In a few weeks, a new public-private entity will be formed with the goal of approving the road map for Alabama’s economic development future.

The Alabama Growth Alliance was a created as part of the Working for Alabama package of bills in this year’s legislative session. While the Alabama Growth Alliance Act outlines much of what the public corporation will do and who will serve on it, there is some flexibility as to what it can do to contribute to the state’s economic well-being.

State economic developers were abuzz about the Alabama Growth Alliance and its potential at the recent Economic Development Association of Alabama summer conference.

“You know, a lot of the work we don’t know because they will kind of determine their own course on that,” said Ted Clem, senior project manager with the Alabama Department of Commerce. “But the whole idea of getting governmental leaders and private sector leaders from the state of Alabama to collaborate together to find common solutions, I think it’s a great idea and the missing ingredient.”

It’s such a novel idea that Alabama may be breaking new ground.

“The Alabama Growth Alliance is the first of its kind really anywhere that we know of in the United States,” said Greg Barker, president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.

Codifying the public and private sectors into an entity focused on economic development makes perfect sense in Alabama, Barker said.

“We’ve been really blessed to have great public-sector leadership with the Department of Commerce and ADECA (Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs) and a lot of other statewide economic development agencies. And we’ve been blessed to have great private-sector leadership in economic development at a state level through organizations like ours, the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama,” Barker said. “What we’ve never had is all of that together at one time. So the Alabama Growth Alliance will do that.”

Ted Clem (left) and Greg Barker address the Economic Development Association of Alabama at the organization’s summer conference. (Michael Tomberlin / Alabama News Center)

The governor will chair the board with the secretary of Commerce serving as co-chair. Other members will include the speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, the president pro-tempore of the Alabama Senate, the minority leaders of both the House and Senate and the chair of Innovate Alabama.

The governor can appoint five at-large members while the lieutenant governor, president pro-tem and speaker can each appoint one at-large member.

“Since taking office, I am very proud of the fact that Alabama has seen new investments totaling $49 billion, which has created some 87,000 jobs,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said. “Much of our success is the direct result of strong partnerships and our business-friendly environment. That is what we look to build on through the Alabama Growth Alliance, and I am confident the best is yet to come.”

The Alabama Growth Alliance will need to be in place by Oct. 1 because that’s when it is expected to receive a new state economic development strategic plan that is being finalized. That plan is expected to guide economic development in the state and the work of the Alabama Growth Alliance for years to come.

“So for the first time in Alabama’s history – the first time for any state that we’re aware of in the United States now – you’ll have private-sector leaders and public-sector leaders coming together to be sure that we’ve got the kind of economic development strategy that Alabamians deserve to have the kind of growth that we all want,” Barker said.