Alabama

During Fiscal Year 2013, EDA invested $19,215,477 in 11 projects in the State of Alabama.   These projects are expected to create or retain 2,330 jobs and leverage $142,100,000 in private investment, according to grantee estimates. EDA’s investments help Alabama communities achieve bottom-up, locally-defined economic development goals and strategies.

EDA offers a complementary, balanced portfolio of grant programs designed to help rural and urban communities grow their private sectors and create jobs.

Investment Spotlight: Guiding Long-Term Economic Recovery

On April 27, 2011, fifteen violent tornadoes rated EF-4 or higher (including four EF-5s) struck the Southeastern U.S.   Alabama was the hardest hit, with nine violent tornadoes killing 240 people, injuring more than 2,200, and destroying more than 14,000 homes.    In Tuscaloosa alone, an F4 tornado cut a path six miles long and half a mile wide through the middle of the city, reducing hundreds of businesses, homes, and schools to rubble. When the storms subsided, the damage was so severe that 43 of the state’s 67 counties were declared federal disaster areas.

Following the tornadoes, FEMA charged EDA with leading the federal efforts to help Alabama communities rebuild their economy.   For almost a year, EDA staffed FEMA's Birmingham field office as lead agency of the federal economic recovery team, coordinating federal agencies on the ground, meeting with local officials from across the state, and travelling to disaster-impacted communities.

In 2013, EDA invested more than $17 million to help address Alabama communities’ long term disaster recovery needs. These projects include:

• $5 million to the City of Tuscaloosa to construct The Edge—the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a business incubator and resources center on the site of the former Finnell Army Reserve Center.
  
• $1.2 million to the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama Foundation, Inc. and the University of Alabama to support the development of information, analytical methods, and tools to help communities across Alabama build targeted strategies to diversify their regional economic base and mitigate the impact of future disasters
  
• $3.2 million to the Town of Hackleburg and the Water Board of Hackleburg, Alabama, to fund the construction of critical water infrastructure necessary to increase capacity to support regional economic growth.
  
• $1.9 million to the Town of Pine Hill, Alabama, to fund construction of infrastructure necessary to strengthen the emerging metal producing and processing industrial cluster known as the “Metals Corridor.”
  
• $1.6 million to the Town of Phil Campbell and the Water Works and Sewer Board of the Town of Phil Campbell, Alabama, to construct critical water and sewer infrastructure to support the reconstruction of businesses in the Phil Campbell North Industrial Park.
  
• $1.2 million to the City of Cordova and the Water Works and Gas Board of the City of Cordova, Alabama, to fund relocation of water and natural gas infrastructure from their present vulnerable location on a bridge over the Black Warrior River to the downtown central business district. The relocation of these critical utilities will mitigate future business disruptions and stimulate job creation within the Cordova Industrial Development Park.
  
• $2.6 million to the City of Sheffield, Alabama, to construct flood control infrastructure necessary to protect a local hospital and create new areas for future economic development.
  
• $400,000 to Operation HOPE, Inc., Birmingham, Alabama, to establish the Alabama Small Business Disaster Recovery Program to provide the business and technical assistance needed to reopen small businesses.