Economic leader praises Limestone County economy on Labor Day

LIMESTONE CO., Ala. (WAFF) - In honor of Labor Day, leaders in Limestone County are praising the area’s booming workforce and economy! The Limestone County Economic Development Association’s President, Bethany Shockney, is crediting the county’s success to the community.

There’s been a reported 25% growth in the county just in the last decade, and that’s expected to be even stronger in the coming years.

“We’re just very blessed to have people that want to work and that have good work ethics,” said Shockney.

Shockney recruits industry in Limestone County. She says companies have confidence locating to the community, and credits that to the highly skilled workers - that all starts with an exceptional education.

“When we have that bandwidth of a skilled workforce that is prepared by not only our K-12 system but our two-year college or our universities, that’s why people come here,” said Shockney.

Shockney says when it comes to the economy, Limestone County is an anomaly compared to other parts of the country.

“We have people that want to work, we have people that are moving here to work. You know the last statistic we had was that 32 people per day were moving into this region, that’s pretty strong for an area our size,” said Shockney.

Shockney says within a 60-mile radius, Limestone County has close to 700,000 people in the labor force. Shockney says manufacturing is where there is the biggest labor need, and that’s what they’re recruiting for - but that isn’t all.

“That’s something that we can have confidence in that we’re gonna have that continued workforce not only in manufacturing but all of our retail and our food service,” said Shockney.

Shockney says there’s a job for just about everyone in Limestone County.

Copyright 2021 WAFF. All rights reserved.