Industry locates in Russellville

MS Industries, a research and mining development company and a direct mining source for its customers, is the newest industry to call Russellville home.

According to MSI’s chief operating officer John Christmas, “MSI has been researching the mineral resources in Northwest Alabama for five years and is currently constructing a silica processing and rail-loading facility at the old Vulcan Materials site on Walnut Gate Road in Russellville.” Although MSI at one time researched the feasibility of mining and processing what is known as Hartselle Oil Sands, the company concluded after extensive research that those activities were not feasible. Christmas said the facility planned for Russellville “has nothing to do with oil sands or petroleum and is entirely non-fuel in nature.”

MSI founder and chief executive officer Steven Smith said “many factors led his company to build a production facility in Russellville.

“We looked across North Alabama for an industrial site with rail access, and when we discovered the old Vulcan site, we knew it had great potential for us due to its close proximity to our silica mine site in Lawrence County,” Smith said. “Representatives of the Russellville Industrial Development Board and the City of Russellville made it clear that we were wanted in Russellville. Mayor (David) Grissom and Mitch Mays, the former director of the Franklin County Development Authority, were both incredibly helpful to us as we went about our due diligence in researching the site.”

In the end, Smith said, “the City of Russellville fully embraced us and made the decision to locate here a very easy one.”

According to Chuck Kelley, MSI’s in-house counsel, “Our company began looking at the site in early 2016 and reached a lease-purchase agreement with the RIDB in mid-April 2016.”

“A lot had to do with timing,” Kelley added. “It was the perfect time when we had a need for what the Russellville IDB had planned for that site, and everyone worked diligently to bring this together.”

FCDA interim executive director Sherye Price praised joint partnership in the efforts to bring MS Industries to Russellville. “The City of Russellville, Russellville Industrial Development Board and Franklin County Development Authority worked together to create a strong economic development team, and that turned into MS Industries calling Russellville and Franklin County home,” Price said. “These are higher paying jobs with a solid capital investment. We look forward to seeing them succeed and grow here.”

That “solid capital investment” includes $15 million in site preparation, infrastructure, equipment, and machinery for the new silica production facility, as well as “a new rail spur that will connect the site to Norfolk Southern’s main line,” according to Smith. “We fully expect the plant to be complete and operational by the end of first quarter 2017,” Smith added. “Once the plant is complete, we expect to hire 50 skilled and semi-skilled workers over three years to run and maintain the facility. These will be top-paying jobs in the area, and we are impressed by the available work-force in Franklin County.”

Kelley, who grew up in Russellville and graduated from Russellville High School in 1981, added, “Russellville has changed a lot in the 30 years I’ve been gone, but I see the same core of good, hard-working people, and we’re excited about that.”

Russellville’s industrial community isn’t the only place MS Industries will make its mark. The company will also become a fixture in the downtown business community, where Smith said they plan to locate company offices.

“Once our agreement with the RIDB was in place, we started looking around at what else Russellville had to offer,” Smith said. “Someone suggested that we should look at the vacant Bank Independent building on the corner of Jackson and Lawrence in downtown Russellville. We quickly realized that it would be the perfect location for our company offices.”

Smith said MS Industries purchased the building late this summer and is currently renovating and remodeling the entire building. “We will begin housing our human resources, legal, engineering, accounting and professional offices at this location during early 2017.”

Christmas added, “We are aware of the new zoning regulations recently enacted by the City of Russellville, and we hope our project will springboard other entities and individuals to invest in the revitalization of downtown Russellville. The jobs created here and the money spent here are real. MS Industries is committed to spending millions of dollars right here in Russellville, and that’s happening now.”

The company’s downtown footprint might expand beyond the Bank Independent building the future, as well, with Smith eyeing putting a new eatery downtown. In particular, Smith has interest in a franchise of Doe’s Eat Place, a highly-successful Mississippi-based chain specializing in steaks and shrimp. “That’s something I really want to look closely at doing once our plant is up and running,” Smith said. “There are several buildings in downtown Russellville that would be perfect spots for a good restaurant.”

For more information, visit the MS Industries website at www.msind.com.