When German auto supplier MöllerTech announced a $46.3 million production plant coming to Bibb County this week, it was in some ways the culmination of a vision had by Scott Davis area businessman.
He was not there to enjoy it, but members of his family stood for applause during the announcement. Others said it was only fitting A new 150,000-square-foot MöllerTech plant, will begin production in 2019 and will be constructed at the Scott G. Davis Industrial Park in Woodstock.
It was Davis who bought the land for built the Industrial Park.
“He was a visionary,” said Jerry LeVert, president of the Bibb County Chamber of Commerce. “He looked at when Mercedes came to Tuscaloosa and thought, it may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but some of that business will eventually spill over our way. And we need to be ready.”
Davis was known as an entrepreneur and philanthropist in the Brent and Centreville communities. He founded Scott Davis Chip Company, Scott Davis Timber Company and Ingate Farms. He was co-founder of McMillan Trucking and Burkes Mechanical and helped bring other businesses to Bibb County over two decades before his death from cancer.
He also developed commercial, residential and rural properties in 10 counties, including Tuscaloosa and Jefferson.
The park that bears his name is a 544-acre complex just a few miles from Interstate 20/59 and six miles from the Mercedes Benz plant. ThyssenKrupp is already part of the park with a process and distribution center employing about 50.
Bibb County provided MöllerTech with 20 acres at the park. The company will manufacture interior parts for the next generation of Mercedes-Benz SUVs, which is part of the Vance plant’s $1.3 billion expansion announced last year. The factory is expected to employ 222, and brings with it water, sewer and other upgrades that may allow for other tenants.
Bibb County got the nod over several other locations in Alabama and sites in Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee.
“If we hadn’t had a good place to offer them, we wouldn’t be announcing them coming,” said Jerry Pow, the former mayor of Brent. “And this is probably the first of several others coming.”
Pow was Davis’ neighbor and knew him for most of his life. He remembered Davis as a private man who “didn’t want a lot of hoopla” but pursued opportunities for his community.
“He knew we had something to offer,” Pow said.
“He was just a super guy,” he said. “Very community oriented. He could see things in the future and was looking forward to them.”
