Ivey in Tuscaloosa Monday for chat with Chamber

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey was in Tuscaloosa Monday for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama‘s State of the State address.

“These are historic times in our state,” Ivey said. During her address, Ivey focused on education-based goals and issues.

“We are not focusing on the nonsense,” Ivey said. “We are focusing on the building blocks of education: reading and math.”

Speaking of reading, Ivey touted the state’s recent partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that mails free, high-quality books for children 5 and younger.

Ivey also touched on broadband improvements in rural areas, water and sewer infrastructure and health care institutions.

And although she’s an Auburn graduate and big War Eagle fan, Ivey tied her topics back to Title Town.

“Just like (University of Alabama head football coach Nick) Saban’s legendary recruitment here in Tuscaloosa, our state industrial scouts have brought home many star performances that continue to score points with job expansions,” Ivey said. “Folks, here I am, an Auburn fan, using an Alabama sports metaphor. Don’t take that too lightly.”

Ivey closed her speech with a reminder about the state’s impressive employment and unemployment numbers.

“Other states have closely watched and copied our success,” she said. “Georgia is among them. And y’all know all too well how competitive those Dogs are. Today, over 2 million people are employed in Alabama. That’s the most in state history. Unemployment in Alabama remains at a record low of 2.3%, but we currently lead all the Southeastern states in low unemployment.”

Ivey said she will continue working with the Sabans on Tuscaloosa’s in-progress Saban Center, which will further STEM education in Alabama.