how they developed was a phenomenal story,” Crawford said. “On Tuesday, at this latest work session sponsored by the county commission, Peggy Smith was able to tell that same story again for a broader crowd. That crowd included movers and shakers and political folks all interested in economic development.”

Crawford said Chilton County needs to work toward getting county infrastructures including property and industrial parks ready for attracting industries to the area.

“We have things in place, but they are not really ready, and we now have to work to get everything to where it needs to be,” Crawford said.

Commissioner Shannon Welch told those in attendance that a future work session to discuss different ideas and goals for county growth is being planned.