MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Alabama Governor Robert Bentley today released details from the 2012 New and Expanding Industries Report, which showed a second year of steady growth for new jobs in Alabama and capital investment across the state.

Companies establishing new operations in Alabama or expanding facilities already in the state announced capital investments exceeding $5.4 billion in 2012, resulting in nearly 21,000 new jobs, Gov. Bentley said this morning.

In an interview about the new report, Governor Bentley said: “We have an environment in the state that is very conducive to recruiting new companies or expanding the companies that we already have. We’re a right to work state. We have a low cost of doing business in this state … and we have the best workers of anywhere in the world.”

The 2012 numbers show improvement over 2011, when Alabama projects involving about $4.1 billion in investment and 17,248 jobs were announced. Since Bentley took office in early 2011, companies have announced Alabama projects with $9.4 billion in investment and 38,000 new jobs.

The largest economic development announcements in 2012 included the announcement of Airbus’s first stateside assembly plant in Mobile, which will create 1,000 new Airbus jobs and thousands of additional construction and supplier jobs. Major announcements in 2012 also included a $1.2 billion expansion at Walter Energy, along with expansions at Austal USA, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing of Alabama and many other companies.

Find a list of the Top 10 announcements by number of jobs and capital investment here: Top 2012 New and Expanding Industry Announcements.