Take a look around Pell City’s commercial districts, and you cannot help but see the brick and mortar results of the city’s public relations firm, retail recruiter and commercial developer all rolled into one man – Bill Ellison.
His relentless quest to bring commercial growth to his adopted hometown is seen in the Bankhead Crossings development, which features a Walmart Supercenter, dozens of retailers and outparcels that include fast food establishments as well as other businesses.
Nearby are Home Depot, a pair of hotels, City Market Restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings, Zaxby’s and Premiere Cinema and Entertainment Center.
South of there, take a look at the Publix shopping center, more retailers, Bedsole Eye Center, Bojangles, Dairy Queen Grill and Chill and other businesses and know Ellison laid the groundwork for it all.
And there appears to be more on the horizon with plans not yet finalized for a large, new shopping center on the old hospital property fronting I-20.
His developments over the years now account for a hefty portion of the city’s sales tax revenues and budget, and those projects have contributed greatly to the successful economic development and growth of St. Clair County as a whole.
In May, St. Clair Economic Development Council honored Ellison with its Chairman’s Award, given in recognition of individuals who have played a significant role in economic development of the county.
“His passion and love for his community are only matched by his competitive desire to win,” said EDC Executive Director Don Smith. “He has such a positive outlook for the future of this community, many times it takes retailers a number of years to see what he’s been telling them is true.”
It’s as if they must catch up to his vision and eventually, they locate here because he sells Pell City as an economic hub, which has drawn in business, residents and services from all around.
The award, he said, “means an awful lot to me.” He noted the work other award winners have done to promote and develop the county. “Now, I’m part of that group.”
He credited any success he has had in bringing business to the unrivaled teamwork found in St. Clair County. “Everybody has played such a big role in the growth” that has landed the county in the number six spot for fastest growing county in the state.
With the EDC in the lead and municipalities, the county commission and Metro Bank playing pivotal roles as a team, Ellison said, “what we’ve done here is set the bar for what an EDC is supposed to do. Everything we’ve done has been a team effort. Other counties want to emulate what we do here.”
He noted that at a national shopping center convention he attended in Las Vegas as a recruitment/outreach effort to bring jobs and retail to the county, “it was obvious to me that our EDC was looked at with high esteem.”
When he came to Pell City in 1985 after doing development work in his native Lexington, Ky., he went to work to build a better future in his new hometown. “I did some development in Lexington, but nothing of this scale.”
A countywide EDC had formed and helped him put his first development together. It was a gas station and convenience store on the massive acreage he had acquired fronting U.S. 231 North and I-20. Today, that fledgling development is Bankhead Crossing.
“There was very little retail at the time,” he said. “You had to go to larger cities.” But by working together with EDC, the city and the county, one project after another began to fill that property. “Once we had that success, it never stopped. It was because of everybody coming together.”
The idea of working together spread countywide, he said, and other successes followed. “Everybody needs to continue that. My motivation is to make St. Clair County better every day – a better place to live – that’s my motivation.”
And his motivation has turned into sizable benefits reaped across St. Clair County for residents and businesses alike.
“There is still a lot of work to do, but as long as our team building keeps going, the county can have whatever it wants,” Ellison predicted. “We’re putting people together, chasing dreams and making dreams come true.”
