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Baldwin County’s outstanding economic development efforts are gaining national attention. In fact, the Eastern Shore’s economic picture has never looked healthier.
►New U.S. Census data (2008) ranked Alabama's Eastern Shore area the #1 “Micropolitan" Area in the Nation
►Eastern Shore ranked 48th of the top 100 retirement markets according to American City Business Journal
►Forbes magazine rated our area one of the Top 50 Places to Start and Grow a Business
►Foley ranked 4th best small town to operate small business and retire (Southern Business & Development, Winter 2008)
►Quality of Life Index is 178% of the national average (EISI, Inc)
►Daphne & Fairhope, Alabama was ranked as #4 in Site Selection’s Top 100 Micropolitan Areas for new and expanding industries (2007)
►Site Selection magazine chose The Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance (BCEDA) as one of the Top 20 economic development organizations in North America
►BaldwinCounty in 2006, was listed as Alabama’s only representative among the 100 Fastest-Growing Counties in America
►A report entitled Economic Strength Rankings issued by POLICOM Corp. of palm City Fla. Indicates the county (designated as the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley Micropolitan Area) ranked #25 out of the 577 micropolitans studied, putting it in the Top 4% of the 694 counties included in the survey. Prior rankings were #34 in 2007, #8 in 2006, #37 in 2005 and #11 in 2004.
►The Alabama County Economic Vitality Index from AuburnUniversity(2005) ranked BaldwinCounty as the 2nd Most Vital Economy in Alabama
►BaldwinCounty school system has the highest per pupil expenditure of all county school systems in Alabama and was one of the only 15 school systems recognized in 2007 by the American School Board Journal for its outstanding performance in classroom technology
►Fairhope & Daphne High School are both fully authorized International Baccalaureate World Schools
►In 2007, USA Today named GulfShores beaches one of the “five hidden, affordable beach destinations”
►Readers of Southern Living chose Gulf Shores beaches as one of their ‘three favorite beach towns/resorts’ featured in “Best of the South Readers Choice Awards”.
►Cost of living is 60% of the national average (Monster.com)
►American City Business Journals (ACBJ) on June 27, 2005 ranked BaldwinCounty #1 in the South Central Region for Counties that offer a less expensive, more relaxed alternative for Quality of Life in non-metropolitan Communities.
►Alabama Gulf Shore Beaches were named #1 in the ‘2004 Blue Wave Beaches’ certified by The Clean Beaches Council
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