The state’s economic development agency is getting a new leader.

After 12 years in the post, Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield is stepping down at the end December. Gov. Kay Ivey has tapped Ellen McNair, an economic development veteran, to succeed him.

McNair’s appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2024.

“Throughout my time as governor, we have proudly solidified Alabama as a top state for doing business, and, no doubt, Greg has been a key part of that success,” Ivey said. “Together, we have secured more than $42 billion in new investments in our state, which has created 78,000 good-paying jobs.

“Greg will go down as one of Alabama’s best economic development heads, and he will be noted for projects like Mazda Toyota and credited for branding the Made in Alabama name worldwide. I will forever be grateful for all that Greg has accomplished for our state, and I know he will continue having great success in his career,” Ivey said.

Canfield, in both his role at the Department of Commerce and in the Legislature, has been a champion for pro-business legislation. Alabama’s latest economic development package, known as The Game Plan, was approved by lawmakers earlier this year and is designed to help the state continue to attract businesses and industry, and support existing companies.

Gov. Kay Ivey joins Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield in April to celebrate the signing of her “Game Plan” economic growth package, four bills designed to secure Alabama’s economic future. (Hal Yeager / Governor’s Office)

After a long career in the private sector, Canfield took the helm of the Alabama Development Office in 2011 and reorganized it as the Department of Commerce. During his tenure, Alabama launched its first strategic economic development plan, Accelerate Alabama, and established new records in international exports, capital investment and job creation. Canfield represented Alabama on business and trade missions to 30 countries and is credited for launching the department’s successful rural development strategy.

Since Canfield began leading the department, Alabama has attracted projects involving more than $70 billion in new private sector capital investment and more than 180,000 jobs, according to state officials.

“I am proud to have been a part of Governor Ivey’s cabinet, and I am proud of the team of professionals we have assembled at Commerce. I am more confident than ever that Alabama is poised for a robust era of economic expansion that will transform the trajectories of communities and families across the state,” Canfield said. “I am honored to have made a contribution to the effort to improve Alabama’s future, and I know that the momentum we’ve built will continue to grow in the capable hands of Ellen McNair.”

Ellen McNair, longtime economic developer for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, will succeed Greg Canfield as secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. (contributed)

Maintaining momentum

McNair, who is taking the helm in the new year, is chief economic development officer with the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Throughout McNair’s tenure at the Chamber, she has successfully worked on almost 600 national and international projects with a capital investment of more than $8 billion, resulting in almost 30,000 new jobs for the Montgomery community.

“I have known Ellen since my days at the Alabama Development Office, and I know she will be of tremendous value to the state of Alabama. She sees past just the investment and jobs numbers and knows that these results are changing the lives of Alabama families,” Ivey said. “Ellen has partnered with Greg and I to bring growth to the Montgomery area, and I am confident we will see success like that all over the state.”

McNair was the senior project manager and a member of the negotiating team that brought Hyundai to Montgomery. Former Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange and current Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed described McNair as a “smooth bulldog” and “tenacious.”

“I am extremely honored to have been selected by Governor Kay Ivey for this very important role. Economic development has been a passion and focus for the governor her entire career,” McNair said. “The success of the state under Governor Ivey’s and Secretary Canfield’s leadership is unprecedented. These will certainly be big shoes to fill.”

McNair continued, “I have great respect for Secretary Canfield and the Commerce team, and we will work together for a smooth transition. The state of Alabama is blessed with many strong local and regional economic development professionals, and I look forward to working closely with them and the entire state team to continue Alabama’s smart and strategic economic development.”

Prior to working with the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, McNair worked for the Alabama Department of Commerce. When she entered the economic development sector after attending graduate school in the Department of Economics at Auburn University, Ivey was serving as assistant director of the Alabama Development Office, now known as the Department of Commerce.

McNair now returns to lead the Department of Commerce with 40 years of economic development experience and a handful of firsts. On top of being the first female project manager at the department, she was the first female Certified Economic Developer in Alabama and one of a handful of economic development professionals in Alabama with the designation. She was also the first female president of the Economic Development Association of Alabama, the first woman to lead a major metro area’s economic development effort in the state, and in January she will be the first woman to serve as secretary at the Alabama Department of Commerce.

A version of this story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.