Civil Municipal Magazine Aug 2023

32 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 8 also attracts new businesses to the area, fostering economic prosperity. “My job is to connect the two, to visit industry and find out what their needs are, and then bring that back to the college,” Walls describes. “It’s been very beneficial to companies because they can send their incumbent workers to Central Alabama Community College through one of their programs and upskill them. And now they have an employee that’s not only dependable, and a hard worker, but they also have the skills they need to be promoted in their company.” The collaboration extends to Auburn University, located less than 40 miles away, which has recently opened a culinary school with a hospitality curriculum. The intention is to create pathways for students interested in the culinary arts, offering a “two-two-two” program that combines two years of high school, two years at the community college, and two years at Auburn University. “Here in Alexander City, Auburn is very well known,” says the mayor. “It’s a great school, they have a good engineering department. We find if you can engage high school students and get them interested, then potentially you can bring them into the workforce easier.” An increasing interest in restaurant businesses, both startups, as well as existing establishments looking to expand their operations, is something Amanda Thomas, Alexander City Community Development Director, believes is an indication of the growing entrepreneurship in the area. “We have a microbrewery that is going in the downtown area. We expect that to be a huge hit with how much interest there is,” she discloses.