As printed in the 2025 Q1 Alabama Minute newsletter.
By Greg Cochran, ALM Executive Director
This year, the Alabama League of Municipalities will proudly celebrate our 90th anniversary on May 15! Since our inception, the League has worked to strengthen municipal government through advocacy, training, and the advancement of effective local leadership.
Representing more than 450 municipalities, we have created several programs to better serve our communities including Municipal Revenue Services, the Municipal Workers’ Compensation Fund, the Alabama Municipal Insurance Corporation, and Municipal Intercept Services. Furthermore, in partnership with the Alabama Community College System, we created the Economic Development Academy in 2021 to provide guidance on best practices for recruiting economic investment. In 2022, we accepted the Alabama Communities of Excellence program under our umbrella of services to provide strategic and comprehensive planning resources to communities with populations from 2,000 to 18,000. Each of these programs was intentionally created to provide our municipalities with the best resources and tools to build vibrant communities.
During the 2024 legislative session, our team spearheaded legislation mandating training minimums for municipal officials to provide them with the foundations of municipal government. We are proud to offer training during conferences and online through our partnership with the ACCS. We appreciate Chancellor Jimmy H. Baker and the ACCS for their commitment to strengthening our communities.
Lastly, we recently launched a quality-of-life campaign, entitled Live Locally Alabama, to encourage civic engagement, instill community pride, and highlight the crucial role municipal government plays in the daily lives of Alabama’s citizens. We encourage you to support the campaign and to learn more about our programs at almonline.org.