Alabama Partners with Heartland Forward to Bring Center for Investment Readiness to Communities Statewide
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced in Montgomery on November 12, 2026, that Alabama is partnering with Heartland Forward, a nonprofit think-and-do tank, to bring its Center for Investment Readiness to communities across the state, making Alabama the center's second state partner.
The Center for Investment Readiness gives local communities data, tools and connections to prepare for private investment, helping them document their industries, sites and readiness. The Alabama Department of Commerce will work with Heartland Forward on the rollout, and the partners plan a 2027 event that brings investors directly to communities positioned for economic development.
Ivey said her administration has spent nearly a decade building a strong economy that creates jobs, attracts investment and provides opportunity for families in every corner of the state, and that the partnership extends that work, with a focus on smaller communities that lack data and deal-making capacity.
Heartland Forward works on economic development across America's heartland. At its 2026 Heartland Summit, Huntsville, Alabama, was named a Secret Sauce Community.
The Governor's Office said the center's services will be open to counties and cities statewide, with communities able to obtain investment data, prepare their pitches and join matchmaking events. The date and location of the 2027 investor event will be announced later.
Source: Office of the Governor of Alabama
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons「Alabama Capitol Building.jpg」（Carol M. Highsmith 摄，Public domain），图中为阿拉巴马州议会大厦，位于 Montgomery Image: Wikimedia Commons "Alabama Capitol Building.jpg" (by Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain), showing the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery
