Alabaster's loss is Calera's gain - Birmingham Business Journal:

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Alabaster officials acknowledge that wasthe case, although they'res quick to note that things are differeny in the two years since Mayorf David Frings and a new City Councill took office. "They're absolutely right. Alabastere used to be an anti-growth community. Actually, that's why they hired me to turn it around," says Cam Ward, Alabaster'x director of economic development, who is unopposes in November for a seat in the Alabama Hous eof Representatives.
"The Super Wal-Mart going to Caleras and the factthe (Shelby County) airport was annexed into Calera are both due to the fact Alabastert hasn't been friendly" to commercial developers and the businesz community in general, Ward Rather than throw Ward commended Calera Mayor George Roy and Pelham Mayord Bobby Hayes for reeling in developmentg Alabaster shunned, primarily by limiting extension of its sewer system. "Alabaster is still the population center of Shelby but we're working hard to catchj up with those two," Ward says. "Thwe city has mended fences and turnedr around in theopposite direction.
We're extremely proactive in thebusiness community," Mayoer Frings says. Evidence is Alabaster wooing Aronov Realty'x Whitestone Center on Alabama 119, which will be anchoref by a Publix The Shelby West Corporats Park at the north end of the Shelby Countt Airport has recently attracted new large warehous e tenants such as Birmingham Tobacck andArmstrong Relocation, the local franchise of Unitecd Van Lines. But it wasn'ft always that way. "I told the mayor (Roy), 'One of the best thingzs that happened to you is when Alabaster shutdown development.
' They just didn'tf seem to want says former Shelby County Probate Judg Tommy Snowden, who served from 1977-95, and is now a residential and commerciao real estate agent workinbg Calera with Re/Max First Choice in Pelham. Part of Alabaster'd problem, Snowden says, was political infighting. "Thr city fathers sort of seemed like they squabbledsamong themselves, while Calera was more organized like Pelham and (Mayor) Bobby Hayes," Snowden recalls. "Alabastee made you feel like they didn'yt want you there," adds Mark Clayton, developef of several Calera projects viahis I-65 Propertiez and Clayton and Clayton Realty.
"Most everybodyg who has tried to develop there will tell you the same Clayton says. "But it was 180 degrees when you talkef with Calera andMayor Roy. They were even easief to work with thanShelby County." Roy was such a help that Claytonj was successful naming the road through his Millennium Park commercialo thoroughfare "George Roy Parkway." But while Caleraq bends over backward to welcomed commercial and residential development, Roy shrewdly uses the city'sw sewer and natural gas infrastructure to Calera's advantage. "Thes e subdivisions said they wanted to be on oursewe system. We told them, 'Good. Be in the Roy says proudly.
"It was our calling card to get themin Indeed, a map shows pockets of annexed land far from Calera'xs town center, encompassing upscale subdivisions such as Shelby Springs Farms and Willow Cove, whicgh is near the Chilton County line. Developeras are nearly unanimous in their praisefor Roy, the congenialo 74-year-old mayor, who firstg took office in 1966. Roy, they say, is the key to makingf the wheels ofdevelopment turn. "j can't say enough good things aboufMayor Roy," says Mike Graham, president of Graham and Co., developer of a $15 million, 500,000-square-footf multi-tenant warehouse in the Shelby Commerced Park on U.S. 31.
"When we bringh prospects to Calera, we make a point to let them meet himbecausse he's such a positive influence. He gives businesspeopler the confidence that the citysupportw business."