Planting SEEDS in Alabama

Planting SEEDS in Alabama

There was a great deal of buzz around the Alabama SEEDS Act at the recent Meet the Consultants Summit in Atlanta. Only passed last year by the Alabama State Legislature, the program is already promoting infrastructure growth throughout the state.

In 2023, the Alabama Legislature approved a package of economic development bills, dubbed “the game plan” for economic development by Gov. Kay Ivey. Part of this package of bills is the Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy Act (SEEDS) to speed the development of much-needed industry-ready sites across the state. This grant program specifically targets the urgent need for quality industrial sites in Alabama at a time when other states are spending heavily to expand their site programs.

Administered by Alabama’s State Industrial Development Authority (SIDA), a total of $30.1 million in SEEDS grant funding will be matched with $38.4 million in local funds at 29 different industrial sites encompassing nearly 8,400 acres, helping to facilitate the development of industrial sites in small, rural communities as well as large Alabama cities.

SIDA in February announced approval of 14 site assessment grants valued at $1.1 million, chiefly for environmental and geo-tech surveys of early-stage industrial sites, with local matches pledged at a combined $629,000. SIDA also approved 15 development grants valued at $29 million for purposes such as infrastructure improvements, land purchases and site grading with the selected communities providing matching funds totaling $37.8 million.

“The SEEDS Act is allowing us to identify and develop sites as a critical function of our ability to recruit new industry and jobs. We must have product to sell,” said Ellen McNair, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce in a February press release.

“Over the past 10 years, economic development projects in Alabama have resulted in the creation of over 167,000 new jobs and $67 billion in capital investment. To maintain this level of success, it is crucial that Alabama communities continuously work to identify, assess, and develop their inventory of sites toward investment-readiness,” said Cedric Colbert, senior consultant at Global Location Strategies (GLS), a leading site selection and incentive negotiation firm for manufacturing and industrial companies.

“By enabling proactive site improvements that will minimize risk to future investment projects, these SEEDS Act grants will directly improve Alabama’s ability to compete for economic development projects on a national scale,” he added.