$2.2 Million RTF Facility to Bring 140 New Jobs to Bay Minette

The City of Bay Minette is set to gain 140 new jobs following a $2.2 million investment in a new operational facility, according to a press release announcing the expansion. RTF Project Services, an Alabama-based electrical services company, is developing the new facility at the Bay Minette Industrial Park.

The investment will give the company a home base in the city, add operational capacity, and create the new positions, the release said. RTF Project Services already has operations established in Bay Minette, Butler, Alabama, and Alexandria, Louisiana.

The new site at the Industrial Park is expected to cover roughly 20 acres to support the company’s operations and future growth, and officials say the 140 jobs will center on the company’s electrical, instrumentation, and industrial services work. Those trades form the backbone of industrial construction across the Gulf Coast, where refineries, paper mills and shipyards depend on contractors who can install and maintain complex electrical and instrumentation systems.

“RTF has a proven track record in the industries that drive Alabama’s economy, and we’re excited that they have chosen Bay Minette as the location to expand their operations,” said Karmen Still, chair of the Bay Minette Industrial Development Board and vice president of finance at Fulcrum Construction.

“This is more than a new address for an established company. It represents meaningful, skilled employment opportunities and another strong addition to Bay Minette’s growing industrial base,” Still said.

A Personal Stake in the Investment

Patrick Hicks, RTF’s coastal division manager, said the investment carries personal significance for him. “Being from the Bay Minette area, I’ve seen firsthand the growth and opportunity throughout Baldwin County and surrounding areas, and I’m proud to be part of an organization that is investing in the community we call home,” Hicks said.

Hicks’ role puts a local voice inside a company that has grown quickly since its founding. RTF Project Services was founded in 2016, and in the years since it has built a footprint spanning south and west Alabama and neighboring Louisiana, serving industrial clients that need electrical and instrumentation contractors able to mobilize to large project sites.

Companies in that line of work tend to grow by proximity. Electrical and instrumentation contractors cluster near the industrial corridors they serve, cutting travel time for crews and letting firms bid on the recurring maintenance and turnaround work that keeps plants running between major construction projects.

Regional Leaders Welcome the Announcement

Lee Lawson of Baldwin Alliance also welcomed the announcement, saying, “Companies like RTF bring not only jobs, but specialized expertise and long-term economic activity. Their presence strengthens our workforce and reinforces Baldwin County’s position as a place where established companies can grow and invest.”

The Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, which works to recruit and retain industry across the county, has emphasized skilled trades in its strategy as existing employers expand and new manufacturers arrive. Workforce development programs tied to the county’s high schools, Faulkner State — now Coastal Alabama Community College — and regional technical centers have been built around exactly the trades RTF hires for.

Industrial park land in Baldwin County has drawn steady interest as the county’s population has grown among the fastest in Alabama. Ready sites with utility infrastructure save companies the time and cost of assembling ground near their customers, and 20 acres gives RTF room for offices, laydown yards and equipment storage as its head count rises.

Bay Minette’s Industrial Momentum

What It Means for Bay Minette: the city, the Baldwin County seat, has seen steady industrial growth in recent years as companies look to the Bay Minette Industrial Park for expansion opportunities. The addition of 140 jobs adds to that momentum and is expected to strengthen the local economy through new employment in skilled trades and industrial services.

Bay Minette sits at the northern gateway to Baldwin County, where U.S. 31 and State Route 287 meet the county’s industrial corridor. Its position north of Interstate 10 puts the city within commuting range of Mobile’s shipbuilding and aerospace employers while offering the land and utility capacity that denser parts of the county no longer have.

The Bay Minette Industrial Park has been central to the city’s economic development planning, marketed to manufacturers and service companies that want Baldwin County addresses without coastal land prices. Each announcement like RTF’s builds on the park’s track record, which economic developers cite when recruiting the next tenant.

The jobs themselves carry weight beyond their number. Industrial electricians and instrumentation technicians are among the higher-paying skilled trades, and positions of that kind tend to anchor households in the community rather than passing through. Local officials describe them as the sort of employment that supports mortgage lending, youth sports leagues and civic organizations alike.

Why Electrical Services Firms Are Growing on the Gulf Coast

The demand behind RTF’s expansion reflects a decade of industrial investment across the central Gulf Coast. Steelmaking, shipbuilding, aerospace, chemical processing and forest products all maintain major operations within an hour’s drive of Bay Minette, and every one of those sectors relies on contractors for electrical installation, instrumentation calibration and ongoing industrial maintenance.

Turnaround seasons — scheduled shutdowns when plants overhaul equipment — generate recurring waves of work for electrical services companies. Firms with local bases can bid on that work repeatedly, which is why operators in the field view permanent facilities as growth infrastructure rather than overhead.

Louisiana’s industrial river corridor and Alabama’s coastal plants give a company with offices in Butler, Alexandria and Bay Minette a service area spanning two states. The Baldwin County site positions RTF closest to the fastest-growing concentration of projects, including the industrial development transforming the Mobile area just across the bay.

Workforce and Training Pipeline

Filling 140 positions in the skilled trades will draw on the training pipeline Baldwin County has spent years assembling. The county’s career-tech programs, alongside the community college system’s industrial maintenance and electrical tracks, graduate students directly into the fields that companies like RTF hire from.

Contractors in the sector typically promote from helper and apprentice roles into licensed electrician and instrumentation technician positions, meaning a share of the new jobs will be entry points for workers starting their trades careers. Experienced hires will be recruited from the existing Gulf Coast industrial workforce, which has grown alongside the region’s plant construction boom.

For Bay Minette residents, the announcement means high-skill work close to home in a county where many workers otherwise commute south. City and county leaders framed the investment as a compounding one: jobs bring payroll, payroll brings retail and housing demand, and a growing industrial base makes the next recruitment easier. With the facility planned across roughly 20 acres at the Industrial Park, RTF Project Services has left itself room to expand again — a signal that the 140 jobs announced today may not be the final count.

The Numbers Behind the Deal

The $2.2 million investment covers the land, site development and initial facilities at the Industrial Park, according to the announcement. Of the roughly 20 acres, the company is expected to use a portion for its operating base while preserving acreage for expansion phases as the workforce grows.

Announcements of this scale are measured differently by economic developers than the headline job count alone. A company that owns rather than leases its site is far less likely to relocate, which means the 140 positions represent a durable presence rather than a temporary project. Ownership also puts the property on local tax rolls and ties the firm’s fortunes to the community’s.

The jobs break down across RTF’s core service lines — electrical contracting, instrumentation and industrial services — a mix that includes licensed electricians, instrumentation technicians, crew foremen, project managers and administrative staff. Pay in those classifications typically ranges from apprenticeship wages to six-figure salaries for senior project leadership, giving the announcement a payroll impact that reaches well beyond the position count.

Positioned for the Region’s Growth

Baldwin County’s industrial economy has been compounding for years, driven by the concentration of major projects around Mobile Bay and the growth corridors running north from the coast. Bay Minette’s leaders have worked to make sure the northern county participates in that expansion rather than watching it pass by on the interstate.

The Industrial Park gives the city a curated answer for companies that need space, and RTF’s decision to build there follows the pattern developers like to see: an established firm with existing regional operations choosing to consolidate and grow at a site it controls. The company’s existing Bay Minette presence meant the expansion, in a sense, formalizes a relationship that was already underway.

For the Bay Minette Industrial Development Board, the announcement adds a named success story to its recruitment materials. Board chair Karmen Still’s remarks captured the pitch the city makes to prospective employers: an available workforce, available land and a community positioned between the Port of Mobile’s trade routes and the county’s growing population centers.

As the facility moves from announcement to construction, the next milestones will be site work and hiring. Local officials said they expect the 140 positions to phase in as the operation ramps up, with the company’s electrical, instrumentation and industrial services teams anchoring the first wave of employment at the new site.