MONTGOMERY, Alabama – A national trade publication selected three 2015 Alabama economic development projects, valued at a combined $2 billion, for its elite investment awards, reflecting the powerful impact of these collaborative recruitment efforts.
Editors at Trade & Industry Development magazine evaluated hundreds of projects from across the U.S. before selecting the 30 winners of its 2016 Corporate Investment & Community Impact Awards. It’s the 11th year the publication has handed out its CiCi awards.
“These honors underscore the teamwork that exemplifies the Alabama economic development team and demonstrate how cooperation benefits communities across the state,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “These projects lay a solid foundation for growth in key sectors and will create high-paying jobs with staying power.”
Alabama’s three CiCi Award winners are:
- Google’s data center in Jackson County – Corporate Investment Award.
“In the tiny town of Bridgeport, Alabama, population 2,392 in 2013, Google is making a huge investment,” Trade & Industry Development writes. “The Internet behemoth is planning to build a $600 million data center that will create up to 100 jobs at a state-of-the-art facility powered by 100 percent renewable energy.”
- Polaris Industries’ manufacturing facility in Huntsville – Community Impact Award.
“Off-road vehicles like ATVs and snowmobiles are known for their recreational possibilities. However, Polaris Industries’ foray into Huntsville, Alabama, is big business for the off-road vehicle manufacturer and the entire region,” Trade & Industry Development writes.
- Mercedes’ expansion plans in Tuscaloosa County – Corporate Investment Award.
“’Project Gateway’ is much more than an inspirational name. It represents Mercedes-Benz’s $1.3 billion major expansion in its Vance, Alabama, plant, preparing the factory to launch production of the automaker’s next-generation sport utility vehicles, including hybrids,” the publication notes. “Project Gateway sets the facility on a new path of technological advancement and is the latest in a series of a half-dozen expansions at the Alabama facility, where production was launched in 1997.”
POSITIVE IMPACTS
The complete list of Trade & Industry Development’s 2016 Corporate Investment Award winners reveals a wide range of projects. The 2016 Community Impact winners were selected based on a wide range of factors, including their transformational potential.
“The 30 companies represented in the 2016 CiCi Awards have committed to economic development that not only will bring extraordinary capital investment to the communities in which they will locate, but will have a tremendously positive impact on those communities, most notably those included in the Community Impact category,” said Scott D. Swoger, publisher of Trade & Industry Development and president of its parent company Due North Media.
In addition to the CiCi honors, Business Facilities, another economic development publication, named Alabama its “2015 State of the Year” for these projects and others.
