ATHENS, Ala. (WAFF) – A new business park is coming to Athens.

City leaders hope it will bring more small businesses to the area.

There will be 17 available spaces for small businesses to use.

Those spaces range from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet.

The president of the Limestone County Business Development Association, Bethany Shockney, said there are not many cost-effective spaces in Athens for small businesses to start up.

She said once the park opens up in 2026, it will help bridge the gap between big businesses and small businesses in the community.

Shockney also believes it will help encourage business growth in other parts of the city.

“This development is very unique to our area,” said Shockney. ”We have some that are similar, but a lot of those spaces are oftentimes a good bit bigger. Therefore, they’re not cost-effective for some of the smaller businesses or the start-up companies.”

The company leasing the spaces has received a lot of applications already. It’s not known what type of small businesses are looking to move to the area.

Shockney hopes the project will help the Athens economy as a whole.

“We put a lot of emphasis on trying to create that ecosystem for small businesses to start up,” said Shockney. ”We have several startup companies, and we’ve even catered to that through Athens State.”

Click Here to Subscribe on YouTube: Watch the latest WAFF 48 news, sports & weather videos on our YouTube channel!

Copyright 2025 WAFF. All rights reserved.