The Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative (HREGI ...

Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors and
Executive Committee 2010
Executive Committee
Dear Chamber of Commerce Investors, Community Leaders and Friends:
It’s a good bet that most people haven’t given much thought to the “Economic Life Cycle” of
a community. A local economic life cycle is a process that involves such activities as growth
planning, community development and preparation, leadership engagement, marketing,
economic development success, announcements and recognitions, followed by more
planning, more preparation, etc. For Huntsville and Madison County, this cycle of economic
development has been ongoing for many years, and it has involved many different people
and activities. Central to this work for many years, and today, is the economic development
team staffed and coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County.
The Chamber is our community’s lead organization for economic development. It develops
and maintains the community’s blueprint for economic growth, it implements the daily
economic development process, and coordinates a broad spectrum of individual leaders and
organizations to make certain that the economic development process, or the economic life
cycle, is both complete and successful.
One of the lead articles of this edition of Initiatives focuses on the Huntsville Regional
Economic Growth Initiative, the short- and long-term economic development plan which
was developed by the Chamber and has been recognized as our community’s economic
growth strategy. HREGI is by no means our community’s first economic growth plan.
For years, the Chamber followed the process adopted by most local/regional economic
development organizations around the country, which was to develop a strategy, solicit local
funding support for it, execute the plan over a four- to five-year period, and then repeat
the same process, over and over again. In 2003, Chamber leaders recognized that it would
be much more effective to maintain a longer-term strategy that is updated annually, and
that’s exactly what stimulated the planning and implementation of the Huntsville Regional
Economic Growth Initiative. Developed in 2003 and first implemented in 2004, HREGI is
central to the overall strategic plan of the Chamber of Commerce. It includes an increased
emphasis on public and private sector financial support, ongoing investor relations with
supporters of HREGI, and economic development benchmarks which help identify how
Huntsville and Madison County’s achievements compare with other key metro areas.
The plan also includes a more proactive and organized approach to targeted economic
development marketing. In its seven years of implementation, local economic development
growth has essentially doubled the original announced jobs and capital investment goals, and
Huntsville/Madison County has achieved unprecedented rankings and recognitions.
One of the stellar economic development announcements made in our community in recent
years was a plan for a $50 million, 350-employee new facility for Dynetics in Cummings
Research Park. The current national economic downturn has impacted local economic
growth in Huntsville and metropolitan areas throughout the country – no doubt about
that. Regardless of the national economy, it is important that our community have a resultsoriented
plan, and that we stick to that plan, so that Dynetics, BRAC and many other
successes that create job opportunities can continue.
If you and your company are already investing in the Huntsville Regional Economic Growth
Initiative, we thank you for your support. We thank you for recognizing that your investment
in HREGI truly is an investment in our community’s future, and will be of direct benefit to
you and your company. If you’re not already a HREGI investor, or a member of the Chamber
of Commerce, we invite you to contact us and let us share with you how HREGI and the
Chamber can benefit you.
Brian Hilson
President & CEO
Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County
Don Nalley, Chair, Beason & Nalley
Charlie Kettle, Chair-Elect, First Commercial Bank
Irma Tuder, Immediate Past Chair, Analytical Services
Tommy Beason, Chamber Foundation Chair, consultant
Ron Poteat, Secretary/Treasurer, Regions Bank
Jim Bolte, Vice Chair - Economic Dev., Toyota Motor Manufacturing Ala.
Joe Alexander, Vice Chair - Governmental Affairs, Camber Corporation
Jan Smith, Vice Chair - Investor Relations, S 3
Jeremiah Knight, Vice Chair - Workforce, Verizon Wireless
Danny Windham, Vice Chair - Small Business, Digium
Robert Mayes, Vice Chair - Research & Info. Svs., BlueCreek Investment
Angie McCarter, Vice Chair - Image Development, Davidson Technologies
Mayor Tommy Battle, Chair-Appointed, City of Huntsville
Chairman Mike Gillespie, Chair-Appointed, Madison Co. Commission
Elizabeth Morard, Chair-Appointed, Qualis Corporation
Joe Ritch, Chair-Appointed, Sirote & Permutt
Brian Hilson, President/CEO, Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison Co.
Elected Board
Cynthia Achorn, ASRC Federal
Rose Allen, Booz Allen Hamilton
Rey Almodóvar, Intuitive Research & Technology Corporation
Clayton Bass, Huntsville Museum of Art
Penny Billings, BancorpSouth
Greg Bragg, Consolidated Construction Company
Everett Brooks, Consultant
Micah Bullard, Turner Universal Construction
Frank Caprio, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
Tracy Doughty, Huntsville Hospital
John Eagan, Wells Fargo
Kerry Fehrenbach, Intergraph Corporation
Elizabeth Dotts Fleming, Public FA
Ron Gray, Gray Research
Jeff Hamilton, The Orthopaedic Center
John Holly, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Dr. Pam Hudson, Crestwood Medical Center
Dr. Andrew Hugine, Alabama A&M University
Tony Jones, The Boeing Company
Simon Kim, LG Electronics Alabama
Frederick Lanier, J. Smith Lanier & Co.
John McMullan, BancorpSouth
Dan Montgomery, Strategic Defense Solutions
Caroline Myers, Foreign Language Services
Joe Newberry, Redstone Federal Credit Union
Jim Owens, BBVA Compass
Tony Palumbo
Crystal Shell, WILL Technology
Dr. Ashok Singhal, CFD Research Corporation
Todd Slyman, Village of Providence
Keith Smith, SAIC
Dr. O’Neal Smitherman, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
Tom Stanton, ADTRAN
Al Sullivan, Alpha Beta Technologies, Inc.
Dr. Dave Williams, UAHuntsville
Dr. Ernie Wu, ERC
8 December 2010 Initiatives