Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield is leading an Alabama delegation traveling to Canada for next week’s business meeting of the Southeastern United States-Canadian Provinces Alliance (SEUS-CP), a partnership that seeks to expand commercial opportunities and broaden cultural exchange.

This year’s annual conference is being held in the port city of St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador province. The event begins Sunday and runs through Tuesday.

Participants from six Southeastern states and six Canadian provinces will have the opportunity to meet with potential partners across the alliance to build relationships, expand markets and develop supply chain opportunities.

Canfield said the alliance represents a textbook example of how international commerce can be mutually beneficial between regions.

“SEUS-CP has flourished because we have formed a special relationship that allows us to explore meaningful pathways to collaborate, foster innovative solutions and advance common goals,” he said. “And it will flourish in the future because it will continue to allow us to work closely together to drive economic growth, spark job creation and generate rewarding new opportunities.”

Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield is leading an Alabama delegation traveling to St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, for the 2023 business meeting of the SEUS-CP Alliance. (contributed)

Economic bonds

The conference agenda highlights several areas for collaboration and provides opportunities for networking, learning and business development.

Key topics for this year’s conference include clean energy adoption, sustainable transportation, port modernization and asset monitoring and observation.

Alabama’s delegation includes Ed Castile, deputy secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce and director of AIDT; Christina Stimpson, director of the department’s Office of International Trade; and Hollie Pegg, an assistant director of Business Development at the department.

Also included are representatives from the city of Opelika and officials from Page & Jones, a shipping logistics firm in Mobile, and APM Terminals, which operates at the Port of Mobile.

“Canada is consistently a top trading partner and incredibly important to Alabama’s economy. We value the relationships that have formed within the SEUS-CP alliance,” Stimpson said.

“This conference provides a platform for connections to be made, relationships to be strengthened and important discussions to be made with this trusted neighbor,” she said.

Economic ties between Alabama and Canada run deep. Canada is a Top 5 foreign investor for the state, as well as a major trade partner.

Alabama is home to more than 130 Canadian companies employing nearly 9,000 people. Canadian companies have contributed more than $1.6 billion in new capital investment to their Alabama ventures since 2015, generating more than 2,400 job commitments.

In addition, Canada represents Alabama’s second-largest export market, with shipments valued at $4 billion in 2022 — an increase of 14% from the previous year. Top export categories include transportation equipment, machinery, metals, chemicals and paper, according to Department of Commerce data.

Alabama is also a prime destination for goods from Canada, with imports led by transportation equipment topping $3 billion last year.

Across the region, the SEUS-CP alliance trading relationship amounts to an estimated $58 billion annually.

APM Terminals, which operates at the Port of Mobile, will be represented at the Southeastern United States-Canadian Provinces Alliance’s annual conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland. (APM Terminals)

‘Unique opportunity’

The SEUS-CP alliance was established in 2007 to enhance trade and investment, promote business partnerships and encourage technological exchanges between the member states and Canadian provinces.

Southeastern states represented in the alliance are Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Canadian members are Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

“SEUS-Canada has, over multiple conferences, provided a unique opportunity to exchange information about both issues and developments in the regions,” said Bill Kraus, chief operating officer, Logistics, for Page & Jones.

“It has also resulted in valuable contacts and introductions that have led to important sources of information and services affecting trade between the countries. I’ve found the overall experience has been very valuable each year,” Kraus said.

This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.