News
Fill your holiday table with bounty from rural Alabama
From juicy turkeys to decadent desserts, Alabama’s rural counties can help fill your holiday table with a tasty spread. Small farms, major food manufacturers and longtime family businesses contribute to the bounty, while also being key drivers of jobs, investment and economic growth in their communities. “The companies behind some of Alabama’s most beloved flavors…
2021 Made in Alabama Holiday Gift Guide features down-home innovations
Buying local has taken on a new urgency this holiday season, and Alabama’s artisans, manufacturers and other homegrown businesses offer plenty of options to help check off your shopping list. Whether your loved one is a fashionista, budding gardener, avid sportsman or someone with a serious sweet tooth, there’s something for everyone in the 2021…
Donated Mercedes SUVs add horsepower to auto training programs
VANCE, Alabama – As Mercedes-Benz U.S. International continues to expand its $6 billion Alabama auto assembly operation, the company is also investing in schools and training programs across the state, including those in rural counties. In turn, the schools and training programs are helping to fill the automaker’s worker pipeline, a crucial part of its…
Honda Alabama marks milestone: 20 years of production at Lincoln plant
LINCOLN, Alabama — Honda is marking 20 years of auto production in Alabama, an era that has transformed communities across the state touched by its vast network of business. At the same time, the company’s auto assembly plant in the Talladega County town of Lincoln has become a pivotal part of the automaker’s global success…
Distillery spurs vibrancy, new development in downtown Headland
HEADLAND, Alabama – When Lloyd Keel opened a distillery in Henry County three years ago, he envisioned a hobby business built on his longtime interest in making whiskey. As a boy growing up in rural Southeastern Alabama, Keel and his buddies sometimes ran across the remains of Prohibition-era moonshine stills while they were playing in…
High-impact projects show growth potential of Northwest Alabama region
GUIN, Alabama – Three rural counties in Northwest Alabama are adding new jobs and investments within their diverse industrial bases, and more economic growth is on the horizon for the region. Fayette, Lamar and Marion counties, which make up the Northwest Alabama Economic Development Alliance, last year announced a combined five new projects and three…
Sweet Grown initiative connects Alabama farmers to local groceries
Sweet Grown Alabama has launched a new effort to help the state’s farmers sell more of their produce in local grocery stores. The nonprofit foundation, which promotes Alabama’s farming industry, is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries and five local grocers and distributors across the state. Sweet…
Andalusia airport gives lift to Southeast Alabama aerospace hub
ANDALUSIA, Alabama — Covington County’s South Alabama Regional Airport has become a busy hub for aviators traveling throughout the Southeastern U.S. The airport has a heliport that provides hot and cold refueling services to civilian and military helicopters, as well as an airfield café that brings in hundreds of pilots daily. In addition, the airport’s…
In rural Alabama’s workshops and plants, quality products spring to life
Alabama’s rural counties are the source of some of the state’s most distinctive products, from handcrafted, all-natural items for health and home to innovative technologies that are charting the future for business and industry. “Rural Alabama is making a remarkable impression both at home and beyond our state’s borders,” said Greg Canfield, Secretary of the…
Alabama-grown: Chilton County farmer cultivates her dream
THORSBY, Alabama – Taylor Boozer Hatchett didn’t grow up on a farm, but she has a passion for tending the land and sharing its bounty like many who did. Her father, Bobby Boozer, worked with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University and spent his 26-year career helping farmers throughout the state, particularly fruit…