Overall, Site Selection ranked Alabama No. 8 in its Business Climate analysis, tied with Indiana. In a survey that is a major component of the Site Selection analysis, site selection consultants and corporate real estate executives placed Alabama No. 7 among the states.

Alabama scored in the Top 10 in both categories in the 2016 and 2017 Site Selection surveys.

“The primary strategic objective of Alabama’s economic development team is to facilitate the creation of high-caliber jobs that benefit the state’s citizens and its communities,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“This high ranking, along with others the state has received recently, underscores that our team is consistently executing our strategy and achieving positive results for Alabama.”

Between 2011 and 2017, economic development activity generated $33 billion in new capital investment to Alabama, along with 125,000 anticipated jobs, according to data from the Alabama Department of Commerce.

In 2017 alone, new capital investment tied to projects exceed $4 billion, along with 15,000 jobs, the data show.

This year, Alabama has attracted a series of major projects in key industrial sectors, led by Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA’s $1.6 billion auto assembly plant that will create 4,000 jobs in Huntsville.

Industry leaders including Facebook, Amazon, Hyundai and Honda have also announced major Alabama projects in 2018.

RECOGNIZING RESULTS

The high ranking in Site Selection’s 2018 Business Climate survey represents the latest recognition earned by Alabama and its economic development team. Others recent examples include:

• Business Facilities, another economic development-focused publication, ranked Alabama’s business climate tops among the states in an analysis that examined performance in several key economic categories. Besides the No. 1 ranking for Best Business Climate, Business Facilities also gave the state high marks for growth potential and workforce training.
•  Area Development, a national publication, ranked Alabama No. 3 in its 2018 “Top States for Business”surveyand gave the state top honors for most improved economic development policies.
• Global Trade, a publication focusing on international business, selected Alabama as the nation’s top state for manufacturing in a comprehensive ranking.
• Area Development selected Alabama for its Silver Shovel Award, recognizing the state’s economic development successes in 2017. It marked the fifth consecutive year the state has won the Silver Shovel.