By Barnett Wright
Birmingham Times
https://www.birminghamtimes.com/
Jefferson County approved a tax abatement package Thursday for an international financial services company that could help grow the area’s finance sector, county officials said.
The County Commission unanimously passed an incentive package for the expansion of StoneX, a Nasdaq-listed, Fortune 50 company that already has a significant presence in Birmingham and located locally at 2 Perimeter Park South.
“This [StoneX] project represents a meaningful expansion by a Fortune 50 financial services company … and it signals real momentum for our finance and insurance sector,” said Jeff Traywick, Economic Development Advisor for Jefferson County. “After several years of consolidation and job losses, we’re beginning to see growth return—reinforced by rising wages and recent announcements like Fannie Mae’s new branch office.”
In December, Fannie Mae announced that it is relocating its regional California offices to Birmingham to establish a new hub in the South and bring hundreds of jobs, with operations starting in 2026.
The county’s support for the StoneX project included a jobs incentive capped at $250,000 and an abatement of the non-educational sales/use & personal property taxes. Over the 10 years of the abatement, the county is expected to gain about $1.1 million to its general fund and about $600,000 to its education fund.
County leaders are encouraged by the expansion because most of the activity in their financial services sector over the past several has been limited to mergers and acquisitions and a reduction in overall employment, they said.
But now, “we have seen the average annual income for that sector grow by more than $14,000 per year over the past three years, showing demand for quality workforce in finance and insurance,” Traywick said.
Commissioner Mike Bolin, the Commission liaison to Economic Development, said the StoneX investment is the kind of economic development the county works to support. “With more than $10.9 million in capital investment and 88 new high-paying jobs, this project strengthens our local economy, and our tax abatement and jobs grant help ensure those opportunities translate into long-term growth for our residents,” he said.
According to the county, the 88 new positions will pay an average wage of $85,281. And based on a cost benefit analysis performed by the Birmingham Business Alliance, the county is expected to see $1,153,143 in general fund revenue and $604,445 in education revenue from the project over a 15-year period.
“With [$10,963,175] in investment, high-wage jobs, and a strong return on public investment, this project demonstrates both the strength of our workforce and the fact that Jefferson County remains a strong option for financial service operations,” Traywick said.
The project is also being supported by the state of Alabama which is participating in the incentives package with its job and investment credits and support through AIDT (Alabama Industrial Development Training.)
