The Birmingham Business Journal published an article recently, written by Angel Coker, asking local business leaders how they think the state should spend its portion of “The $1.2 trillion pie,” referring to Alabama’s portion of Congress’s recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Coker spoke with The Alliance’s CEO Ron Kitchens to ask, “What should Alabama spend this infrastructure money on?”
Here is what he had to say,
“1. Universal access to high-speed internet.
2. Rebuilding failing bridges and roads, and expanding roads in areas of the state that are growing economic output.
3. Mega sites (5,000-plus acres) for industrial location that have full infrastructure in place. This would help ensure that we’re competitive with other Southeastern states for large, job-creating projects.
4. A network of auto-charging stations.
5. Growth of the Port of Alabama with increased access to the Port of Birmingham via water and rail.
6. The expansion of the Birmingham airport as a state logistics hub.
We need more and better jobs in the region, which requires not only ensuring that our citizens have access to world-class education and training, but we must also pre-invest in the required infrastructure to meet the needs of job creators.”
The estimated job growth nationally from these funds is 1.5 million per year for the next ten years, according to the summary of the bill.
You can read the full article here.