Florida Backs Alabama Jobs

The hope is some of the 2,700 jobs coming with the steel plant will be filled by Floridians. Gov. Crist personally endorsed the plan during a meeting Sunday with Alabama Gov. Bob Riley. The two Gulf state executives are in Washington, D.C. for the annual National Governor's Conference.

Alabama is vying with Louisiana to lure the plant. The competition between the states for the jobs highlights the need for new economic development along the upper Gulf Coast. According to several census figures, growth is either stagnant or shrinking after back-to-back summers of multi-billion-dollar hurricanes.

And a recent Forbes survey shows Mobile, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast are creating jobs at a snail's pace. Meanwhile, the Florida panhandle near Pensacola is still rebuilding after Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis.