Ted Clem Scores Industrious Role
Troy welcomed Ted Clem home this spring with a whirlwind of activity. On April 1, he took the helm as president of the Pike County Economic Development Corp., and at the end of the month, Clem donned a black tie for his induction into the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame.
Clem’s position at Pike County EDC continues a career path that began with classes he took at Troy State, where he was a kicker for the football team for 4 years. As a walk-on his freshman year, he helped the Trojans secure the 1984 Division II NCAA national championship with “The Kick,” a 50-yard field goal he made as the game clock expired.
“My degree was journalism, but back then, we were required to have a major and 2 minors, and 1 of my minors was economic geography,” Clem says. “Sounds odd, but I was fascinated by the subject, and that’s kind of what developed my interest in economic development.”
After graduating from Troy State, he earned a master’s degree in economic development at the University of Southern Mississippi.
His years at Troy State influenced Clem’s career and set a solid foundation for his personal life. There, he met fellow student Stacey Clark, who became his wife. Their 3 children are all Troy University graduates who also call Troy home.
“They lived in different places, but just through circumstances, they all found their way back to Troy to start families of their own,” says Clem, now a grandfather of 4. So, in addition to his job at Pike County EDC, “it’s a great motivating factor for us to move back here.”
Small-Town Draw
Clem grew up in rural Butler County, where his parents still live, about 45 minutes from Troy. That small-town background plays a big role in how he approaches leading Pike County EDC.
“Our main goal is to help Pike County grow in a way that enhances our quality of life in the small-town feel that draws us all to this area,” he says. “So, we’re not trying to compete with the Birminghams or even Montgomery. We’re trying to be the best community place to live in that we can be and to attract industry and businesses to the area that fit into that mold.”
Clem’s appointment as president of the Pike County EDC came after a nationwide search. “Our board unanimously chose Ted Clem,” says John Ramage, the organization’s chairman and board of directors member. “Ted is committed to growing Pike County and attracting new industries to our area.”
Before returning to Troy for the position, Clem spent 10 years as senior project manager for business development at the Alabama Department of Commerce. In the 2 decades before that, he held economic development posts in Andalusia, Pensacola, Panama City, Florida, and Albany, Georgia.
During Clem’s commerce department tenure in Montgomery, Alabama saw the creation of 60,000 new jobs and capital investments exceeding $800 million. Clem was integral in the recruitment of new industries to the state, reflective of a mentality that his former Troy State head football coach, Chan Gailey, described during Clem’s Sports Hall of Fame induction.
“He was solid as a rock, never up, never down,” says Gailey, a fellow Troy Hall of Fame member whose coaching resume includes top college programs and NFL teams. “He was always focused on the next play. He went about his business, focused on what he was doing. He was trying to get better every day.”
Getting better is still a priority for Clem. “Right now, I’m just trying to get out to meet and introduce myself to all of our local industry, getting to understand their needs in the community and how we can assist them, help them be more successful here in the county,” he says.
“Pike County industry is a fairly diverse mix,” Clem says, including plastics recycling, defense, food and gun production, and forest products. “The primary focus of the job here is going to be working with our existing companies and trying to help them grow.”