MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Earlier this week, Alabama Secretary of Commerce Ellen McNair led a delegation to the annual Southeast U.S States – Canadian Provinces Business Forum, an opportunity to strengthen bonds and opportunities with one of the state’s largest trading partners.
This year’s conference in Greenville, S.C., allowed current and potential partners across the alliance to expand markets and develop supply chain opportunities. Discussions this year focused on three sectors: Life sciences, advanced energy and mobility.
“The relationships and connections fostered by the SEUS-CP alliance are critical to Alabama, other Southern states and Canadian provinces,” McNair said. “As healthcare, energy and transportation technology and manufacturing advance, it is these partnerships that will continue to keep us on the front edge of advancement and opportunity.”
Alabama exports totaling more than $4.3 billion crossed the Canadian border in 2025. Transportation equipment and metals topped the shipment lists. Canadian exports to Alabama, also led by transportation equipment, totaled more than $3 billion last year.
And Canadian companies are a key part of Alabama’s economy and communities, with nearly 130 operating in the state and employing nearly 14,000 Alabamians, McNair said.
Another benefit of SEUS-CP is the opportunity to meet one-on-one with companies and organizations seeking products, services and supply chain solutions. This year, some of those attending companies included Boeing, Duke Energy, AFL, Michelin, PAI Pharma, South Carolina Procurement Services, Schneider Electric and Scout Motors.
Alabama participants in the conference included Commerce workforce-training arm, AIDT; cybersecurity company H2L Solutions, Inc.; machining and fabrication company Lewis Precision and CNC, Inc.; and Page & Jones, Inc., a global logistics services provider. Together, they had more than three dozen meetings with other businesses.
“Canada remains one of Alabama’s most important international partners, and face-to-face engagement is essential to building the trusted relationships that drive long-term business growth,” said Christina Stimpson, chief officer for Commerce’s Global Business Office. “The SEUS-CP event not only showcases Alabama as a premier destination for international investment but provides an invaluable platform for Alabama firms to expand their reach globally, identify new business opportunities and strengthen supply chain connections.”
Other states in the alliance are Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, along with Canadian provinces Ontario, New Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
