BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – If Alabama wants to compete in a fast-changing economy, state leaders say it can’t just focus on jobs. It has to focus on people.
That message came up repeatedly during Tuesday’s Innovate Alabama forum, Driving Alabama Forward: The Future of Innovation, in downtown Birmingham. The event drew about 150 elected officials and business and civic leaders for a wide-ranging discussion about education, workforce development, artificial intelligence and quality of life.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, an Alabama native and director of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, opened the conversation by spotlighting how quickly technology is changing nearly every part of modern life.
“Nobody is going to be able to stop this technological revolution,” Rice, who is from Birmingham, said. The real question is who will shape how that technology is used.
Innovate Alabama is a public-private partnership focused on entrepreneurship and job creation.
Rice pointed to artificial intelligence and competition with China as examples of how quickly technology is changing education and the workforce. While the United States remains a leader in innovation, she warned that China is often faster at adopting and spreading new technologies.
That concern carried over into discussion about how well Alabama is preparing students and workers for a future shaped by rapid technological change.
“Education reform in the state of Alabama, in recent years, is producing very real results,” said Bill Poole, chairman of Innovate Alabama and Alabama finance director. He noted that K-12 public schools are showing measurable improvement in early grades in math and reading.
Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said the state’s changing approach to career technical education is welcome, as there has been too much effort on a single path for students for too long.
“We’ve lost a generation of kids by always pushing them toward college,” Ledbetter said. “Only about 32% of Alabama students get a college degree.”
Ledbetter said that approach has left many students without a clear path to stable, well-paying work. He argued that the state has undervalued technical training and hands-on skills, even as employers struggle to fill those jobs.
Ledbetter said Alabama’s expansion of career technical education and creating clearer pathways to good-paying jobs. The state has invested millions of dollars to build and expand career tech centers and is considering another $150 million investment this year, he said.
“We need to be able to put kids in fields where they’re going to be successful,” Ledbetter said.
But training workers is only part of the challenge, speakers agreed. Keeping them in Alabama is another.
“The first and most important thing is a fight for talent,” Rice said. “Right now it is an all-out war for talent.”
Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, said Alabama is competing with cities like Nashville and Atlanta that have become magnets for young professionals. He said state leaders need to better understand what attracts young people to those cities.
“What is it that these young kids want?” Gudger said. “They want quality of place.”
Young people are looking for walkable communities, outdoor access and places where they feel connected, he added.
“They want to feel a part of something bigger than themselves,” Gudger said.
Rice said outdoor recreation also came up repeatedly during Innovate Alabama’s early planning work as an attraction for young people and that Alabama needs to do a better job of marketing its natural resources.
Still, speakers acknowledged that even the right environment can fall short without money to support new ideas.
House Education Budget Chair Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, said Alabama’s venture capital system has lagged behind much of the country, forcing entrepreneurs to leave the state to grow their businesses.
Rural investment emerged as another major theme. Leaders pointed to more than $2 billion in broadband expansion as a foundation for growth, allowing rural communities to compete for talent and opportunity.
Rice praised the state’s progress in recent years and encouraged leaders to stay focused on continuous improvement.
“It’s known out there that Alabama is on the move,” she said. “But there is a race out there, and Alabama’s now in one of the fast lanes. Don’t lose it by letting somebody catch you from behind.”
Innovation rarely comes from where people expect it to, Rice said. The challenge for Alabama is creating an environment where entrepreneurs feel supported and connected and then giving them room to see what happens.