The Shoals Research Airpark reached an important milestone this month, as North American Lighting, Inc. (NAL) began production at its new automotive lighting facility.  The startup of the NAL facility marks the beginning of active manufacturing in the park, which has been changing rapidly since NAL announced in December 2005 that it had selected The Shoals for its newest location.
     Along with the construction of NAL's facility, the park has seen a marked improvement in its infrastructure.  The main entrance road into the park, Counts Drive, has been constructed.  Turning lanes have been added on Sixth St. from both the west and east approaches to the park.  Large-capacity water and sewer lines have been extended to the park, with the water line continuing up Counts Drive to a 500,000-gallon elevated water storage tank, which is under construction. 
     Mayor David Bradford of Muscle Shoals expressed his pleasure with NAL and the pace of development in the park:  "We continue to enjoy a great relationship with NAL and their management.  The structure has been an asset for our area and I continue to hear good things from all the employees hired thus far.  The infrastructure is continuing to be completed and the water tank is now visible.  With the street lighting installed and the park main entrance landscaped, we think it can be one of the nicest light-to-medium industrial parks in the Southeast.  We hope to be able to attract Toyota suppliers and any other auto-related manufacturers or high-tech companies that we can."