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From Google to Remington: the economic development projects announced in North Alabama

The Shops At Merchants Walk, home to Whole Foods Market, is #8 on the list!

Check out the full gallery on al.com.

Lucy Berry
The Huntsville Times
al.com

Google’s decision to build a data center at TVA’s soon-to-retire coal plant in Jackson County comes on the heels of several major economic development projects in north Alabama.

Google, which plans to create 75-100 jobs, is investing $600 million on its Stevenson/Bridgeport facility. The coal plant will be in operation for a few more months as the tech giant prepares for construction in 2016.

We came up with a list of several notable investments announced in north Alabama since early 2014. Click through the slideshow above for additional details.

1) Remington Outdoor — Huntsville

2) Google — Stevenson

3) Polaris — Huntsville

4) Science and Engineering Services — Huntsville

5) Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama — Huntsville

6) Cabela’s — Huntsville

7) Verizon Wireless — Huntsville

8) Whole Foods — Huntsville

9) Torch Technologies — Huntsville

10) Asahi Kasei Plastics — Athens

11) Southern Energy Homes (SEHomes) — Russellville

12) PerformanceScrubs.com — Florence

13) Busche — Hartselle

14) FreightCar America — Cherokee

15) Mar-Jac Poultry — Spruce Pine

Other noteworthy projects include the Jack Daniel Cooperage in Trinity, West Corporation in Huntsville and Carpenter Technologies in Tanner near Calhoun Community College.

Released in May by Gov. Robert Bentley and the Alabama Department of Commerce, the state’s New & Expanding Industry Report shows there were 392 projects for a total of 18,137 jobs and investment of $3.37 billion in Alabama last year. Madison County, which had $321 million in investment, led the state in new jobs created with 3,418 positions.

The job announcements provide some hope to north Alabama’s unemployed population, as well as those who were laid off from International Paper, Hillshire Brands, HON Company, Navistar, izzy+, Pilgrim’s Pride, Shaw Industries Group and other companies.