Alabama was recently named as the 2015 "State of The Year" by Business Facilities Magazine, a leading national publication focused on site selection and economic development, its first ever. The magazine credits the award to Alabama’s continued economic growth driven by the state securing new large businesses. As BF Editor-in-Chief Jack Rogers said when announcing the award, “The Crimson Tide has rolled in a bevy of big-ticket projects that have provided a solid foundation for future growth.” The article states that several mega-projects were part of a multi-billion “haul” in capital investments for the top projects in Alabama in 2015. Among them, Alabama was able to land Google's $600 million data center in Jackson County and Polaris’ new manufacturing facility for off-road vehicles. The Polaris facility is expected to create more than 2,000 new jobs. In particular, Huntsville has seen major growth in the last two years. Polaris’ $127 million plant will join Remington Outdoors, which opened in Huntsville in 2014.

With the influx of leading automakers establishing major manufacturing facilities in Alabama, the state has also seen an increase in auto suppliers. In 2015, Kamtek Inc., a Magna affiliate, followed suit with a new $530 million aluminum casting plant in Birmingham, as did Yorozu with its new $100 million auto suspension parts production line in Jasper.

Maynard is proud that the State of Alabama received this award and that several of the firm's clients were instrumental in the achievement. Tom Brinkley, a Maynard Shareholder and Chair of the Economic Development and Incentives practice, commented, “The State of Alabama continues to be competitive and attract many of the world's best companies. We are excited for the future of the state in economic development and pleased to have been part of the recruitment efforts for many of these companies that have chosen our state to build plants and hire workers."

To view the complete article from Business Facilities please click here.