Alabama economic development officials say SEEDS working as hoped as program enters second year

As Alabama is taking the second round of applications for up to $30 million in SEEDS funding, officials say the program has “worked exactly like we had hoped” to make land available for industry looking to locate or expand into the state.

The Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS) Act distributed the first round of $30 million in funding into 29 site development and assessment projects across Alabama last year. Those had $38.4 million in local matching funds. The projects will bring nearly 8,400 acres online for economic development, with many being in rural counties.

Part of the Game Plan package of economic development legislation in 2023, SEEDS is distributed through the State Industrial Development Authority (SIDA) based on the application criteria.

The application portal for SEEDS site assessment and site development grants opened July 1 and closes Sept. 30. The portal will be on the website of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA), which is administering the program.

Greg Barker, EDPA president, told economic development professionals at the Economic Development Association of Alabama summer conference earlier this month the sites that got SEEDS funding are already generating new projects looking at the state.

“Sixteen different projects are now considering one of those sites,” Barker said.

Having sites ready for development makes a huge difference when it comes to making the cut for economic development projects.

“We’re in the second year of SEEDS and it’s worked exactly like we had hoped that it would,” Barker said. “One of the challenges with bringing in new business for economic development is having prepared product and that’s exactly what SEEDS is designed to try to overcome.”

Barker said many communities are working with private investors through the Growing Alabama tax credits to pair those dollars and SEEDS funds to accelerate development and preparation.

Ted Clem, senior project manager with the Alabama Department of Commerce, said the difference in one year has been noticeable.

“It’s been an immediate success going through the first round and the work and the improvements that we’ve seen on these sites,” Clem said. “It’s already having an impact. We have multiple companies looking at Alabama because of these sites. So, we count that as a success. That’s why we did it.”

With applications open for more SEEDS funding, Barker encouraged communities to apply.

“The next round of SEEDS is open,” he said. “There could be up to $30 million that could be spent and right now we know of about a dozen or so communities that are getting ready to apply. And I encourage even more to apply because it’s a great program and it works.”

Courtesy of Alabama News Center.