When GKN Aerospace began searching for a home for a new engineering design centre specialising in composite materials, the UK-based company looked to a place where it had already found success and enjoyed strong partnerships.

GKN LOOKED TO ALABAMA
At the 2014 Farnborough International Airshow, leaders from GKN and Alabama made it offi cial, the company’s thriving aerostructures plant in Tallassee would house the engineering design centre. Daniele Cagnatel, president of GKN Aerospace-North America, thanked his “excellent partners” in Alabama, who offered assistance with training and facilities expansion for the project.

GKN is just one of nearly 30 UK-based companies that already have operations in Alabama, a favourite American destination for foreign direct investment in recent years. In the past decade, British companies have invested nearly $770 million in new facilities and expansions in Alabama.

Business ties between Alabama and the UK are growing stronger, with two-way trade approaching $850 million in 2013. British companies shipped $159.7 million in goods to Alabama in 2013, an increase of 132 per cent from the previous year. Industrial machinery, pharmaceutical products and organic chemicals top the list of UK goods shipped to Alabama. Meanwhile, the UK was among the top five export markets for Alabama-made products in 2013, with shipments approaching $693 million, a figure that climbed 50 per cent over five years.

Alabama’s aerospace sector is positioned for rapid expansion, offering opportunities for UK companies. Airbus announced plans in 2012 for a $600 million production centre in the port city of Mobile for its A320 Family passenger jets. Airbus’s timetable calls for the fi rst Alabama-made aircraft to leave its Mobile Aeroplex assembly line in 2015, with the first customer delivery to take place the following year. The Airbus plant is expected to fuel the growth of an aerospace cluster in the region.

Alabama’s rapidly expanding automotive industry also presents opportunities for UK-based companies. The state’s auto industry has a strong international flavour, with major investments from German, Japanese and South Korean companies. Alabama factories operated by Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Hyundai produce nearly one million vehicles per year. In addition, Toyota operates an engine factory in Alabama, and the state’s supplier network continues to grow to keep pace with the OEMs. The UK-based Purico Group’s German affiliate Bolta Werke announced plans in 2014 to open a $40 million parts plant in Alabama that will supply Mercedes and Volkswagen in neighbouring Tennessee.

British consumers are showing they fancy Alabama-produced automobiles. Figures indicate that shipments of Alabama-made vehicles to the UK totalled $234.7 million in 2013, an increase of 119 per cent in five years. Motor vehicles represent Alabama’s No.1 export category to the UK, followed by minerals and ores, metals, and forestry products.

Alabama’s biosciences sector also holds promise for collaboration and investment. Alabama boasts 550 firms in biotechnology and life sciences, with major research clusters in Birmingham and Huntsville. The Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville has become a renowned genomics and genetics research centre. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine is a national leader in cancer research and attracts substantial funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Alabama officials view capitalising global opportunities as a key priority, and the state is actively seeking to build international trade and investment partnerships. The Alabama Department of Commerce and its allies sponsor international trade missions each year to explore possible business links and identify new export markets for companies based in the state. Top Alabama officials also travel to events like the Farnborough Airshow to connect with business leaders from the UK and around the world.