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 “<strong>Economic</strong> 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 <strong>Huntsville</strong> 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 <strong>Huntsville</strong>/Madison County. <strong>The</strong> 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 <strong>Initiative</strong>s focuses on the <strong>Huntsville</strong> <strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Economic</strong> <strong>Growth</strong> <strong>Initiative</strong>, 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. <strong>HREGI</strong> 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 <strong>Huntsville</strong> <strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Economic</strong> <strong>Growth</strong> <strong>Initiative</strong>. Developed in 2003 and first implemented in 2004, <strong>HREGI</strong> 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 <strong>HREGI</strong>, and economic development benchmarks which help identify how <strong>Huntsville</strong> and Madison County’s achievements compare with other key metro areas. <strong>The</strong> 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 <strong>Huntsville</strong>/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. <strong>The</strong> current national economic downturn has impacted local economic growth in <strong>Huntsville</strong> 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 <strong>Huntsville</strong> <strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Economic</strong> <strong>Growth</strong> <strong>Initiative</strong>, we thank you for your support. We thank you for recognizing that your investment in <strong>HREGI</strong> 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 <strong>HREGI</strong> investor, or a member of the Chamber of Commerce, we invite you to contact us and let us share with you how <strong>HREGI</strong> and the Chamber can benefit you. Brian Hilson President & CEO Chamber of Commerce of <strong>Huntsville</strong>/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 - <strong>Economic</strong> 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 <strong>Huntsville</strong> 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 <strong>Huntsville</strong>/Madison Co. Elected Board Cynthia Achorn, ASRC Federal Rose Allen, Booz Allen Hamilton Rey Almodóvar, Intuitive Research & Technology Corporation Clayton Bass, <strong>Huntsville</strong> 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, <strong>Huntsville</strong> Hospital John Eagan, Wells Fargo Kerry Fehrenbach, Intergraph Corporation Elizabeth Dotts Fleming, Public FA Ron Gray, Gray Research Jeff Hamilton, <strong>The</strong> Orthopaedic Center John Holly, Lockheed Martin Corporation Dr. Pam Hudson, Crestwood Medical Center Dr. Andrew Hugine, Alabama A&M University Tony Jones, <strong>The</strong> 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, UA<strong>Huntsville</strong> Dr. Ernie Wu, ERC 8 December 2010 <strong>Initiative</strong>s
9 <strong>Initiative</strong>s December 2010