Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey led state economic developers in a victory lap, celebrating the new and enhanced arsenal of incentives known as The Game Plan that was approved by the Legislature earlier this year.

Speaking to the Economic Development Association of Alabama’s 2023 Summer Conference in Point Clear, Ivey’s tone was both celebratory and gracious.

“For all of your hard work, I give you my personal gratitude,” Ivey told the more than 400 gathered for the conference.

RELATED: The Game Plan is an investment in Alabama and its people

Ivey unveiled The Game Plan with much fanfare in April, flanked by economic development leaders and bipartisan support from legislators. The bills were approved and signed into law less than three weeks later.

The Game Plan consists of four new measures:

• The Enhancing Alabama’s Economic Progress Act extends to 2028 the sunset dates of the existing Alabama Jobs Act and the Growing Alabama program, while adding tools to increase their effectiveness. The Jobs Act is the primary platform for state government to provide incentives that help Alabama compete for new jobs, while Growing Alabama works to ensure an adequate inventory of shovel-ready business and industrial sites throughout the state.
• The Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS) Act expands the State Industrial Development Authority’s ability to accelerate the site preparation process. This will expand Alabama’s inventory of available sites at a time when other states are moving to enhance their site programs.
• The Innovation and Small Business Act supports Alabama’s ongoing emergence as a technology and innovation hub, including investments in creating more opportunities for underrepresented businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises in rural areas and small towns.
• The Enhancing Transparency Act amends the Jobs Act to increase the transparency of information related to incentives received by companies locating new or expanded facilities in Alabama. This measure requires the Alabama Department of Commerce to publish details of incentives on its website, including the return on the state’s investment.

Ivey spoke to the conference on July 31, the day the Alabama Jobs Act would have sunset if the key economic development incentive had not been enhanced and renewed as part of The Game Plan.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey addressed economic developers at the Economic Development Association of Alabama Summer 2023 Conference. (Hal Yeager / Governor’s Office)

Instead, Ivey was able to address a crowd filled with optimism about the potential to elevate the state with the new and improved tools.

“Our economy continues to break new ground,” Ivey said, citing record employment numbers and record low unemployment numbers for the state.

However, continued growth will rely on finding more workers to fill jobs. Ivey said her team is already working on that issue, citing that the state ranks among the highest in the number of people not participating in the labor force.

The 50,000 or so workers cited in labor force participation rate data will be a point of focus going forward, Ivey said.

“You will be hearing more from my administration in the days and weeks ahead,” she vowed.

It’s an administration that has known economic development success. Ivey said that, since she has been governor, the state has seen $42 billion in new investments and more than 78,000 new jobs created.

Ivey also pointed to initiatives that affect economic development: education and infrastructure.

On the education front, Ivey put a target on struggling schools and said she would like to see parents have more flexibility to send their children to schools that offer better opportunities.

“My goal is for Alabama to become the most school-choice-friendly state in the nation,” she said.

Ivey has adopted the Dolly Parton Imagination Library reading program and encouraged children in the state to read this summer and share their reading list with her. She said she has already received more than 500 letters from children in the state who have done so.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey waves during the Economic Development Association of Alabama Summer 2023 Conference as EDAA Executive Director Jim Searcey looks on. (Hal Yeager / Governor’s Office)

On the infrastructure side, Ivey said the money being spent throughout the state, thanks to the Rebuild Alabama plan passed in 2019, is making a difference.

She said more than $170 million has been spent on 244 infrastructure projects.

In an apparent response to Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth’s critical Tweet a week ago calling for a change of leadership at the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) due to beach traveler congestion on Interstate 65 South, Ivey noted that Rebuild Alabama has already targeted the three most congested areas on I-65, prioritizing the top three in the order of congestion.

“That sounds like pretty sensible leadership from ALDOT if you ask me,” Ivey said.

Ivey closed her address with praise for the economic development community.

“Thanks to your hard work, there is no greater place to live than sweet home Alabama,” she said.