Vol. XXX -- No. 12 SERVING OVER 295,000 MEMBERS June 2005
http://www.rsa.state.al.us/Advisor/2005/june%20Advisor.pdf
No. 1 Ranking Shows State Recruiters Doing Great Job
Source:
Huntsville Times
W
e hear a lot about what’s wrong with Alabama. But last week, the state was nationally recognized for something it’s doing right. Site Selection magazine, which reports on economic development trends, ranked Alabama No. 1 for economic competitiveness.The magazine’s editors chose the Alabama Development Office, the agency responsible for leading the state’s economic development efforts, to receive this year’s Competitiveness Award. This is the third year Site Selection has given the honor.
ADO earned the top number of points in a 10 category index of business expansion activity based on new and expanded facilities.
“We are building off an economic base that really began in the mid-1990s with Mercedes-Benz choosing to come to Alabama,” Neal Wade, director of ADO, told Site Selection. “Since that time, we have been very fortunate to compete for some other projects-not just in the automotive sector, but aerospace, general manufacturing and a number of other sectors that have led us to this point….”
Projects that helped Alabama win the award included a $60 million, 350,000- square-foot Cullman Casting Corp. plant built by Indiana-based North Vernon Industry Corp., and a Walgreens Health Initiatives call center in Muscle Shoals, which will bring up to 500 jobs to the area.
Another big project announced in 2004 was an AlaTrade Foods poultry processing plant that will employ about 650 people. Aside from the typical tax breaks, the state’s work force training through the Alabama Industrial Development Training program has played a large role in luring business, Wade said.
“What we keep hearing from CEOs and other business leaders looking to expand is, ‘We can find a site anywhere, but it’s finding a trainable work force with a strong work ethic that is the difficult part,’” he said. “We can show that we can provide the kind of workers these companies need and that the work ethic is strong.”
