ATHENS, Ala. — Limestone County is ready to celebrate OMCO Solar, which is a $10 million capital investment, and bringing about 70 jobs to Huntsville and surrounding areas.
Limestone County Economic Development Association President and CEO Bethany Shockney explained that OMCO is leasing a building in Huntsville West Industrial Park for the production of solar tracking. The company makes the frames for solar panels and is one of the nation's largest manufacturers of steel structures for solar panels. "Every time we have a company like this, this is another prime example of the opposite of what we're typically used to. We have a company that supports as a tier supplier to a to a company outside of our area, and in this case, a couple of counties over. So that's a prime example of rising water raises all ships for us from an industrial standpoint."
Furthermore, it doesn't stop there. Limestone County was also just selected as a silver level select site for CSX. "What that does is it gets us some special recognition. It gets us on a special list for those companies that may be looking for a rail site that have that specific requirement because there are very few of those. So we have one of those that are available, and it's the only one in north Alabama. "
So what does this mean for Limestone County? "It makes us more marketable. It also when, when you already have certain infrastructure in place and in this case we do have a rail spur already in place that aids in speed to market for any company that's coming to the area. Any time they have a it's a company that requires rail, then that's one of the way they're trying to keep trucks off of it. But it also tells you about their customer base. They may need to get that equipment that in product all across the country or to a port to get it out internationally," Shockney said.