CENTRAL ALABAMA EC, PIONEER EC AND POWERSOUTH TOUT ADVANTAGESITE PROGRAM SUCCESS

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PHOTO CAPTION: Pioneer EC General Manager Steve Harmon (left) and Wayne Vardaman, Selma and Dallas County Economic Development Authority Executive Director & Centre for Commerce President, stand at the entrance of the South Dallas Industrial Park, one of 19 certified industrial sites in Alabama.

PHOTO CAPTION:Central Alabama EC President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Stackhouse (right), Connie Bainbridge, Director of Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development, and Autauga County Commissioner Jay Thompson, review the master plan for Interstate Business Park, one of 19 certified industrial sites in Alabama.

ANDALUSIA, ALA. – Nearly 18 months after its inception, Alabama’s AdvantageSite program bolsters 19 certified industrial sites. Two of the sites are served by PowerSouth Energy Cooperative distribution members Central Alabama EC and Pioneer EC.

“AdvantageSite is a voluntary industrial site preparedness program that was created to make the state of Alabama more competitive for companies considering a location within the state,” said Lee Lawson, PowerSouth Economic Development Representative. “Having an AdvantageSite certification tells site selection consultants the appropriate due diligence has been done to certify the site is ready to be developed.”

Pioneer EC, headquartered in Greenville, Ala., serves the 305-acre South Dallas Godwin AdvantageSite. The site is located in the South Dallas Industrial Park in Dallas County near Selma.

Central Alabama EC, headquartered in Prattville, Ala., serves the Interstate Business Park located within the Interstate Industrial Park in Autauga County. The 51-acre AdvantageSite is adjacent to the Central Alabama EC office, off exit 186 on I-65. The AdvantageSite contains a 50,000 square foot spec building that is expandable and ready for occupancy.

“We welcome any economic development tool that will improve the quality of life for our members and communities we serve,” said Steven Harmon, Pioneer EC General Manager. “AdvantageSite and programs like it play an integral part in welcoming new industry and jobs to our service area.”

“Programs like AdvantageSite are critical to growing communities,” said Tom Stackhouse, Central Alabama EC President and Chief Executive Officer. “We welcome our local partners who seek to improve the quality of life for our members and communities we serve.”

PowerSouth serves as a volunteer partner with Alagasco, Alabama Power, the North Alabama Industrial Development Association, the State of Alabama and the Economic Partnership of Alabama (EDPA) to sponsor the program, which has designated 19 AdvantageSites of 450 industrial sites currently being marketed by the state.

Within the PowerSouth service territory there are a total of six AdvantageSites. An additional two locations are pending designation.

“PowerSouth’s individual effort has been to identify and encourage economic development teams at the local level to enter the process,” said Lawson. “Many of our distribution members have been instrumental in the application process for sites within their service area.”

Program sponsors work jointly as a committee to garner and review AdvantageSite applications. A desktop review is coordinated first, followed by an on-site visit. The full process from application to designation can take from 3 to 6 months.

According to Lawson, the benefits of the AdvantageSite program are two-fold. First, it raises the marketability of individual properties. “If site selection consultants or prospective industries go to the EDPA database, they will know that designated AdvantageSites are shovel-ready,” he said.

In addition, AdvantageSite prepares the community and puts developers at the local level through a stringent process designed to show what is expected of potential sites facing development consideration.

“Site certification programs have been used around the country for years,” said Lawson. “Different consulting firms and utilities have used them to prepare and increase the marketability of industrial sites. The AdvantageSite program is still in its infancy, but the progress we’ve made has brought positive light to Alabama and what our state offers to site selection consultants and prospective industry.”

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About PowerSouth:

PowerSouth serves the wholesale energy needs of 16 electric cooperatives and four municipal electric systems in Alabama and northwest Florida, with more than a million consumers in 39 Alabama and 10 Florida counties. PowerSouth is dedicated to providing reliable energy at the lowest possible cost to its members.

About Central Alabama EC:

Central Alabama EC, headquartered in Prattville, Ala., serves more than 40,000 members over 5,733 miles of line in Autauga, Chilton, Coosa, Elmore, Tallapoosa, Talladega, Bibb, Perry, Dallas and Lowndes counties.

About Pioneer EC:

Pioneer EC, headquartered in Greenville, Ala., serves more than 13,000 members over 2,745 miles of line in Butler, Lowndes, Dallas, Wilcox, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw and Monroe counties.

For more information:

Mark Ingram, Corporate Communication Manager

334.427.3330

mark.ingram@powersouth.com

www.powersouth.com

PowerSouth is an EEO and AAP employer

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