Magnolia River purchases Decatur building to consolidate offices

Magnolia River, which has its home office in a shopping center off Nanceford Road, is planning to move its headquarters to the old post office building on Bank Street in Decatur.

Kim Hoff, president and CEO of Magnolia River, said they have been working to consolidate their offices in one central location.

“Over half of Magnolia River’s 135 employees commute to the Hartselle and Huntsville offices from all over North Alabama and Southern Tennessee every day,” Hoff said in a press release on their website. “Since the 2012 acquisition of Huntsville-based Aeroquest Optimal, we have been working diligently to merge the Huntsville office with the Hartselle corporate headquarters.”

The Decatur City Board of Education voted to sell the old post office property to Magnolia River at a meeting Thursday night.

Hayden Strickland, vice president of GIS and software, said they studied to see what location would be the best based on where their 135 employees live.

“Since we offer professional GIS services, specialized location analysis was conducted before we made a decision on a new location. We brought in employee addresses and determined that Decatur, Alabama, was the most centralized location for our commuting employees,” Strickland said.

Mayor Don Hall said he was surprised to hear that Magnolia River was leaving the area.

“I hate to see them go,” Hall said. “I’m sure many of the employees eat lunch here. They buy gas here and spend money in the city. It will have an impact on the city.”

Hoff expects renovations on the new Decatur offices to begin this fall with an opening slated for early 2015.