Alabama ranked fourth on Area Development Magazine’s survey of top states for doing business, winning high marks for its favorable regulatory environment.
Only Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina ranked higher on the list compiled based on a survey of location consultants.
“Alabama is a perennial favorite in the upper echelons, and ranks fourth this year,” the magazine reported.
In individual categories considered for the rankings, Alabama:
- Ranked first for favorable general regulatory environment
- Tied for first for speed of permitting
- Tied for second for most improved economic development policies
- Tied for third on cost of doing business
- Ranked fourth for business incentives
- Ranked fourth for its workforce development programs
- Ranked fourth for its cooperative and responsive state government
- Ranked fifth for its competitive labor environment
- Ranked fifth for its shovel-ready sites program
- Ranked eighth for its favorable utility rates
Reporting on the high ranking, the Alabama Department of Commerce notes that the state marked $8.7 billion in new capital investment in 2018, the highest one-year total. Foreign direct investment also set a record at $4.2 billion.
Remarking on the rankings, Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield said, “In Alabama, we have made it our mission to adopt high-performance economic development policies and to continuously improve our job-training programs to position all areas for the state for growth.”
