Heflin Is Happening, Thanks To Alabama Communities Of Excellence

By Cary Estes

Heflin City Clerk Shane Smith stands near the entrance of Cahulga Creek Park on the edge of town and points toward the picturesque tree-covered mountain ridge before him. Less than five miles away, through part of the Talladega National Forest, the popular Pinhoti Trail passes by on its way toward the Georgia state line.

“We want to connect the Pinhoti trail to this park, so we can get more hikers to come off the trail and have easy access to our downtown,” Smith said. “We’re working with the Pinhoti Trail Alliance to try to make that happen.”

Actually, this small east-central Alabama town with a population of less than 4,000 is willing to work with nearly anybody to make things happen. Ever since graduating from the Alabama Communities of Excellence program in 2007, Heflin officials have embraced the ACE approach of establishing connections with a variety of entities, and then collaborating toward a common goal to strengthen the town’s long-term economic success.“One of the things we try to do is partner with everybody we can,” said Smith, who is Heflin’s ACE coordinator. “Small communities can’t do it alone. You have to reach out to everybody and work together as a group, instead of trying to do it by yourself. That’s very important to us.”

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