Business Journal Ranks Alabama #1 for Industrial Recruitment

Site Selection magazine has awarded its 2004 Competitiveness Award to the Alabama Development Office . The annual award recognizes the state with the greatest level of business expansion activity during the previous year, as judged under 10 criteria:

• Total new and expanded facilities per one million population in 2004
• Total capital investment in new and expanded facilities per one million population in 2004
• Total new jobs created at new and expanded facilities per one million population in 2004
• Total actual number of new and expanded facilities in 2004
• Percentage growth in new and expanded facilities from 2003 to 2004
• Three-year growth change (from 2001 to 2004) in new and expanded facilities
• Ranking in Site Selection's annual business climate survey
• Number of top 100 metros in the annual ranking of top metros
• Number of top 100 small towns in the annual ranking of small towns
• Number of 100-plus-job projects per one million population in 2004

Alabama's score of 123 put it in first place, followed by Michigan with 108 points, Georgia with 108, Kentucky with 106, and Indiana with 103. Rounding out the top 10 were Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, and Iowa.

This comes on top of a survey released last week finding that Alabama business leaders continue to have a positive outlook for Alabama's economic future. Results of that survey, called the Business Leaders Confidence Index, are summarized here.