Business Facilities - November 2007 - (Page 43)

EXCLUSIVE: Alabama Governor Bob Riley Talks Economic Development Business Facilities: There have been 10,000 new jobs announced so far this year in Alabama, including the jobs from projects such as ThyssenKrupp, National Alabama Corporation, and the Hyundai engine plant expansion among others. Where does this year stand in contrast to other years within Alabama’s economy? by] the core competencies of each one of these major industrial bases. Business Facilities: These kinds of industries need especially skilled and flexible workforces. How is the state responding to the labor needs of these industries? Governor Bob Riley Gov. Riley: This year is better than any year. Business Facilities: How are you measuring that? By job count? Investment dollars? Gov. Riley: Yes, job count, investment … When you have somebody like ThyssenKrupp come in—this is almost a $4 billion project that will directly [employ] close to 3,000 employees. I mean, it’s huge! The National Alabama car plant will have 1,800 to 2,000 [jobs]. By almost any guide, this year is going to be one of the best years Alabama’s ever had. Gov. Riley: We combined all of our [state and federal] workforce development training dollars … a couple of years ago. I think that today, almost by any standard, our workforce training program is considered one of the best—if not the best—in the country. When we came into office we had eight different agencies that had workforce development programs, all federally funded [with] about $110 million. We put together one workforce development system, put it under our two-year college systems, and today we can really focus training, company-specific and product-specific, to anyone that comes into the state. Business Facilities: Your per capita income has grown tremendously, 23.1% from 2002 to 2006. Your unemployment rate is down to 3.7%—practically full employment from an economist’s point of view. Is there opportunity left for other companies, or have they missed the boat? OPELIKA ALABAMA } PHOTO CREDIT: ALABAMA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE 9 9 9 9 9 Gov. Riley: Oh, no, no, no. Alabama is going through almost a metamorphosis. We probably have more international companies coming into the state today than we’ve ever had in our history. A Kia plant is going to be located in Georgia, two miles from the Alabama line; we’ve already picked up 14 of their Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers in Alabama. Most of these suppliers will be located in a position where they can either supply the Hyundai plant or the Kia plant. Toyota has just announced building an assembly plant about 20 miles from the MississippiAlabama border. So the opportunity to bring more people in from Mississippi, from that Toyota plant, as suppliers to Toyota, is going to continue to expand. What we’ve done is build a nucleus down here—in automotive, biotech, aviation—that is giving us a foundational base for other companies to come in, [attracted We have sites worth seeing. Located in East Central Alabama along Interstate 85 halfway between Montgomery and Atlanta Part of Alabama’s fastest growing metropolitan statistical area Available 1,900 acre fully developed industrial park along Interstate 85 with sites ranging from 10 to 1,200 acres Near Auburn University, with more than 23,000 students and 3,700 engineering students Close to local community college with an excellent industrial training center Alfred F Cook, Jr., CEcD . Director 334.705.5115 www.opelika.org © EHA 2004 OED-0018 #2109 at www.BusinessFacilities.com BUSINESS FACILITIES 43 http://www.opelika.org http://www.opelika.org http://www.BusinessFacilities.com

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Business Facilities - November 2007 Contents First Words Snapshots Metro Spotlight: Indianapolis Region, Indiana Georgia's Pursuit of Industry Extreme Technology Sites A Tennessee Trifecta A Watershed Moment for Philly Metro Spotlight: Mexico-Texas Border Region High Tech and Aerospace Heat up in Arizona Meeting the Information Technology Challenge IEDC Announces 2007 Winners Corporate Moves: Alabama Northeast Arkansas Scores Major Investments Corporate Moves: Virginia Metro Spotlight: Martinsville-Henry County, VA Renewable Michigan Advertiser Index Ask the Expert

Business Facilities - November 2007

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