Improving the business conditions in the Birmingham metropolitan area can have a large impact on the state’s economy, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne said during a July 8 campaign stop in Alabaster.

Byrne met with supporters, local officials and business owners during a nearly hour-long tour of the BTC Wholesale Distributors warehouse in the Shelby West Corporate Park in Alabaster.

During the campaign stop, which was part of Byrne’s “Moving Alabama Forward” bus tour, Byrne and members of his campaign spoke with employees and managers at the distribution company while asking for votes.

Byrne will appear in a runoff July 13 against fellow Republican Dr. Robert Bentley, a Columbiana native.

“I wanted to visit a business here in Alabaster to learn more about the industries we have in this area,” Byrne said. “Visiting places like this helps me to understand the nature of the economy in Shelby County and statewide.

“The Birmingham metro area is larger than the state’s other three metro areas combined,” Byrne added. “So as the economy of Birmingham goes, so goes the economy of the state.”

During the BTC tour, Byrne, a Baldwin County native, said he plans to work to help those affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill if he is elected governor.

“We on the coast are used to a hurricane hitting us and wiping everything out. But we always pick up and rebuild after that,” Byrne said. “But (the oil spill) is like a little piece of a hurricane hitting us every day.”

“Who would have thought before April that we would be facing this crisis now?” Byrne added.