What officials believe will be the most comprehensive economic growth plan for the state could be complete by the end of the month and will guide business development in Alabama for the next decade and beyond.

Economic developers gathered for the Economic Development Association of Alabama’s (EDAA) summer conference at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear days ago were given an update on the new strategic plan.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey tasked Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair with developing the new plan when she took the position at the start of this year.

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“So the governor challenged Ellen McNair to develop the most comprehensive economic development plan the state has ever had,” said Greg Barker, president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama. “That’s exactly what Ellen is going about executing.”

An executive committee made up of McNair, Barker, Bill Poole representing Innovate Alabama and David Bronner, Ph.D., of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, has been guiding the process along with consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The process is also including Troy University’s Continuing Education and Outreach, Alabama A&M University’s Center for Educator Preparation and Certification Services and the Hoover Institution, a leading economic policy research center that has been analyzing many aspects of the state’s economic development practices and strategies. The center is led by former U.S. Secretary of State and Alabama native Condoleezza Rice.

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The goal is to have the completed plan in the hands of Alabama Growth Alliance when that entity is formed and in place on Oct. 1.

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Barker said McKinsey has completed the statistical analysis and those findings are being validated with economic developers around Alabama in 17 different focus groups organized by Troy.

“More than 300 people – local leaders, economic developers – have had a chance to weigh in on that,” Barker said. “Now they’re in the process of taking the data and all of the qualitative feedback and they’re putting that into one plan.”

Among the changes that are coming out of the focus groups is a need to keep the automotive, aerospace and defense industries as singularly identified targeted industry clusters. The McKinsey plan had them as part of a “mobility” cluster of industries. Also, logistics and distribution were listed as “enablers” under the plan, but the focus groups said those need to remain among the state’s targeted industry clusters.

Additional targeted industries initially identified in the plan include:

• Agriculture and food – consists of everything from crop production, seafood, food and beverage processing and more.
• Forestry and wood products – covers everything from logging to finished product processing.
• Chemical manufacturing – made up of chemicals, rubber and plastics.
• Metal and advanced material – includes all primary metal and lightweight alloy production along with fabricated metals and metallic mineral products.
• Bioscience – encompasses the drug development lifecycle, medical and testing laboratories, medical devices and research and development.
• Core IT – consists of software development, SaaS, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

The targeted industries were based on those legacy industries that are driving the state’s growth, those growth and employment catalyst industries in the emerging economies and those regional priorities with an emphasis on rural Alabama.

The new plan will replace Accelerate Alabama, which, under various iterations, has guided the state’s economic development strategy since 2012.

Ted Clem, senior project manager with the Alabama Department of Commerce, said based on what he has seen so far, this promises to be the most comprehensive economic development plan the state has ever had.

“It just marvelous feedback that we’re getting,” Clem said. “It should be an outstanding report that comes out in a couple of months.”