Alabama Power’s Wiley Lott stressed the importance of building relationships and establishing a family-oriented reputation in regards to drawing in industry during his address at the Centre for Commerce’s eighth annual meeting Thursday night.

Economic development, Lott said, is simply making life better for people. How it is done, he said, depends on the area.

Lott said when people initially think about economic development, they think about industry and industrial recruitment. However, Lott said this is only one piece of the puzzle.

“When companies look to locate into an area, they look at the overall quality of life for that particular area,” he said. “Part of economic development is not just industrial recruitment, but also it’s commercial. It’s retail. They are going to look for places to shop and how far they are going to have to go to do that.”

Another aspect of development, Lott said, is tourism. This, he said, is something that is a tremendous asset to Selma and Dallas County.

“There is not a more beautiful little city anywhere in the south,” he said. “That’s economic development as well. When you have that and governments working together, that is a catalyst to economic development.”