Initiatives magazine, April 2008 by Huntsville/Madison County Chamber

Initiatives April 2008

April 2008 Initiatives

Initiatives April 2008

April 2008 Initiatives

Initiatives April 2008

April 2008 Initiatives

initiatives

Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County

april 2008

cover story

Welcome to Sim City Huntsville, Alabama, USA! Pages 24-25 Courtesy of AEgis Corporation

features

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 on the Road

Play Ball! 2008 TRC Begins

Rosenblum Realty

The Aerospace Corporation

Another Banner Year

Q & A with Quinlivan

Chamber on the Road

DHS Systems

developments Chamber Board Listing

Community Profile

Chamber Staff Listing

HREGI Investors

HREGI Testimonial

Growing Through Networking

Economic Development Highlights

editorial staff

Publisher Brian Hilson Executive Editor John Southerland

Editorial Designer Kristi Sherrard

mission The mission of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County

is to prepare, develop and promote our community for economic growth.

contact Chamber of Commerce of

Huntsville/Madison County 225 Church Street Huntsville, AL 35801 256.535.2000

on the web www.HuntsvilleAlabamaUSA.com www.aSmartPlace.com

ontributing Writers Ethan Hadley, C Alinka Carrington Johnson, Ken Smith, John Southerland, Loren Traylor Photography Chamber of Commerce staff & publications Advertising Sales Becky Fentress The Huntsville Times

Initiatives April 2008

Chamber of Commerce

Board of Directors and Executive Committee 2008 Executive Committee

Dear Chamber of Commerce Investors, Community Leaders and Friends: Competition among communities and states for economic growth is always keen. At the local level, economic development organizations’ strategies may vary widely, depending upon a community’s history of success, current economic strengths, workforce assets and other resources. For the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County, our strategy, the Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative, is continuing to serve our purposes extremely well. Huntsville area residents have come to expect a high-performing economy, including strong job growth, high income levels, and a diversified economic base. Outside of our community, however, the perception of what the Huntsville economy is accomplishing and how it compares with other places is easily misunderstood. There are many reasons for this, and I often find myself explaining that the nature of Huntsville’s primary industry sectors – aerospace, defense, information technology, etc. – may be inherently difficult to understand. Look at it this way: much of the technical work performed in Huntsville does not relate to consumer items that the average citizen can purchase in a store. Quite often brand names are not associated with what Huntsville employers produce, and consequently there is little public understanding of our companies’ work. In other words, what Toyota makes in Huntsville is easily understood, but our community’s work in missile defense, at least for those not living and working here, is not. Sometimes, however, the communities which find success in the recruitment of new companies, especially those projects which are accompanied by large public incentive packages, are more easily understood. We’ve had our share of large recruitment projects in Huntsville – Verizon, Target, International Diesel, Toyota, and many others, but the majority of the jobs and the economic impact here is generated out of aerospace, defense and other technology-based industries. Most of that economic impact is created by existing employers through their expansions. The largest of Huntsville’s recent economic development achievements, of course, is BRAC, which accounts for the addition of 4,700 new local jobs, most them yet to be filled. Current economic data helps put Huntsville’s position in better perspective. Since 2000, Huntsville’s employment base grew by 13.5%, our workforce by 10.2% and our population by 10.0%. These numbers far exceed national and state averages, they are consistently ahead of other major or technology-based metropolitan areas in the south, and they are more than double the economic performance of any other metropolitan area in Alabama. The Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative, our blueprint for economic development, is working, and working well. Our strategy, and our overall situation, is different from most other places. The Huntsville area economy is unique. Our challenge is to help others understand our situation, and hopefully take part in it. Along with other feature articles, this edition of Initiatives introduces our new workforce recruitment program which we call “Huntsville on the Road”. Due to our area’s strong economic growth, we are actively seeking workers at all levels to relocate to the Huntsville area to take advantage of the fantastic employment and career opportunities available to them. Already our efforts are finding success with additional workers moving here. If you have the opportunity, tell someone about the abundance of job opportunities in Huntsville. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand where the strongest growth and the best jobs are!

Brian Hilson President & CEO Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County 8

April 2008 Initiatives

Evans Quinlivan, Chair, First American Bank Irma Tuder, Chair-Elect, Analytical Services, Inc. Dave Hargrove, Immediate Past Chair, AT&T Tommy Beason, Chamber Foundation Chair, retired Jan Smith, Secretary/Treasurer, System Studies and Simulation Don Nalley, Vice Chair - Economic Development, Beason & Nalley, Inc. Linda Maynor, Vice Chair - Governmental Affairs, Maynard, Cooper & Gale

Charlie Kettle, Vice Chair - Investor Relations, First Commercial Bank Jim Bolte, Vice Chair - Workforce, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Ala. Elizabeth Morard, Vice Chair - Small Business, Qualis Corp. Ron Poteat, Vice Chair - Research & Information Services, Regions Bank

Ralph Malone, Vice Chair - Image Develop., Triana Industries Joey Ceci, Chair-Appointed, Main Street Strategies Chairman Mike Gillespie, Chair-Appointed, Madison County Commission

Joe Ritch, Chair-Appointed, Sirote & Permutt, P.C. Mayor Loretta Spencer, Chair-Appointed, City of Huntsville Brian Hilson, President/CEO, Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County

Elected Board

Joe Alexander, Camber Corporation Clayton Bass, Huntsville Museum of Art Frank Caprio, Bradley Arant Rose & White, LLP Derrick T. Copeland, Applied Data Trends, Inc. Gina DeSimone, The Boeing Company John Eagan, Wachovia Bank, N.A. Joe Fadool, Continental AG Kerry Fehrenbach, Intergraph Ron Gray, Gray Research, Inc. Dr. Greg Gum, Radiology of Huntsville, P.C. Jeff Hamilton, The Orthopaedic Center Tom Hancock, Booz Allen Hamilton Tharon Honeycutt, MSB Analytics, Inc. Dr. Pam Hudson, Crestwood Medical Center Dr. Eric Janssen, SportsMed Orthopaedic Surgery & Spine Center Dr. Robert Jennings, Alabama A&M University Frederick Lanier, J. Smith Lanier & Co. Frank Libutti, Digital Fusion John McMullan, Colonial Bank Dan Montgomery, Northrop Grumman Caroline Myers, Foreign Language Services, Inc. Jerre Penney, Bill Penney Toyota Pete Schofield, SPARTA, Inc. Crystal Shell, WILL Technology Scott Seeley, Bryant Bank Keith Smith, SAIC David Spillers, Huntsville Hospital Tom Stanton, ADTRAN Sandra Steele, Enfinger Steele Development, Inc. Paula Steigerwald, Huntsville Botanical Garden Al Sullivan, ABT, Inc. Dr. Dave Williams, UA Huntsville John Wilmer, Wilmer & Lee, P.A. Daniel Wilson, Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C. Danny Windham, Digium, Inc. Dr. Ernie Wu, ERC, Incorporated

Initiatives April 2008

community profile

TOP 10 EMPLOYERS

Population

Madison County

2000 Census

276,700 158,216

29,329

342,376

2006 Estimate

304,307

36,824

376,753

City of Huntsville 168,123

City of Huntsville Madison Metro Area

Huntsville Hospital System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,126 Huntsville City Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000 The Boeing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000 NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,555

Households 2000 Census

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

109,955

66,742

11,143

134,643

CINRAM, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,500 Sanmina-SCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,500

Income

Intergraph Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,450

Avg. Household Income $57,220 $55,856 $72,432 $55,343 Per Capita Income $23,091 $24,015 $27,821 $22,073

City of Huntsville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,199

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

Madison County Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,150 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 14,500 direct DoD and 2,500 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

April 2008 Initiatives

Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park has earned a reputation as a global leader in technology development. The second-largest science and technology park in the U.S., Cummings Research Park is home to more than 285 companies and 25,000 people involved in technology research and development.

Initiatives April 2008

April 2008 Initiatives

Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County

Staff 2008 Brian Hilson, president & CEO John Southerland, communications director Laura Kendrick, executive assistant Kristi Sherrard, publications/graphic design specialist

Economic Development Ethan Hadley, VP, economic development Steve Finnell, director, industrial development/ existing industry

Rick Davis, director, Cummings Research Park Heather Phillips, economic development specialist

Amy Locke, industrial development/existing industry assistant

Governmental Affairs Mike Ward, VP, governmental affairs Tina Leopold, governmental affairs assistant Doris Riccelli, OEA grant director

Workforce Lucia Cape, VP, workforce Mark Brown, director, workforce recruitment Mitzi Floyd, workforce coordinator

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

Terrie Ledbetter, membership sales representative

Donna McCrary, investor relations specialist

Alinka Carrington Johnson, events coordinator

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

Hiroko Sedensky, information services specialist

Judith Short, information services assistant Betty Dalton, resource desk coordinator

Finance & Administration Ken Williams, director, finance & administration Desman Holt, IT manager Debbie Olivares, accounting specialist Joe Watson, facilities supervisor

Associated Organizations & Staff Leadership Huntsville/Madison County Sarah Savage, executive director Allison Gregg, program/PR manager Sasha Sealy, alumni/development director Mary Stewart, program coordinator Allison Bowman, administrative coordinator Small Business Development Centers Alabama A&M University UA Huntsville

Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County 225 Church Street, Huntsville, AL 35801 phone 256-535-2000 / fax 256-535-2015 www.HuntsvilleAlabamaUSA.com Initiatives April 2008

Development Partner ($250,000+ invested annually: public sector)

Chamber Trustees

Progress Partners

Development Council

(Up to $125,000 invested annually: public sector)

Huntsville Utilities Madison County Commission Tennessee Valley Authority Huntsville Hospital City of Madison Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority Chairman’s Council ($50,000+ invested: private sector)

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Inc. Regions Bank President’s Circle ($25,000 - $49,999 invested annually)

ADTRAN AT&T The Boeing Company Colonial Bank Compass Bank Crestwood Medical Center The Huntsville Times Redstone Federal Credit Union SAIC Verizon Wireless Wachovia Bank, N.A. April 2008 Initiatives

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

Avocent Corporation Beason & Nalley, Inc. Bill Penney Toyota Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Ala. Booz Allen Hamilton Camber Corporation CINRAM, Inc. COLSA Corporation Continental AG Huntsville Area Association of Realtors

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

AEgis Technologies Analytical Services, Inc. Applied Data Trends, Inc. BAE Systems Balch & Bingham, LLP BASF Catalysts LLC Bryant Bank CapitalSouth Bank Coldwell Banker/McLain Real Estate Colonial Properties Consolidated Construction Dynetics Enfinger Steele Development, Inc. ERC, Incorporated First American Bank First Commercial Bank HiWAAY Internet Services International Diesel J. Smith Lanier & Co. Jerry Damson Honda Acura Keystone Foods Corporation

Progress Investors

Huntsville/Madison County Builders Association, Inc. Intergraph Corporation Intuitive Research & Technology Corporation Lamar Outdoor Advertising Northrop Grumman Panalpina, Inc. SPARTA, Inc. SportsMed Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc.

Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne LG Electronics Alabama, Inc. Main Street Strategies NAI Chase Commercial Realty The Orthopaedic Center Parker Hannifin Corporation Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. Radiology of Huntsville, P.C. Samples Properties Sirote & Permutt, P.C. SOUTHBank Stanley Associates Superior Bank The Surgery Center of Huntsville System Studies and Simulation, Inc. Talent Connections Turner Universal Construction WAFF-TV Wilmer & Lee, P.A. Yellowbook Anonymous

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

3D Research Corporation 4SITE, Incorporated Applied Geo Technologies Averbuch Realty / Averbuch Enterprises Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. BancorpSouth Baron Services Belzon Bradley Arant Rose & White Century Automotive Chapman Sisson Architects Cintas Corporation Currie Systems DESE Research, Inc. DHS Systems Digital Fusion DRC Test and Energy Management Fountain Parker Harbarger & Associates Fuqua & Partners Gray Research, Inc. The Heritage Club Huntsville Tractor & Equipment, Inc. Jacobs

JH Partners Architecture & Interiors Johnston, Moore, Maples & Thompson Kelly Services Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Kudzu Productions Lamb Commercial Services, Inc. Madison Research Corporation Madison Square Chrysler/Jeep Mercedes Benz of Huntsville North Alabama Gas District QTEC Qualis Corporation Radiance Technologies, Inc. Science & Engineering Services, Inc. Tintronics Torch Technologies Weichert Realtors – The Executive Group Wesfam Restaurants, Inc. – Burger King Westar Aerospace & Defense Group WHNT-19 Wilson Lumber Woodland Homes of Huntsville Woody Anderson Ford

Initiatives April 2008

“Huntsville on the Road” Headed in the Right Direction

t is no secret that Huntville/Madison County continues to lead Alabama and the Southeast in employment growth rate. After studying both the opportunities and challenges that result from this situation, the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County has taken quick action, beginning with the first “Huntsville on the Road” recruitment fair at the University of Alabama, designed to attract job candidates from around the southeastern United States. Using that successful model, Huntsville on the Road recently took 33 organizations from Huntsville/Madison County to Atlanta, Ga. to target graduating college seniors, recent graduates as well as young- and mid-level professionals from a variety of fields.

April 2008 Initiatives

With ads running on Monster.com, AJC.com Jobs and in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the marketing effort stretched to use every affordable resource available and culminated in an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on the day of the event. The job fair attracted people from around the country with several visitors flying in from as far away as Arizona and Illinois. “I’ve been trying to find out about jobs in Huntsville for some time,” said one job seeker from Chicago. “When I heard about this job fair, I booked a flight and headed down.” Deborah Henning, another eager job seeker, jumped over several obstacles to attend the job fair. “A friend went onto the website and saw this opportunity and told me I had to come. Well, he turned around and locked my keys in my car as I was on my way over today. After spending several hours on the phone trying to get a new key and finally getting in, I hit traffic on my way and wasn’t sure I would be able to find parking at the hotel. But, I am so glad I didn’t give up. There are several companies that have open positions in my field. In fact, I called several of my friends and told them to get down here.” Visitors to the fair were amazed at the depth and breadth of job openings. From healthcare to fire-fighters, the Huntsville Career Expo included organizations that ran the gamut of industries and technologies. “The purpose of the fair was to show job seekers opportunities outside of the Atlanta area. Companies such as DRS Technologies, The Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman and Avion were represented as were Redstone Arsenal offices such as the Missile Defense Agency, NASA, and the Program Executive Office, Missiles and Space just to name a few,” said Lucia Cape, vice president of the Chamber’s workforce division. According to Nicole Lechene, a representative from the University of Georgia, the

Companies and job seekers were abundant at the Career Expo held in Atlanta, Georgia. Employers and potential employees found it easy to discuss their respective strengths during this Huntsville on the Road event.

expo allowed her to learn about opportunities for her graduating students and found the pre-meetings with Chamber recruitment director Mark Brown to be very beneficial. The Chamber sponsored and coordinated this event as part of the next step in their ongoing national workforce recruitment marketing campaign â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A Smart Place. Atlanta was the perfect market to begin the job fair phase. Future sites include: Detroit, Washington D.C. capitol region, and Cleveland, Ohio. Job fair participants in Atlanta found that for those wanting to stay in the southeast Huntsville/Madison County is truly a great place to live, to learn, to work and to play. â&#x20AC;˘ Loren Traylor

Conveniently located in downtown Atlanta, the Career Expo allowed a diverse group of job seekers to learn why Huntsville/Madison County is a smart place.

Initiatives April 2008

Play Ball! Chamber of Commerce All-Stars Begin 2008 TRC Season

pring is just around the corner and with it comes the opening of ball parks across the country. The Chamber is opening their own ball park and has started a league of their own in order to have fun and raise funds for continued economic development through the 2008 Total Resource Campaign (TRC). With a baseball theme and 16 teams already committed to playing, the 2008 TRC season will officially open April 9. However, spring training for last year’s all-star volunteers began March 6 and these teams of veteran players are looking forward to opening day and adding new rookies to their teams. Chamber Baseball League (CBL) Commissioner, Scott “Bud” Seeley of Bryant

Bank, gave the veteran and rookie players a lofty goal of raising $1.2 million in sponsorship revenue for the Chamber. He is supported by two umpires, West Division leader Frank Caprio, Bradley Arant Rose & White, and East Division leader, Harry Waugh, Regions Bank. With 60 volunteers already signed up, this season is looking to be a close race between the returning World Series Champions, led by Carrie McCrillis and her opponents – everyone else. This year’s campaign is designed to engage local companies and industries in the economic development process of our community. Whether it is through making new business contacts, networking with peers or making better budget decisions that add actual value to their companies’ marketing and promotional efforts, two things are guaranteed: the TRC will be fun and beneficial to all involved. To the winners go the championship ring and title – a little good natured ribbing of players, and, perhaps most importantly to some, the thrill of bragging rights for a year and knowing their efforts and support helped bring economic prosperity to our community.

Take Me Out to the Ball Park This is the one occasion where it is allowable for the players to be “pumped up” without fear of a congressional inquiry. With 16 teams of volunteers representing a variety of

April 2008 Initiatives

industries and companies throughout the community over a nine-inning (week) game, Chamber sponsorship opportunities and memberships will be offered to a wide range of small and large companies – in fact any Chamber member can participate. This year’s TRC is designed to allow companies to better align their marketing plans with Chamber sponsorship opportunities for the entire year and to maximize their return on investment. The popularity of the TRC continues with unprecedented interest – even before the volunteers went to spring training. Last year, allstar volunteers were given a goal of $1 million – they met that and increased it by another 40 percent to more than $1.4 million with many sponsorships selling out before the campaign ended. This year, more than 75 volunteers will try to achieve a goal of $1.2 million by the season’s end and the World Series Celebration on June 19. Funds raised through the campaign go to fund further economic development for our community.

Maximizing Your Investment Teams participating in the TRC will work with companies to help them choose products and opportunities that best meet their marketing needs for the entire year – all at once – helping the companies make more strategic use of their advertising/sponsorship dollars.

“This campaign provides more companies, both large and small, access to other community leaders, a focused audience for their marketing efforts and the ability for companies to plan in advance,” said Seeley, the 2008 TRC commissioner and market president of Bryant Bank. “From one person home offices to large international corporations and everything in between, our Chamber offers a product that is right for them and will help them reach their business goals,” he said.

our development dollars,” Seeley said. “So the fulfillment of being involved in a worthwhile community program is enough, but there is much more in the Chamber’s annual Total Resource Campaign.” Training for rookies is set for April 9 at the Chamber. Contact Loren Traylor at 535.2028 for more information about volunteering or sponsorship information or visit HuntsvilleAlabamaUSA.com online and click on the “TRC” logo. • Loren Traylor

Community Recognition With the tradition of community leaders staying involved and top producers coming back year after year, the Chamber can count on the all-star volunteer campaign to hit several homeruns this year with even more memberships, sponsorships and advertising revenue for the 2008 campaign. One of last year’s TRC top producers, Andy Watwood, regional district manager for CenturyTel, praised the program and its results. “This is a great opportunity to work with unique individuals and community leaders. I have gotten to know and network with more people which helps my business, and I am also able to help the businesses I work with to better use their sponsorship dollars more effectively,” Watwood said. “Equally as important, I was able to increase the exposure of the business that I represent throughout the community.” Evans Quinlivan, board chair of the Chamber, said the TRC concept has proven to be very beneficial to companies and the community. “The TRC is an excellent way for companies to get recognition and get their names associated with some very important events that occur in our community. This type of exposure is valuable and gives the companies the opportunity to be associated with some of the Chamber’s signature events,” he said.

Benefiting the Community “Participating in TRC is a huge effort that benefits those involved, the community and the Chamber and ultimately the economy of our community, which means everybody wins. The participants network, creating individual business opportunities, the businesses they solicit receive what we at Bryant Bank consider one of the best marketing investments we can think of for Initiatives April 2008

April 2008 Initiatives

Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County (HREGI) For a list of investors, see page 14 or visit: www.HuntsvilleAlabamaUSA.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

We invest in the Huntsville

Regional Economic Growth

Initiative because we understand that such an investment helps sustain the community as

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

a center for talented

people to live, to work and to play.

L: Eric Cowart, Controller R: Pete Hassler, HR Manager CINRAM

HREGI Investor since 2004 Initiatives April 2008

Rosenblum Realty, Inc. “A Rose Is Just a Rose Until It Blooms”

hat is the slogan for this familyowned business that was the 2008 Personal Services Small Business Award winner. Tom Rosenblum, Rosenblum Realty founder, was simply looking for a second career after retiring from Lincoln Mills but what he established has kept his family employed for well over 50 years. After selling houses for another company for two years, the senior Rosenblum decided to strike out for himself at a time when schools in Huntsville were adding a classroom a day. From this humble beginning to a current roster of 30 realtors, Rosenblum Realty has faced its share of challenges and successes. Rosenblum Realty offers residential

April 2008 Initiatives

and commercial brokerage services which include sales, leasing, and a property management division. They serve the Huntsville, Madison, North Alabama region, and are licensed both in Alabama and Tennessee. Tom’s son, Tommy, took over the business in 1969 and in 1976 the third generation of Rosenblum’s joined the company. “We try to listen and do our best to service people in a custom way. We target our efforts to service their particular situation. No transaction is exactly alike. We know that real estate is one of the largest investments someone will make and, while the dollars may not be critically large up front, the mortgage may well last a lifetime,” said

Carey Rosenblum, company president and grandson of the founder. While their current focus is primarily on residential real estate, they are growing their property management division with a focus on single-family residential dwellings to include homes, condominiums and townhomes. Carey plans to grow this area and add several more agents in the next several years and add a more diversified product mix. During the past 50 years, Rosenblum has experienced many positive business cycles and has seen growth from a small operation of three people to a franchise operation and back down to an independent status. This helped them learn how to develop more services for customers and to understand

the importance of looking at market trends and adding new products to their portfolio to include home warranties. Carey believes they now have a better mix of resale and new construction and has grown property management to more than 300 units. Carey is no figurehead president who rested on the coattails of his family. He is still active in real estate sales and maintains his own personal business of listing and selling homes. He knows that by doing this, he is able to understand what is going on

in the business and he can help his agents grow. On winning the award, Carey says it was special to his company in several ways. “It felt like it was a tip of the hat to the businesses who had hung in there a good while. It also acknowledged our contributions to the community and showed that by performing a service that people can appreciate and take pride in, you can be recognized.” Rosenblum has plans to continue growing and diversifying and in fact has just added a fourth generation, Carey’s son Michael. And while Michael has been at it less than a year, Carey has high expectations for him too – after all “a rose is just a rose until it blooms.” • Alinka Carrington Johnson

Initiatives April 2008

Welcome to Sim City: Huntsville, Alabama, USA!

rue or false: Huntsville, Alabama is one of the top three Modeling and Simulation (M&S) Centers in the United States. You’d better believe it. Huntsville has been doing M&S before it was even called that, back when people just said, “Hey, let’s make a representation of one of those (model) and then show how it works over time (simulation).” M&S technology has continued to become more mature and robust, especially with the enormous advances in computer power over the last few decades. We now have the ability to create a virtual representation of anything we might want or need before we actually build it. The implications for technology development are enormous, not the least of which is the ability to reduce overall development costs and trouble shoot engineering problems before ever bending metal to build the real article. So, who is our company in the elite field of M&S? The simple answer is Florida and Virginia. More precisely, Orlando/Central Florida and the Norfolk/Hampton Roadsarea. Each hub has its own core competency in M&S that corresponds to a main application. Orlando/Central Florida excels at virtual simulation (real person in a virtual environment) and the main application of this type of simulation is training. The Norfolk/ Hampton Roads, Virginia area leads in constructive simulation (computer-based simulation where the user is an observer, not part of the simulation) which is primarily used in analytical applications such as computer ‘war games’. Huntsville’s forte, as you might expect, is in physics-based simulations that are used for a wide variety of engineering applications. 24

April 2008 Initiatives

Dr. Mikel Petty, Director of UAHuntsville’s Center for Modeling, Simulation and Analysis (CMSA), is uniquely qualified to comment on how Huntsville stacks up against the competition. Before coming to Huntsville, Petty was Chief Scientist at Old Dominion University’s Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center (VMAS) and before that he was the Assistant Director of the Institute for Simulation and Training (IST) at the University of Central Florida. “I started to become aware of Huntsville’s M&S competencies more and more during the time I was at VMAS, but one thing Huntsville did not have was a university research center that would complement its concentration of government and commercial organizations that are doing M&S. Now we have another important piece that complements the diverse government and com-

mercial M&S capabilities in Huntsville,” Petty said. Petty started the Center in June 2006 with a staff of two – he and one other. By the end of 2007, the CMSA had 25 people on board, including nine full time researchers and a growing number of students also working on real (paid) research. The students at the center are not just paid for their work with the opportunity to work on cutting edge research, they also get free tuition plus a stipend. And, Petty said, the prospects are good for continued expansion in this year as well. The center is occupying additional space on campus and, as new research contracts roll in, the head count is going up, too. Outside of UAH, the continued growth in the M&S industry led to the creation of the Alabama Modeling and Simulation Council (AMSC) to better organize and promote the

Many Huntsville modeling and simulation companies and organizations annually participate in one of the nation’s premiere industry conferences in Orlando - the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC). The I/ITSEC Conference promotes cooperation among the Armed Services, Industry, Academia and various Government agencies in pursuit of improved training and education programs, identification of common training issues and development of multiservice programs. .

Huntsville/Madison County is quickly becoming one of the premier modeling and simulation centers in the United States. Whether it involves simulating missile guidance systems or city planning, modeling and simulation specialists in this community have the ability to create a virtual representation of anything for any application or situation, giving users the ability to predict outcomes and troubleshoot problems before they begin. In the simulations above, engineers with AEgis Technologies created various simulations of Huntsville for mapping purposes.

industry locally, regionally and nationally. In fact, the AMSC will celebrate its fifth anniversary this year and the organization is still charting its course towards a more collaborative, more visible and more organized M&S community in Alabama. Slightly older than the CMSA at UAH, AMSC provides another necessary, complimentary function to the Alabama M&S community which is primarily concentrated in Huntsville. In fact, all but two companies on the list of AMSC Corporate Members are Huntsville companies. In its most recent M&S industry survey, AMSC found that there are 80 companies and more than 6,000 individuals for whom M&S revenue was significant in the private sector. This does not include government or academia – although the Federal Government, through Army and NASA, has their own modeling and simulation capabilities as well. Between 1995 and 2005, growth in the local M&S industry was relatively constant and accumulated to 60 percent. Bill Waite, president of AMSC and also president of Huntsville-based AEgis Technologies, has witnessed this growth in Alabama and can further testify to Huntsville’s central role. “In this community there is more expertise, more kinds of skills and more people with these skills than any other city in the country. Huntsville is absolutely unique in its technical capacity in modeling and simulation,” Waite said. The M&S industry has developed over the last 15 to 20 years, and it is starting to get more recognition thanks to organizations like AMSC. AMSC was formed to not only bring greater recognition to Alabama’s significant and maturing M&S capabilities, but also to have practitioners in the field recognized as professionals with access to professional development and certification opportunities. To further its mission and

the industry as a whole, AMSC is actively involved with the National Training and Simulation Association and the Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus. For the past three years, AMSC has participated in M&S Leadership Summit to discuss public policy relating to M&S. House Resolution 487, a direct result of the Summit, aims to have M&S recognized as a National Critical Technology as defined in the 1990 Defense Authorization Act. In other words, there is a growing core of government, industry and academic leaders who believe that M&S is one of the key technologies that must be developed to ensure the long-term national security and economic prosperity of the United States. House Resolution 487 extols the virtues of the virtual. Among the many reasons given for recognizing M&S as a critical technology, there are many eye-grabbers. For example, M&S helps to preserve human life through repeatedly rehearsing simulated emergencies that otherwise could not have been practiced, including response to natural or man-made disasters, that enable more effective emergency response through the coordinated efforts of local, state and federal first responders, as well as law enforcement and other relevant agencies. Point in case, when the Super Bowl was held in Phoenix, Ariz. this year, the city was ready for any contingencies that might have arisen, thanks to M&S services provided by AEgis Technologies. “They wanted us to help them go through it in their heads before they might have to go through it on the streets,” says Waite of the recent assistance his company gave to enhance Super Bowl security. Similarly, AEgis and other companies in Huntsville, big and small, including The Boeing Company, SAIC, Teledyne Brown Engineering, S3, Camber, CFD Research, CAS, DESE Research, Ternion Corporation, Dynetics, Raytheon, Northrop

Grumman, Torch Technologies and Digital Fusion, to name a few, are assisting government and commercial customers to do such various things as develop, engineer and test missile, space and unmanned aerial vehicle systems, improve and secure infrastructure and transportation systems, improve the quality of healthcare, as well as forecast weather and predict climate change, among many other noble pursuits.

Not surprisingly, however, aerospace and defense technology development accounts for the largest part of M&S technology utilization and development in Huntsville. Indeed, the co-location of numerous government customers located on Redstone Arsenal helps fuel the growth trajectory of the M&S industry in Huntsville and helps to distinguish the community from competition. “Virginia and Florida are big players when it comes to training applications of M&S. However, demand for M&S capability to support defense materiel acquisition, for example through analysis, engineering and test and evaluation, is the key factor driving growth of the M&S industry in Huntsville,” Waite explained. The bottom line is that Huntsville is helping the nation’s bottom line. And its companies are using M&S to create engineering designs that support the total life-cycle of a host of products that are of critical national importance and reduce the overall cost of development of those products. Now that’s something to brag on. • Ethan Hadley Initiatives April 2008

The Aerospace Corporation Opens Office in Huntsville

Dr. Wanda Austin, President and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation – an organization that has more than 4,000 employees nationwide.

April 2008 Initiatives

he Aerospace Corporation, which plays a key role in national space and missile operations, recently held a grand-opening ceremony to unveil its new office in Huntsville. Company officials said the primary purpose of the office will be to maintain a high level of continuity and efficiency in its support to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), which is transitioning elements to Huntsville as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process. Aerospace support to MDA has been concentrated in the Washington, D.C., area over the past several years. In Huntsville, Aerospace will continue to provide direct technical support to the MDA and assist the agency in continuity of operations as it transitions to Huntsville. Michael W. Fortanbary will head Aerospace operations at Huntsville and Dr. Graham S. Arnold will head test and mission assurance activities. The new office is located at 150 West Park Loop, NW, Suite 302. “We are excited about opening an office in Huntsville, which has such a rich history in space innovation and technology advances,” said Dr. Wanda Austin, president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation. “The Missile Defense Agency is one of The Aerospace Corporation’s principal customers and we look forward to helping them achieve their mission objectives and assisting other organizations and agencies in the area that are involved in the national space program.” The move culminates more than a year of working with the Chamber. “We first started working with them in January of 2007,” according to Cummings Research Park Director Rick Davis. “When they came here, I think they had a pretty good idea already that they needed to be here because of MDA. But I believe they also came in to look at the business opportunities so they could build a business case for being here that was not based on just one customer,” he said. “Dave Crilly, the Chief Financial Officer from their Washington office, was our first contact with them. We continued to work with them, put them in touch with the peo-

ple they needed to be talking with to set up an office here and we got it all worked out last October,” Davis said. Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/ Madison County Chair Evans Quinlivan officially welcomed Dr. Austin and The Aerospace Corporation team to the community at a Chamber reception the night prior to the grand opening ceremony. At the ceremony, Quinlivan again welcomed the organization to Huntsville and said it seemed perfectly suited to grow in Huntsville. “We are here to honor the establishment and the continued growth of a very unique and dynamic organization, The Aerospace Corporation – an organization whose history of excellence in this nation’s missile and space program is a match for our community, a community so steeped in this nation’s missile and space programs,” Quinlivan said. Among those who participated in the grand opening, besides Austin, were Brig. Gen. Gary Connor, program director of the Ground Based Midcourse Defense Joint Program Office, Missile Defense Agency and Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer. Also on hand for the ceremony were Dr. Harlan Bittner, general manager of The Aerospace Corporation’s Missile Defense Division, and Brig. Gen. Don Walker (USAF, retired), senior vice president of the company’s Systems Planning and Engineering organization, which includes the Missile Defense Division and other national-security space engineering and support elements. The Aerospace Corporation has nearly 4,000 employees nationwide and has always featured a well-known board of directors. In fact, former president Gerald Ford served on The Aerospace Corpora-tion’s board many years ago. And although their workforce in Huntsville is beginning small, Davis said not to expect it to stay that way. “In one of their new offices – they originally started with a single-digit workforce, but because of the significant opportunities there, the office grew to more than 1,000 employees. I’m not saying that we can necessarily expect that level of growth, but we can certainly expect them to have the opportunity to grow this office significantly here over the years,” Davis said. • John Southerland Initiatives April 2008

Another Banner Year for Economic Growth

untsville/Madison County continued to experience strong growth from new and expanding industry in 2007. In total, 3,859 new jobs were announced by 51 industrial companies with a total capital investment of $115,860,000. New growth in both the manufacturing and technology sectors helped to create balance and solidify the region as the strongest economies in the state. Much of the announced new growth in the manufacturing sector came from existing employers. New expansions from companies such as International Diesel of Alabama and Sanmina-SCI are spurring manufacturing growth at a time when industrial manufacturing is slowing nationwide. Internationalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new $41.9 million, 300,000 square foot facility at Jetplex Industrial Park will employ 175 new workers while Sanmina-SCI is adding 1,000 additional new jobs at the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s facility on South Memorial Parkway. Other existing manufacturing companies an-nouncing significant job growth included SES, Inc. in Lowe Industrial Park with 250 new jobs, Palco Telecom Service on South Memorial Parkway adding 150 new jobs, Cinram in Chase Industrial Park with 80 new jobs and $27 million in new investment and

April 2008 Initiatives

WestWind Technologies in Jetplex Industrial Park with 60 new jobs. In addition to the existing employers, two new Japan-based companies joined the local manufacturing industry: Matsumoto US Technologies and Sumitomo Electric Carbide. As in past years, growth in the engineering and technology sectors has been centered in Cummings Research Park. Major existing government contractors such as Ball Aerospace, The Boeing Company, Booz Allen Hamilton, DRS Test & Energy Management, Rockwell Collins and Sikor-sky Aircraft Corporation all announced new job growth in Cummings Research Park in 2007. A number of new

companies also located to the park including Alliant Tech-systems, Carina Technology and Applied Geo Technologies. With the opening of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, seven new life sciences companies found a home and are beginning to grow in the park. Adjacent to Cummings in neighboring Thornton Research Park, Advanced Systems Development is adding jobs as well as new company EMC Tetra Tech. Longtime Huntsville area cable provider Comcast Communications also announced the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new $17 million customer service center, which is expected to employ 200 new workers. With the economic successes of 2007 and high expectations for future BRAC and government-related growth in connection with Redstone Arsenal and NASA, the local area economy is expanding in all sectors, including manufacturing, retail and services. The Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with its state and local partners, is continuing its mission to prepare, develop and promote our community for economic growth as it works to bring new industry to the region and assist new and expanding companies with their development projects in 2008. â&#x20AC;˘ Ken Smith

Initiatives April 2008

April 2008 Initiatives

Workforce Development, Recruitment Pivotal to Chamber’s Success in 2008 Chairman Quinlivan Discusses 2008 Challenges, Opportunities

vans Quinlivan is a busy man. In addition to his duties as the CEO of Madison County for First American Bank – Quinlivan is also serving as the chairman of the board for the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County. With the great economic development growth and successes that the community has enjoyed over the past several years, the Huntsville/Madison County community also faces numerous challenges – the top of which is workforce recruitment and development – as outlined in the recently updated Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative strategic plan.

EQ: To grow the Huntsville/Madison County economy in the right way through the development of targeted industries, five years ago the Chamber created its strategic plan which is annually executed and updated. That plan, which serves as this community’s economic DNA, the Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative, or HREGI, ensures the ongoing strength and integrity of the area’s economy. We have just updated that strategic plan, a very detailed and thorough process led by Chamber Chair-elect Irma Tuder and our strategic planning committee. 2007 showed that Huntsville/Madison County has sustained its progressive economic development impact with more than 50 projects that included 3,800 announced new and expanding jobs. The plan is working, but we have much to do and new challenges to meet. Your term is a little unusual in that you took over as Chairman to fill the unexpired term of 2007 Chair Brad Jones, who moved to another city to pursue new business opportunities.

EQ: Yes, I stepped into the Chairman role in May of 2007 when Brad Jones left our community. I completed his term and I’m now serving the term I was originally elected to serve. It has been everything I expected and more. Our community has been doing exceptionally well and this is an incredibly exciting time to be in this position. What are some of the things you would like to see accomplished during your tenure as Chair? EQ: At the top of the list is a successful workforce development and recruitment effort. It will be difficult to measure success in that effort in the short term, but the establishment of a workforce division within the Chamber of Commerce was the first major step. We were provided some assistance from the state – and we are looking for more. We have a very aggressive plan and we are confident we can both recruit and develop the workforce necessary to fill the many jobs coming our way. What do you see as some of the key challenges facing this community’s continued economic development growth? EQ: At the top of the list of challenges is workforce. Simply put – if we don’t have the people to fill the jobs then our economic development efforts will slow dramatically and eventually stop. Our aggressive plan exceeds our funding abilities from local sources so we have to rely on the State to assist us with our efforts. Our local elected officials continue to provide invaluable support and leadership as we continue to pursue economic development projects. Many of these signature economic development projects continued on page 32

Evans Quinlivan wears numerous hats in his role of chair of the Chamber’s board of directors, including communication with Chamber President/CEO Brian Hilson (top); leading community press conferences (middle) or working with Chamber executive committee members and events (bottom). Initiatives April 2008

Q & A with Quinlivan, continued from page 31

require various incentives and our local elected officials have been very good at working together to make these things happen. But local money is limited and we have to rely on the state for adequate incentives. The state has always been a good partner and we expect that to continue. Another ongoing challenge is infrastructure. Generally, it is the Chamber’s role to help frame the challenges and assist our local elected officials in their efforts to either fund locally or pursue assistance at the state and federal government levels. But those type challenges are not something we can resolve or solve ourselves. We just need to be cognizant to keep framing these challenges and continue to provide relevant and usable information to our local elected officials to help the community in this way.

sion and associated job growth of our existing companies. Likewise for new industry recruitment, one of our primary initiatives is to recruit new targeted industry to our community. We accomplish both through our Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative. For this growth to continue, we need to continue to foster an environment that allows existing industry to expand while continuing to pursue new opportunities. This is a long way of saying that we need the continued support of our companies to be a part of the Chamber. Stay involved. Any Chamber is truly only as good as its membership – and our membership and the leadership of those members have been phenomenal over the years.

How can local businesses be a part of the process?

How will the Chamber facilitate growth stemming from the economic successes of the past three years?

EQ: There are two forms of job growth – jobs from new industry locating in our community and from existing industry expansion. We work very hard to create a culture that allows local employers to continue to expand and create new jobs. In fact, the majority of job growth in our community is often the expan-

EQ: Everything keeps pointing back to workforce. Many of the jobs from new and expanding industry that we have announced in the last three years have yet to materialize – but will over the next three years. We have to be there to be able to assist when they do. It is a constant process.

Chamber Board Chair Evans Quinlivan presented the book “Dr. Space”, written by local author Bob Ward, to Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson, the director of The Hayden Planetarium in New York City, was the featured speaker at the Chamber’s annual membership meeting. 32

April 2008 Initiatives

In your eyes, what makes our community different from other technology based cities? EQ: In general – this is a very open and supportive community. It’s a community that understands the importance of continued economic growth and that our growth has been largely technology driven. CRP is a great example of what drives our technology - it’s a unique combination of community involvement, leadership and technological entrepreneurial spirit. And our technology growth is centered on aerospace and defense, biotechnology, and telecommunications software and hardware development and production, among others.

retailers, service providers – we’re not talking contractors – these are additional jobs beyond the direct and contractor spin-off jobs. So if we have 4,700 direct jobs, and add another 5,000 contractor support jobs – and then factor in all the jobs that those jobs invariably produce, you get a glimpse of the magnitude of the 2005 BRAC. It definitely illustrates our need to bring workforce recruitment and development into the forefront. • Compiled by John Southerland

How should we be capitalizing on that? EQ: We have so many bright capable people in our community and many moving to our community. That kind of talent attracts more of those kinds of people – engineers, computer scientists, biotechnology scientists and researchers. These are the type people that help a technology-driven economy continue to expand. It is the Chamber’s responsibility to ensure that growth continues by assisting with industry expansion and new industry recruitment and to ensure we continue to create the environment that is attractive to the engineers and scientists, that will fill many of the new jobs we are creating. How big is BRAC 2005 and what does it mean to this community and state? EQ: It is projected to be the most significant economic development event the state has ever seen up to this point in its history. The 1995 BRAC brought 1,700 direct jobs from St. Louis to Huntsville. According to an impact study the economic development impact of the 1995 BRAC exceeded the annual combined impact of Toyota, Honda and Mercedes. And the 2005 BRAC is bringing 4,700 direct jobs – three times what the 1995 BRAC was. Obviously the impact is incredibly significant. And the jobs are being realigned to Redstone now. Projections for realignments in 2008 are more than 850 jobs, but the bulk of the jobs are still to come. In fact, the majority of jobs with the Missile Defense Agency and the Army Materiel Command are still to come. Every job of this nature adds a quantifiable addition of other jobs in the community that are more service related in nature. More Initiatives April 2008

Growing Through Networking The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County hosts numerous events each month to create networking and business growth opportunities for members, as well as to coordinate efforts to grow our community. In the past few weeks, the Chamber has hosted a variety of events to include:

Business After Hours â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

presented by The Ledges The most recent Business After Hours included nearly 300 people and allowed Chamber members to network and build relationships while allowing The Ledges to show off its facilities.

Annual Montgomery Trip â&#x20AC;&#x201C; presented by The Boeing Company

For more information, please see page 36.

Breakfast & Biz â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

presented by Marriott Huntsville One of the fastest growing network opportunities, the most recent Breakfast & Biz was held at the Marriott Huntsville, allowing nearly 200 Chamber members to participate in a more structured networking atmosphere. Chamber members benefit from networking events, electronic and printed publications, educational programs for small business and perhaps most importantly, the knowledge that they are part of a collective effort to establish Huntsville/Madison County as a stronger, more visible community in the global competition for economic growth.

April 2008 Initiatives

Chamber on the Road Chamber Takes Message, Priorities to Montgomery

he Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County recently conducted its 2008 Montgomery Trip to meet with members of the local and state legislative delegation and to communicate the area’s agenda to those leaders. “Our community has been experiencing tremendous growth recently – a trend that we expect to continue,” said Chamber Chair Evans Quinlivan. “The State of Alabama has been our valued partner in helping our region prepare for growth. As we enter this next phase in our community’s growth, continued support from the State will be more important than ever and that is why we traveled to Montgomery,” he said. According to Mike Ward, the Chamber’s

vice chair for governmental affairs, the trip is vital to the community. “This trip gives us the excellent opportunity to meet with key leaders of the state so we can communicate with those who are shaping the future of our community and our state,” Ward said. The headline speaker of the day was Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, who praised the community and again reiterated that when it comes to economic development and workforce recruitment, Huntsville is the state’s leader. “The Huntsville/Madison County situation is totally unique in Alabama,” Riley said. “What we want to do is to try to replicate what you are doing for the rest of the state. Think about this - you have a $12,000

per capita advantage if you live in Madison County instead of Mobile County. You are leading the state.” Riley also discussed workforce development and recruitment, adding that the state is putting more funding into this critical area than ever before. He also said that resolving transportation needs as it relates to population growth associated with jobs creation may need to be resolved through public-private partnerships. “And your BRAC – you have a unique demand for a different skill level than the rest of Alabama,” Riley said. “We are working very hard to figure out how to fulfill your needs.” continued on page 36

Initiatives April 2008

Chamber on the Road, continued from page 35

Other speakers on the Montgomery trip, sponsored by The Boeing Company, included: Neal Wade, the director of the Alabama Development Office; Seth Hammett, speaker, Alabama House of Representatives; Don Vaughn, with the Alabama Department of Transportation; Randy Wilhelm, chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom; Billy Canary, president and CEO, Business Council of Alabama. The final session was a workforce/ education panel discussion featuring Susan Miller from the governor’s office of workforce development; and Bethany Clem, director of career/technical education with the Department of Postsecondary Education. A summary of the Chamber’s 2008 State Agenda:

Workforce The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County recently embarked on the 2008 Montgomery Trip to meet with members of the local and state delegation and to communicate the area’s agenda to those leaders. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley spoke to members and congratulated the community on its continued successes. “What we want to do is to try to replicate what you are doing for the rest of the state.”

April 2008 Initiatives

The Chamber’s workforce recruitment plan targets engineering, information technology and advanced manufacturing (including supply chain and logistics) workers. National and international competition is at an all-time high for these highly sought workers. Four-year college education – Our community faces a critical shortage of engineers. A study conducted on behalf of the Chamber determined that the most successful strategy to increase engineering graduates would be to focus additional resources on those 50 percent of the engineering students who would otherwise drop out of engineering. The Chamber recommends additional scholarships to pay state school tuition reimbursement and housing assistance for students while in co-op rotations or internships. Two-year, post-high school education programs – Our community is facing a shortage of nurses, welders, machine tooling technicians, among others. The Chamber is working with the Valley Innovation Alliance to promote career awareness in high-growth industries, funded through the U.S. Department of Labor’s WIRED initiative. K-12 education programs – The Chamber endorses full implementation and funding of the Alabama Mathematics, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) that provides inquiry-based, hands-on math and science instruction to K-12 students and the corresponding professional development and support to teachers. The Chamber also supports continued funding

for the Engineering Academy Initiative for Alabama, which provides targeted engineering instruction to high school students.

Infrastructure Sufficient road infrastructure to support the regional growth continues to be among the highest concerns. We are grateful to Governor Riley and the State for making several modifications to the State’s Transportation Improvement Program to advance several critical road projects into the next few years. The following construction projects are needed to keep traffic flowing on, to and around Redstone Arsenal: 1. Memorial Parkway – overpasses and interchanges at Mastin Lake Road and Mt. Gap Road 2. Widen Highway 72 West to Nance Road 3. Add an interchange at U.S. 72 East and Ryland Pike, utilizing ARC Funding 4. Accelerate Winchester Road widening from Naugher to Bell Factory to 2012 5. Widen Martin Road on the Arsenal west from Rideout Road to Gate 7

Top: Chamber members walk to the Capitol building to meet with the state’s political leadership. Left: Alabama Development Office Director Neal Wade talks to Chamber members and addresses industry recruitment, workforce development and the continued economic successes currently occurring in the state of Alabama.

Federal funding is being sought for the Southern Bypass, which continues to be an important project for our region and state as part of the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta Highway.

Biotechnology The not-for-profit HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology is the cornerstone of the Cummings Research Park biotechnology campus and home to an emerging team of worldclass researchers and educators. Continued support from the state is sought to assist in national/international recruiting efforts for biotech and medical device companies.

Economic Development Policy The current ADO approach to recruitment of mega-projects calls for the local region to fund approximately one third of the monetary incentives in the total incentive package. We encourage ADO to allow more flexibility with this funding approach by giving consideration to local government’s investment in the development of infrastructure, the purchase of land in support of these projects and the level of economic activity in our community. • John Southerland Initiatives April 2008

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS Premier Professional Systems Opens New Facility in Cummings Research Park

Premier Professional Systems, Inc. recently celebrated a grand opening of its new facility in Cummings Research Park. L-R: Jim McCamy, representing U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer; Riley Henderson III, executive VP/co-founder of Premier Professional Systems; Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer; Jannifer Henderson, president/CEO and co-founder of Premier Professional Systems; and LaFreeda Jordan, representing U.S. Senator Richard Shelby.

April 2008 Initiatives

Premier Professional Systems, Inc., a woman-owned, minority small business founded in Huntsville in 1990 that provides support services to the U.S. military, recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new headquarters building in Cummings Research Park. Premier Professional Systems President/ CEO and co-founder Jannifer Henderson thanked the employees and customers who have helped build the company from start-up to more than 120 employees located across the world. Her husband, co-founder and Executive Vice President Riley Henderson III echoed those statements and said that without the help of those individuals that such growth would not have been possible. Chamber Board Chair Evans Quinlivan said the company’s success is a tribute to its leadership. “Jannifer and Riley Henderson, who founded this great company in 1990, have been personal friends of mine for a long time – I have watched them grow and been so impressed with their dedication and the entrepreneurial spirit they have exhibited in leading this company,” Quinlivan said. “Eight years after the company started, Premier was selected in 1998 by the Tank-automotive and Armament Command (TACOM) as one of six contractors to be awarded Focused Sustainment prime contracts. On this one contract alone Premier has managed more than 30 major task orders, including multi-year task orders, with a value in excess of 100 million dollars.” In 2000, Premier was nominated by TACOM for the National Small Business of the Year in 2000. This nomination resulted in Premier receiving the Small Business Administration’s “Administrators Award for Excellence.” And in 2007, Premier received its ISO 9001:2000 certification, an impressive validation of its quality processes and procedures.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF HUNTSVILLE/MADISON COUNTY

Carina Technology Expands Operation

Pictured, from left, are Carina Vice President of Finance and CFO Dean Johnston; Chamber Board Chair Evans Quinlivan; Carina President and CEO Jay Newkirk; Carina Vice President and COO Mike Smalley; and Carina Vice President of Business Operations Beth Butler.

Jay Newkirk, the president and CEO of Carina Technology, recognizes the value of being located in Cummings Research Park. “It absolutely is a marketing tool for us,” he said. “It is really beneficial for us to be a part of this great technology park and it will help us when we bring in customers to show them something first class like this.” At the company’s recent ribbon cutting ceremony, Chamber Board Chair Evans Quinlivan said it was a natural fit. “Carina is a technology-based company in a technology-based community, so it is only natural that the company be located in one of the leading technology parks in the country,” Quinlivan said. “We know that we are getting an organization that is known for its excellence in telecommunications hardware and software design primarily for the U.S. Utility industry.” Carina (CTI) designs wireless hardware and software products relating to metering technology. The core design of the company’s technology allows its products to operate over a wide range of telecommunication infrastructures from commercial cellular to private networks, such as fiber optics. CTI owns this technology exclusively. CTI has concentrated its efforts on several core applications including: • Remote Metering Reading and Disconnect/Reconnect • Pre-Pay Energy Solution • Outage Notification • Demand Side Management and an Ethernet Meter Device specifically designed for Fiber Optic and Wi-Fi networks

Huntsville Tops State in Southern Economic Development Ranking “No mid-market in the South has been hotter than Huntsville in the last five years,” according to the January 2008 edition of Southern Business & Development. In its rankings of the “Top Mid-Markets in the South 1993-2007”, Huntsville led the state and was fourth overall, trailing only McAllenEdinburg, Mission, Texas; Johnson City-Bristol-Kingsport, Tenn.; and Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, Miss. However, the article also stated that no midmarket made a bigger jump over the past five years than Huntsville. The economic growth in the state was also noted in Montgomery, which finished ninth, and Mobile, which finished 10th, but, like Huntsville, has moved up the list over the past few years. “In fact, other than Huntsville, Ala., Mobile may be the second-hottest mid market in the entire South over the past three years,” the article states.

INTUITIVE CEO is named to the Top 100 Latino Entrepreneurs List Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation co-founder and CEO A.R. (Rey) Almodóvar, P.E., has been named one of the Top 100 Latino Entrepreneurs in the December/January 2008 issue of Hispanic Enterprise Magazine. Entrepreneurs were selected based on their company’s annual revenue, at least $10 million, and revenue growth from 2005 to 2006. According to the U.S. Census, Latino-owned businesses averaged three times the national growth rate for all businesses between 1997 and 2002. Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation (INTUITIVE), a certified 8(a) Company and Small and Disadvantaged Business, provides a myriad of services in programmatic support, systems engineering, product development, production systems support, rapid prototyping, and technology management solutions to the Department of Defense, government agencies, and commercial companies. Initiatives April 2008

Hudson Selected Recipient of Distinguished Service Award

Jim Hudson, founder of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, shares his thoughts at the Chamber’s annual membership meeting after being honored with the Chamber’s highest individual honor each year, the Distinguished Service Award.

Jim Hudson, founder of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, was the recipient of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County’s highest award – the Distinguished Service Award. An emotional Hudson accepted the award at the Chamber’s annual membership meeting in January – thanking the Chamber for the award and praising those that have influenced him over the years. Chamber Board Chair Evans Quinlivan said Hudson’s vision may very well mean as much to the growth of the community as that of Dr. Wernher von Braun, the Chamber’s first recipient in 1957. “We’re celebrating 50 years in space and the successes of Dr. von Braun. I think 50 years from today we’ll be saying the same things about 2007 Distinguished Service Award recipient, Mr. Jim Hudson,” Quinlivan said. Winners of the Distinguished Service Award include: 1957 - Dr. Wernher von Braun 1958 - Reese T. Amis 1959 - Henry B. Chase 1960 - Dr. E.V. Caldwell 1961 - P.S. Dunnavant 1962 - Dr. Carl A. Grote 1963 - Milton K. Cummings 1964 - M.B. Spragins 1965 - Carl T. Jones 1966 - Herbert Johnson, Sr. 1967 - Senator John Sparkman 1968 - Judge Ashford Todd 1969 - Dr. William McKissack 1970 - Dr. Homer Crim 1971 - Loyd Little 1972 - Dr. R.D. Morrison 1973 - Harry M. Rhett 1974 - Beulah N. Ware 1975 - Dr. Otis Gray 1976 - Dr. Walt Wiesman 1977 - Lula Mae McBride 1978 - James Record 1979 - not awarded 1980 - H.E. Monroe, Sr. 1981 - Charles E. Shaver 1982 - C.M. (Chick) Russell 1983 - Leroy A. Simms 1984 - Joe W. Davis 1985 - Tom Thrasher 1986 - Alvin Blackwell

April 2008 Initiatives

1987 - Louis Salmon 1988 - J.R. Thompson 1989 - W.L. Halsey 1990 - Dr. Francis Roberts 1991 - Patrick E. Richardson 1992 - Joseph C. Moquin 1993 - Olin King 1994 - Martha Simms Rambo 1995 - Charles Grainger 1996 - Joe Hinds, Jr. & Charles Younger 1997 - Mark C. Smith 1998 - Roy Nichols 1999 - W.F. Sanders 2000 - John Riche 2001 - Raymond Jones, Sr. 2002 - Hall Bryant, Jr. 2003 - Joe Ritch 2004 - Howard Thrailkill 2005 - Gerald Toland 2006 - Mayor Loretta Spencer 2007 – Jim Hudson

CapitalSouth Bank recently opened its Madison office as it continues to expand its operations. Clients and customers attended a special grand opening/ribbon cutting event to celebrate the institution’s growth. CapitalSouth Huntsville President Richard Perdue and Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County chair-elect Irma Tuder were among those that helped ceremoniously open the new Madison facility at the special event.

CapitalSouth Bank Opens New Facility CapitalSouth Bank recently opened a new branch in Madison to continue its growth in the North Alabama community. The Alabamafounded bank first opened in Huntsville in 2004 and has continued to grow by specializing in building and sustaining relationships with small and mid-sized companies, according to CapitalSouth Huntsville City President Richard Perdue. Irma Tuder, chair-elect for the Chamber’s board of directors, said the bank’s growth is symbolic of the community’s economic growth. “As we are all aware – this community continues to thrive in economic development and job growth. One way to measure that growth is through the success of its financial institutions. And today we honor a financial institution that not only experienced much of that growth – but has been responsible for a great deal of the economic development successes in the city of Huntsville, the city of Madison and Madison County,” Tuder said. “Congratulations to all the CapitalSouth employees, customers and future customers – this is a great occasion,” Tuder said. Perdue thanked attendees for attending the event and said he looks forward to the bank growing in Madison as it has in Huntsville. • Compiled by John Southerland Initiatives April 2008

DHS Systems, Inc. New Manufacturing Facility in Huntsville Helping Support Soldiers

nternationally recognized for its exceptional integration of shelter, utilities, electronic communications, and tactical mobility, DHS Systems recently held a ribbon cutting event to mark the transitioning of some of its manufacturing and system integration operations to the Huntsville area. The new 130,000 square foot state-of-theart facility is located adjacent to Interstate 65 in the City of Huntsville in Limestone County in the 260-acre SouthPoint Business Park and manufactures and integrates the company’s shelter support trailers and related equipment currently fielded to all branches of the military. The facility also supports the company’s global logistics requirements and sales and manufacturing of its Deployable Command and Control Equip-ment (DC2E) communications system. Currently 120 people are employed at

the facility with expectations that the number will increase to 150 people employed by summer 2008. DHS expects to manufacture more than $100 million of military equipment during 2008. DHS Systems purchased the building in 2005 in anticipation of increased orders for the company’s Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelters (DRASH) and their accompanying support trailers. DRASH is a durable, rapidly-deployable shelter that has been used by the military and non-government agencies for more than 20 years. The systems are supported by trailers that provide electrical power and environmental control that can operate in temperatures from -50 to +131 degrees Fahrenheit. Company CEO and Founder A. Jon Prusmack emphasized in his address that the company not only has a financial obligation, but a moral obligation as well.

L-R: Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer; DHS Systems President/CEO A. Jon Prusmack; DHS-Huntsville General Manager Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry McAbee; Limestone County Commission Chair David Siebert; and Chamber Economic Development Vice Chair Don Nalley cut the ribbon on the DHS’ manufacturing facility. 42

April 2008 Initiatives

“All businesses have an economic obligation to shareholders and investors. All businesses have a quality obligation to customers. But only one business has a moral obligation. Why is that? We serve the soldier. Whatever we do has to work every time, every time, all the time. Failure is not an option. We have a moral obligation to build the best, and you can only build the best when you have the best people.” Prusmack praised Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer and the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County for their roles in helping lure the company to Huntsville. “The real secret of why we are back here is Mayor Spencer. I met her at a show and she started to talk to me, and when she started to talk, she started to sell, and when she started to sell, you couldn’t say ‘no’. She followed up with that with a visit to New York, and came to our facility in Orangeburg and said, ‘You have to come down to Alabama.’ Mayor, you did a terrific job, and we’re here,” Prusmack said. “I also want to thank the work that the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/ Madison County did for us. [Chamber Industrial Development Director] Steve Finnell, [Chamber President/CEO] Brian Hilson, they were very gracious in showing us around. Steve took me here, he took me there and in the end, this [building] popped up and we jumped at it,” he said. Spencer said she has long been familiar with DHS Systems and praised the commitment of company leaders focused on expanding in the community and recalls meeting with Prusmack. “When Jon came to Huntsville and I visited him in one of these tents, I called over to the Chamber and said, ‘Get over here quick, we’ve got a hot one,’” she said. “I appreciate the fact that we are lucky enough to get a quality company to come here. It’s not just jobs for Huntsville, it’s jobs for all of North Alabama and continued on page 44

Initiatives April 2008

DHS Systems, continued from page 42

DHS Systems Inc. in Huntsville will manufacture the company’s shelter support trailers and related equipment that is currently utilized by soldiers from all branches of the military. The facility will also support the company’s global logistics requirements and sales and manufacturing of its Deployable Command and Control Equipment (DC2E) communications system.

April 2008 Initiatives

Southern Tennessee. Because you don’t mind driving to work for a great company, and that’s what we are visiting today.” In fact, after Mayor Spencer’s initial contact, the Chamber coordinated several visits in New York at the company’s headquarters, including one with Mayor Spencer and another with Madison County Commission Chair Mike Gillespie on a trip that coincided with a Chamber marketing trip at the same time. Don Nalley, the Chamber’s vice chair for economic development, praised the community for its teamwork in pursuing and growing economic development opportunities. “This is one of those examples of team Huntsville’s continuous and never ending focus on economic development opportunities,” he said. “The effort to close the deal by various members of the Chamber, city, county and even state representatives has been continuous since that time. We’re proud to have DHS Systems in Huntsville, another great company with innovative products supporting our young men and women that are fighting to maintain our security across the world.” McAbee spoke about the facilities’ employees’ unique southern work ethic. “I admire and respect the integrity and work ethic of the state and its people. We have assembled a good group of people to work in this facility. These are men and women that I would go to war with if I was still in uniform,” he said. “Our people live, worship and go to school in these local communities. We’re committed to being good neighbors and to making the very best products for our service men and women. All of us are mindful, every day, that our products support soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The new manufacturing facility includes a sophisticated monorail system, which takes a product from welding, washing and painting, down the line to final assembly. It also features modern, climate-controlled offices with teleconferencing, video and state-ofthe-art information technology equipment. While shelter manufacturing operations will remain in DHS Systems headquarters in New York, the company began moving its trailer operations from Orangeburg to Huntsville during the first quarter of 2007. About 145 guests and employees attended the event, including another influential person with the company, according to Prusmack. “I want to acknowledge Tim Taets. Tim was our first employee down here. I met Tim while he was in the Army. He retired, came

here, got a job with Kess and when we came down here in 2001 and looked around and said that we thought we should follow Mayor Spencer’s advice and set up an operation down here, he heard that we were looking for some people, came to me and said, ‘I hear you are looking for some good guys.’ I said, ‘I am looking for one good guy, do you have a list?’ And he said, ‘I’m you’re list.’ The rest is history,” Prusmack said. “We hired Tim. We had no office, we had nothing here. So he operated out of his car. Found the facility next to Jackson’s Family restaurant and we started to build a presence here. Tim, I want to thank you because you were very instrumental.” Prusmack and McAbee are both very open with their plans for growth. “Our vision is that we will be in the next three or four years a half a billion dollar business,” Prusmack said. “How are we going to do that? A combination of organic product growth. For example, our DC2E. In 2005, it was an idea. In 2007, $14 million in sales. Absolutely terrific. Acquisitions, we have a couple of acquisitions that we are looking at. We hope that by the end of 2008 we will be one third or more on our way toward that half a billion dollar goal.”

Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry McAbee, the general manager for the Huntsville facility, discusses the growth and future plans for DHS Systems. Below – DHS employees illustrate the ease with which the company’s Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelters (DRASH) can be operational.

• John Southerland

Initiatives April 2008

April 2008 Initiatives

Initiatives April 2008

April 2008 Initiatives