Agriculture to Aerospace: Diverse Industries Fuel Alabama’s Economy
When it comes to career paths and employment opportunities, Alabama delivers plenty of diverse options. While some states tilt more towards agriculture, the tech sector, or healthcare, for example, Alabama has a stronghold within a vast array of industries. When planning for the future, students in the state have the benefit of majoring in virtually any professional passion and easily finding gainful employment right here at home. Even out-of-state residents and students have taken note, which is why Alabama’s job market continues to thrive. Whether you are finishing a trade program, college degree, or already established in an industry, your long-term prospects for new or continued career success can be found in Alabama.
The Best Business Climate
Historically, the Yellowhammer State has been known for steel and coal mining, essential blue-collar industries that have long supported entire cities and communities. Over the years, Alabama has continued to progress and evolve by bringing in new businesses while also assisting trades and sectors that are already thriving. For those beginning or advancing their business careers, Alabama presents great education in addition to bountiful work opportunities for entrepreneurs and professionals.
Recently, the state has been named by national magazines and organizations as having the best business climate in the country. This is due to several factors, including a dedicated effort to maximize resources, the implementation of a diverse growth strategy, and an increased focus on unrivaled personnel training. Alabama’s support of business growth means that business managers and workers from a variety of fields will continue to be in demand, attracting the country’s best to a booming state with a friendly cost of living.
Reasons Why Alabama is Booming
With a focus on job creation and innovation, it is no wonder why Alabama’s businesses are prosperous. There are many reasons for this achievement, but it all links back to a multi-faceted approach to success and the state’s many built-in advantages. For one, Alabama’s landscape is diverse; it is one of the most geographically varied states in the nation, which allows for multiple types of environment-contingent businesses. These differing landscapes also produce an abundance of valuable minerals, such as quartz, iron ore, and limestone to businesses statewide, and the state’s infrastructure of six interstates, ninety airports, and one the nation’s largest deep-water seaports means that moving people and materials across Alabama for business can be done with ease.
While some people may picture Alabama as rural and pastoral, over ten metropolitan areas exist in the region that serve as the optimal work-and-life balance locales for families. Whether it is mountains or beaches, rivers or lakes, Alabama’s landscapes in these communities also bring in tourist dollars to the state. Many of these aforementioned areas are home to top-flight universities and colleges, so businesses are able to pluck talent from within their communities. Finally, the state’s tax structure is competitive and business-friendly, meaning it entices companies from across the country and globe by decreasing tax burdens for a beginning business or one looking into relocation.
Sweet Home Success: Alabama’s Biggest Industries
There are some obvious answers when considering Alabama’s biggest industries, but new growth also means many surprises.
The state has had longstanding ties to aerospace and aviation since the Wright brothers opened their first flight school here in 1930. Huntsville and Mobile are synonymous with NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, and many other industry titans. Alabama ranks 8th in the aviation industry and 6th in aerospace jobs, which happen to be spread across employment opportunities in manufacturing, engineering, and research undertakings.
Bioscience is another Alabama business stalwart, with over 780 biotech companies represented in the state. While you could look virtually anywhere in Alabama and find the bioscience industry, Birmingham is probably best known due to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s leading medical research. Furthermore, businesses, such as Birmingham’s Southern Company, are leading the charge in the advancement of treatments for cancer, AIDS, polio, and many other viruses. In Huntsville, Cummings Technology and Research Park is the second largest in the country and is utilized by a multitude of Fortune 500 companies. Bioscience brings big money to Alabama through NIH funding to the tune of over 300 million dollars each year.
Alabama has always had fertile farmland and will continue to be a leader in agriculture and food production as 43,000 farms provide an array of exports, such as wheat, poultry, peanuts, pecans, eggs, catfish, and cotton. In fact, one in every 4.5 jobs is linked to farming, while another 5,000 employees work in food and beverage production. Major corporation products found on every grocery store’s shelves, such as Wayne Farms, R.L. Zeigler, Tyson Foods, Red Diamond Tea & Coffee, and many more recognizable names, are based right here in Alabama.
The largest export in Alabama happens to be the automotive industry. This sector supplies 1.3 million cars, trucks, and all-electric vehicles to consumers each year, along with 1.5 million engines for several different makes and models. Mercedes, Honda, Mazda, and Hyundai all have assembly plants in Alabama communities. In turn, Alabama now ranks as a top 5 auto-producing state, delivering vehicles to over 70 countries and resulting in 9 billion dollars’ worth of business.
Chemicals are also flourishing in Alabama, representing the second largest export through 200 different successful companies. Industry leaders like Bayer, DuPont, and 3M Company employ 10,000 Alabamians and generate 2.7 billion dollars each year. Chemicals produced in state are chlorine, light stabilizers, oxidants, acetone, and other specialty substances. Clusters of chemical companies can be found in Morgan County and along the Gulf Coast.
Other exciting industries experiencing unparalleled success are found in fields related to metals, forestry, tourism, and cybersecurity. Businesses in these areas are just scraping the surface of the dynamic opportunities currently available in this commerce-friendly state. It is truly a special time to do business in the state of Alabama. For more information on the vast employment opportunities in Alabama, explore https://allinal.org/jobs/ today.