West Alabama is in a remarkable period of transformation. Across Greene, Hale, Marengo and Sumter counties, major investments in transportation infrastructure, healthcare and education are laying a foundation for long-term economic development and an improved quality of life for residents throughout the region.
A highway built for the future
Perhaps no single project better captures the momentum of the moment than the West Alabama Highway, a multi-year initiative that will reshape how people and goods move through the region. The project will add a new four-lane divided highway along U.S. Highway 43 and State Route 69, creating 74 miles of new roadway — including 23 bridges — from Thomasville to Moundville. The highway will complete a roughly 200-mile, four-lane corridor linking Mobile and Tuscaloosa.
Project headquarters for the new highway opened in Demopolis in July 2025, occupying the site of a former grocery store and employing around 120 daily workers. At the peak of construction, expected to span through 2029, the highway project will support approximately 700 jobs. The recently completed Linden Bypass, a 4.7-mile, four-lane stretch with six bridges, represents the first major phase of the initiative. Beyond moving traffic, the West Alabama Highway will open new doors for business, reducing shipping times and making the region more attractive to employers and investors.
A new school, a new workforce pipeline
Alongside the highway, the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences (ASHS) is poised to become one of the most consequential developments for the region’s future. Scheduled to welcome its first students in fall 2026, ASHS will be the fourth public residential high school in Alabama and the first focused exclusively on healthcare careers. Students will be recruited from across the state to pursue a world-class education designed to produce the next generation of healthcare professionals.
The school’s first academic year will be hosted on a mini campus at the University of West Alabama in Livingston, before transitioning to its permanent home in Demopolis. That permanent campus is currently under construction in a $72 million first phase led by Brasfield & Gorrie. The school’s permanent location is just steps from Whitfield Regional Hospital, where ASHS students will shadow nurses, doctors and allied health professionals, gaining hands-on clinical experience.
The ripple effects of ASHS on the region’s economy could be significant. Healthcare already is among the largest employment sectors across Greene, Hale, Marengo and Sumter counties, and a dedicated pipeline of trained healthcare workers will help regional hospitals and clinics fill critical roles, expand services and better serve rural communities that have long faced challenges to healthcare access.
Healthcare infrastructure expanding
These communities aren’t waiting for the future to improve their healthcare systems. In March 2026, Hale County Hospital broke ground on a $3.7 million emergency department, the first major upgrade to the facility since 1963. The 6,000-square-foot structure will add six treatment rooms with specialized capabilities and is expected to increase the hospital’s capacity to handle an additional 10,000 patient visits per year.
Greene County Health System similarly opened an expanded, modernized emergency department in July 2025, funded in part by a voter-approved property tax increase.
A region ready for investment
The transportation and healthcare investments are happening alongside a broader wave of economic activity. For example, Enviva completed a $560 million wood pellet manufacturing facility at the Port of Epes Industrial Park in Sumter County, representing one of the largest capital investments in the region’s history. Prystup Packaging Products completed a $4.4 million expansion, adding 42 jobs. Superior Inland Terminals announced a $2 million expansion of its intermodal logistics operations on the Tombigbee River. And the University of West Alabama, which contributes nearly $450 million to the state’s economy annually, continues to grow, breaking ground in early 2026 on a $23.4 million renovation of its student union building.
Together, these developments tell the story of a region that is investing boldly in its future. With major infrastructure coming online, a new generation of healthcare talent in the pipeline and businesses expanding across multiple sectors, West Alabama will be positioned for sustained growth in the years ahead.
Nancy Mann Jackson is a Madison-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
For more on Greene, Hale, Marengo and Sumter counties, see the links below:
This section appears in the June 2026 issue of Business Alabama.
