Governor Bentley’s Remarks at the Polaris Jobs Announcement

It is truly an exciting day for the city of Huntsville and Madison County.

There is no better way to start the New Year, than to announce up to 2,000 new highly skilled jobs are coming to Alabama!

This new company is proud to be known as a “company of engineers”.

And in Alabama, we are proud of the strides we are making in advanced manufacturing, and this new corporation is the perfect addition to our manufacturing equation.

This company’s motto is: Understand the Riding Experience, Live the Riding Experience, Work to Make it Better.

Please join me in welcoming Polaris Industries to Huntsville, AL!

Ken Pucel thank you for investing and believing in Alabama!

Now let me tell you about this wonderful company!

Their brand new 600,000 square-foot facility will focus their production on off-road vehicles.

Of course I think Alabama is a pretty special place, but when I heard you all selected Alabama because of its skilled workforce, history of technology as well as its local and state resources –I thought what a great compliment to the hard working people of Alabama.

You all have heard me say it before, my priority remains the same and that is job creation for every person in Alabama who is seeking a job!

This announcement today is a major accomplishment in reaching our goal.

Everyone knows the people of Alabama love their outdoor sports and activities – Polaris you all are going to be right at home here in north Alabama.

This plant will also feature multiple assembly lines that will give Polaris the flexibility to quickly replenish demand and support for continued product innovations.

Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the plant will support several core processes including, vehicle assembly, chassis and body painting, welding, fabrication and injection molding.

Over the past four years Alabama has created over 60,000 new and future jobs.

And with this announcement that number is increasing.

New production companies require skilled and specialized training of their employees and that’s the critical role of Alabama Industrial Development Training.

Alabama has the best workforce in the nation and that is because of how our workers are trained.

Our program, AIDT has great facilities which help develop more highly-skilled workers.

AIDT provides comprehensive training for new and expanding companies, and is one of the biggest incentives we use to recruit companies to Alabama.

Our state also works with the more than 60 colleges and universities in Alabama to help to train our workers.

Office jobs are good for some people, but we have to train our young people in skilled workforce training.

Today is a special day for Alabama and I want the city and county elected officials and state legislators to give themselves a hand; no single entity can recruit a company of this size without a joint partnership.

You all are to be commended for your efforts.

I also want to recognize the state’s Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield and his staff for all their hard work.

When one part of the state succeeds, we all succeed!

Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of the special occasion. Pretty soon, Polaris vehicles will be rolling off the assembly line and stamped “MADE IN ALABAMA!”

I look forward to returning and seeing this facility complete next year.

Now, Mr. Ken Pucel I have a small token of appreciation that I would like to give you.

Welcome to Alabama!