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Montgomery Region Helps Drive Alabama’s Rise Among Top States for Business
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – With more than $4.8 billion in capital investment and approximately 3,950 jobs announced since 2022, Montgomery and the River Region continue to demonstrate many of the competitive strengths driving Alabama’s rise as one of the nation’s top states for business.
Area Development magazine recently ranked Alabama No. 7 overall among the nation’s Top States for Doing Business in 2026, moving up from No. 8 in both 2025 and 2024. The rankings highlight many of the same factors fueling economic development momentum across the Montgomery region, including cost competitiveness, workforce training, site readiness, energy availability, speed to market, and cooperation between state and local partners.
For Montgomery, those advantages are translating into significant investment across advanced manufacturing, technology, data infrastructure, military and defense, and other growing sectors.
A Region Built to Compete
Continued investment in transportation, industrial sites, infrastructure, and workforce development is strengthening Montgomery’s ability to compete for increasingly complex economic development projects.
The $94.6 million Montgomery inland port project, continued growth along the I-65 industrial corridor, expanding technology and data infrastructure, and an advanced manufacturing base anchored by Hyundai are among the assets positioning the region for continued growth.
Montgomery also brings a unique concentration of strengths to Alabama’s economic development portfolio, with advanced manufacturing, technology, logistics, military and defense, higher education, and workforce training all playing significant roles in the regional economy.
These assets, combined with strong partnerships across the public and private sectors, support the kind of business environment increasingly sought by companies making major location and expansion decisions.
“This year’s rankings show that the strongest states are competing on much more than cost or incentives,” said Dennis Shea, publisher of Area Development. “The states at the top are building broad advantages across workforce, infrastructure, speed to market, energy availability, and the ability to execute complex projects.”
Those are many of the same fundamentals driving Montgomery’s economic development strategy.
Alabama’s Rankings Reinforce Montgomery’s Strengths
Area Development evaluates states across 20 factors that influence corporate location and investment decisions. Alabama earned the nation’s No. 1 ranking for Overall Cost of Doing Business, Property Tax Environment, and Labor Cost Competitiveness.
The state also placed among the top 10 in a dozen additional categories, including:
• No. 3 – Business Incentives Programs
• No. 4 – Regulatory Environment
• No. 4 – Permitting and Development Predictability
• No. 5 – Cooperative Local and State Government
• No. 5 – Workforce Training Programs
• No. 6 – Energy Availability & Grid Capacity
• No. 7 – Overall Speed-to-Market
• No. 7 – Site Readiness Programs
• No. 7 – Availability of Industrial Sites and Buildings
• No. 8 – Energy Cost
• No. 8 – Access to Skilled Manufacturing Labor
• No. 10 – Engineering Talent and Industry Cluster Strength
The recognition follows a record year for economic development across Alabama, with $14.6 billion in new capital investment and more than 9,000 new jobs statewide in 2025.
Workforce and Partnerships Power Growth
Workforce development remains a critical component of both Alabama’s competitiveness and Montgomery’s ability to attract and support major employers.
Through partnerships among employers, education institutions, workforce organizations, and programs such as Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT), the River Region continues working to connect residents with high-demand careers while building the talent pipeline employers need to grow.
“Alabama’s competitiveness isn’t just about low taxes or incentives. It’s rooted in our people,” said Kevin Taylor, executive director of AIDT. “The economic development success we’ve seen is directly tied to our ability to prepare Alabama citizens for the jobs employers need to fill.”
For companies evaluating Montgomery, that combination of workforce, infrastructure, available sites, and collaboration can help move projects from consideration to operation.
Montgomery’s Role in Alabama’s Continued Success
Alabama’s rise to No. 7 nationally provides another measure of the competitive environment supporting growth throughout Montgomery and the River Region.
But the region’s own investment numbers tell an equally important story.
With billions of dollars in announced capital investment, thousands of jobs, major infrastructure projects underway, and continued growth across advanced manufacturing and technology, Montgomery is helping translate Alabama’s competitive advantages into tangible economic development results.
As Alabama competes for the next generation of investment in advanced manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, technology, logistics, and other high-growth industries, Montgomery and the River Region are positioned to play a significant role in that continued success.