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Business, Community Leaders Discuss Growth Strategies For Century
April 11, 2011
Business and community leaders recently gathered at a Century Chamber of Commerce meeting to discuss economic development growth strategies in the North Escambia town.
“How can the town market itself?” asked Debbie Nickles, the town’s consultant. “There’s so much potential here, but there’s no direction without a plan.” Nickles said the town needs an aggressive survey of existing businesses and facilities to build an economic development plan.
“We can partner together,” Jennifer Ford, director of business development for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce told the group. She said the Pensacola Chamber was looking at the region — including Century — in their economic development efforts. “We are taking a fresh look at ourselves,” she said of the chamber’s future plans.
“We are so small up here that we don’t have any political clout,” Benny Barnes of the Century Chamber of Commerce said. “The person that represents us is never seen here,” he said, presumably referring to District 5 Escambia County Commissioner Kevin White. “We need better representation.”
Flomaton Mayor Dewey Bondurant said the expansion of Highway 113 — a joint Alabama and Florida project — is improving the economic outlook in his town, which, in turn, will help Century. He said that his town is preparing for the opening of a new 24-hour McDonald’s restaurant at Highway 113 and Highway 31 — a businesses that will likely employee Century residents among the 60 people to be hired prior to an April opening.
Margie McCall noted that the first night of races at Flomaton Speedway recently had 1,049 people in attendance. “Some of them certainly stopped at Whataburger in Century or bought gas in Century.”
Century was left with no school in the town limits after the closure of Carver/Century K-8. But Melanie Killam, board chair at Byrneville Elementary, encouraged the chamber to think differently when it comes to educational resources.
“I want to encourage the chamber of commerce to tell people there is a school for Century,” Killam said about Byrneville, a public charter school located less than three miles from the town limits.
“We are working at moving forward,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said. “We are getting there.”
Pictured top: Jennifer Ford, director of business development for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce addresses a Century Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Pictured bottom: Benny Barnes of the Century Chamber of Commerce. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
6 Responses to “Business, Community Leaders Discuss Growth Strategies For Century”
We have had so many disappointments the last few years it is hard to get our hopes up again. I do believe if the mill gets going and brings in jobs, we will start seeing a difference in businesses coming in. It is sad we lost our hospital and schools, but okay let’s try again and maybe this one time we will succeed in going forward…..
Century needs another grocery! The “Ex-Pig” now Food Giant needs competition. Prices are way too high, and variety and quality stinks. I’d love to see a real Super Market move into town so I could stop having to run to Atmore to food shop!
I’m very sorry I said you looked poor and run down and I know you
all want multi -million dollar businesses, but sometimes you have
to learn to walk before you can run.
The last time I drove through all I remember is it just looked run down and poor.
Has anyone noticed the Island colored car lot on Palafox just after you pass
Walmart? Those were the nicest paint jobs I have seen since my last trip to
the islands.
Why don’t you try to get your business district on the main drag cleaned up
and get business owners to paint that way.
Then round up some carnivals, car shows, street vendors and whatever
and just make it a happening place to be on weekends for people AND
their children. If you get people from all over the place coming maybe
you will rent some shops and who knows what will happen. Generate some
excitement if you get enough small businesses and the big ones will come.
IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME
to Scott Lowery
The property you are refering to on highway 4 near the railroad tracks to the best of my recollections many years ago it was a Lumber yard and in about 1957 or 58 the Century Gas Company originally owned by Mr Paul Jones, located there with office and tank yard and was purchased and operated by Mr Herman Gorum and his family until about 1968 and was sold and moved. After that Mrs Margreta Harold of Brewton opened a Restraunt called Babos and also had a a business connected to the oil drilling business in the area. Since that time it has been mostly an eye sore. So happy to see that some recent cleaning up has been done to the property. I think it would also be a good place for a Strip mall with a large grocery anchor store in it. I’m not a big fan of Walmart but they will do.
I heard through the grape vine that Waffle House was considering buying the property where Mr. Allen’s BBQ restaurant was. It would be nice if a Wal-Mart Distribution center would come in and buy up the 22 acres off hwy-4 just before you get to the railroad tracks in century. I can’t think of what it previously was at the moment though