Alabama is among the top places in the country to do business, according to a new ranking by Area Development magazine. The magazine, a publication used by development site selectors, ranked Alabama as the third-best state in the U.S. to do business overall. It based its rankings on surveys of 38 of the country's leading site selection consultant firms.
Alabama scored well for its incentive programs (tied for first), labor costs (second) and workforce development programs (second). Gov. Robert Bentley told the magazine that "the quality, skill, and work ethic of the workforce, plus (Alabama's) right-to-work state status, have caught the attention of foreign firms."
Mississippi was among the top five states for the overall cost of doing business, which considers business friendliness and corporate tax environment, and it was among the top three states for overall labor climate, which includes factors such as labor availability and workforce development programs. Mississippi was ninth-best in the overall ranking.