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Econ. developer Fox leaves T'ville for Marengo
Fox was hired by the Marengo authority Friday and handed in her resignation here Monday, with her last day being May 23. Fox came to Thomasville after serving a stint as mayor of Silas, a small community in Choctaw County, in 2005. Fox was originally hired as the executive director of the Thomasville Chamber of Commerce after the departure of Dana Dunn. Harry Brooks, who was the chairman of the chamber board of directors at the time said the board saw an opportunity to move the chamber in a different direction. "We felt it was a good time to make the chamber little more aggressive. As it turned out, Debra was very good at the economic development part of it, and we became a little more focused in that area as a result," Brooks said. Under her tenure, the chamber changed more than its focus, also changing its name from the Thomasville Chamber of Commerce to the Southwest Alabama Chamber of Commerce and expanding its representation to include other towns like Fulton and Coffeeville, while other communities like Pine Hill declined to join the newly expanded chamber. During her time at the chamber, Fox also played a role in the creation of the rural supplier conference, which brings "prime contractors" for the government, companies like Boeing and General Dynamics to Thomasville to meet with smaller companies from around the region to network and create new business relationships. The supplier conference is entering its fourth year and has resulted in new business opportunities for a number of small businesses in southwest Alabama, including Muskogee Metalworks in Atmore and General Sheet Metal in Thomasville. A side effect of the conference has been increased media interest in Thomasville, as Fox and Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day have aggressively promoted the idea of Thomasville as the rising star of rural Alabama. "Her efforts, to a large degree led to the successes we've had with the supplier conference," Brooks said. "I think she's done an excellent job promoting Thomasville." In 2006, Fox left the chamber to become head of the city's newly created development and planning department, operating under the auspices of the Industrial Development Board. The Chamber was forced to find new offices, settling at its current location on Wilson Avenue. Though the chamber struggled for the next year to regain its footing and recover from its move and support cut, Brooks said he believed the change was good, allowing the chamber to refocus on its core mission of supporting its members. In her new position with the city, Fox played key roles in the creation and adoption of the city's zoning ordinance and helped recruit new businesses to town like Crown Storage and the new Boardwalk Cottages development. "Wherever she went, she sold Thomasville," said Danny D'Andrea, former chamber president. "The experience of creating a Development and Planning Department from the ground up has been extremely rewarding," Fox said Wednesday. "(Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day) and I worked very hard to create the 'Thomasville brand' and promote it consistently. We were a successful marketing team." Day said he wishes Fox well, and that an improved sense of teamwork in Thomasville is likely to come to the fore. "We've had a lot of people step up in this community to make things happen, and I think that will continue," he said. "We're going to find ways to be more efficient and effective." No replacement for Fox has been named as of press time.
Clarke County Democrat Managing Editor Barry Hendrix contributed to this story.
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