Good news for Alabama: Its manufacturing industry is faring well.
According to Conexus Indiana’s 10th annual manufacturing and logistics report card, Alabama received a solid B for its manufacturing industry health. Conexus Indiana is a private sector-led initiative focused on advancing the manufacturing and logistics segments of the economy, and their annual report card is produced with the help of the Center for Business and Economic Research. They measured each state’s manufacturing industry health by analyzing three variables: the share of total income earned by manufacturing employees in each state, the wage premium paid to manufacturing workers relative to other states’ employees, and the share of manufacturing employment per capita.
The manufacturing industry in Huntsville, Mobile, and statewide also attracted the attention of Business Facilities magazine, which ranked Alabama second in workforce training leaders, fifth in auto manufacturing strength, and fifth in top manufacturing states overall. The magazine also ranked Huntsville and Mobile sixth and second, respectively for economic growth potential in U.S. cities with fewer than 300,000 residents.
Huntsville has been home to a location of the Boeing Co. since 1962, and the Birmingham Business Journal reported that Boeing plans to add 400 jobs by 2020 with an additional $70 million investment in the city. Meanwhile, Airbus opened a $600 million assembly plant in Mobile in 2015, and Walmart and Amazon are also building new distribution centers in the city as well.
