Rainsville recently was designated as an Alabama Community of Excellence

RAINSVILLE — Rainsville recently was designated as an Alabama Community of Excellence.

The city of Rainsville joined Alexander City, Elba, Fairhope and Saraland as the newest ACE members. Rainsville Mayor Nick Jones said the ACE certification was something the city has been working on for some time.

“We’ve been in the program for a while,” Jones said. “So this is more of a graduation. This is a really good program for smaller towns that puts city leaders with experts in [city planning] fields.”

The ACE program is designed for cities with populations between 2,000 and 18,000. ACE was formed in 2002 and is a nonprofit organization that utilizes the expertise of its partner organizations — which include the Alabama Association of RC&D Councils; Alabama Association of Regional Councils; Alabama Department of Commerce; the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs; the Alabama Historical Commission; the Alabama League of Municipalities; the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority; Alabama Power Co.; the Auburn University Economic and Community Development Institute; Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood; PowerSouth Energy Cooperative; Regions; the Southeast Alabama Gas District; the University of Alabama Center for Economic Development; and the University of West Alabama.

Jones said having access to such a wide range of experts will help the city better plan for the future. Before becoming an ACE member, Rainsville worked with ACE to identify areas in the city that needed improvement and develop ideas for making those improvements. Read more...

(From left) Rainsville Councilman David Holt, ACE President Lisa Miller, Rainsville Mayor Nick Jones, Akaysha Yukawa and Councilmember Melissa Ledbetter