Initiatives magazine, December 2006 by Huntsville/Madison County Chamber

initiatives Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/ M adison County

december 2006 in this issue

Downtown Huntsville, 1950

Big Dreams, Bigger Plan

Huntsville/Madison County, Alabama is located in the middle of the southeastern United States, with more than four million people within a 100-mile radius. The Huntsville community is the primary economic hub of the northern Alabama/southern Tennessee region. Huntsville/Madison County’s economy is one of the strongest in the South, with low unemployment, strong job growth and income levels leading the region. Business growth and investment from U.S. and international companies have made it one of the country’s top “hot spots” for growing a business and raising a family.

Huntsville’s First Guidance System Launched an Economy, Not Just Rockets

Page 22 Collage descriptions on pg. 38

f eatures Considering All Things

Blueprint for Success

Bricks-n-BRAC

Huntsville’s IT Legacy

Innovating Space Partnerships

PAC-3 Missile. 2004

d e v e l o p me n t s Annual Membership Meeting

Chamber Board Listing

Community profile

Holiday Open House

Your Chamber @ Work

Chamber Staff Listing

HREGI Investors

Huntsville Courthouse, 1910

ed i t o r i a l s t a f f

mission

contact

Publisher

Brian Hilson

Executive Editor

Holly McClain

Editorial Designer

Kristi Sherrard

Contributing Writers

Steve Cook Brian Hilson Holly McClain Danielle Sorrell Mike Ward

Photography

Holly McClain

The mission of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville /Madison County is to prepare, develop and promote our community for economic growth.

Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville /Madison County 225 Church Street Huntsville, AL 35801 256.535.2000

Special Thanks to Old Huntsville, Inc.

on the web HuntsvilleAlabamaUSA.com

Advertising Sales

Cassandra Darby The Huntsville Times

Initiatives December 2006

Chamber of Commerce

Board of Directors and Executive Committee 2006 Executive Committee Dave Hargrove, Brad Jones,

Chair

Chair-Elect

Jim Link, Immediate Past Chair Evans Quinlivan,

Secretary/Treasurer

Irma Tuder, Vice Chair Economic Development

Dear Chamber of Commerce Investors, Community Leaders and Friends: We’ve all heard the saying “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” That quote certainly applies to the business of economic development, where careful planning and committed leadership can pay handsome dividends in the form of quality economic growth. In our work at the Chamber of Commerce, we are often reminded of our community’s early economic development leaders – people with vision, and the desire and ability to make good things happen. Those leaders were, and are, numerous. I’m talking about people like Will Halsey. In the early 1990s, as I was beginning my tenure with the Chamber in Huntsville, Mr. Halsey invited me to his house for a review of local industrial development history. There on his dining room table, in perfect chronological order, I found an impressive collection of documents and articles detailing Huntsville’s development history dating back to the 1940s. Those years were not only impressive, they also helped establish a foundation for much of the development success we are experiencing today. Well, Mr. Halsey still attends our economic development announcements, and on each occasion I thank him for all that he and others have done to pave the way for our current and future success. One of the things I like best about our leadership is that they rarely slow down. A “what have you done for me lately?” attitude prevails here at the Chamber, and that’s good. Just recently at the COLSA groundbreaking Governor Riley asked me where we stood on yet another economic development project – Project Diamond – and the following week he was back in Huntsville to help announce that project, which we can now publicly refer to as Verizon Wireless. When we’re working on multiple projects at the same time, we know things are going well. While the economic development process certainly isn’t slowing down, it is important to take a moment from time to time to reflect on our past, and that’s exactly what the Chamber will do on December 14. At our Holiday Open House that afternoon the Chamber will erect the beautiful historical marker pictured on the front cover of this Initiatives, and we will explain our plans for the future of our Chamber facilities. This issue of Initiatives includes some incredible stories of Huntsville’s early days in the formal economic development process. We hope you will enjoy the reading and that you will value the sense of history. And just as we in the Chamber will do, we hope in this season of reflection and sharing you’ll take time to appreciate and enjoy all the special qualities and advantages to be found right here in Huntsville/Madison County.

Brian Hilson President & CEO Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County

December 2006 Initiatives

Joe Ritch,

Vice Chair Governmental Affairs

Charley Burruss, Vice Chair Image Development

Gerald Toland, Vice Chair Investor Relations Bill Watson,

Vice Chair

Research & Information Services

Dr. Dorothy Huston, Vice Chair Small Business Jim Bolte, Vice Chair Workforce Development Tommy Beason, Chamber Foundation Chair Chairman Mike Gillespie, Chair-Appointed Bill Gurley, Chair-Appointed Ron Klein,

Chair-Appointed

Mayor Loretta Spencer, Brian Hilson,

Chair-Appointed

President/CEO

Elected Board Joe Alexander, Camber Corporation Chuck Allen, The Boeing Company Pete Apple, Torch Technologies Scott Averbuch, Averbuch Realty Co., Inc. Clayton Bass, Huntsville Museum of Art Jim Bolte, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Inc.

Frank Caprio, Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne John Cooper, Avocent Corporation Dick Fountain, Fountain, Parker, Harbarger & Associates

Dr. Frank Franz, UAH Dr. Greg Gum, Radiology Associates Bill Gurley, SAIC Jeff Hamilton, The Orthopaedic Center Tharon Honeycutt, MSB Analytics, Inc. Dr. Eric Janssen, SportsMed Dr. Robert Jennings, Alabama A&M University Charlie Kettle, First Commercial Bank Frederick Lanier, J. Smith Lanier & Co. Dan Montgomery, Northrop Grumman Caroline Myers, Foreign Language Services, Inc. Jim Owens, AmSouth Bank Jerre Penney, Bill Penney Toyota Pete Schofield, SPARTA, Inc. Scott Seeley, Regions Bank David Spillers, Huntsville Hospital Karen Stanley, Stanley Construction Co., Inc. Sandra Steele, Enfinger Steele Development, Inc. Paula Steigerwald, Huntsville Botanical Garden Herman Stubbs, Colonial Bank Al Sullivan Gerald Toland, Redstone Federal Credit Union Irma Tuder, Analytical Services, Inc. Gail Wall, Beason & Nalley, Inc. Bill Watson, Wachovia (retired) John Wilmer, Wilmer & Lee, P.A. Tom Young, Qualitest Pharmaceuticals

c o m m u n i t y p ro f i l e

TOP 10 EMPLOYERS

Madison County

City of Huntsville

City of Madison

Huntsville Metro Area

U.S. Army/Redstone Arsenal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14,601

Population 2000 Census

276,700

158,216

29,329

342,376

Huntsville City Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3,000

2005 Estimate

298,192

166,313

35,893

368,661

The Boeing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3,000

Huntsville Hospital System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,126

NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,555 Households 2000 Census

CINRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,500 109,955

66,742

11,143

134,643

Avg. Household Income

$57,220

$55,856

$72,432

$55,343

Madison County Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,150

Per Capita Income

$23,091

$24,015

$27,821

$22,073

SAIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,653

Intergraph Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,450 City of Huntsville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,199

Income

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov)

Source: Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County

Aerospace & Defense Huntsville/Madison County is home to the U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center which combine to drive a thriving aerospace and defense technology industry. Over 16,000 direct DoD and 2,676 NASA employees manage some of the country’s most important and sophisticated technology programs including missiles, aviation and space exploration. More than 250 companies employing an additional 27,000 workers support the local aerospace and defense industries.

Research & Technology

For more information visit: HuntsvilleAlabamaUSA.com

December 2006 Initiatives

Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park has earned a reputation as a world center for technology development. The second-largest science and technology park in the U.S., Cummings Research Park is home to more than 225 companies and 25,000 people involved in technology research and development.

Considering All Things Chamber of Commerce, 1894 to present

The end of the year is often a time for reflection. With dozens of dazzling facets added to the area’s shining economy, the year 2006 offers cause for lengthy contemplation. So, in this time of reflection, it seems highly appropriate that the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County should celebrate its heritage by erecting an historical marker, sanctioned by the Alabama Department of Archives & History/Alabama Historical Association. Destined to reside beneath the trees landscaping the chamber’s front lawn, the historical marker (pictured on cover), which will be dedicated this month, states: THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF HUNTSVILLE/MADISON COUNTY Established January 12, 1894 Organized to enhance the economic growth and well-being of the community in order to provide employment opportunities and a superior quality of life for local residents. First known as the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, the organization included Madison County in 1954 to more effectively promote the general prosperity of Huntsville/Madison County. Between 1894 and 1916, the Chamber met at various locations. The Chamber’s first official address of record was the Elk Building on Eustis Street, from 1916-1923. Later locations included the O.M. Hundley House, the Tennessee Valley Bank, the Russell Erskine Hotel, and the Hotel Twickenham. In 1965, the Chamber moved to 305 Church Street. It remained there until 1986 when the organization built this facility at 225 Church Street. Reflection also includes thoughts about the future. While more accustomed to helping members coordinate ribbon cutting and groundbreaking ceremonies, Chamber staff will be busy in December preparing for an in-house project: celebrating the expansion of the current Chamber of Commerce facility. The auditorium will be enlarged by about

The Hotel Twickenham, 121 East Clinton Street, was home to the Chamber of Commerce from 1955-1961. ▲

2,000 square feet, increasing its capacity more than 50 percent. Renovation of the third floor will add approximately 3,800 square feet of office and meeting space. “The Chamber's facility has long been the site for business and political leaders across Huntsville/Madison County to gather and plan partnered efforts that have resulted in a great history of economic development,” said Brad Jones, chair-elect of the Chamber of Commerce board of directors and chairman of the Chamber’s building committee. “The opportunities before today's community leaders are numerous and substantial. They demand more people at the planning table and are more regional in impact. To recognize the potential of our growing community, the Chamber facilities must also grow as a key variable in our economic development

efforts. This expansion will double our meeting capacity and ensure that the aesthetic of the facility matches the expectations of our Chamber's customers,” he added. Other improvements to the building include an updated telephone system, as well as a new roof, carpeting for the current structure, and a heating, ventilation and cooling system.

Who We Are In 1898, Chamber of Commerce President R.E. Pettus declared, “Huntsville – a manufacturing centre, a great summer resort, a wholesale distributing point, and anything we will make it.” This proclamation is indicative of the cooperative spirit and determined attitude demonstrated by the many gifted leaders who came together continued on page 14 Initiatives December 2006

Considering All Things, continued from page 13 in this North Alabama location to make the city what it is today. Archived notes and research materials reveal that in November 1893, strong support was apparent for creating a commercial club in Huntsville. This evolved into the meeting of January 12, 1894, at which the Chamber of Commerce – an association comprised of persons interested in the general prosperity of Huntsville and Madison County – was formed. It was agreed that the first 100 men who agreed to pay $1 per month for the ensuing 12 months, and the first 100 men who would pay 25 cents per month (or such portion that could be secured) would be considered charter members. Fifty-two charter members were present at this first meeting. Among them were: W.T. Hutchens, D.D. Shelby, T.J. Taylor, J.R. Stevens, W.P. Newman, R.E. Pettus, Milton Humes, A. Campbell, James R. Boyd, J. Klaus, G.M. Harris, R.W. Walker, O.R. Hundley, Oscar Goldsmith, C.H. Halsey, J.R. Stegall, W.R. Rison, Wm. Richardson, R.E. Spragins, Jere Murphy, W.F. Struve, Jr., W.I. Wellman, and W.S. Wells. From cotton to the constellations, the Chamber of Commerce and its members have worked diligently to encourage and

maintain the growth experienced by the burgeoning city at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains – a mission that continues to this day. Huntsville boasts a melting pot of industries; international and domestic companies have chosen to operate in the city because of its limitless business opportunities. “This is a unique community that cares a lot about itself and its future,” said Brian Hilson, Chamber President and CEO. “I like to say that typical community leaders in other cities may want to know that their community is doing well – in ours, they want to participate in the process of ensuring that we do well. They are able to do that through the activities of the Chamber of Commerce.” An organization of business professionals and local leaders working to ensure a secure and sustainable economic future for the community, the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County pursues business growth, promotes the economic advantages of the area, supports America’s military and space programs, and understands the value of membership in the organization.

Targeted Industries The Chamber’s focus in business recruitment and expansion considers a mix of employers to provide quality job opportunities. With more than half of the area’s economy tied to federal defense and space spending, the chamber works to strengthen the scope of defense- and space-related opportunities and to complement and add diversity to the regional economic base. Space & Defense Electronics & Information Technology Automotive/Aerospace Manufacturing & Support Diversified Manufacturing Biotechnology Headquarters & Administrative Operations

Economic Development Assistance The Chamber of Commerce maintains a highly experienced and knowledgeable staff to market the community, coordinate with government representatives and assist with every aspect of an economic development project. Services: Available sites and buildings, workforce recruitment, infrastructure support, information and data services Incentive Programs: Property Tax Abatements, Sales and Use Tax, Abatements, Income Tax Capital Credit, Alabama Industrial Development Training Finance Programs: Industrial Development Grants, Industrial Revenue Bonds, TVA Grants and Loans

Other Chamber Programs & Services

The Northeast Alabama Regional Small Business Development Center (NEARSBDC) is a local nonDecember 2006 Initiatives

profit organization with the primary mission to help reduce the failure rate of small businesses in the region and to help businesses increase their ability to generate profit. The center provides assistance to area residents wishing to open and operate a small business and to small businesses already competing in the marketplace. The center provides training and counseling in topics such as marketing, management, accounting, and finance. Additionally, the center counsels, trains and makes referrals on the issues of capital access and technology transfer. The chamber’s Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative (HREGI) asks members to invest beyond standard membership. The program includes a strong focus on the recruitment of new targeted companies, the expansion of existing employers and workforce initiatives. HREGI marketing activities are largely directed to location consultants and others in positions to influence location decisions. Membership: Currently, more than 2,000 businesses and individuals in the area enjoy the benefits of membership in the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County. Through investment in the Chamber, members directly impact the expansion of the local economy. As the voice of the business community, the Chamber can accomplish collectively what no single business can do alone. Members also enjoy access to special programs and networking opportunities such as the Chamber’s Business After Hours, CEO Roundtables, and Business EXPO. Government Affairs: Huntsville and Madison County are home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal. The arsenal has 67 major federal tenants and approximately 130 organizations. The government affairs division of the chamber works to protect and strengthen federal programs and pursues development of infrastructure that encourages business growth. The division advocates favorable business laws at the local and state levels. Workforce: The Chamber’s new workforce division was created in October to bring renewed focus to recruitment, retention, education and training efforts that ensure a sufficient supply of capable workers with the right mix of skills to support the Huntsville/ Madison County economy. The Chamber will accomplish its workforce objectives through partnerships with member companies; local colleges, universities and schools systems; state and federal agencies; and community organizations like Junior Achievement. The Chamber also hosts the LAUNCH program for out-of-school youth, the Bridges

program for co-operative education students, and the EmYrge Council for young professional organizations. Communications: The communications division provides and facilitates both internal and external communications to benefit the chamber and its membership. Initiatives magazine, the ChamberLink e-newsletter, Images of Huntsville/Madison County magazine and membership directory, One Sky, Countless Stars pictorial book, and a variety of other materials are created or managed through this division, along with marketing, media and public relations activities. Research & Information Services: Economic development consultants, prospective commercial or retail developers and those interested in learning up-to-date statistics and data about Huntsville/Madison County can access materials provided by this office. The research and information services division tracks demographics, market indicators, employment statistics, available sites and buildings; maintains information on industrial and research parks; and compiles a variety of other pertinent business news to keep members informed.

HuntsvilleAlabamaUSA.com

Initiatives December 2006

A Blueprint for Economic Success

In 1960, just a few years after the formation of NASA, and at a time when the space program was generating significant economic growth in Huntsville, local leaders hired a nationally-recognized business location consulting firm in New York to develop a longterm economic growth strategy for the Huntsville community. At that time, the traditional responsibility for business recruitment and expansion was carried out by the Huntsville Industrial Expansion Committee (HIEC), an organization that was located at and worked closely with the Chamber of Commerce. Leaders of the HIEC recognized that despite Huntsville’s opportunity to take advantage of growth in the space industry, the time would come when a balanced mix of employers and industry sectors would serve the community well. The 1960 study conducted by Fantus Area Research, Inc., concluded that, with Huntsville’s existing and emerging assets and advantages, the community would be a logical location for a wide variety of employers. A highly focused business recruitment effort, it noted, should be utilized to address the situation. Shortly thereafter, Guy Nerren was hired to lead the economic development effort as executive director of the HIEC, and he later served as president of the Chamber of Commerce until 1989, following the merger of the Chamber and the HIEC in 1980. Huntsville’s success in attracting targeted industry employers beginning in the 1960s helped establish a foundation for the community’s modern-day economic development achievements. In the 1960s-70s era, business recruitment projects included Automatic Electric, GTE, Engelhard, Onan, Cheseborough Ponds, Dunlop, Boeing, Bruderer and Buckeye Cellulose. The 1980s saw notable companies such as Lucky Goldstar, Hitachi Seiki and the Jetplex Industrial Park expansion of Chrysler Acustar. Additionally, SCI and Intergraph

December 2006 Initiatives

emerged as major employers. While not all of these employers remain in Huntsville, all of them and numerous others which developed since 1960 contributed to the establishment of an industrial base. Huntsville found success in attracting foreign-based companies, further developing the city’s unique capacity for international relations. As the economic base grew and diversified, Huntsville leaders never lost sight of the original drivers of today’s local economy: the defense and space industries. Today, defense and aerospace are generating thousands of new jobs, technologies, products, companies and a broader and much more effective image for Huntsville/Madison County. Building upon these strengths, the Chamber’s economic development strategy has always included a responsibility to maintain and periodically update our blueprint for economic growth, utilizing the same process

which the HIEC found effective in 1960. As part of the Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative (HREGI), the Chamber has recently hired another nationally-recognized business location consulting firm to analyze local issues and to identify appropriate business targets for continued effective recruitment, expansion and diversification. While a major focus of this new study is on regional workforce attributes, it also assesses the other market strengths and challenges, to enable the Chamber to create and execute an effective work plan, much like the plan created over 50 years ago. In fact, the firm the Chamber has hired to conduct this important analysis, WadleyDonovan-Gutshaw Consulting, can trace its roots back to the leadership of Fantus Area Research almost 50 years ago. With the Chamber’s latest “blueprint” for economic growth under development, we

▲ Huntsville Industrial Expansion Committee in 1953. Standing L-R: Vance Thornton, unknown, unknown, Jimmy Walker. Sitting L-R: unknown, Billy Russell, Robert Searcy (mayor), P.S. Dunnavant, George M. Mahoney, Sr., and Will Halsey, Jr.

are reminded of the most compelling reason for a well-thought-out and well-executed economic development strategy. Recruitment and expansion aren’t just matters of numbers – more jobs, more capital investment, higher income. Ultimately, the reason we do this is to enable a more attractive quality of life for all citizens to enjoy. The most important and strategic role the Chamber of Commerce can play in improving our quality of life is through economic development, and that’s where statistics – the kinds that are used to differentiate one community from another – come into play. Huntsville/Madison County is creating thousands of good-paying jobs within the most attractive and feasible business sectors for our community each year. In order to maintain the kind of growth we have become accustomed to, a number of challenges, particularly in regard to our workforce, must be addressed. We are confident that our community will meet the challenges that come naturally with strong economic growth, much like local community leaders envisioned decades ago. • Brian Hilson

▲ L-R: W.R. Hudspeth, George M. Mahoney, W.M. Neal, F.H. Thomas, and W.A. Steadman at the Chamber annual meeting, February 4, 1946.

▲ General Shoe began operation in the old Lowe Mill (cotton) in 1946.

▲ Sixty years later, Lowe Mill is the home of Operon Biotechnologies. Operon has created the world’s most advanced factory for fully automated, solid-phase synthesis of oligonucleotide probes and primers.

Initiatives December 2006

Bricks-n-BRAC Military Moves Build Region’s Momentum

Some events require retrospect to eventually be defined as profound. Others are immediately recognizable as milestone moments. The impact to Huntsville and the surrounding area by the 2005 U.S. Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decisions is easily termed extraordinary, even without the microscope of time. “BRAC 2005 is the biggest thing to happen at Redstone Arsenal since its construction,” maintained Todd Hutto, chief of the plans, analysis and integration office, U.S. Army Garrison-Redstone. Not only is BRAC 2005 a milestone for Huntsville and Redstone Arsenal, it is also

December 2006 Initiatives

one of Alabama’s most significant economic development projects. “It is the largest, single economic development achievement our state has ever seen,” said Brian Hilson, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County. He noted that the impact of the recent BRAC is the equivalent of several automotive plants, combined. In addition to the announced 4,700+ civilian, military and contractor jobs, many business leaders agree the activity will drive five to seven thousand more managerial, engineering, logistics and support positions. Mike Gillespie, chairman of the Madison County Commission, emphasized the

regional cooperation among city and county governments, as well as support from Governor Riley, in establishing a favorable outcome in BRAC 2005. “It’s imperative that we maintain the same level of cooperation throughout North Alabama, southern Tennessee and in Montgomery as we go forward in the process of accommodating exponential growth,” he added. “Keeping pace with roads, infrastructure, school facilities and housing demands was the major impact from BRAC ’95,” reminded Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer. “Without question, BRAC 2005 will not only continue, continued on page 20

▲ The Sparkman Center is the headquarters for the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) and the Logistics Support Activity (LOGSA). In August 1994, six buildings were completed and the complex was dedicated. In April 1996, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the seventh building. Two additional buildings were funded by BRAC ‘95 to accommodate U.S. Army personnel relocating from St. Louis. At the original groundbreaking in 1992, MG Joe W. Rigby (then U.S. Army Missile Command [MICOM] Commander) aptly described the facility as “a commitment to the future of Redstone Arsenal.”

Initiatives December 2006

Bricks-n-BRAC, continued from page 18

but accelerate demands on this community’s ability to move its citizens from home to work, and our children to the classrooms.” “BRAC ’95 was strictly Army,” explained Hutto. “This round includes more people, more money and more diversity.” Increased diversity, in this case, refers to “jointness” or areas that cross service lines, which was part of the BRAC committee’s decision-making criteria. BRAC 2005 further positions Redstone Arsenal as a major center for military aviation and missiles and includes U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC), U.S. Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC), Missile Defense Agency (MDA is directly under the U.S. Department of Defense), U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command (SMDC), U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center (ATTC), Rotary Wing Air Platform Research, Development & Evaluation (RDAT&E) and U.S. Army 2nd Recruiting Brigade personnel. Regarding “more money,” Jim Link, president of Teledyne Brown Engineering and former deputy commanding general of AMC and commanding general at Redstone Arsenal, noted that following BRAC ‘95,

December 2006 Initiatives

Auburn University was contracted to assess the impact of the moves to the region. They estimated the economic value to the local area to be $297 million per year. Link expects the impact to the area, extending beyond Madison County, to approach $1 billion per year. Current spending through Redstone by DoD agencies, including AMC – the U.S. Army’s executive agent for everything a soldier needs to do his or her job – equals between $2 and $3 billion annually, according to Hutto. That number will increase with the command headquarters moving to Redstone. “Local entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to get their foot in the door. Clearly, we will attract small and large companies setting up field offices here, getting ready by understanding and leveraging these opportunities,” he added. “BRAC 2005 will bring dedicated federal workers and mission-purposed contractors to our community,” said Mayor Spencer. “As a result, Huntsville will become home to many new contractors and support personnel looking for new office space. That demand, coupled with our growing nonfederal workforce, will also bring a new challenge of providing the needed commercial and industrial facilities for continued growth in our local economy.” Gillespie also anticipates increased awareness of and exposure to Huntsville/ Madison County will enable the entire region to become more of a destination for tourism. “Already, many tourism-related organizations are looking at asset-based programs that will encourage further economic development in the leisure market.” Hutto commented that communities need to respond to challenges in order to, “set the baseline for future growth decisions for the region.” In the event of another military realignment, “We start Hutto all over,” he remarked. “If schools are not up to par, if airport growth doesn’t keep up, if congestion becomes problematic ... They all play into that big formula.” Growth will present challenges, but Huntsville, noted Spencer, has a history of delivering. She and her staff are working to make sure the city is prepared. “We welcome and embrace the challenge of these important BRAC decisions,” Spencer confirmed. •

Initiatives December 2006

Big Dreams, Bigger Plans Huntsville’s First Guidance System Launched an Economy

In 1949, Huntsville was Alabama’s thirteenth largest city, outranked by Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Anniston, Selma, Gadsden, Dothan, Florence, Decatur, Phenix City and Tuscaloosa. Madison County was the seventh largest Alabama county behind Jefferson, Mobile, Montgomery, Calhoun, Etowah and Tuscaloosa counties. The city’s population stood at 16,406 and the county’s at 73,032. Fast forward to 2006: Huntsville’s population outstrips all but three other Alabama cities and Madison County ranks behind only Jefferson and Mobile counties. Why has Huntsville prospered as other communities have seen their fortunes stall or worse? Certainly Huntsville has been dealt some very lucky and unlikely opportunities, including the fateful decisions to locate two U.S. Army arsenals in Madison County in 1941. But community leadership and vision have proven to be the wind in the sails propelling Huntsville’s growth. City fathers, bolstered at certain “crossroad” moments with key congressional and state support, beginning in the mid 1940s, made a series of seemingly inspired decisions that were to transcend the serendipity of simply having the arsenals in their backyard. The names of these leaders are known for

December 2006 Initiatives

namesake streets, buildings and awards; much lesser known are their works and leadership. Men like Patrick Richardson, Carl T. Jones, George Mahoney, Charles Shaver, Louis Salmon, Beirne Spragins, Robert K. “Buster” Bell, Tom Thrasher, Kenneth Noojin, Will Halsey, Reese Amis and Vance Thornton were key figures providing the leadership at critical moments. Among the lead partner organizations were the local Chamber of Commerce, the Huntsville Industrial Expansion Committee, Huntsville Industrial Sites, the City of Huntsville, Madison County and The Huntsville Times. The middle of the last century was a period of great change for a community that had experienced little change for the past hundred years. Like much of the South, the foundations of Huntsville’s economy were based largely on the meager living its people could scratch from the earth and earn at the local textile mills. Huntsville was among the leading cottonproducing and milling communities in the southern United States in the 19th century. Manufacturing was dominated by the textile mills that first located to the county in the early 1800s. Later, in the 1930s, Huntsville would boast of being the “Watercress

Capital of the World,” a tribute perhaps more to the marketing skills of the exotic industry than the economic impact that cress had on the region.

The Pivotal 1940s In 1940, Huntsville’s corporate city limits included just a few square miles. The unofficial hub of activity for leaders of the business community was the men’s clothing store Johnson & Mahoney, located on Clinton Street. Proprietor George Mahoney also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce in 1938 and 1939. There, among the fedoras, suits and wingtips, an important topic of conversation in the mid-1940s, even before World War II had ended and the arsenal’s employment figures had begun to shrink, was the inevitable military downsizing. The imperative was clear: Something must be done to prepare the community for the hard times ahead. The principal economic development organization at the time for Huntsville and Madison County was the Chamber of Commerce. However, the growing realization that the community needed a new organization focused on the relatively fresh enterprise of industrial recruitment spurred the creation of the Huntsville Industrial

Below: Northside Square, downtown Huntsville, 1940s. Right: V-2 Rocket on display

Expansion Committee (HIEC) in 1944. Consequently, the HIEC became the aggressive, industrial recruiting arm of the community’s economic development efforts while the Chamber handled traditional civic-building responsibilities. As the decade of the 1940s was drawing to an end, only three of the area’s nine cotton mills were still operating. The Huntsville Arsenal, one of the two arsenals established in Madison County in the days leading up to WWII, had been closed and declared surplus by the federal government. Huntsville had 3,500 homes and nine small industries. Besides the excess arsenal property and buildings, and readily available workforce, the community had little resources. Efforts in the mid- to later-1940s to attract private industry to the vacant arsenal facilities were largely unsuccessful, despite active marketing by the business community. In August 1947, a building formerly used to manufacture gas masks was leased to Keller Motors Corporation (originally the Dixie Motor Car Corporation). The plant was to be used for manufacturing, assembling, testing and selling automobiles and related products. Unfortunately, Keller Motors folded after its namesake, George Keller, died suddenly of a heart attack on the eve of the com-

pany’s successful stock sale in 1949. In 1947, the HIEC scored some early economic development successes, locating the General Shoe Company and John Blue Manufacturing to Huntsville. That same year, Huntsville Arsenal was declared excess and the process for disposing of the property was begun. Redstone Arsenal, on the other hand, found a glimmer of new life in 1948 when the chief of ordnance designated it as the U.S. Army’s future center of research and development activities for rockets and related weaponry. The arsenal was officially reactivated as the site of the Ordnance Rocket Center on June 1, 1949. A few months earlier, both Thiokol and Rohm and Haas signed contracts for research and development on rockets, rocket propellants and jet propulsion at Redstone Arsenal. By July 1, 1949, the Army directed that the post be advertised for sale. Bid opening was set for September 30, 1949, but the sale never took place. The Army found it needed this land for the new mission developing at Redstone Arsenal. Colonel Holger N. “Lutie” Toftoy, the head of the Army’s guided missile efforts had gotten word in August of 1949 that his request for expanded facilities at Fort Bliss,

Texas, had been denied. (Toftoy was the Army visionary who had brought the German V2 team to the U.S. in a secret effort codenamed “project Paper Clip” at the end of WWII.) As war clouds began gathering over Korea in 1949, Army planners projected that they would need more of the Texas base. “The Army also saw an urgent need for a ballistic rocket missile [due to the Korean situation], and asked the former German rocket team “Peenemuenders” to develop a missile similar to the V-2 as quickly as possible,” rocket team member Ernst Stuhlinger later recalled. Two weeks later, Toftoy was in North Alabama to check out the mothballed Huntsville Arsenal. Impressed with what he saw, Col. Toftoy had several members of the rocket team visit the Tennessee Valley site. Attracted by the relatively new facilities and rolling mountains surrounding the arsenal, Dr. Wernher von Braun, leader of the German rocket team, quickly embraced Huntsville. The Texas deserts were in stark contrast to the lush Alabama landscape that von Braun considered to be similar to Germany’s topography. Encouraged by the favorable reports, Col. Toftoy personally petitioned the Army’s vice continued on page 24

Initiatives December 2006

Big Dreams, Bigger Plans, continued from page 23

chief of staff, General Matthew Ridgeway, to relocate the team. Spreading out a large map of the Arsenal on the floor of Ridgeway’s office, Toftoy discovered that his pointer wasn’t long enough and so he proceeded to crawl around on the floor to point out the many splendid attributes that this site offered. As he concluded his plea for the Redstone site, Toftoy found himself at Gen. Rideway’s feet and looking up said, “Gen. Ridgeway, I’m on my hands and knees here, literally and figuratively, begging you for this place.” On October 28, 1949, the secretary of the Army approved the transfer of the Fort Bliss rocket team to Redstone Arsenal.

The Rocket Era Begins With the arrival of the Fort Bliss group on April 15, 1950, Redstone Arsenal officially entered the missile era. Articles by von Braun and other space leaders in Collier’s magazine in 1952 and 1953 brought highprofile attention to both the rocket team and Huntsville. Previous city marketing materials had dubbed Huntsville as the “heart of the Tennessee Valley.” But with the May 13,

December 2006 Initiatives

1953 release of Chamber of Commercesponsored pamphlets, “The Rocket City” became Huntsville’s new unofficial nickname. Soon the word “rocket” was plastered everywhere. In 1955, the HIEC celebrated its first decade with Carl T. Jones serving as its president. By then, the organization had been successful in locating more industry to the region including the P.R. Mallory Company and Norton Company. As is often the case, road and highway development would give rise to economic development opportunities. Growth would be directed away from the traditional downtown region to the west and south of the city beginning in 1955, along the new Memorial Parkway (named in memory of all fallen U.S. veterans). In 1956, when plans for Highway 20 to the west of Huntsville were approved, the proposed right-of-way cut across the northwest corner of the arsenal. A group of representatives from the HIEC persuaded the Army to declare the property north of the proposed highway to be surplus to the needs of the arsenal. Realizing the importance of having land available for industrial purposes, a group of 30 community leaders formed a corporation to bid for the property when it was put up for auction. The original investors included Carl T. Jones, M.B. Spragins*, C.S. Boswell, Robert K. Bell*, Charles Crute Thomas*, S. Gibson, George Mahoney*, William H. Stevens, Vance J. Thornton*, W.L. “Will” Halsey, Jr.*, Patrick Richardson, and Kenneth Noojin (*also served as president/chairman of the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce). About $70,000 was raised at $500 per share of stock (most of it with borrowed money) and a successful bid of $52,576.01 was made for the 248-acre tract. The group, called Huntsville Industrial Sites (HIS) would later become Research Sites Foundation (RSF) before further evolving into the University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation. The first sale of land by Huntsville Industrial Sites was to Ideal Baking Company (Sunbeam Bread), a tract of 2.37 acres for a total price of $7,500 or about $3,100 an acre. Considering the original purchase price of $212 an acre, this was nicely profitable. Using a portion of those proceeds, HIS purchased a 116-acre tract on the Memorial Parkway South. With these transactions, HIS established the modus operandi for economic development efforts for years to come: Buy land at a good price,

Above: Memorial Parkway Right: Army Advisory Committee et al, 1954 use it to attract industry and book at least a modest profit so that more land could be acquired and market prices controlled for future development. In 1955, the city’s population stood at 50,000, it had three national banks with deposits of $32 million and 40 industries employing 7,000. The arsenal’s employment was 7,500 with a payroll of $2 million/ month. Farm income for Huntsville/ Madison County stood at $30 million. Transportation systems included two airlines, two railroads, three bus lines, and ten truck lines. The community was also served by three radio stations. By the end of the decade, the city’s population soared to over 70,000, an incredible

increase of over 340 percent in a 10-year period. In 1957, when the huge Lincoln Mills textile manufacturing plant closed, Carl Jones and several HIEC members formed Huntsville Industrial Associates, Inc. and purchased the property in hopes of attracting other industry to the area. Regarded by some as a risky investment, the old mill complex was soon transformed into the Huntsville Industrial Center (HIC). At its peak, the HIC would house 6,000 aerospace employees with a payroll in excess of $30 million. In the 1950s, another important offspring in Huntsville’s economic development success was born. Following years of effort,

local attorney Patrick Richardson succeeded in locating an extension office of the University of Alabama to Huntsville. University classes were taught evenings in the old Butler High School, which is today Stone Middle School. By decade’s end, the extension center had outgrown its accommodations. In 1958, the Huntsville City Council purchased an 82-acre tract west of the city and north of the arsenal situated between University Drive and Holmes Avenue. Reese Amis and a group of other community leaders approached the city council about using the property for the fast-growing University Center. City Council President Vance continued on page 26

Initiatives December 2006

Big Dreams, Bigger Plans, continued from page 25

Thornton was persuaded to offer the city’s property for the University Center. “I think that by that time Mr. Amis was envisioning a full-blown university here, and I had begun to have dreams along that line,” Richardson stated in a 2001 interview. The University Center was teaching several graduate courses in engineering, mathematics and physics. Undergraduate classes included art, English, history, biology, chemistry, physics, economics, political science, Russian, German, French, accounting, marketing, management, business law, engineering, psychology and sociology. Up to three years towards a baccalaureate degree could be completed in Huntsville; the remaining year required residence at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The demographics of the student body were unusual. Initially, the average age of the students was 30; 95 percent of them were men and most were veterans. In August of 1958, cotton broker – turned – aerospace industrialist Milton K. Cummings and banker Beirne Spragins Sr. made a request of the Madison Board of County Commissioners to put up one-third of $750,000 to build a facility for the univer-

December 2006 Initiatives

sity. A committee, composed of car dealer Louis Lee Sr., Patrick Richardson and James Record, had been studying the possible locations and finance options for the facility. A new university home was soon underway.

Get Set, GO! Russia’s launch of Sputnik on October 4, 1957 thrust Huntsville to the forefront of the U.S. side of the space race. Perhaps it was serendipity that the new secretary of defense-designate Neal McElroy was enjoying cocktails that evening at the Redstone Arsenal Officers Club. Dr. von Braun seized the opportunity to pitch his modified Redstone rocket, the Jupiter C, as the launch vehicle to answer the Soviet volley. Speaking to Secretary McElroy, von Braun said, “Sir, when you get back to Washington you’ll find that all hell has broken loose. I wish you would keep one thought in mind through all the noise and confusion: we can fire a satellite into orbit 60 days from the moment you give us the green light.” Army Secretary Wilber Brucker, also at the club that evening, expressed concern over the extremely short timeline; Redstone

Commander Medaris moderated the commitment to 90 days from the date they received the “green light.” After initially winning the bid to put the first U.S. payload into Earth orbit, the Navy soon failed with their Vanguard missile, and von Braun and company were at the ready. On January 31, 1958 at 10:48 PM, the Redstone team launched the Jupiter-C rocket RS-29 with the Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, circling the globe. A special “Satellite EXTRA” edition of The Huntsville Times, dated February 1, 1958, detailed the city celebrations that accompanied the good news. Banner headlines declared “Jupiter-C Puts Up Moon - Wail of Sirens Brings in Era on Space Here.” The text noted, “The wail of sirens, blasting horns and the fiery trails of store-bought rockets ushered in the country’s first step toward the conquest of space at Huntsville last night.”

The Sky is Not the Limit On July 1, 1960, more than 4,000 U.S. Army personnel, including Dr. Wernher von Braun and his old German V2 team, along with about 1,900 acres of Redstone Arsenal,

were transferred to the nation’s new civilian space agency, NASA. Two months later, on September 8, 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower personally dedicated the fledgling field center, named in honor of his old friend and comrade-in-arms, the late General George C. Marshall. Early in 1960, the HIEC contracted with Fantus Area Research, Inc. to do a management study of Huntsville and Madison County. The objective: to assess its prospects for industrial expansion and to outline a program of action. One of the first recommendations of the study was to establish a full-time office staffed with experienced personnel. Guy B. Nerren was hired as the first, fulltime executive director of the HIEC in 1960 and was the first “professional” economic development expert to work in the community. The first project that Nerren recalled working on was Parker Aircraft Company, which leased space in the HIC. In 1961, Brown Engineering became the first company to announce plans to leave the old HIC complex for “greener pastures” near continued on page 39

Initiatives December 2006

Huntsville’s IT Legacy Continues 2006 AITA Leadership in Technology Awards

“Huntsville/Madison County is a community that welcomes and supports small businesses and entrepreneurs. Huntsville’s business opportunities, cost of living, quality of life and educated workforce are a combination that promotes success,” proclaimed Matthew Schmitz, business development representative for Analytical Services, Inc. (ASI). ASI was one of four companies/individuals receiving awards in October at the Alabama Information Technology Association’s (AITA) Leadership in Technology Awards banquet in Birmingham. The winners reflect the favorable business climate in Huntsville/Madison County.

Kate Gray, executive director of AITA, commented, “The richness of our technology corridor is evident in the talent honored at AITA’s 3rd annual Leadership in Technology Awards banquet, with nominees, finalists and winners represented from all of our major cities.” Notably, three of the four awards went to individuals or companies located in Huntsville/Madison County. “There was a good showing from Huntsville,” said Gray. In addition to ASI’s win for large technology company of the year (the delineation between large and small for AITA was annual sales of $15 million.), Digium founder Mark Spencer won entre-

preneur of the year, and Preetha Pulusani, CEO and president of AdeptMedia, won top executive in IT. Pulusani built her career at Intergraph and recently retired Pulusani from her position as president of Intergraph’s security, government, and infrastructure division. She believes Huntsville companies’ performance at the AITA awards banquet is “a testament to the high-technology environment in continued on page 30

▲ ADTRAN, Inc., with headquarters in Cummings Research Park, supplies innovative network access products that enable today’s widespread digital telecommunications applications, including Internet access, telecommuting, corporate connectivity, distance learning, videoconferencing, and teleradiology. 28

December 2006 Initiatives

Huntsville’s IT Legacy Continues, continued from page 28

Madison County.” She added, “This recognition highlights the leadership and human resource talent pool in this community, which I have come to appreciate considerably over the years.” Pulusani expressed her gratitude for the award. “I feel honored just to be in the same circle as some of the past and present technology giants from Madison County and Alabama. An accident of circumstances brought me to this place many years ago, and I feel extremely fortunate.” Irma Tuder, founder and CEO of ASI, has grown her woman/ Tuder minority-owned business into an industry leader. ASI has grown to over 350 employees and received ISO 9001:2000 recertification. The company built a 25,000 square foot corporate headquarters in Cummings Research Park, and recently acquired Stone Engineering. For five consecutive years, Hispanic Business magazine has

December 2006 Initiatives

ranked ASI as one of the top 500 Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States and one of the top 100 fastest growing. Additionally, for the past two years, Government Computer News magazine recognized ASI as an “Industry Award Winning Company.” Last year, sales performance in ASI’s IT business area increased more than 60 percent. Tuder maintained that the award was a great honor to the company, but especially for her dedicated employees who have “delivered innovative processes, programs, tools and solutions that continually exceed customer expectations in the federal IT marketplace.” Named entrepreneur of the year, Mark Spencer has already become a national success. In 1999, Spencer created and released Spencer Asterisk, an opensource, Internet-based private branch exchange, or PBX. The software establishes

phone calls over the Internet and handles voice mail, caller ID, teleconferencing and other applications. Spencer and his company, Digium, were featured earlier this year in Forbes magazine. In July, Spencer was ranked No. 17 on Inc. magazine’s 30 Under 30: America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs list. Asterisk has about a million users worldwide, and Digium’s Web site records about 1,000 downloads of the software each day. As winner of last year’s lifetime achievement in technology award, Olin King, founder of Huntsville’s SCI, presented the 2005 award. The lifetime recognition was established by AITA in 2004. ADTRAN founder and former CEO Mark Smith won the first award. Smith presented the award to King last year and called the rocket scientist “a true pioneer” and credited him with changing the course of high-tech manufacturing. Smith and King set the bar high for this year’s Huntsville winners, but the three success stories already show the potential to build on the IT legacy of technology giants Smith and King. • Danielle Sorrell

Employee of the Quarter:

Tina Leopold Program Assistant, Governmental Affairs “Tina is a great asset to the Chamber of Commerce,” noted Mike Ward, vice president of governmental affairs. “In her role as program assistant for the governmental affairs division, she is responsible for organizing some of the Chamber’s most widely-attended gatherings and important events. She has made several significant improvements to those activities.” Members calling for information about the Chamber’s congressional update programs, Washington D.C. trip and other governmental affairs events are quick to sense Leopold’s aim to please. “She is a delight and always lightens the mood with her great sense of humor,” added Ward. “I enjoy the variety of duties in my position, especially meeting and talking to diverse audiences,” said Leopold. Through her ongoing contact with local, state and federal officials, including representatives from Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space Flight Center, she is able to support Ward and the Chamber’s economic development mission. A native of Ohio, Leopold has lived in Huntsville for 12 years. She is a voracious reader and avid history buff.

Initiatives December 2006

Continuing the tradition of

Space Exploration and Business Growth

Innovating Space Partnerships at NASA’s Ares Industry Day

The value proposition for space was abundantly evident at NASA’s Ares Industry Day, held at Huntsville’s Von Braun Center in September. Some 500 representatives from more than 200 businesses convened to learn about plans for the next generation of space transportation which is being designed and developed right here in Rocket City U.S.A. The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/ Madison County sponsored this significant event, which connected individuals and companies which might otherwise never have had the chance to interact on such a level playing field. Leadership and support were provided by the Marshall Space Flight Center’s Small Business Office, which recognizes the value of such opportunities as a catalyst for economic growth, while helping fill competency gaps in large organization capabilities, to the benefit of all parties, including the American taxpayers.

New Systems for America’s Missions NASA’s Exploration Launch Projects Office, which manages the Ares launch vehicle development out of the Marshall Center, is in its first year of a multi-decade, multi-billion-dollar initiative to deliver safe, reliable, and affordable solutions for America’s access to space. Fulfilling the strategic goals and objectives in the U.S. Vision for Space Exploration, which includes retiring the venerable space shuttle no later than 2010, a nationwide team of rocket scientists is working in tandem with the aerospace industry to develop the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V heavylift cargo vehicle. The Ares I, which is on the virtual drawing board, will launch astronauts to orbit in the Orion crew capsule by 2014, and the Ares V will loft the lunar lander and other exploration equipment to orbit for return trips to the moon beginning in the 2020 32

December 2006 Initiatives

▲

NASA concept showing the Orion crew capsule docked with the lunar lander.

timeframe. On the moon, we will conduct scientific research to uncover the secrets of Earth’s largest satellite, while perfecting the surface exploration systems that we will need to place the first human footprint on Mars. Ultimately, exploring space is about answering age-old questions, while satisfying our inherent curiosity about the unknown. As the lead systems integrator, the Exploration Launch Projects Office works with most NASA centers, bringing together the diverse talent and skills needed to meet technical requirements, as well as schedule and budget considerations. With its safetyfirst and fiscal accountability philosophy, the agency depends on American ingenuity to conquer the risks that present themselves

during such challenging endeavors. Although the Exploration Launch Projects Office is purposefully streamlined, and although the Ares launch vehicles will be less complex and costly to operate than current systems, Ares will be supported by thousands of U.S. workers, many of whom are located in the Huntsville area. For example, some are making informed design and management decisions based on systems engineering analysis gained from research and testing, while others are providing design and manufacturing tools, and still others will prepare and process the vehicles and payloads for exploration missions. These are just a few ways that companies, small and large, are contributing.

Development of the Ares I (bottom) and Ares V (top) launch vehicles is a nationwide effort being managed from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Investing in the American Way About 70 percent of American businesses are considered “small.” Ares Industry Day gave those entrepreneurs a chance to discuss potential partnering agreements with large prime and support contractors. It also gave business leaders a forum for discussing their needs in relation to the magnitude of work now under way and on the horizon. This formula was very successful when NASA conducted the Michoud open house in New Orleans earlier this year, focusing on specialized manufacturing and logistics for the enormous structures that will comprise the new launch vehicles. At least 12 states were represented at the Ares Industry Day event. Participants included reusable solid rocket booster contractor ATK Launch Systems from Brigham City, Utah, and rocket engine contractor Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne from Canoga Park, Calif. Huntsville corporations included Jacobs Engineering and Teledyne Brown Engineering. NASA’s Constellation program manager Jeff Hanley, from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and Marshall Center leaders shared their views on the relevance of space exploration and talked about NASA’s commitment to working with smaller companies. The Exploration Launch Projects Office hardware element managers gave briefings on specific work in progress and looked ahead to forthcoming opportunities. Marshall’s procurement office rounded out this informative program with an update on acquisition activities.

Space Means Business According to a recent study conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration, the impact of the U.S. commercial space transportation industry in 2004 amounted to nearly $100 billion in economic activity, more than $25 billion in earnings, and over 550,000 jobs. These data included revenue-producing missions, including the record strong growth in the satellite services sector due to the increased demand for direct television services. The potential of the emerging space economy is tremendous, from orbital space delivery services to the International Space Station, to mining and solar energy collection on the moon and asteroids, to tourism. These ideas may seem far out, but many influential investors are busy building a private space industry founded on sound marketing research, which says Americans want to participate in a future where freedom means not only the option to travel across the globe, but around the planet and, someday, to other worlds. While commercial companies are revving up to enter the complex space arena, the government is fulfilling its commitment to the American people to assure access to space for national security and economic expansion as resources are tapped in exotic territories. Innovation is required to design, develop, and operate these space transportation systems, which must meet stringent requirements and survive the harshest environments to fulfill their missions. To the credit of American businesses, the domestic aerospace community is once again engaged in engineering continued on page 35

Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County

Staff 2006 Brian Hilson, president & CEO Holly McClain, communications director Laura Kendrick, executive assistant

Economic Development Ethan Hadley, VP, economic development Steve Finnell, director, industrial development Rick Davis, director, Cummings Research Park Amy Locke, industrial development assistant Danielle Sorrell, economic development specialist

Governmental Affairs Mike Ward, VP, governmental affairs Tina Leopold, program assistant

Workforce Lucia Cape, VP, workforce Debra Dunbar, director, Launch Program Davion Walker, workforce development coordinator

Investor Relations Loren Traylor, VP, investor relations Jenni Jeffers, director, small business/membership services

Donna McCrary, investor relations coordinator

Lillie Ben, events coordinator Terrie Ledbetter, membership sales representative

Research & Information Services Ken Smith, director, research & information services

Kristi Sherrard, publications/graphic design specialist

Hiroko Sedensky, research assistant Judith Short, information services assistant Cheryl Crowe, resource desk coordinator

Finance & Administration Ken Williams, director, finance & administration

Desman Holt, network administrator Lindsay Southard, financial assistant Ginny Buie, financial assistant Joe Watson, facilities supervisor

Associated Organizations & Staff Leadership Huntsville/Madison County Sarah Savage, executive director Allison Gregg, program/PR manager Mary Stewart, program coordinator Allison Bowman, administrative coordinator

Northeast Alabama Regional Small Business Development Center Dr. Larry Crowson, director, SBDC Cassandra Zeigler, assistant director Hanson Howard, business counselor Patsy Nayman, executive secretary Mary Jane Fleming, secretary

Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County 225 Church Street, Huntsville, Alabama 35801 / p 256-535-2000 www.HuntsvilleAlabamaUSA.com 34

December 2006 Initiatives

NASA concept of the Ares I-1 test flight, planned for spring 2009.

Innovative Space Partnerships, continued from page 33 The Apollo-era Saturn 1B

this future, much as in the days of the Apollo Program’s Saturn V. It also reminds us of the lessons learned from the shuttle, which, like Saturn, contributes its legacy to the new systems now on the path from design to development and full-scale operations.

The Benefits of Discovery While making progress on a number of exploration fronts, both technical and managerial, NASA is moving toward the first integrated vehicle test flight in spring 2009 – a mission known as Ares I-1. With that launch date fast approaching, the desire to excel is driving those for whom the value proposition of space is unquestionable. Apart from the obvious economic indicators, the work we do on the Ares launch vehicles today has long-term benefits that are inestimable. There are numerous Earth-based spin-off technologies, such as computer, electronic, and medical advances, which have resulted from the ingenuity it takes to travel in space. And it is important to remember that all the money invested in the multi-billion-dollar space industry is spent right here on Earth, not to mention direct benefits such as weather forecasting, satellite communications and navigation conveniences. But, the real unsung value of space exploration is that it inspires America’s youth to follow their intellectual curiosity, which can be satisfied only through the pursuit of science, engineering, and math – the very disciplines that make nations great, as they quest for knowledge and expand boundaries. When we look back on NASA’s Ares Industry Day, we will mark its success by more than contacts and contracts. Although those assets are immediately important, we will remember it as a time that Huntsville took another step on the journey to creating a limitless future that is now opening for everyone. • Stephen A. Cook director, Exploration Launch Projects Office, NASA/MSFC

Initiatives December 2006

Thanks to our HREGI investors Chairman’s Council

($50,000+ invested annually: Private Sector)

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Inc. and Regions Bank

Development Partners

($50,000+ invested annually: Public Sector)

City of Huntsville

President’s Circle

Huntsville Hospital

($25,000 - $49,999 invested annually)

Huntsville Utilities

ADTRAN AmSouth Bank BellSouth Colonial Bank Compass Bank Crestwood Medical Center Redstone Federal Credit Union The Boeing Company The Huntsville Times Tennessee Valley Authority Wachovia

Huntsville/Madison County Airport Authority Madison County Commission

Let Us Host and Serve Your Catered Special Events Business Meetings • Holiday Parties • Banquets • Balls

Chamber Trustees

Other Services Include: Bartending • Table Decorating • Valet Parking • Coat Checking

256.464.9860 madmaid@bellsouth.net • PO Box 1641, Madison, AL 35758

00378674

Licensed & Bonded for your Security

($10,000 - $24,999 invested annually)

Applied Research Associates, Inc. Avocent Corporation Beason & Nalley, Inc. Bill Penney Toyota Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama Booz Allen Hamilton Camber Corporation CINRAM, Inc. COLSA Corporation Express Jet Huntsville Area Association of Realtors Huntsville/Madison Co. Builders Association, Inc. Intergraph Corporation Lamar Outdoor Advertising Northrop Grumman Panalpina, Inc. SAIC Siemens VDO Automotive SPARTA, Inc. SportsMed Orthopaedic Surgery & Spine Center Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc.

Progress Partners ($5,000 - $9,999 invested annually)

AEgis Technologies Analytical Services, Inc. Applied Data Trends, Inc. BAE Systems Balch & Bingham, LLP BASF Catalysts LLC Coldwell Banker/McLain Real Estate Colonial Properties Consolidated Construction Dynetics 36

December 2006 Initiatives

Enfinger Steele Development, Inc. ERC, Incorporated First American Bank First Commercial Bank FPMI Solutions, Inc. General Dynamics HiWAAY Internet Services International Diesel Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation J. Smith Lanier & Co. Jerry Damson Honda Acura Keystone Foods Corporation Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne LG Electronics Alabama, Inc. Main Street Strategies NAI Chase Commercial Realty Parker Hannifin Corporation Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. Radiology of Huntsville, P.C. Samples Properties Sirote & Permutt, P.C. SOUTHBank Stanley Associates System Studies and Simulation (S3) The Executive Group Realtors The Orthopaedic Center The Surgery Center of Huntsville Turner Universal Construction WAFF-TV Wilmer & Lee, P.A. Yellowbook Anonymous

Take Stock

(<$2,500 invested annually)

Ala. Psychological Services Center; Allied Photocopy, Inc.; Appliance Direct; Arnold Hornbuckle; Armstrong Relocation; Available Plastics; Bama Jammer Promotions; Bevilacqua Research Corp.; Bill Johnston, Jr.; Blue Creek Investment Partners; Charles G. Robinson, attorney; Crabtree Rowe & Berger, P.C.; Crestani Family Medicine; Davidson Technologies; Dick, Riggs, Miller & Stem, LLP; Foreign Language Services, Inc.; G.W. Jones & Sons; General & Automotive Machine Shop, Inc.; Huntsville Marriott; Infinity Technology; Inergi Design Services; Kelly Services; Mercer and Assoc., P.C.; O & S Enterprises, Inc.; OMI, Inc.; Padgett Business Services; Park Supply Co.; Pearce Construction; Phoenix; QuantiTech, Inc.; Renasant Bank; Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Hampton Cove; Russ Russell Commercial Real Estate; S & S Photography; Sellers Photo; Snelling Personnel Services; Southwest Research Institute; SRS Technologies; Stanley Construction; State Farm’s Marshall England; Suzuki of Huntsville Driving 2000; System Technology Assoc.; Taos Industries; Technology Management Training; Tetra Tech, Inc.; The Real Yellow Pages® from BellSouth; Vulcan Heating and Air Conditioning; Wellness is Health; West Huntsville Land Co.; Westwind Technologies Corp.; White, Fleming & Co., P.C.; Winters & Assoc.

Progress Investors ($2,500 - $4,999 invested annually)

3D Research Corporation Averbuch Realty / Averbuch Enterprises Baron Weather Solutions Belzon Bentley Pontiac / GMC / Cadillac / Saab Bradley Arant Rose & White Century Automotive Chapman Sisson Architects Cintas Corporation Currie Systems DESE Research, Inc. Federal Management Systems, Inc. (FMS) Fountain Parker Harbarger & Associates Fuqua & Partners Gray Research, Inc. Huntsville Tractor & Equipment, Inc. Jacobs Sverdrup JH Partners Architecture & Interiors Johnston, Moore, Maples & Thompson Kudzu Productions Lamb Commercial Services, Inc. Madison Research Corporation Madison Square Chrysler/Jeep Mercedes Benz of Huntsville Radiance Technologies, Inc. Science & Engineering Services, Inc. (SESI) The Heritage Club Torch Technologies Wesfam Restaurants, Inc. – Burger King Westar Corporation WHNT-19 Wilson Lumber Woodland Homes of Huntsville Woody Anderson Ford

Initiatives December 2006

On the Cover:

1. Big Spring circa 1940s 2. Yarbrough Hotel 3. Huntsville High School 4. Goddard House 5. Bell Factory 6. East Side Square, 1940s 7. Dallas Mills 8. Fire department, 1900s 9. Inside the HIC building 10. Huntsville Courthouse, 1940s 11. Cotton boat 12. Dr. Burritt in his home 13. Dr. Wernher von Braun 14. Historical marker for the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County

December 2006 Initiatives

Big Dreams, Bigger Plans, continued from page 27

the under-construction University Center building. In part, that move had been inspired by the development of a research institute by the Marshall Space Flight Center which was desperate for more space. In 1961, von Braun made an impassioned plea to the Alabama Legislature for funding for the relatively new institute. The legislature had agreed, but a public referendum was required to authorize the bond issue. A fullfledged community effort to pass the referendum resulted in a favorable 3-1 vote. Brown had been a struggling tool-and-die and engineering operation when cotton magnate Milton Cummings and five local businessmen bought the company with $50,000 in the mid-1950s. Brown Engineering, originally Marietta Tool & Die, relocated from Georgia in July 1953. In the years following Cumming’s involvement in the company, his excellent political connections and business acumen quickly helped turn the company around. Brown’s local payroll doubled every year for the next four years - from $55,000 in 1955 to $4,529,000 in 1959.

Brown initially operated in a building on the southwestern corner of Governors Drive and Memorial Parkway. It soon moved to the HIC plant, joining a number of other aerospace employers. But in 1960, Brown executive Joe Moquin and co-owner Milton Cummings decided to move operations to the area near the new university facilities. Moquin said Charles Cummings, a member of the city council and the nephew to Milton Cummings, and Dean Matthews, the head of Huntsville city planning. were key to efforts in establishing the larger research park. Moquin talked to them about the relatively large area that could be properly zoned. “On one side of the highway [then Rideout Road, now Research Park Blvd.] it had limited access; there was about 1,000 acres. On the other side, there was about another 2,000 acres to the city limits. According to Moquin, one of the first things Matthews did was visit Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. “When he came back, he recommended going from a thousand to 3,000 acres. It was amazing just how quickly the city council responded by zoning that entire area as a research park.”

Giving further credit, Moquin observed that Charlie Younger in the city attorney’s office did the massive amount of work toward zoning, which was completed in 1962. Von Braun called the board members of the HIS and the HIEC out to meet with him. The first sale of research park property was thought to be too high to attract prospects, so HIS acquired land within the research park zoning area. Von Braun said he knew HIS [and Brown] was not trying to make unreasonable profits from land sales. Nevertheless, they were a profit-oriented business corporation and, in his position as director of Marshall Center, could not allow his name to be associated with the park and any such for-profit enterprise. Pat Richardson recalled that von Braun “talked to the leadership of the HIEC explaining that he couldn’t very well twist the arms of his contractors to come to Huntsville just to put money in the pockets of land speculators.” Guy Nerren recalled that, “they let me tag along” to the meeting. “Von Braun said ‘Gentlemen, I want to do everything I can to continued on page 40

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Big Dreams, Bigger Plans, continued from page 39

promote Huntsville, and to get industry here. But – holding up a Birmingham newspaper – I can't remember exactly what it said, but the politicians there had been caught in some sort of land deal where they were making money [improperly] he said, ‘I can't have this happen to me. You have to create an entity here that will be nonprofit if you want my participation in recruiting industry here.’” Asked what to do, von Braun advised them to form a foundation. As von Braun suggested, RSF was organized as a 501(c)6 not-for-profit land-holding arm of the HIEC, on October 24, 1962. As a 501(c)6 – so-named for the section of the Internal Revenue Code that defined such entities – the corporation was non-profit and didn’t pay income tax. However, contributions to it were not tax-deductible. The initial board of directors for RSF consisted of: Robert K. Bell; Daniel C. Boone; W.L. Halsey; Carl T. Jones; O. Howard Moore; F.K. Noojin; Harry M. Rhett, Jr.; Patrick W. Richardson; Charles E. Shaver; M.B Spragins; Vance J. Thornton; and Thomas G. Thrasher. The registered agent was lawyer Jerry B. Tucker, and Guy Nerren was the secretary. According to

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the bylaws, “The sole purpose of the corporation shall be to serve in any and all possible ways the interest of the University of Alabama Research Institute at Huntsville, Alabama.” The address listed was 200-208 Terry-Hutchens Building – the same address as the HIEC and the Chamber of Commerce. RSF initially purchased a 128-acre tract of land in the research park near the Research Institute. The foundation then bought 300 acres west of Sparkman Drive, east of Wynn Drive, north of Southern Railway and south of University Drive, and resold it at a profit to research and development industries serving Marshall Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal. At the time of its founding, HIS and the foundation were the only “public-controlled organizations with land available for industry.” Growth in and around Huntsville came at a blistering pace. Employment on the arsenal stood at approximately 30,000. Non-agricultural employment would soar from 46,270 in 1960 to more than 62,200 in 1963. Like many local aerospace contractors, Brown Engineering Company saw its employment roles swell by 33 percent in the

last months of 1963, rising from 3,000 on July 1, 1963 to 4,000 on December 31, 1963. Other aerospace industries were also expanding rapidly. At the other 30 aerospace businesses located in Huntsville, employment grew by 1,210 jobs during the same six-month period, with many companies doubling their personnel roles. To accurately quantify the region’s phenomenal growth, city and county leaders petitioned the federal government to perform a special census, which was taken September 22, 1964. The only surprising finding of the middecade census was the extent to which the community had underestimated its stunning growth. Madison County’s population increased a staggering 47.7 percent between 1960 and 1964, bringing the total number of residents to 173,285. Huntsville’s population swelled by an even more extreme 70.7 percent in the four years from 1960 to 1964, from 72,365 to 123,519. Huntsville’s geographical size also increased to 39 square miles through annexation during the same period. Even the rosiest, most optimistic growth projections proved too conservative. “Huntsville has pressed change to its bosom,” wrote Paul O’Neal in the June 1962 issue of Fortune. Huntsville bet huge sums of borrowed money to expand and provide for future development. Included were: $7 million for a new waterworks; $4 million on a new gas system; $13 million on a new electric system; and $10 million on new sewer systems. For seven straight years, from 1957 to 1963, the city averaged building one new school room a week. Some 4,500 residential lots were approved for home development in 1964 alone. Minutes from the first year of the RSF’s Board meetings show brisk property sales in the research park. Buyers included Space Technology Laboratories, Tech Consolidated Inc., Thiokol, General Electric, Lear Siegler, Northrop and expressions of interest from AT&T, Aero-Jet General and Hayes Aircraft. Boeing, Lockheed, and IBM were also early settlers to the Research Park. By 1963, von Braun’s vision for a research park, owned and operated by a non-profit entity was quickly taking shape. “The Huntsville Industrial Expansion Committee is engaged in a stepped-up program to seek new industries both related and unrelated to the missile and space industry, with their major emphasis concentrated on the research park project. Already, 300 acres have been sold,” the city stated in a 1964 report.

Indeed, the research park, eventually named Cummings Research Park, has grown to be the second largest in the nation. Through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, Huntsville would weather upturns and downturns. A study by the Pentagon’s Office of Economic Adjustment in 1974 would credit the efforts of community leaders with avoiding “a potential economic disaster” by organizing an “outstanding industrial development program.” The federal study continued: “The key to Huntsville’s success is excellent organization. Many persons are involved in a wide range of programs and one organization manages the overall effort.” The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/ Madison County is now that organization. Chamber officials, county, city and regional leaders anticipate growth in the coming years similar to what is recorded in the 1964 census reflected in this excerpted history. While the names of individuals and organizations have changed, community leadership and vision will surely prove to be the wind and sails propelling Huntsville’s growth. How will we address the next crossroad moments? Time will tell but surely key congressional and state support remain vital to tomorrow’s inspired decisions. ––––– This story is excerpted from a book to be released by the UAH Foundation. The Chamber expresses it deepest appreciation to the foundation for its permission to reprint this material. The UAH Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees. Serving as trustees are: Raymond B. Jones, chairman; S. Dagnal Rowe, vice chairman; W.F. Sanders, Jr., secretary; Linda L. Green, treasurer; J. Derald Morgan, executive director; Hundley Batts, Sr.; Marcus J. Bendickson; Philip W. Bentley, Jr.; C.H. (Tony) Chan; Frank J. Collazo; James R. Hudson, Jr.; William H. Johnston, Jr; James M. Link; Elizabeth J. Lowe; Sidney L. McDonald; Joseph C. Moquin; Roy J. Nichols; Martha Simms Rambo; A. Eugene Sapp, Jr; Remigius Shatas; Mark C. Smith; Jean Wessel Templeton; Clay Vandiver; Robert E. Wilkinson; John R. Wynn; Frank Franz (ex officio); Peter L. Lowe (ex officio); Malcolm Portera (ex officio); Ray M. Pinner (ex officio); Joe H. Ritch (ex officio) Trustees Emeritus Robert W. Hager; W.L. Halsey, Jr.; John S. Hendricks; Olin B. King ––––– • Mike Ward Initiatives December 2006