June 2022 Group Watch: AL Earns National Acclaim for Economic Development
Gov. Kay Ivey announced that Area Development, a national business publication, has selected Alabama for a Silver Shovel Award, recognizing the state’s economic development successes in 2021. The honor reflects strong recruitment results for the Alabama team, with companies announcing new facilities and expansion projects involving $7.7 billion in new capital investment during 2021. It stands as the second highest annual investment total for the state, trailing only the $9.1 billion recorded 2018. The 2021 projects will create over 10,000 jobs across Alabama and inject economic vitality into many communities located in both urban and rural areas. In this new report, Area Development singled out the J.M. Smucker Co.’s project to build a manufacturing and distribution facility Jefferson County as one of its “Deals of the Year”. Besides Smucker, other top Alabama projects listed by the magazine included Hanwha Cimarron’s plans for a manufacturing plant in Opelika, Amazon’s plans for fulfillment centers in Huntsville and Montgomery, as well as Alabama Graphite LLC’s investment in a graphite processing facility in rural Coosa County.
